Author: Japanese Congregational Church

Numbers 14:1-12

In Numbers 13 we were told that twelve spies were sent into the promised land to see what it was like. When they returned, they reported that the land was a good rich land that “flowed with milk and honey”. However, all except for Caleb suggested that the inhabitants were too numerous and strong for them. Caleb was the only one who urged that they should immediately go in and take it, since the LORD was with them.

After listening to the reports, the people conclude that they should not enter. They are afraid especially for their wives and children. They want to choose a new leader and go back to Egypt. Moses and Aaron, as well as two of the spies – Caleb and Joshua – Try to convince them otherwise, but they are determined to go back and threaten to stone them. The presence of the LORD appears and tells Moses that He will strike down the people and will make a nation out of Moses.

Moses once again intercedes for the people and asks that the LORD forgive them. The LORD accepts Moses’ request and forgives the people. However, all the adults who have seen the LORD perform miracles and yet have not believed and trusted in His promises will not be allowed to step into the promised land. Instead, they will wander in the desert for forty years until they die. And then the LORD will take their children, who the people believed would become booty, into the land. Caleb and Joshua, who showed faith in God and His promises will be the only ones allowed to enter the land. The other ten who spied out the land die by a plague sent by the LORD. The LORD tells Moses to lead the people back towards the Red Sea the next day.

When Moses tells the people what the LORD had said, they all realize that they sinned against the LORD and mourn. They decide that they will enter the land after all. Moses tells them not to do it and warns them that this would be another sin against the LORD. Additionally, since the LORD will not be with them, they cannot succeed.  They go in any way and are defeated.

It is interesting that the Israelites end up getting what they desired through God’s judgement against them. In verse 2, they said, “Or would that we had died in this wilderness!” and they will. They did not want to enter the promised land, and they will not. They were concerned for the safety of their children, and the LORD will take them in after the current adults have died in the wilderness.

When the people finally understand that they made a mistake by not entering the land, they think that they can make things right by going in. But the LORD had already decided that they should not enter. Going in now would mean going against the LORD’s will. We should keep in mind that the LORD’s plans include not only people and place, but also timing.

These Israelites have committed two great sins against the LORD. The first was in Genesis 32, when they worshipped the golden calf. The second one is their refusal to enter the promised land. Each time, the LORD takes these seriously enough that He was going to destroy them and create a nation out of Moses. Each time, Moses intervenes so that the LORD forgives the people.

This speaks well of Moses, since it would have benefited him to become the ancestor of a great nation. Instead, he is willing to forgo any benefits and rather works for the welfare of the people.

In Luke 9:24, Jesus taught, “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.” The Israelites were afraid of the inhabitants and wanted to save their lives and their children’s lives by refusing to enter. They will die in the wilderness. Moses, on the other hand, lifts God’s plans above his own glory and he will be remembered as the greatest prophet of the Old Testament.

There are parallels between this incidence and the coming of Jesus Christ. From the time of Abraham, what the people were looking forward to the most was to come into the promised land and take possession of it. Yet, when that time came, they refused to enter. Apparently, the land having residents that must be overcome was unexpected, and the fear they had for this was greater than the LORD’s promises. They could not come to trust in the LORD’s words and power, even though they had witnessed and felt His power regularly.

In the time of Jesus Christ, all of Israel was eagerly awaiting the coming of the Messiah. Yet, when He came, He did not meet the people’s expectations and so was rejected. They were not willing to trust in Jesus, although they had witnessed His power and teachings regularly.

The New Testament teaches us that when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and we ask for forgiveness of our sins, we will not only be forgiven, but we will also be given eternal life with the Lord and other believers. Not only that, but we will also then be able to do the work the Lord has been planning for us.

It is easy enough to go astray out of fear. When we can’t quite trust in the power of God, then temptation comes to entice us to go our own way. And when we do, there will be consequences, not only for ourselves, but sometimes for those around us. Although the consequences may not go away, we can trust that God will forgive us.

When we see others go against the Lord’s will, we should pray for them and intercede for them, just as Moses did for the people.

