Relationship Over Religion | Mark S3E3 — A Different Kingdom

My name is Noah Marshall, and I lead the Young Adults Ministry here at CBC.

Shout out, Young Adults.

We call our Young Adults Ministry Wake.

They heard a little bit of this message on Tuesday, but I told them that a lot of it won't make it in because I kind of rewrite the message on Friday every time.

A bit about me, if you don't know me, my name is Noah.

I was born and raised in New Jersey.

My wife Lindsay was also born and raised in New Jersey, so we're East Coasters.

We're not used to being landlocked, but we've been in Colorado for two years now, going on our third year right now.

My wife Lindsay and I have been married for three years.

Yeah.

Very fun.

And then we have a daughter who's seven months old.

We have a picture of my daughter Rea, we're gonna put on the screen here.

Is that not the cutest thing you've ever seen in your life?

Some of my friends in this room will look at this is Rhea.

She's seven months old.

Some of my friends will look at this room and be like, I love Raya.

And I can assure you, nobody loves Rhea more than Lindsay and I.

When I look at this picture, when I get greeted with that smile when I come home, my heart explodes in my chest.

I need to like punch a hole in the wall.

I'm so excited.

I love this girl so much.

I would go to the ends of the earth for this girl.

And here's the thing Rea doesn't do much.

She doesn't contribute a lot to the relationship.

She kind of just eats, sleeps, poops, laughs, which is really fun and really new, but she doesn't contribute much.

She's not washing the dishes, she's not taking out the trash.

That'll come.

And you're probably like, man, why is this guy like talking so much about his daughter?

One, because I love her.

I love to talk about her.

But today, we are talking about relationship over religion.

And you might be like, oh, okay, I think I understand where this is going.

Maybe you don't, maybe you do.

We are talking about relationship over religion.

And I know a lot of people, myself included, carry some burdens from the church being very religious focused.

And so what is religion?

Religion is devotion.

Religion is rules.

If I'm religious about brushing my teeth, I don't miss a day.

And religion works really good in our world.

If you want to be a professional athlete, you can religiously practice that sport and meet the standard for becoming a professional athlete.

And you can do that in just about everywhere in life except for the kingdom of heaven.

You can do all the rules, all the devotion, all the religious deeds you want, and you will not meet the standard that God has set to enter the kingdom of heaven.

That is what religion is.

Religion is devotion, trying to become righteous through rules.

We're going to be in Mark chapter 7 today, and we are going to talk about three things we see from religion in this passage.

Mark 7 · chapter mention

We see the intention of religion, we see the mask of religion, and then we're going to see at last the failure of religion.

And like I said, we're going to be in Mark chapter seven, and we're stepping back into our teaching series called Real Jesus: a front row seat to who Jesus Really Is.

And we were in season three of our, we're kind of like trying to break it up into like a TV show, Netflix, like series.

So we're doing seasons.

And so season one was The Messiah is here announcing good news.

That was the title, season one.

Season two was titled Mixed Reactions.

People were having mixed reactions to Jesus coming on the on the scene.

And then today we continue in season three, titled A Different Kingdom.

And Jesus is proclaiming a different kingdom than what people think.

And so if you don't have a Bible, the verses are going to be on the screen.

But if you want a Bible, or if you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand.

Our seating team will run you a Bible.

And if you don't have a Bible at home, you can keep that Bible.

That is our gift to you.

So we're jumping into Mark chapter 7, verses 1 through 23, but we're going to start here in verse 1 through 5.

Mark 7:1–23

And it says this now, when the Pharisees gathered to him with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed.

For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash.

And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups, pots, copper, vessels, and dining couches.

And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?

So those verses in parentheses, Mark's writing to a non-Jewish audience.

He's writing to a Roman audience, and he's putting parentheses in there to explain why the Pharisees are asking the questions they're asking.

The Pharisees, oh, and so in these verses, we see our first little bit about religion, and that is the intention of religion.

