Clean Hands, Filthy Heart

I went on a little walk with Deuce and Trey this morning (Ace was at school already). I was walking by the front entrance of a swanky motorcoach club that has a huge sign out front with lots of bushes and trees that divide the driveway into two parts (entering and exiting vehicles). I saw a car leaving the club as I approached and I was afraid that the driver might not see me due to the big sign. I was pushing an SUV-sized double stroller, so missing me wasn't likely, but you can never be too careful. I paused behind the sign and when I realized he stopped, I went forward. I waved and said thank you and he waved back with a huge grin on his face. I thought, "What a nice guy!" A simple little smile from him made me smile, too.

It got me thinking about Matthew 15. Some Pharisees, as they often did, were trying to trap Jesus. Right before this exchange, Jesus fed 5000 people and walked on water and cured innumerable people. Then the Pharisees came up and were concerned that disciples weren't washing their hands before they ate! Really?! Miracles were performed left and right and they're concerned with hand-washing?

And, as he often did, Jesus called them on their hypocrisy. The Pharisees asked him why the disciples didn't wash their hands and Jesus quickly turned the tables in verses 3-6:

"And He answered and said to them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?" For God said, 'HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,' and, 'HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.' "But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God," he is not to honor his father or his mother .' And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition…”

Jesus was talking to some of the the most respected, most devout men of their day and telling them that by following tradition they were breaking God's law. These were people who went out of their way in ridiculous ways NOT to break the law and Jesus was telling them that their silly out-of-the-way rules were causing them to "invalidate the word of God"! These guys were the religious Supreme Court of their day -- it would be like telling the Pope that having to wear that hat invalidates the Bible.

Skip up to verses 10 and 11:
After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, "Hear and understand. "It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man."

So whether you wash your hands, Pharisees, makes no difference. It's that your HEART is far from God (v8) and out of your heart, proceed words that defile your SOUL. What you eat is eliminated from your body as waste, but when your soul is defiled, you are defiled indeed.

So what does all this have to do with a kind guy with a nice smile in a PT Cruiser? It got me thinking about my words, like Matt 15 says, but also facial expressions and tone of voice. If what comes out of my mouth defiles me, then maybe I should watch what I say. In front my spouse, my kids, my friends, unbelievers, in my own head. And what I say is just as important as how I say it: don't my tone and expression originate in my heart too? Do those things defile as surely as words?

If a smile from a stranger could put a spring in my step, couldn't a scowl or a sigh or a snotty tone do the opposite?

Lord, help me to watch my words to those that I love, but also help me to watch the way I express those words. Like Jesus said, Clean hands make no difference if my heart is filthy.Cleanse my heart, so that my thoughts, which lead to my words, are clean and are of you. In Jesus' Holy and Precious Name, Amen.