Proper 17 Year B 9/1/2024
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9; Psalm 15; James 1:17-27; Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
Rev. Mark A. Lafler
When Madeline was with Tera and I in England this summer…
During my sabbatical…
We rented a car in Oxford to drive to some nearby villages to see some sights.
It was my first time driving in a country where you drive on the left side of the road…
I was a bit nervous, but also excited for the challenge.
Now, when we went to the U.K., we took our smart phones, but had to pay an extra fee for international calling… per phone… to save some money we only had one phone that had data.
We chose Madeline’s phone because she was taking a college course during the summer, and she needed access to her course work online.
Well, that morning when we rented the car, she stayed at the hotel and Tera, and I took the bus ride to the rental car… It didn’t take too long.
We started out…
We got on the main road…
But the way we came was blocked by construction (going back that way), so we got on a highway and we needed to take the first exit to circle back to the hotel to pick up Madeline.
All was good…
Until we missed the exit.
And then we realized that Madeline had the only working phone and we had no GPS system.
The next exit to turn around was more than ten miles up the road…
But even then, we were all turned around…
Flustered…
I got honked at twice…
We eventually made it back…
But the 2-hour excursion back to the hotel was stressful.
Madeline said that she would have waited just a couple more hours before she would have called the hotel and reported us missing.
Needless to say, the drive was much smoother once we had the GPS from the phone and we quite enjoyed the tour through the countryside.
Driving the roads in a foreign country with no one directing you and hoping you make the correct turns is a bit like life.
It seems many people go through life hoping they get to where they want to be but have little idea of how to get there.
Many people go through life without a guide…
Without instructions…
They go forward without really knowing where they are headed…
Without knowing what outcomes may come from the choices they make.
Many people follow the trends of our day…
Moral trends…
Social trends…
Financial trends…
Cultural trends…
Political trends…
And within the speed that our world operates at in the age of information and technology…
It seems very few slow down to ask the ethical and biblical questions.
But as Christians we are called to much more than blindly going through life as on a street with no directions.
The Christian has had the light of the Gospel turned on.
It is Jesus who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.
(1 Peter 2.9)
Jesus has called us to his own…
Even before the foundations of this world (Ephesians 1.4)
Through his grace by faith, we believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
And become God’s children.
In God’s providence we have been given a road map…
The revelation of God through the Holy Scriptures.
In God’s power we have been given a guide…
The Holy Spirit…
Who as Jesus says:
…when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth… (John 16.13)
By God’s decree we have not been left alone…
We have a community… the Church…
whom we gather together with for worship and life.
By God’s design we have a purpose…
To share the good news of the Gospel…
As it says in the Gospel of Mark:
Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
(Mark 16.15)
I was reminded of all this in our reading from Deuteronomy today.
Deuteronomy chapter 4 is leading up to the Ten Commandments which are given in chapter 5.
God is separating his people from the world.
Making them stand out.
Wanting them to be different.
Knowing that the pull of the world is strong and enticing.
And yet knowing that following the world leads to sin and death.
So just before the commands of God are given the text reads:
You must observe them diligently, for this will show your wisdom and discernment to the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes,
will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and discerning people!”
For what other great nation has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is whenever we call to him?
And what other great nation has statutes and ordinances as just as this entire law that I am setting before you today?
You see, God’s purpose is not just directed at his people, but also at the other nations…
God’s people are to follow God’s ways so that others will see the wisdom and goodness of God.
And then the text gives this warning:
But take care and watch yourselves closely,
so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life;
make them known to your children and your children’s children.
God’s people are to be mindful so that they do not leave God’s ways for the ways of the world.
We need to stay on that road map…
Keep that GPS system on…
Know where God’s leading!
We find similar themes in our other readings too.
In our second reading from the letter of James…
The half-brother of Jesus writes:
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this:
to care for orphans and widows in their distress,
and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
True religion…
True disciples of God…
Do (at least) three things according to James:
Care for Orphans,
Care for Widows,
And refuse to follow the sins of the world.
To translate the first century culture here.
Christians are to care for those who are unable to care for themselves.
And…
Christians are not to follow the ways of the world that are against the commands of God.
This is more road map talk.
This is the way that we should go.
Jesus in our Gospel reading gives direction too.
In our over-influential culture, the current trends say that the way we become better is by looking toward ourselves…
To look into our own being.
To be our true selves…
an authentic version of ourselves…
That somewhere deep inside of us is true happiness…
Fulfillment…
and goodness…
Which is why the mantra of so much of our culture is:
Follow your heart…
Be true to yourself…
But Jesus says something quite different…
Jesus says something very different about what is in one’s heart.
One’s insides…
In our Gospel reading, our Lord says:
For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly.
All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.
Maybe our heart isn’t the best thing to follow.
On the road of life, we need not to just follow our heart…
We need not to just follow the wisdom of the world…
We need something beyond our own instinct and personhood.
Beyond our own culture and society.
We need help from someone outside of us…
Outside of our world.
And this is the good news of the Gospel.
That the person we need is Jesus Christ.
The creator and redeemer of the world.
Who came into the world to save sinners. (1 Timothy 1.15)
He came into the world to redeem his creation.
And he did this through the work of his suffering and death on the cross…
Bearing the sins of the world…
And through his sacrifice…
We by faith through his grace can be saved.
And through his resurrection from the dead, he has made it possible to live forever with him in the new heavens and new earth.
Praise be to God!
In this world of constant change…
And endless posturing of people who want us to follow them…
May we stay on the straight and narrow road. (Matthew 7.13-14)
The road that leads to life…
Paved by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Amen.