It's Not Just A Matter Of Washing Your Hands

"Today's Devotion" For September 29, 2005

Read: Matthew 15:1-20; Acts 10:9-16

IT'S NOT JUST A MATTER OF WASHING YOUR HANDS

"Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." (Acts 10:15b)

Good hygiene is truly an admirable practice. It seems that every where we look these days someone is issuing a warning about germs and the spread of disease. Why we even have hand sanitizers which claim to kill 99.9 percent of all germs. Incredible! Personally, I have some reservations as to the ultimate effectiveness of such a level of cleansing and purifying. I wonder sometimes if such "germ" warfare doesn't in fact create "super germs" and lower the body's ability to fight off infections and diseases with a strong immune system - made so be exposure to various germs and diseases.

Certainly we can see that the scribes and Pharisees were stalwarts in the "war on germs." They took Jesus to task for the failure of His disciples to wash their hands before eating. After all, because the disciples failed to wash their hands before they ate, they were opening themselves up to sickness and disease. This couldn't be pleasing to God; in fact ceremonial law required such hand washing just because God wanted to establish good hygienic practices among His people.

Unfortunately, the scribes and Pharisees had missed the point of God's command. They saw hand washing before eating as an act of a pure heart and effective worship of God. Based on the oral traditions of the rabbis, oral traditions that covered some 500 laws, these leaders of the people were convinced that obedience to them was essential to pure worship of God and pure living for Him. They just plain missed the point - such laws were given by God, not as a burden, but as guidance for good health and good relationships between people in the community.

This same thought process affected Peter in our reading in Acts 10. Peter, falling into the same trap of the scribes and Pharisees, also missed the point of the ceremonial laws. Just as the scribes and Pharisees, Peter had fallen into the trap of making the ceremonial law concerning "clean" and "unclean" animals to a level unintended by God. Rather than seeing this particular set of laws as a guideline for serving the Lord, He was convinced that obedience to the law concerning what meat to eat was necessary for his relationship with God. In order to disavow Peter of such thinking, God sent down a number of "unclean" animals and ordered Peter to "kill and eat." When Peter declined, God makes it clear that Peter was thinking in terms of "righteousness by the deeds of the law," not righteousness that comes by faith in Christ. Peter was falling into the same trap as the leaders of the Jews - they were defiling themselves and the people of Israel by missing the point and seeking righteousness in all the wrong places.

It's not too difficult to relate to Peter's dilemma, as well as that of the scribes and Pharisees. We, too, can miss the point of God's Will if we're not careful. Jesus makes it very clear to the disciples that it's not what we eat that destroys our holiness before God - we don't ingest sin. Rather, our holiness is destroyed because our hearts are sinful and from within us come words and deeds that fly in the face of God's Will and serve to lead us in a direction opposite from Him. Our sinfulness is reflected in the words we use and the things we do. Even our thoughts lead us to commit sin as Jesus noted in His Sermon on the Mount, declaring the thoughts we have that are contrary to God's Will are the same as having actually carried out the deed. Thus, outward appearances aren't enough to declare us to be holy before God, for even the dirtiest beggar can be the most spiritually wealthy member of God's kingdom, while the wealthiest celebrity can be so spiritually filthy that they are not a member of the God's kingdom.

Ultimately, we are made righteous and cleansed in the blood of the Lamb, not because of what we have done, but because of God's own work for us in the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Righteousness is God's work in us. Without His grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness, no amount of "hand washing" will purify us from our sins. Thank God that we are washed in the blood of the Lamb - our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ - so that we stand clean and holy before our loving God and heirs of heaven in Jesus.

Prayer: Gracious Father, keep me safe in Your loving arms from everything that would lead me astray. Let what comes out of my mouth be pleasing to You. May my actions reflect Your love to others. Stop me from foolishly thinking that if I just "wash my hands" I'll be clean and holy before You. By the power of Your Word and Spirit, help me to realize how vital it is for me to look to Jesus to wash me clean from my sins and present me to You, holy and without Sin because of His righteousness. Father, I pray that You would keep me from being overwhelmed by the evil that surrounds me, and lead me to declare Your praises so that others might be brought into the kingdom of Your love. I pray this in the precious and most holy name of Jesus. Amen.
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--Pastor Boeck

Copyright @2005 Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.