And so the Pharisees come from miles away to see the man who does miracles, Jesus Christ, and they notice the disciples didn't wash their hands.

Literally, in the previous chapter, Jesus just walked on water.

He fed like 5,000 people, and now they come to him, and you think they would have some really interesting questions, but they focus on washing hands.

And I saw this quote about two people having coffee, and it goes like this you and me are having coffee, and I look into your cup to see if you need more coffee, and then you look into my cup to see if I have more coffee than you.

And that intention, that difference, tells me everything I need to know about you.

It's the intention.

Because religion can look and sound the same as love, but the intention is everything.

So Mark, who is writing to a non-Jewish audience, gives us all these disclaimers as to why they were so curious about washing hands.

And the reason is because of oral tradition passed down from generation to generation that included these things we call fence laws or fence rules.

And these fence laws existed to keep anyone from getting near to breaking God's word, God's command.

We have fences for good reasons.

We put fences around playgrounds to keep kids safe.

Fences generally are good things.

They were putting up fences to keep you from even getting close to breaking the law.

But the closest command that we see in Scripture about washing hands is that the priests wash their hands and feet before approaching the tabernacle to minister, so that they would not die in God's holy president presence.

That's Exodus 30, if you're curious.

That command applied to priests in sanctuary, in the sanctuary, but not to every Israelite washing their hands before eating bread at home.

But over time, it progressed to a rule that everyone followed.

And you might be like, okay, fence law is interesting.

Do we have fence laws in our life?

Yes, we do have fence laws in our life.

And there are wise fence laws, and there are not wise fence laws.

So a wise fence law would be somebody who struggles with alcohol addiction or alcoholism, and they say, I am not going to have alcohol in my house.

That is a great fence law.

I think we would all be pro that law.

We wouldn't think that person is being religious for holding that law.

So that is a good fence law.

The problem is when it grows into legalism and put onto other people or used to judge other people like the Pharisees here.

A legalistic fence law that we see, a not so wise fence law, would maybe be modern day the difference between private school, homeschool, or public school.

If you have a personal conviction about the way you school your children or parent your children, but then take that conviction and turn it into a rule saying this is the godly way.

If somebody is not doing it this way, I'm unsure if they're a real believer.

That has switch to legalism.

So what we need to be really careful careful of is letting good, safe rules get out of hand.

We do not want our personal convictions to become the measure we use to judge others.

That's what the Pharisees are doing here.

They're not judging Jesus against God's word, they're judging him against man-made tradition rules.

They walk from miles away, miles and miles, through the landscape of the Middle East, and they ask Jesus about washing his hands.

We're talking about practice?

Some of my people know that reference.

If you don't, it's okay.

To anyone new to church or new to Jesus, or maybe you've been in the church and you're just coming back after a long while.

If somebody puts a rule on you, a burden on you that they cannot back up with God's word, that means that it is human.

It is man-made.

It doesn't mean it's necessarily wrong or bad, it just means it is not God's word and it is not God's command.

And if it's not God's word, not God's command, it requires wisdom.

It requires nuance.

And so many people in our current culture have been turned away from the faith because people have have heaped burdens upon them that God never intended for them.

And if that's you here in this room today, can I just say I am sorry?

That is not what God wanted for you.

That is not what God wants for you.

And us, CBC, we do not want to be a church that heaps rules and burdens on you.

We want you to walk in freedom.

And even here, as I stand up here preaching, I hope you hold every word I say accountable to the scripture.

And I hope you come to me with that, because I don't want to preach against God's word.

I don't want to heap burdens on you.

Religion heaps burdens on people that are pursuing a relationship.

And that's the innocence of religion.

It starts off as well-intentioned, good rules, and it grows into a judgmental standard it was never meant to be.

Intention is everything.

So religious rules can start off with good intentions, but they quickly slip into rules, and those rules become a mask that we hide behind.

