Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9; Ephesians 6:10-20; Mark 7:14-23

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Our immune system is a pretty amazing thing. Whenever we get sick, our bodies know how to fight off diseases and expel them from the body. We might be feeling weak for a short amount of time. However, given time, our immune system will rid us of the invading disease and return us to normal. For as long as these diseases remain on the outside of our body, we are completely fine. The issue comes when they get inside the body.

Yet, as well as our immune systems do at fighting off a cold, a flu, or other common diseases, there are still those diseases where our bodies need help from medicine. The illnesses that linger inside us are those which need an additional push to expel. Medicine works side by side with our immune system, in a way, to take out the trash.

As we read our Gospel lesson this week, Jesus discusses the very things that “defile” a person. It’s those things that cause issues once they are inside the body, not on the outside. “There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him,” Mark 7:15. Jesus goes on to explain that the old laws regarding certain foods shouldn’t be the main focus for his disciples. Rather, it’s the inward condition… sin.

This is the reality of our human condition. We love to talk about how there is so much evil “out there” in the world, when the reality is that the same evil is inside each of us. We all are born sinful, with evil desires. These are the things that dwell inside us and make us “ill”. Out of our hearts, out of our sinful estate, comes lust, greed, theft, murder, pride, and so on. Our hearts and minds are filled with all this “trash” that must be taken out. 

Like any disease, if our bodies cannot find a way to expel them on their own, then we need medicine to help. We need something… or someone… else to come and push out the filth inside us. That’s what Jesus has come to do. By his life, he seeks to cleanse our hearts and our minds by planting faith inside us. He pours into our hearts his grace and mercy so that he may cleanse us and make us new. Jesus takes upon himself the defilement of our flesh so that he may go to the cross for our sins and so give us the medicine of immortality… his own body and blood. By the cross, Jesus takes out the “trash” of our sins and buries them outside so it may no longer defile us. Now, by his blood shed, he has cleansed us so that God may come into our hearts and renew us in body and soul to lead us unto life everlasting!

Pastor Sorenson

Prayer:

O God, the source of all that is just and good, nourish in us every virtue and bring to completion every good intent that we may grow in grace and bring forth the fruit of good works; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen!