You're listening to audio from Ascend Church. For more information about Ascend or to access more gospel-centered tools to grow as a disciple of Christ, visit AscendKC.org. Well, good morning again, Ascend Church. Surprise, I'm not Pastor Jeff. He's enjoying a senior pastors and wives retreat all the way down in the Dominican Republic. So I told him he had to bring some of the sunshine back with him when he comes back. But for those of you who don't know me, my name is Ben Arant and I am the Director of Worship and Creative Arts at Ascend Church. And you may see me most weeks up here on a Sunday morning leading the songs. My prayer is that you would see that particular role as more than just the guy that gets up on stage and sings a few notes, hopefully in proper pitch, and plays a few chords on the guitar. And as my team can probably attest, I play a few wrong chords from time to time. But here's the reality, my heart for worship in this church and what happens here on a Sunday morning is that we would really be taking the opportunity to get out of the way and recognize that it is an opportunity for all of us collectively, it's not us on stage and you in the congregation, it's all of us collectively doing three things. Seeing Jesus more clearly, loving Him more deeply and responding to Him in worship more fully and freely. And obviously my role is a little bit different here this morning in the preaching of God's word. And I am so thankful for Isaac and the team to step up and lead so that I am able to do this this morning. And I'll just say this about Isaac in particular. He has meant over the last number of months to this church in the realm of worship specifically so much from kids ministry to student ministry to Sunday mornings. My goal for you is if you see him out in the lobby in between services, just give him a big hug, tell him you love him and that you're grateful for him. So in relationship to what we are going to be digging into this morning, I would love for our goal to be the same. In the preaching of God's word, I would love for our goal to be the same, that we would see Jesus more clearly, that we would love him more deeply, and that we would respond to him in worship more fully and freely. And I decided to take Lee White's example from a couple weeks ago where he grabbed a passage to preach from that was kind of surrounded in proximity to our Ascend Reads New Testament Bible reading plan that we're in that we started at the beginning of the year. And for those of you who are in that plan with us, we're in the book of Mark. And if you haven't grabbed one of those, and you're not in a reading plan that's gonna take you through the year, I would just encourage you, go to the Resource Center, grab one of those reading plans, and you can helicopter right in with us wherever we're at. And so we're gonna be anchoring in the book of Mark in chapter seven, starting in verse one. And if you don't have a Bible with you, you can grab one in the seat in front of you, and you can find this passage that we're gonna be studying on page 800 But before we get there this morning, I wanted to just give you a brief window into a conversation that I had with my dad. Now, my dad is one of the smartest, kindest, humble, godly people that I know. But he's been through quite a journey in his life in terms of the context of church that he's found himself in. He grew up in the Catholic church, and he's been through many other contexts throughout his life. So we had a conversation about it, and I just wanted to give you a window into that conversation to help springboard us into the text this morning. These are his words. He said, I was raised Roman Catholic, where there was a heightened sense of claiming grace from the liturgy of the mass. Then I came to Christ in an independent, charismatic expression that, from his words, tried to depend upon the moment leading of the Spirit. Then, for a summer, I attended a King James-only Baptist church, where he said there was very tight behavioral expectations, like, don't drink, don't smoke, don't chew, and don't date girls that do. That's what he said. And then, next, In California, he said he attended a large Assemblies of God church, which was a bit more formalized charismatic expression, and his first experience of a megachurch mentality. And then after that, he attended a four-square church, is what he called it. I didn't even know what that was, but that He said that was less formal and more certain of God's moment-by-moment guidance. That's how he described it. Then in Massachusetts, where I was born, he said I continued in a small, charismatic church, but grew more disillusioned with many of the different aspects of that denomination and moved on. Next, in Wisconsin, he said I attended a Baptist church of the General Baptist Conference, which was not reformed. And then currently where he lives, in Rochester, Minnesota, he first attended a large, independent Baptist church, and then now he is currently attending a Presbyterian church, which is PCA, which is confessional, high on liturgy, infant baptism, and expository preaching. Now, I know I gave Dan Kors, our director of operations, a couple weeks ago the title of the most interesting man in the world, but I think my dad might be able to give him a run for his money. But the reason I started with this progression and this path is because I was drawn to it because in each of those denominations, my dad was confronted with many different theologies, traditions, liturgies, and forms. And there was a temptation for him, and I believe for us, in our past and current church context, to elevate any or all of those components in the particular expression to a place that God never intended them to be. And really, in effect, missing the main point altogether. And I think Jesus cares deeply about this topic and has something to say about it in Mark chapter seven. So I'm gonna let the cat right out of the bag with the title and the direction that we're going this morning. It's probably already up on the screen, but it is Returning to a Heart of Worship. Returning to a Heart of Worship. So let's read the passage together and dive in. Now when the Pharisees gathered to him with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. For the Pharisees and all the Jews did not eat unless they washed their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots, copper vessels, and dining couches. And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands? And he said to them, Well, did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites? As it is written, this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. You leave the commandments of God and hold to the traditions of men. And he said to them, you have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition. For Moses said, honor your father and your mother, and whoever reviles father or mother must surely die. But you say, if a man tells his father or his mother, whatever you have gained from me is Corbin, that is, given to God. then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down, and many such things you do. So here's the big idea I want us just to consider this morning. It's simple, but we'll unpack it together this morning, and it's this. The how of our worship and devotion to God should never be prioritized over the heart. The how of our worship and devotion to God should never be prioritized over the heart. And we're gonna jump right in with point number one, which is gonna start a sentence for us this morning, and that is exposing the tradition of man. So in this passage this morning, Jesus is with his disciples most likely around the region of Tyre, which is up by the Mediterranean Sea and referenced later in chapter seven. And then having journeyed from Galilee, which you can see at the end of chapter six in Mark, the Pharisees with some of the scribes follow him all the way up from Jerusalem. You can see a map on the screen of those places that I highlighted. So coming from Jerusalem all the way up from Tyre was about an 85-mile journey. And as you probably know, Jesus, throughout his earthly ministry, has a history of run-ins with the Pharisees, all of them in some ways culminating on their plotting of his death, and you can see that in Matthew 12, verse 14. But to help give us some understanding of the context of this conversation, and I'm sure some of you know this, these Pharisees were a group of Jewish religious leaders and scholars who were known for their sort of strict adherence to the Mosaic Law or the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, Genesis through Deuteronomy. And they held positions of authority in the Jewish society and were often seen as sort of the religious experts in matters. They often engaged with others, and obviously in this context, they're engaging with Jesus on interpretations of the law. And particularly in the first few verses, here we see the Pharisees observe that the disciples did not wash their hands before they ate. And this custom had seemingly been instituted by the elders and the religious leaders to the point where it was now the sort of norm in their custom in their Jewish society. So of course, the Pharisees take it upon themselves to bring that up to Jesus. And they, as you can see throughout the Gospels, they have a habit of trying to trap Jesus in his words. It says in Matthew chapter 22, verse 15, then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. So here they say, why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands? And you know, this wasn't the only time the Pharisees brought up this particular situation. In Luke chapter 11, a Pharisee asks Jesus to dine with him, and the lack of washing in this particular instance by Jesus prompted that Pharisee to be astonished, the text says in Luke 11. And you could translate that as marveled that this so-called religious prophet would come to the table and dine without following the ceremonial cleansing and washing of the society. And so with all of this context and description of the moment that's happening, you might think, okay, what's the big deal? Why didn't Jesus and the disciples just concede to the commonly held tradition and wash their hands and cleanse before the meal? Well, if you remember, the Pharisees were seen as sort of the experts of the Mosaic law. So that really does beg the question, what did the Mosaic law have to say about cleansing or washing? Well, if you jump back in the Old Testament to Exodus, chapter 30, verses 17 through 20, which is gonna be up on the screen, the Lord gives Moses some specific instructions on the matter. Starting in verse 17, it says, the Lord said to Moses, you shall also make a basin of bronze with its stand of bronze for washing. You shall put it in between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it, with which Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet. When they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn a food offering to the Lord, they shall wash with water so that they may not die. Aaron, in this text, was known as the first high priest of Israel from the tribe of Levi. So the Mosaic Law instructs that when the priests and Levites enter the tabernacle, they must wash their hands and feet. You see, the Pharisees rightly understood, in a sense, that there was an expectation of cleansing and washing from the Mosaic Law, but their application of the law extended beyond the parameters that God had given. Spoiler alert for a lot of the rest of the message. And of course, if you keep reading in the text, it indicates that this practice of adding things to the Mosaic law did not stop there. At the end of verse 4, if you look, it says, and there were many other traditions that they observed, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches. At the end of the day, the Pharisees were fixated on the how of their religion being the greatest measure of their worship and devotion to God. They were fixated on the how of their religion being the greatest measure of their worship and devotion to God. I mean, if a little bit of cleansing and washing for the priests and Levites is a good thing, then cleansing and washing in every other context must be even better. People will see how religious and virtuous we are by how much we cleanse and wash. And not only that, we're gonna take it a step further, and we're gonna expect other people to do it and make it the cultural norm of the society of that day. All the while, there is a twisting of and adding to God's law. And Jesus, of course, has some sharp rebukes in multiple places in the Gospels for this kind of religiosity. But let's just pause for a moment, think back to the way I set up the sermon this morning. How many different church contexts have you been in or denominations have you found yourself in? And how might you or how might we be tempted to carry along with us certain traditions, forms, liturgies, and maybe even theological stances that we've experienced or believed in along the way and make them be the litmus test of our worship and devotion to God? And not only that, make them the conditions by which we then choose to worship Him. Well, you might be thinking at this point, thank goodness I'm not a Pharisee, right? Thank goodness I'm not a Pharisee, and that would be rough getting rebuked by Jesus himself. But you see, I don't think that we can exempt ourselves from the possibility that we could be functioning like a Pharisee today. So as I kind of processed that and thought through that, here's a few things that might be true if that were the case. It'll be up on the