And that's what we see in these next few verses when Jesus answers the Pharisees, we see the mask of religion.

Let's pick back up in verse six.

And he said to them, Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

You leave the commandment of God and hold fast to the tradition of men.

And he said to them, You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition.

For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother, and whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.

But you say, if a man tells his father or his mother, Whatever you would have gained from me is Corbin, that is given to God, then you no longer permit him to do anything for his mother, for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down, and many such things that you do.

So what we see in these verses is the mask of religion, and we see Jesus clap back at the Pharisees, and it seems like a very harsh response.

But if you've been with us all the way through Mark, the Pharisees have come time and time again, and Jesus starts off very generous with them, but it's gotten to the point where it's very clear their intentions are looking for anything but the truth.

They're looking to be nitty-gritty and nitpick him on their tradition.

And so Jesus claps back because they're throwing out lofty accusations.

And Jesus quotes Isaiah talking about these church leaders who honor God with their lips.

Isaiah, 700 years before Jesus, is talking about people of his day that they honor God with their lips, but their hearts are far from him.

700 years later, Jesus applies that to the Pharisees in front of him.

You think maybe after 700 years we'd start to learn a little bit.

And he cites a tradition called Corbin.

Shout out the heights.

Corbin is a word that means dedicated to God and what they were doing, they have this commandment, honor your father and mother.

And now in this society, they don't have social security, they don't have nursing homes.

There's a very practical aspect to this, but the Pharisees go to the young men who are supposed to be financially taking care of their parents and saying, Hey, if you say your possessions are Corbin, that is dedicated to God, then you don't have to take care of them financially.

They're saying, Mom, Dad, when I die, all of my possessions are going to the church, so I can't I can't help you.

And so what was happening was the young men were getting away with being disobedient, the church was getting rich, and the parents were left out to dry.

And the Pharisees claimed they were honoring God, but it was just a mask.

And hypocrite in Greek means actor.

And actors in Jesus' day they wore wooden masks to play different characters.

So he's saying that you are wearing a mask.

You you wear the mask of a believer, but you are far from believing.

Some of the ways this can come up in our own lives is some of us maybe church hop, or we only watch church online and say we belong to the global church, so that we don't need to belong to the local church.

We use the mask of the global church to not be plugged in and fully known in the local church.

We claim the global church to avoid the local church.

Some of us use the excuse of God's creation and being in nature as worship to not be in church on Sunday.

We worship in creation to avoid the congregation.

This last one is big.

Some of us say, This is my Sabbath rest.

So you refuse to bless your family, your friends, your church.

You're like, This is my rest day, so I'm not helping you move that couch.

This is my rest day, so I'm not gonna serve on the coffee team at church.

This is my rest day, so I can't get dinner with my parents.

We call it Sabbath rest when we simply refuse to bless.

Trying to make it a little sticky.

Come on, these are bars, guys.

And I want to take a moment to call up another part of the scriptures where Jesus says, Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide, and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many, for the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Because what we have here is these Pharisees is one end of the spectrum.

Like way over here on the far side of this spectrum, we have a list of rules, a list of regulations that gives us a sense of righteousness.

But we refuse to admit that though we may be able to obey our specific rules that we've made for ourselves, we refuse to admit that we could never reach God's standards.

So on the far end, you got nothing but rules and regulations and no acknowledgement of our shortcomings, our fallings, our sinfulness.

And as you move across the spectrum, you get into this middle zone, and the rules slowly start to fade away.

The man-made tradition slowly starts to fade away.

And all of a sudden, there's a sense of I'm not perfect.

I don't have it altogether.

That's why I need Jesus, and I'm going to pursue a high calling.

I'm going to pursue obedience to God's word, but I know that I can never obtain it on my own.

But I have these rules that I follow that I will not place on anyone else.

I have rules that I follow that are good for me, that are man-made, that make sense, but I'm not judging anybody else by that standard.

