Rev. David Holwick ZA "Questions People Ask" topical series
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
September 1, 2002
Matthew 15:1-9
|
I. Weird rituals.
A. Baseball.
1) Our "national pastime" is loaded with quaint rituals.
2) National anthem, seventh-inning stretch, $7 hotdogs,
players' strikes.
B. Weird way our church does communion, according to young member.
1) Deacons serve, then sit.
2) I rise and serve them, then sit.
3) Deacon on my right rises, serves me, then sits.
4) I rise and tell you to eat.
5) Then we repeat...
C. Is all the up-down up-down necessary?
1) Significance is that I am a servee as well as a server.
a) It's a statement that all of us are equal in God's eyes.
2) But does anyone really care about the ritual?
II. Rituals are at core of concept of religion.
A. Our weekly habits.
1) Attending a special building.
2) Going through an organized worship service (where the
organization rarely changes)
3) Singing tried-and-true songs.
4) Repeating rote prayers and doxologies.
5) Giving money, often with a guilt message attached.
6) These aren't just what we do - they are what religious
people have done for millennia.
B. Religious rituals give order and continuity.
1) There is comfort in doing the same things the same ways.
a) Baptist churches from Florida to Oregon have common
features, so you feel at home.
2) Humans are creatures of habit because God made us this way.
a) He created the rhythms of day and night, and seasons.
b) He gave us commands and rituals.
1> Old Testament is filled with them.
2> Leviticus and other notoriously boring books.
c) God wants things done "just so."
1> Much focus on cleanliness and proper sacrifice.
2> Honor God by obeying his rules.
C. Rituals can take on a life of their own.
One woman in her 40s spent up to 13 hours a day washing
her hands and her house.
She described her experience as "hell" - not such an
exaggeration.
As Dr. Michael Jenike of Mass. Gen. Hosp. reconstructs it:
"Before she could use the soap, she had to use some bleach
on the soap to make sure the soap was clean.
Before that, she had to use Ajax on the bleach bottle.
And this went on and on.
If she happened to bump the edge of the sink while she was
doing this, it would set off another hour-and-a-half,
two hours of ritual.
She didn't really think there were germs there.
It was just a feeling."
#717
III. Jesus was ritually-challenged.
A. Jews and hand-washing.
1) Nothing to do with hygiene.
a) (They weren't concerned about passing on germs)
2) It was simply a ritual, done a specific way, and Jesus
didn't do it.
3) Key issue: "traditions of the elders."
a) It's always been done this way!
b) (and we can pick out those who don't...)
B. Jesus sets them straight.
1) Commands of God trump traditions of elders.
2) Their traditions had been warped by human sinfulness.
a) Even core family values had been sacrificed.
b) They are only man-made rules.
3) Jesus says internal issues - mercy, justice, truth -
are far more important than external rituals.
C. Jesus stood firmly in the prophetic approach to religion.
1) The priests trumpeted rules and rituals.
2) Prophets emphasized religion of the heart.
a) They knew rituals could be empty and hypocritical.
b) Easy to do externally, or have wrong motivation.
3) They called for a genuine conversion.
a) Honor God by loving him from the heart.
b) Famous saying: "God desires mercy, not sacrifice."
1> Jesus, in Matthew 9:13.
2> But he is quoting Hosea 6:6, centuries earlier.
D. The prophets won the debate.
1) In a way it was unfair - the Temple was destroyed.
2) Rituals could not, and cannot, be done.
3) But new rituals, like synagogue services, soon popped up.
IV. The conflict continues...
A. The modern religious rebellion.
1) Few people describe themselves as "religious."
a) In Europe, religion is largely seen as irrelevant.
2) Everybody, especially the younger generation, loves to
describe themselves as "spiritual."
a) They like the inner part, reject the external part.
b) Religion sounds organized, staid, boring.
c) The philosopher Kierkegaard's advice makes sense to
them:
"Let us worship God again in simplicity,
instead of making a fool of him in splendid edifices."
#19035
B. Spirituality is what you feel inside.
1) It is a personal experience.
2) No one else can impose it on you.
3) It does not require buildings or worship services.
C. Modern liberalism and Friedrich Schleiermacher.
1) Lived in 1700's, all his friends were turning from religion.
a) They said it was irrational.
b) Science and philosophy had defeated religion.
2) Schleiermacher suggested a compromise:
a) Keep religion for its beauty and meaning.
1> Reduce it to an inner experience.
2> It does not have to be "true", just true for you.
b) Reject anything in it that is irrational.
1> In short, keep what you like, reject the rest.
2> It has had a huge influence on modern religion.
V. The dangers of content-less spirituality.
A. Spirituality can be too flexible.
1) Prayer, meditation, UFOs, and crop circles can congeal
together.
a) Think of Princess Diana - aroma therapy, crystals,
seances.
2) Morality ends up in the back seat.
a) Guiltless religion is popular but bankrupt.
B. We can end up like the Pharisees, with a man-made faith.
1) Jesus did not rely on his feelings.
a) He relied on the Bible, God's Word.
b) The Bible must be our standard for genuine religion.
2) There must be a combination of ritual and experience.
a) The Bible and Jesus encourage some ritual.
1> It has its place.
b) Balance ritual with heart religion.
VI. We need it all.
A. We may mock rituals, but we get strength from them.
1) From saying the Lord's Prayer, to singing Amazing Grace,
we are brought closer to God through rituals.
2) Our national response to 9-11: have prayer gatherings.
a) Europe no longer responds like this.
b) Commentators there wonder what they can do to replace
the sense of unity that religious ritual gives us.
3) Rituals must be combined with the heart.
a) Note how Psalm 51:16-19 combines them both.
1> First David says God doesn't want sacrifices.
2> God wants the sacrifice of contrite hearts instead.
3> Then at conclusion, David suggests offering bulls on
an altar.
b) Get the heart right first, then do the rituals.
B. We need churches.
1) Baby boomers don't think so.
a) But they can be too self-centered in faith.
1> Their self-made religion is not very demanding.
b) Genuine Christianity is not just personal, but a
community.
c) Notice how much time Jesus invested in his disciples.
d) He did not intend us to love God by our lonesomes.
2) Our faith needs structure.
a) Daily habits of devotion to God.
b) Weekly ritual of gathering for worship.
c) You CAN worship anywhere - but DO you??
C. We need to know God personally.
1) Genuine Christianity is a relationship.
2) You experience it.
3) You can feel it.
=========================================================================
SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
# 717 "Haunted By Their Habits," by David Gelman, Newsweek, March 27,
1989, page 71.
#19035 "Quotes On Worship," by various authors.
These and 20,000 others are part of a database that can be downloaded,
absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
=========================================================================
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
Created with the Freeware Edition of HelpNDoc: Create HTML Help, DOC, PDF and print manuals from 1 single source