When we have gone astray, we need to trust God’s love and turn back to Him in repentance. In Romans 8, Paul teaches us that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord – Not even ourselves.

(the above is a summary of the message shared by Shun Takano during our worship on October 13, 2024.)

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.  Mark 10:46-52

This story, the healing of Bartimaeus, is the climax, or conclusion, to the first half of the gospel of Mark, as Jesus is making his final trip toward Jerusalem. For this entire final journey to Jerusalem Jesus has been trying to explain what true discipleship is – what it looks like, what it means to be a disciple. And those around him never seem to really understand.

• Peter doesn’t seem to understand….he recognizes that Jesus is the Messiah, but refuses to accept that Jesus must die on a cross.
• The rich young man didn’t seem to “get it” as he turned sadly away from following Jesus, after being told that he would have to sell all his possessions.
• The sons of Zebedee, James and John, didn’t seem to understand discipleship when they asked for special positions – on Jesus’ right and left – when he came into his kingdom.

But here we have a blind beggar, who seems to understand clearly, who Jesus is, and what following him will entail. We know that he’s important to Mark, because of all the healings recorded in Mark, this is the only individual who is named. We see the faith of Bartimaeus in the following:

1. He grasps who Jesus is. (“Jesus, Son of David……”) this phrase appears ONLY here in Mark.
2. He persists… despite hindrances  (the people try to shut him up, but he continues shouting…..)
3. He expects a transformation… he expects to be healed  (he throws off his cloak as he’s led to Jesus)
4. He asks for the right thing  (not a place of privilege – see James and John earlier…but sight.)
5. He immediately follows Jesus on his way (to Jerusalem and crucifixion)

But I want to have you take special notice of….. and remember…..his cry:

“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

This has been used within the Christian Church, particularly the Orthodox Church, and known as the “Jesus Prayer”. It is similar to the prayer of the publican (tax collector) in Jesus’ parable who, in contrast to the proud Pharisee, prayed “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

“Jesus Christ, Son of David, have mercy on me, a sinner!”

In this short prayer and cry – all of the essentials are confessed:

Who Jesus is:  Royalty, Messiah, Son of God

Who I am:  A blind beggar

What I need:  Mercy

This is the essential way in which we approach God, in our neediness, blindness, and sin.

We have no real claim on Jesus outside of this plea for mercy. It may seem strange that Jesus asks Bartimaeus a question that would seem obvious. “What is it you want?” One way to understand it is that the man is a beggar, so he might simply be after some money.  In that case, Jesus’s question may be better understood as, “What do you really want?”

Bartimaeus says that he wants to see… to have his sight restored. But it’s clear that although his eyes are blind, Bartimaeus already has a kind of spiritual insight – he knows clearly who Jesus is, and that Jesus is the only one that can help him.

If Jesus were to ask us “What do you want me to do for you?”…. how would we answer?

Would it be a list of things that we wish God would do for us…..?  A place of privilege? Security for our retirement?    Or…. If we really understood who Jesus was, and what our need was, would we simply have a request more like Bartimaeus…   “Lord, I want to see!” 

(The above is a summary of the message shared during worship on October 6, 2024.)

Gallery and Video Premiere on Sunday, October 20, 2024

Recently I received an email from Carolyn Shimabukuro, a leading expert and student of the art work of the famous Japanese Christian artist Watanabe Sadao. She recently completed a video about Watanabe which will be premiering at the Japanese Baptist Church on October 20, 2024. I’ve copied her email below which includes all of the necessary information. It’s free….so please plan to attend this inspiring event!

Hello Pastor Tim,

Thank you for your response to my email.  I trust that you and your ministry are well.

I completed a project that we have been working on for several years now.  It is a mini documentary on the life, art and faith of Sadao Watanabe, Printmaker.  I have personally been impacted by Watanabe’s Biblical prints and I felt compelled to tell his story through the eyes of his one student that he mentored  – Mrs. Anne H.H. Pyle.  

Dr. Ken and Anne live here locally in Medina Washington and have the largest personal collection of Watanabe art. The Pyle’s have been faithful stewards of Watanabe’s work.  I have learned so much from them and I trust that the Watanabe story will live on through his art and us.

I want to invite you and the Japanese Congregational Church members and friends to a premier showing of the video and gallery of over 20 Watanabe prints.  This will take place on October 20th with showings at 1:00 and 3:00 at the Japanese Baptist Church in Seattle.

Please see attached flyer with information below and please RSVP by Oct. 13th. See jbcseattle.org; click on the red “Watanabe” bar across the top of the front page.

Note: this is a family friendly event – with an art section for kids.  Also, the video is bi-lingual: English with Japanese subtitles.  

Carolyn Shimabukuro / All Seasons Counseling and Spiritual Direction 

questions? Feel free to text or call at 425.417-7401

James 5:13-20

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops. My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Over the past 9 months I’ve spoken 6 different times on the topic of prayer. We’ve looked at some basics of prayer, learning to pray, praying for others, praying for our daily needs, and praying as a conversation with God.

Today, our text, this final portion of James, also talks about prayer. Specifically, James is talking about the power and strength of prayer that happens in the community, within the body of Christ. Individual prayer is of course possible, and assumed, and necessary – but here James is speaking about the special effectiveness of those prayers that happen within a group setting.

Verse 13-14

13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.

In short, being in trouble, being happy, and being sick are simply shorthand for describing all of our possible situations. Do any of these three describe you? What’s your situation today? We are to pray with and for each other at all times, in all situations. “Calling for the elders” and “laying on of hands” as well as the “anointing with oil” – all emphasize the effectiveness and naturalness of praying together…as one body.

 Verse 15-16

15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

It appears that some conditions are listed here – perhaps we could state them in a type of formula:

Prayer offered in faith + Confession of your sins to each other = forgiveness and healing

Or perhaps we could word it a bit differently: Confession (one to another) coupled with corporate prayer (with and for each other) leads to healing. The healing James describes here may not always include complete physical healing – the result that we usually pray for – but it does always include that broader healing that involves spirit and soul (forgiveness).

Verses 17-18

17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

Just as James points to a scriptural hero – Elijah – an historical case of God answering prayer, we, too, add our examples and voices to this narrative. As we pray in community, we point to those times and examples where God answered prayers and we experienced healing.

Verses 19-20

19 My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

These final verses may seem a bit off topic, but here, too, James suggests a specific kind of corporate, community prayer. Every family includes members who are no longer with us. Particularly those that are no longer with us in faith or practice. The importance of praying for, and reaching out to those that are “wandering” is considered a vital and meaningful task of the community.

So what is James’ recipe for a healthy church and healthy faith?

Be in community 

Meet regularly, talk regularly, in person or zoom or on the phone. Find a prayer partner. Faith was never meant to be a solo endeavor, an individualistic act. We take this journey in community. Being in community is not easy in our present world and individualistic environment. This is particularly true in our prayer lives!

Trust each other – and be transparent with one another 

Confess our sins to each other, develop solid spiritual relationships, be open and honest with each other. This too, will not come easily. Making sure that our community – our church family – is a safe place to share and be transparent with one another will help us grow and mature in our corporate prayer life.

Pray for one another

In all times – times of sadness, gladness, and sickness, as well as continuing to prayer for each other’s families and those who are “wandering”.

What a beautiful encouragement to our JCC family – to go deeper in mutual confession and prayer…. and in so doing, find forgiveness and healing!

(the above is a summary of the message shared during our worship of September 29, 2024.)

Numbers 13:25-33

After the golden calf incident, the people start moving towards the promised land in Numbers chapter 10. After only three days, the people complain again. This time, it is not about the lack of food or water, but the fact that they are sick of eating manna, and they want meat. Moses turns to the LORD and He gets angry and declares that they will soon have so much meat that they will be eating it for a month – Until it starts coming out of their nostrils.

The LORD causes a strong wind which carries quails, and they fall around the camp. There is so much quail that they could walk a full day in all directions until they would end, and two cubits deep, which would be about three feet deep. Numbers 11:32 tells us that the least anyone gathered was ten homers, which would be about 1,900 birds.

The LORD also sent a plague and the people who had the craving for meat died.

Then in Numbers 12, we learn that Miriam and Aaron criticized Moses for the fact that he had married a Cushite woman and questioned why Moses was the only one that gets to speak directly with the LORD. This angered the LORD and He tells them that He would speak to other prophets in dreams and visions, but He chooses to speak to Moses directly. Miriam becomes leprous. Moses intercedes on their behalf and Miriam is healed but must stay out of the camp for seven days.

At the start of Numbers 13, they finally reach the southern edge of Canaan, the promised land. The Lord commands that twelve individuals be selected – one from each tribe – and that they should go into the land and bring back reports of how it is. They find it very fertile and brought back sample fruits – grapes, pomegranates and figs. The cluster of grapes was so large that they had to carry it on a pole between two men.

In this morning’s passage, we find out what the spies report back to the people.

The majority report is that the land is very rich as promised – “It flows with milk and honey.” However, the inhabitants are strong, they live in large, fortified towns, and some of the people are large.

The minority report was made by Caleb, who says, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”

Then the other spies exaggerated their negative report.  The “land of milk and honey” becomes “the land that devours people.” The inhabitants are stronger than Israel – all the people are giants – Israelites are like grasshoppers compared to them.

All twelve spies saw the same thing, but the recommendation that Caleb made was far different from the recommendation that the rest made.

In Numbers 1, the LORD ordered Moses to take a census to determine the number of men twenty years and older who could go to war — they counted 603,500. This is a large number – for reference, there were 450,000 active-duty personnel in the U.S. Army in 2023. When they moved, they moved in formation. This certainly seemed to be in anticipation of a military campaign.

God made His power and presence obvious to the people. The ten plagues in Egypt, the Passover, the parting of the sea, the destruction of the Egyptian army, water and food in the desert, the physical manifestation as He came to meet them on the mountain, the pillar of fire and smoke, and the promise of the conquest of the promised land.

All of this was enough for Caleb to believe in God and His promises.

The promise of the land was first given to Abraham. Then it was passed down to Isaac, and then to Jacob. Even the four hundred years of captivity and liberation were foretold. They were finally at the southern boundary of that promised land, and that land is a rich and fertile one.

Whether they go in and take the land or not will depend on their faith in God and His promises. Caleb has faith sufficient to recommend that they take the land. The others, not so much.

Sometimes when we feel that God is leading us to a decision, it would be much easier if God would give us a miraculous sign. But if this were true, the Israelites should have no doubt going into the promised land, since God had repeatedly shown them miracles as well as His presence.

So, whether we can move out in faith comes down to how willing we are to trust God. We see examples of this in the Bible. We also see examples of men and women and faith outside of the Bible which become encouragement for us when we need to move out in faith, even against odds.

Through our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are promised forgiveness and eternal life. This should give us the boldness to do the Lord’s will, even if it involves some chance of danger. We are being examples – good or bad – when we either step out in faith or not.

When the time comes, let us pray that we can have faith like Caleb and be able to say to others, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.”

(the above is a summary of the message shared by Shun Takano during our worship on September 22, 2024.)

It’s hard to believe that almost a year has passed since Chris & Missy Takano, and their sons, Caleb and Eli visited us during Sunday worship and shared with us about their ministry and work at the Black Forest Academy in Kandern, Germany. Here is their most recent newsletter. Just click on the image below to read it.

Scott & Kely Furushima serve with an organization called “Activate International”. They feel called by God to serve full-time as missionaries in Japan, and are presently praying, planning, and raising support in order to make that a reality. We at JCC are playing a very small role in all of that by praying for …..and supporting them financially. To learn more about ACTIVATE INTERNATIONAL, just click on this hyperlink.

We’ll post their e-newsletters here on our website blog whenever we receive them. This most recent update arrived on Sept. 22, 2024. Just click on the photo below to see their news!

Exodus 23:20-33

God gave the people the ten commandments, and due to the way it was presented to them, they knew that these came straight from God, and were not something Moses came up with on his own. The LORD then gave further laws to Moses about the altar, slaves, violence, property, restitution, social and religious laws, justice, sabbath day and sabbatical year, and annual festivals.

Then in today’s passage, the LORD is promising the successful conquest of Canaan. God will guard Israel and bring them to the promised land and drive out its inhabitants. Not only that, God will also bless them with food, drink, healing, fertility and long life. The LORD also informs the people that He is not going to drive the people out all at once, but in an orderly fashion, as Israel is ready to take over. This way, they can avoid the land turning wild before they can settle in.

This almost sounds like how life was supposed to be in the garden of Eden – As if the curse of sin and the fall of man had been taken away.

However, this was conditional upon Israel being loyal to God and His commands, and according to v. 21, there will be no forgiveness if they sin.

The people see the great value of this covenant and agree to it, vowing to be obedient. Sadly, we know that the people will break this agreement even before they leave Mt. Sinai. When Moses is called up to the mountain for further instructions, he ends up being away for forty days. In Exodus 32, we see the people get impatient and demand that Aaron make them a golden calf, which they believe will lead them, in the absence of Moses.

The LORD is angered by this and decides to destroy the people and start over with Moses, but Moses pleads against this and goes down from the mountain to take care of this situation. Moses destroys the golden calf, grinds it up into powder, mixes it with water and makes the people drink it. He then asks who is on the LORD’s side, and all the sons of Levi gather around Moses. Moses commands each of them to take up their swords, and about three thousand people fell that day. It is ironic that the sons of Levi are ordained for the service of the LORD through this action – In a way, their priesthood starts with the cleansing of sinners.

Moses goes back to the LORD and pleads for forgiveness of the people. The LORD agrees to send an angel to still lead the people to the promised land, but for the people who sinned, he sends a plague, and they die.

Then the LORD tells Moses that His angel will now lead them to the promised land and will drive out the inhabitants, but the LORD Himself will not go with them. Moses pleads with the LORD to be with them, since it is necessary for the people that the LORD’s presence is amongst them. The LORD agrees, because Moses found favor in His eyes.

It seems rather harsh that in the original covenant, God declares that there will be no forgiveness for those who transgress. And with the golden calf incident, thousands of people die from the sword or by the plague. This shows how serious God considers the relationship with His people, and how serious it is to sin against Him.

After this, when a new covenant is made, God makes it known that forgiveness is possible – It is not automatic, but it is possible.

We see that Moses had a good relationship with God, and because of this, his intercessory prayers for the people were effective. We can take comfort in the fact that Jesus Christ is interceding for us with God – Romans 8:34 tells us that Jesus is at the right hand of God and is interceding for us.

Through accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we can have a good relationship with God the Father. As we can see the importance of Moses interceding with God for others, we too should be interceding for others through prayers. For people who we love, as well as those who we consider enemies or sinners, our intercessory prayers can make a difference.

When the people agreed to the covenant with the LORD, they were certainly aware of the benefits that the LORD was offering, but probably not all that aware of the seriousness of the consequences that would come with breaking the covenant. After the golden calf incident, they surely understood the seriousness of sinning against the LORD and grateful for the grace that was shown to them by still being alive. But we also know that this awareness will fade with time, and they will sin again.

We can also be a little jaded about God’s grace towards us. Once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and ask for forgiveness; our sins will be forgiven. And because Jesus took the punishment for our sins, we often miss the seriousness of our sins. We get some idea from the fact that our sins were so grave, that the Son of God had to die on the cross because of them.

It is easy to not take our sins very seriously, since we know that God will forgive us. But just because forgiveness is available to us does not mean that we can continue to live a life full of sin, just so we can experience God’s grace over and over. Paul warns us against this attitude in Romans 6.

How we should live is well summarized in 1 John 2:1-6, so we will close with this:

¹My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; ²and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. ³Now by this we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his commandments. ⁴Whoever says, “I have come to know him,” but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; ⁵but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are in him: ⁶whoever says, “I abide in him,” ought to walk just as he walked.