That is this nice middle ground.

But then you come over here to this side of the spectrum, and all of a sudden the rules are completely gone.

But not just the rules, but the commands of God.

The scripture is gone.

And it's all grace.

Nothing but grace.

And it and it and it sounds like, hey, you know, Jesus died for sinners.

You know, what's the point of his death if if I'm not gonna sin?

Or it's going to church on Sunday so that you can live exactly how you want the rest of the week.

It's it's zero rules, zero God's command, just completely betting on grace, ignoring the fact that we're called higher.

This is the spectrum.

This is a wide spectrum, but right in the middle, we have a narrow path.

That's where we want to be.

And what we see in culture right now is we see these people over here on Instagram or wherever, and they're like shouting at the people on the other end, and they're like, you don't have enough rules.

You need to be more obedient.

You're a sinner.

I'm good.

And then we have the people over here that are like, you have too many rules, you're heaping burdens.

Uh like grace is sufficient for me, so I'm gonna do exactly what I want.

And the church and Christians are meant to be right here holding the tension, be like, hey, you could use some less rules and a little more grace.

Hey, you could use a little more structure in your life.

We want to be in the narrow path.

Because wide is the way that leads to death and suffering.

We want to pull people in.

So, to us, do not honor God with our lips, with a mask pretending that we do enough righteous things.

But also do not pretend that you're a Christian because you come to church on Sunday and then do whatever you want the rest of the week.

Those are two masks that we do not want in this room.

When you come in these doors on Sunday, please do not bring your mask, leave it at the doors.

Jesus does not want your mask, he wants you.

Relationship over religion.

So we've seen that the intention of rules and religion starts innocent, but it creeps its way to becoming a mask that you hide behind, and then the last thing we see is the failure of religion.

And Jesus takes this moment, he turns away from the discussion with the Pharisees, and he turns toward a crowd, and he says this in verse 14.

And he called all the people to him again and said to them, Hear me, all of you, and understand, there is nothing outside of a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.

And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable.

And he said to them, Then are you also without understanding?

Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart, but his stomach, and is expelled?

Thus he declared all foods clean, and he said, What comes out of a person is what defiles him, for from within out of the heart of man come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.

All of these evil things come from within and they defile a person.

And so in those verses we see the failure of religion.

Jesus turns to the crowd and says, Hear me, he's saying, get this, pay attention to this.

This is why the Pharisees are asking me about washing of hands.

This is why I'm condemning them as hypocrites.

And watch the word, it is defilement.

We are defiled not from things on the outside, but because of our hearts on the inside.

It is not that touching and eating certain foods defile you, but the desire and the action to go against God's word.

And then he lists all that flows out from our hearts, these evil thoughts, sexual morality, theft, murder, adultery.

How do you guys feel about that list?

Feel like you're crushing that list?

Feel like we're doing a good job?

No.

You should look at that list and be like, yeah, I've done those.

I know this is harsh language.

And some of you are at a place where you might say, I'm not evil, and I'm not telling you you're evil or your heart is defiling you.

Jesus is telling you that.

These are Jesus' words, not my words.

Amen.

And remember from the beginning of the passage, defiled means unwashed.

Why do we run tradition, run to tradition?

Why do we run to rules?

Why do we feel like we need these things?

Because our hearts are unwashed.

You ever pull up to a to the ski mountain, you pull in the lot in 9 a.m., 8 a.m., whatever time you get there, and you kind of look around to kind of start seeing what other people are working with.

You see the person next to you has got like the forerunner tricked out, the massive wheels tread.

You're like, whoa.

And then they get out, they got the nicest goggles, sick helmet, like swagged out head to toe.

The skis are expensive.

The poles are expensive.

You're like, wow, this person really knows what they're doing.

And then you get to the top of the mountain and you realize that no amount of money can hide the fact that you don't know how to ski.

This is why we run to religion.

