A Defiled Heart Manuscript

SERMON TITLE: A Defiled Heart
TEXT: Mark 7:14-23 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 1-11/12-20

Sermon Video

WELCOME

It’s great to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And one thing I want you to know is that God loves you and I love you too.

SERIES INTRODUCTION

Last week, we jumped back in to the gospel of Mark. We’ve been in the gospel for a few years — going through it a few chapters at a time. And — this year — we’re spending time in chapters 7 and 8 as we see Jesus challenge us — again and again — to understand that our inward motivations matter more to him than our outward behavior — and that’s because our inward motivations are what cause our outward behaviors — even when we’re unaware of the connection between the two.

And today’s story – from Mark’s gospel – is really a continuation from the story we saw last week – where Jesus confronted some religious leaders about holding their manmade religious traditions on equal ground as God’s Word. And — today — we’re going to see Jesus explain exactly what happened — in his confrontation with the religious leaders – to the crowd that’s around him. And it’s — here — in this story where we find a statement made by Jesus that this series is built on. For Jesus is going to tell us that what matters most – when it comes to who we are and what we do – what matters most is the condition of our heart.

So let’s turn to our passage for today and see what we can learn about our hearts.

ANNOUNCE THE TEXT

If you have your Bible please turn with me to Mark chapter 7. We’ll be looking at verses 14-23. Mark chapter 7. Beginning in verse 14.

“And he called the people to him again and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 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." 17 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 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, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, "What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."” (Mark 7:14-23 ESV)

SERMON INTRODUCTION

When it comes to what’s wrong in our world — what’s wrong in our lives — even what’s wrong with us – a default position – for many of us – is to look outside of ourselves to find the cause of what’s wrong. So — for example — if something goes wrong in our life, most of us — by default — will ask, “Who’s to blame for this” — and — when we ask that question — we exclude ourselves from the list of culprits.

• When the group project at school doesn’t go — well – it’s the other students’ fault.
• When our boss doesn’t like our work – well – everyone knows she’s a perfectionist.
• When our marriage is rocky – our spouse is to blame.
• Something that’s instinctive to us – natural — you might say – is to look outside ourselves first — when trying to figure out the reason why something’s gone wrong. And this can lead us to see other people as either problems to manage or problems to avoid altogether.

Now there’s a very real truth that the types of people we surround ourselves with will influence our lives for good or bad. But ultimately – as your momma probably told you – just because all your friends jump off a bridge doesn’t mean you have to. Why? Because we’re ultimately responsible for our decisions.

You see, a flaw — in much of our thinking about these kinds of things — is how we fail to focus on what’s going on inside of us. Instead of focusing on how things outside of us impact our lives — our friends or coworkers or classmates — we should spend time examining our internal motivations — why did I think it was a good idea to jump off the bridge? You see, though it’s easy – and natural – to cast blame – what Jesus suggests is that we look inward – to our hearts so we see how sin has corrupted even our motivations. Because even though we’re not responsible for everything that goes wrong in our lives — we are responsible for some of it — maybe even the majority of it. And if we want to understand why things go wrong in our lives — we have to know our motivations.

But let me repeat something I just said — so there’s no confusion. Not everything in your life — that goes wrong — is your fault – nor is everything — that goes right in your life — yours to take credit for. And how the Christian faith helps us — and particularly how the gospel informs us of this — is by showing us that it’s the condition of our heart – not external factors – that determines our decisions and behaviors. And when it comes to our relationship with God and each other – the condition of our heart is what defines us.

Now – you may be thinking – “Well OK. But what does this have to do with anything?” So let’s make this practical. If the condition of our heart is what defines us – then advice like “Follow your heart” is not the best advice to give to someone who’s heart is the cause of their trouble. And this kind of advice dominates the airwaves of our culture.

• “Do what feels good to you.”
• “Believe what you want to believe — hold to your own truths – no one can tell you what you believe is wrong.”
• “Create your own personalized faith.”
• “Blaze a trail so you become whoever you want to become.”

These kinds of mantras all around us.