(the above is a summary of the message shared by Shun Takano during our worship on September 8, 2024.)

Mark 7:1-8

“You have let go of the commands of God…and instead are holding on to your own rules.” Or, to rephrase Jesus’ words, “You have made such a practice of following your own made-up-rules…..that you have forgotten and ignored – thrown away – the central commandments of God.”

Jewish leaders and teachers of the law had come from Jerusalem….and were asking Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples follow the accepted teachings of the elders about purification? Why do they eat without washing their hands properly?”

Jesus does not criticize the purification practices…nor any of the Mosaic laws, but he criticizes the leaders harshly with a quote from Isaiah:  “Isaiah was right when he called you hypocrites. These people honor me with their lips….but their hearts are far from me.”

What did Jesus mean? And what did he mean later in verse 8 when he accuses them of focusing on their own rules and customs?

In verses 9-13 Jesus gave them an example of how they made up rules for their own convenience while ignoring God’s commands. He described their practice of “corban” – where they took money that they could use to support their parents and gave it as a special offering to the temple….or simply called it “a special offering”. This somehow seemed to relieve them of any further need to support their parents. The temple actually encouraged them to do this. And so even though the Mosaic law commanded them to “honor your father and your mother” in this way, they felt free to create new rules that allowed them to ignore their parents.

Then in verse 14-15 Jesus turns and talks to the crowd that is following him. He says this: “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a person can make them `unclean’ by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that makes them `unclean.’ “

Now we know that there are many things that can enter our bodies and destroy us. Drugs, alcohol, pornography, and yes, even a bad diet….. but Jesus is not talking about these things. He is saying that “fundamentally, our biggest problem is not the many bad things on the outside, but the fact that our sinful thoughts and actions spring from within us….from a defiled heart, from a sinful heart.

Finally, when his own disciples don’t know what he means, he explains it further in verses 20-23: “What comes out of a man is what makes him `unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man `unclean.'”

What can we take away from this passage? Jesus seems to be addressing both the actual question of the Jewish leaders (one dealing with purification and defilement….”why don’t your disciples wash their hands?”) as well as the tendency of the religious leaders to be focused on their own made-up rules and rituals, while completely ignoring the central commands of God. A summary of Jesus’ teachings may be the following:

1. Don’t focus on your own traditions and rituals. Focus on the central commands of God.
2. Our sinfulness (in this passage referred to as “defilement”) doesn’t come from the outside. It comes from within our hearts.

In regard to the first issue, what commands have we thrown away…in favor of our own “Christianity”, our own faith, our own flavor of worship? If we were to define the “central commands of God” what would we say? Jesus has already clarified that when talking to the young ruler who asked him, “Teacher, what is the most important command?” In summary, Jesus answered, “Love God. Love your neighbor as yourself.”

In regard to the 2nd issue above, how do we perceive our fundamental problem of sin? Is it primarily on the outside…. all around us…attacking us from all sides? While there IS a great amount of evil in this world and surrounding us….Jesus reminds us that our central problem that needs a solution is the sinful condition of our heart.

This has always been the case. Even in the old testament account of King David, who had one of his loyal military leaders murdered so that he could cover up his adultery with that man’s wife, David pleads for a forgiven, pure heart. Psalm 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Only through true repentance, and a sacrifice offered at the altar could David have this problem of sin resolved. Those of us who live on this side of the cross, know that the answer to our defilement, our sinful hearts, is not more rules, certainly not made-up rules….but repentance and a plea of forgiveness to our Savior, Jesus Christ. Jesus has completed that sacrifice, that offering, once on the cross. We too, receive pure hearts, and a right relationship with God through the cross.

This week let’s take these two truths to heart:

Our Fundamental Task: Love God….Love Neighbor!

Our Fundamental Need: a clean, pure heart through repentance and forgiveness.

These are daily and ongoing realities in our lives. Amen!

(the above is a summary of the message shared during our worship on September 1, 2024.)