This is why we run to rules.

Why do they buy all that nice gear?

Because they're hiding.

They don't want people to know the truth.

Our hearts are defiled and unwashed.

And no amount of church attendance, no amount of acts of service, no amount of 5 a.m.

prayer can hide the fact that your heart defiles.

This is Jesus' point.

Your heart is in need of washing.

And you cannot wash it clean because you are what makes it unclean.

Religion will always fail you.

And this is the big tip takeaway.

A sinful heart can only be cleaned by a perfect Savior.

Jesus is the only one who can make us clean.

How does he make us clean?

The Bible says the wages of sin is death.

When you work an hour, maybe you get 30, 40 bucks an hour.

When you sin, your wages are death.

There are consequences to your actions.

And you might say that's not fair, but let's be real, it is fair.

It's justice.

Your actions have consequences.

Search your heart.

You know this to be true.

But Jesus died in your place.

He who knew no sin took our place, who know a lot of sin.

He took the punishment for you and me.

The Bible says, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

What would make Jesus, God in human form, do that for you and for me?

Why would He die in my place?

Do you know how God sees you?

Do you know who you are?

Do you know your true identity?

You are not what you feel, you are not what you do, you are not what people say you are, you are God's precious child.

You are his child, and he would do anything to have a relationship with you.

He died for you and for me, and he didn't just stop there.

But three days later, he rose again, defeating death, so that you know when you die, it's not the end.

You will rise again with Christ.

You are his child, we are his children, his heart explodes with joy for us, like me seeing Rea.

My heart explodes.

There's nothing she could do to earn more or get any less of my love.

Like, do we believe that's how God sees us?

And how would we live differently if we really truly believed God saw us that way?

Because it's about relationship, not religion.

You cannot earn your way to this kingdom.

You cannot achieve the standard.

It is by grace and grace alone.

But when you walk throughout your day, walk as a child of God.

He is smiling on you, he is rooting for you, he's not wagging his head and his finger at you, he is cheering you on.

Rea can't do much right now, but I am going to try and call her to be the best version of herself possible.

And I hope that she knows that it is out of an overflow of love that I want the best possible life for her.

God, it is out of an overflow of love that He wants the best possible life for you.

He's not trying to bait and switch you.

It's not a trick, it's the good life.

The world will leave you wanting.

It will not deliver.

God delivers.

If you want this gift, if you want to be saved, if you want to be made new, we're gonna pray in a second.

You can have this today.

Eternity can be changed forever, and not just eternity, but your every day on this life.

He promises the Holy Spirit will enter you and make you new day in and day out.

If your heart's not where it wants to be, if you're struggling with this sin thing or you're not living the way you want to live, guess what?

The Holy Spirit will help you.

God will make you new.

And it for my Christians in the room, stop putting on masks.

I do this myself.

I'm not telling you, I'm I'm speaking to everybody in the room.

Don't put on masks, just lift up your defiled heart and say, God, make this new, make this different.

It's not just a pie in the sky when you die, it's not just heaven.

It's every day being made new.

That's what's on offer.

I'm gonna pray for us right now, Lord.

Thank you for this section of scripture.

Thank you for recording this so we know once and for all that you are against religion.

That you are desiring a relationship above all else.

And right now, with every head bow and every eye closed, if you want to accept salvation and accept Jesus as Lord of your life, you can pray this prayer.

It's very simple.

Lord, I am a sinner.

I need your grace.

Make me new.

Come be Lord of my life.

And if you're a believer in this room, just pray, Lord, make me new.

I'm tired of the mask.

I want to be known.

I want to be accepted by you.

Lord, show me.

Father, I ask that as we go this week into our workplaces, into school, whatever we have going on, Lord, remind us that we are your children.

Show us your love.

Let us not walk out of here trying to strong arm more love for you, but let your love overwhelm us and make us new.

Lord, I pray all of this in Jesus' name.

Amen.