Matthew 15:1-9
New International Version 1984
(NIV1984)
1 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus
from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the
tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”
3 Jesus
replied, “And why do you break the command of God for
the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and
mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ 5
But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you
might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,’ 6
he is not to ‘honor his father’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for
the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when
he prophesied about you:
8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.’”
Wow, I could have
selected several more verses but decided this was enough for us to chew on
today! Look carefully at what Jesus is
saying. He is talking to the Pharisees,
the leaders of the Jewish faith, the ones who had studied the word but somehow
did not apply it to their own lives.
They made up rules that even went against what the Word of God told
them. They were supposed to be honoring
their father and mother yet they made up rules that allowed them to neglect
them.
The portion that
stood out the most to me was “you nullify the
word of God for the sake of your tradition.”
Tradition can be a good thing, if and only if, it holds
true to the very Word of God. When it
gets to a point that tradition overshadows the purpose of the activity then it
is wrong. Take for instance the
traditions we have in our families at Christmas time. If those traditions make the event just a
time to celebrate tradition then the tradition needs to stop. If we are more focused on what we do as a
family and less on our Lord then the whole purpose of Christmas is negated.
Now take for
example the church and its traditions.
Some of the traditions may be very good and have a great purpose and we
should adhere to them but if they get in the way of why we are there then they
should be thrown out. In this same
paragraph I must say that some of the “new traditions” in the church may also
get in the way of why we are there. We replace old traditions with new
traditions that may or may not bring Glory to our Father in Heaven.
I know of churches
that are trying to attract the crowds.
They have churches that have changed their names and location to look
more like a bar than a church in order to attract a different crowd of
people. They attract people with their
performance on stage but forget that they need to be living a life worthy of
the calling they have received. Ephesians 4: 1 – 4 1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to
live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient,
bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit
through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were
called to one hope when you were called— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through
all and in all. It seems
odd that we are trying to change the way we do things on the inside of the
church but are forgetting that we live outside of the church. If we want to attract people we need to live
by the words found in the Ephesians verse.
When we are humble, gentle, patient, and able to accept one another in
love outside of the church people will be attracted to the inside. Just as the tongue is a reflection of our
inward being so are our actions a reflection of who we are as a fellowship of
believer. As churches move to new
traditions and get rid of the old ones they need to make sure those traditions
hold true to the Word. They need to make
sure as people in those churches that they are living a life worthy of the calling
both inside the confines of the church walls and outside where others will see
us.
Inside the church walls I see pastors stand up at the pulpit
with no more than a music stand to hold the Word of God. The pulpit, a place of honor, has been
replaced with blue jeans and un-tucked shirts all in the name of trying to
attract the younger crowd. Turn up the
music, who cares if it hurts the ears of the elderly, they can wear earplugs,
oh, yeah, don’t forget that church is not about you. Hummm, then who is the church about? Does God need the music turned up? It seems to me that He speaks in a still
small voice so if the music is turned up will I hear Him? If the church is about the Lord, how are we
honoring Him?
The church, it is not about tradition, it is about serving
our Lord and Savior. It should be about equipping
the saints to go out and spread the Word of God wherever they are. It should be about equipping the saints to
live a holy and acceptable life that is pleasing to the Lord. When we begin to make new traditions we need
to make sure that those traditions are true to His word. That we are not attracting people to a new
way of doing church but that we are attracting people to the God that created
us. We should make sure that His glory
shines through not our performance.
As you seek Him and find Him may you remember that it is only
by His grace and forgiveness that we can come to His thrown. May you hear His still, small voice calling
you to come to Him today.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