But – if as Jesus says – we have a heart problem – then we need to be cautious about following such ill given advice. But there’s good news for us – for those of us who have a heart problem – which is all of us — by the way — and the good news is this: Jesus can give you a new heart. And when he gives you a new heart – then – and only then – will following your heart lead you away from sin and towards living in a way that pleases the One who’s repaired your heart condition.

WHAT COMES OUT NOT WHAT GOES IN

So go back to verse 14 and see how Jesus shows us how the condition of our heart is our problem.

“And he called the people to him again and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 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.” And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 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, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.)” (Mark 7:14-19 ESV)

So – as a reminder – this story is a continuation of Jesus’ confrontation with the religious leaders from last week. And though Jesus showed us – and his disciples, and the religious leaders, and the crowd – though he’s showed us how the religious leaders have put their manmade religious traditions on equal ground as God’s Word – he never actually answered their question, “Why don’t your disciples wash before they eat?” He didn’t give the religious leaders an answer to their question – he just turned their religious tradition against them.

But – now – Jesus is going to help the crowd understand what he was saying about the traditions. Remember, it’s not just the Pharisees and other religious leaders who held these religious traditions – but the average Jew had been raised to practice these traditions as well. And because Jesus is a kind and patient teacher – he wants the crowd to understand what he was doing in his confrontation with the Pharisees — and why. So he focuses his attention on the people in the crowd.

And he tells them to listen and to understand his words — “Listen up, everyone. What I’m about to tell you is important.” And he tells them that what defiles a person – what makes a person unclean – and in the Jewish religion being clean or unclean was an extremely important matter – it’s hard — really — for me to stress to you just how important this was for them — but Jesus tells the crowd that what defiles a person isn’t something on the outside – what defiles a person is what comes out of them. Meaning what makes a person defiled — or unclean — is something that’s already inside of them — it’s something that’s already part of them.

So – given that the recent debate was over a ceremonial washing — a type of purification ceremony — a cleansing before you eat – Jesus’ point is that it’s not something you can touch that will make you impure – unclean – or defiled – which is the reason why you ceremonially wash yourself – or cleanse yourself with water – because you don’t want to defile the food you’re about to eat with others – because if you’re defiled and then touch the food — then you defiled it — and if you defile the food – then someone else who touches or eats the food – well then – they’re defiled too. What a domino effect, right?

But Jesus says that what defiles us – for he doesn’t deny that people are unclean or defiled – he doesn’t deny that they do need to be cleansed, washed, made pure – but what he says is that what defiles a person is already in them – it’s part of our nature – the very core of who we are — that ultimately we all have a problem with our heart — a heart condition.

Now what Jesus has just told them – that – ultimately we have a heart problem – is neither a new nor a revolutionary idea. He reiterates this idea when he enters the house with his disciples and says, “It’s not what goes in you that defiles you – it’s what comes out of you that shows you are defiled.”

WHERE EVIL COMES FROM

But before I show us how this is a truth found throughout the Bible – a truth that should have great impact on how we view ourselves and — ultimately what is – at the foundation – wrong in our world – I want us to hear Jesus’ final words in this conversation. Verse 20,

“And he said, "What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person."” (Mark 7:20-23 ESV)

So Jesus says it again – it’s not outside things that defile us – it’s something going on in our inside that’s the problem. And then he gives this pretty dire laundry list of things that – Jesus says – come from within us – that come from our heart.

Evil thoughts. Sexual immorality. Theft. Murder. Adultery. Covetousness. Wickedness. Deceit. Sensuality. Envy. Slander. Pride. Foolishness. That’s not a very encouraging list. Thanks Jesus!

Now we don’t have time to hit them all – but let’s look at a few of them – explain what they mean – and then expose how we often deflect blame in order to live in denial that these things really do come from within us – come from our hearts — that Jesus is right when he tells us these kinds of evil things are natural to us.

• Sexual sins – number two on the list. The Greek word is pornea – that’s where we get the word porn from. In Jesus’ day this word meant something like “unnatural sex” – including homosexuality.
• A few of the things Jesus lists are right out of the 10 Commandments. Theft, murder, adultery, and coveting.
• Envy carries with it the opposite idea of being generous — so there’s a greediness implied here — a stinginess.
• Slander comes from a Greek word often translated as blasphemy or speaking abusively towards God

And all of this comes from within us. So folks, we have a problem – a heart problem – at least that’s what Jesus says

Now why is our heart such a big deal? Especially since we live in a country that focuses so much on behavior — what we do — what we accomplish — so why should our hearts have our attention when we live in a culture that teaches us to look outside of ourselves to find the reason for our troubles – why should we examine our hearts?

Well — as I promised earlier — Jesus isn’t the first to point out the importance of our heart. In fact, the Bible has much to say about our hearts. Now – there are times – when the Bible refers simply to the organ that pumps blood in our bodies – but more often – when the Bible speaks of our heart – it speaks of the “center of our spiritual activity and all the operations of human life.” ( Bible Navigator: “Easton’s Illustrated Dictionary of Biblical terms”- Heart) Or as another Bible dictionary defines it, “The heart is regarded as the seat of emotions, seat of knowledge and wisdom, and can be used of the man himself or his personality. It is also considered the seat of conscience and moral character.” (W.E.Vine, Merrill F. Unger and William White, Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1985) 297.) And the goal of the Christian faith – as found from Genesis to Revelation – is to have a change of heart — and I’m talking a radical resurrection type of change.

And since we need a changed heart – the question then becomes – what’s wrong with our heart and how does a heart get changed? I mean — are our hearts bad or are they good? Something that may surprise you is that overwhelmingly the Bible tells us that our hearts were created for good. And the war– the battle we’re in – is who will have the allegiance of our heart. And though the Bible does speak of our hearts as being deceitful and wicked due to sin – for the Christian – for someone who’s described as having been given a new heart – the Christian has a good heart. A resurrected heart. A heart that longs to love and obey the One who gave it life.

And that’s how your heart is healed — you’re given a new one — through the transforming power of the Father, Son, and Spirit. Where — what is described as a dead, stone-like heart — that you once had due to sin — this was your heart prior to faith in Christ – where that dead, stoney heart is replaced with an awakened, alive to the things of God heart when you believed in Jesus.

And all of this — the fact that God gives us a new heart through faith in Jesus — shows us that the work God’s doing to us is an inside out kind of work — God changes us from the inside out. And this is a work we must participate in — meaning — this isn’t something that we just wait around for and hope God is doing to us — there is work that we’re to do. Because the re-shaping of our desires and thoughts and loves and hopes and dreams — so that they align with God and his will – as revealed to us in his Word – so that we’re fully transformed into the people he’s saved us to be — is a work that we’re to participate in because this is the reason why God has given us a new heart. We wouldn’t be able to experience these new desires and thoughts and loves and hopes and dreams without God first giving us a new heart — but now we can experience all of these things because of the new heart inside of us — which is to shape what we do, what we think, and who we’re becoming.

That’s the amazing power of the new heart God graciously gives to his people. This is the new inner person – the new inside you — that God has awakened to life through your faith in Christ. For your heart – as John Wesley said – can be a “corrupt spring” (Bible Navigator 3.0, Holman Software: “Bible Navigator- Special Academic Edition: John Wesley’s Commentary,” copyright 2004.) – like in the days of Noah when God saw that the “inclination of mankind’s heart was only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5-7) or – through the life giving power of the Spirit of God – your heart can be a “wellspring of life and joy and hope and peace and generosity and love and patience and all the traits that God desires of his people.”

And the condition of your heart matters because all that you do comes from what your heart desires. Some behaviors — like the ones that Jesus mentions — come from a defiled heart. Others — the behaviors I believe we long to see in ourselves — and in others — things like joy and peace and love and patience and tenderness — only come from a heart that God makes alive through faith in his Son.

Now a great myth of Christianity – and many believe this myth and reject Christianity because of it – but a myth of Christianity is that God is solely concerned with our outward behavior. And though what you do does matter to God — he is first and foremost concerned with your heart. And when your heart is changed — when your heart is made alive to God — your behaviors will be changed — and obeying God will be a delightful duty.

But here’s a question for you.

• Can you say that you’re a Christian and not be changed by God? Yes.
• Can you be baptized and not be changed by God? Yes.
• Can you attend church every week, tithe, be part of a Life Group, serve, and even go on a missions trip and not be changed by God? The answer should frighten us. Yes, you can do all of those things and not be changed.
• But — you may wonder — can you receive a “new, life giving, resurrected by the power of Jesus Christ” – heart and not have it change you? No. Because if God has changed your heart – you have been changed.

When I was in high school, my parents bought me a car. Now I didn’t know anything about cars back then – still don’t really — but here’s what teenage Josh did. I got so focused on the outside of the car – I washed it religiously, made sure it sparkled in the Florida sun – I was so focused on the external look of the car that I never thought about the internal workings of it. Like the fact that it needed its oil changed every few months. Or that checking the air pressure in the tires was something that should be done. And I learned — quickly — that a car will only run so long without its insides being taken care of. No matter how clean the outside is – no matter how it shines in the Florida sun — if the oil never gets changed and the tire pressure never gets checked – eventually you’ll have car trouble.

And the reason why your heart is so important is because God knows that when he gets your heart – he gets you – all of you. As the church Father – Augustine – said, “Thou has made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” God went to great lengths – not just to get your heart — and he went to great lengths not even to just give your heart rest – God went to great lengths to give you his heart when he gave you his Son. And when God gets your heart — and when you understand what it means that he’s given you his heart — you’ll treasure his Son above everything else. This doesn’t mean you’ll live a sin free life – but – when you do sin – what you treasure most — Jesus — will draw you back to him because he loves you. And – when Jesus graciously draws us back to him – he renews our devotion to him as our supreme treasure. (Idea based on thoughts from John Piper.)

CONCLUSION

Now I know that some of us are keenly aware of how often we lead ourselves astray – how often we lead ourselves away from what we treasure most – but don’t let this cause you to despair. If you believe in Jesus – you’ve been given a new heart – a transformed heart – one that treasures Jesus more than all other things. You have a heart that can resist sin – you have a heart that can joyfully obey God.

For others of us — though — today we may have realized that we’ve given others some not so great advice — to follow their heart — when their heart was their problem. I know that your desire is to help and encourage others — not to lead them astray. So let me encourage you by helping you be a good friend to them. Watch for when their heart is deceiving them. Show them how Jesus has transformed your heart and given you new desires. Let them taste and see – in your life – that Jesus is good. That he’s your treasure. That he can be their treasure as well.

And for all of us, may we know that it’s not the things outside of us that defile us. As tempting as it is – and especially with as easy as it is – to blame others or things outside of us for our troubles – may we all examine our hearts.

• What do we treasure most?
• What has our affections?
• When you catch yourself daydreaming, what are you dreaming about?
• And if you’re not satisfied with your answers, turn to Jesus in faith. Turn back to him again and again. Turn to God’s Word so you better see and understand the infinite value of the One who’s shown you the height and depth and breadth of his love for you – how big his heart is for you – and – in response – treasure him above all things.

Jesus can change you. But it begins – not with things on the outside – change begins with things on the inside. Change — true, transforming, life-giving, and lasting change — begins with your heart. Let’s pray.

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, thank you for your love, patience, mercy, and kindness towards us. We often take for granted and are even unaware of your affections for us as we’re caught up living life without you. Yet you still pursue us. You call us. You embrace us. You care for us. You love us.

Jesus, thank you for showing us the heart of your Father for us in living for us, dying for us, and defeating Satan, sin, death, and Hell for us. All so that we could receive a new heart — an alive heart — an “I really love am loved by God and love him in return” heart. Help us — because of our faith in you — to follow these new hearts that you have given us.

And Holy Spirit, for anyone here who needs a new heart — who is longing right now to know that they are loved by you — may you resurrect their heart. Give them life. Give them hope. Give them peace. Give them joy. Give them you love. And may they respond by loving the One who’s saved them in return — allowing their Savior and Lord to have the affections of their heart. And we pray all of these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.

BENEDICTION (PRAY FOR: have treasured something more than Jesus; desire a new heart)

May you go treasuring Jesus above everything. Amen.

God loves you. I love you. You are sent.

Fill-in notes for this sermon can be found here.