screen. If you were functioning like a Pharisee today, you might, number one, think that just showing up on Sunday mornings makes you right with God. See, the Pharisees needed something practical to measure their righteousness. But here's the reality. You cannot be made right with God By any human effort or measurement, being made right with God is initiated by God, accomplished by the Son, and sealed with the power of the Spirit in the life of the believer. And this is all on the basis of his merit and not our own. Number two, you might be spending more time talking about what you are against than what you are for. Pharisees loved to argue, and saw it in some ways as sort of their role to defend God or to legislate morality. While there are, of course, certainly hills to die on, especially when it pertains to theology in the church, we must not let our theological positions, and especially our liturgical preferences, lead us down a path towards moral superiority and pride. We must not let our theological positions, and especially our liturgical preferences, lead us down a path towards moral superiority and pride. Francis Schaeffer, a famous theologian, says this, biblical orthodoxy without compassion is surely the ugliest thing in the world. Biblical orthodoxy without compassion is surely the ugliest thing in the world. Number three, we might be unwilling to repent of sin because we are more concerned with maintaining a certain status or reputation. The Pharisees wanted people to see their pious behavior and equate that behavior with their devotion and holiness before God. So a question we might need to ask this morning is that, is there an area in your life that you have been unwilling to repent of because you don't want the visible reputation of your character to be tarnished or disrupted? This might be a call for you this morning towards repentance. Number four, and this one hits hard with me particularly. Number four, you might read the Bible to primarily confirm your own convictions instead of praying that it would shape you into the image of Christ. You might read the Bible to primarily confirm your own convictions instead of praying that it would shape you into the image of Christ. The Pharisees were experts in the Torah but viewed their own interpretation as truth. instead of God's intent for the law. So when you approach God's word, how are you reading it? Well, yes, the Bible gives us laws and guardrails from God for our flourishing and benefit. All of these point to the greater purpose of what we said at the beginning, to see Jesus more clearly, to love him more deeply, and to respond to him in worship more fully and freely. It all ultimately points to Christ himself. Number five, and I know we could probably have a lot of these, but the last one for now. Number five, we might get angry when someone calls us out because of sin and holds us accountable to the word of God. The Pharisees never responded in humility, but always with anger when Jesus rebuked them. So maybe ask yourself, how have you responded when someone has lovingly leaned into your life and rebuked you or corrected you? Does any of this ring true for you this morning? Remember, Jesus has harsh words for those that give lip service to him, but live in a way that twists and changes that belief for their own sake or benefit. He then goes on in verse six in the text, and that's gonna move us into point number two. So the first point was exposing the tradition of man, point number two, by heeding the rebuke of Jesus. Throughout the Gospels, you see Jesus having several interactions with the Pharisees, where he takes the opportunity to rebuke and correct them. For things like in Matthew chapter 23, tithing, but ignoring justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Jesus rebukes them in this instance for meticulously tithing even the smallest herbs while neglecting these weightier matters. In Luke 14, there is a lack of compassion for the sick and needy. Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for their hardness of heart in not showing compassion towards the sick, particularly when they criticize him for healing on the Sabbath. And then there's self-righteousness and pride in Luke 18. In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, Jesus highlights the self-righteousness of the Pharisees who really trust in their own works and despise others, contrasting them with the humility, really, in many ways, of the tax collector who asks for mercy. And of course there are a number of other places that we could go to, but you see in this particular account that he calls them a particular word, hypocrites. And the Greek translation of this would more literally mean pretender. And there are more than 15 times where Jesus uses that word or a particular word like it to describe them. And to put a little bit more meat on this word, here's a couple ways to look at it or define it. There is an outward display of righteousness, but an inward corruption. A hypocrite is often characterized by a focus on external actions, while ignoring the inner purity of the heart. Secondly, there's a pretense of morality oftentimes, where the hypocrisy often involves pretending to follow God's law, while not genuinely living according to it. And there's saying one thing and doing another. A hypocrite may even teach God's law or claim to follow God's law, but fail to practice what they preach. And as we've already mentioned, this idea of self-righteousness. A hypocrite often focuses on their own self-righteousness and judges others harshly, really while neglecting their own sins. The point is, we need to heed the warning this morning and ask God to reveal to us ways in which we might be tempted to be living like a hypocrite in our own lives. So Jesus says to the Pharisees in verse six, Well, did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites? As it is written, this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. After doing a little bit of research and digging on Isaiah, and specifically chapter 29, which is where Jesus is quoting from in this text, I learned this. Isaiah was a prophet during a time of great political turmoil in Judah. with Assyria being a major threat to the kingdom. Chapter 29 is then part of a larger section in Isaiah where God is pronouncing judgment to various nations, including Judah and Israel. And specifically in this chapter that Jesus quotes from, focuses on Jerusalem. And it's referred to symbolically at the beginning of the chapter as Ariel, which is the capital of Judah. I found that it was a city known for its religious activities, temple worship, but its people had turned from God. Isaiah's prophecy in this chapter takes place during a time when the people of Jerusalem, despite outwardly participating in religious rituals, were spiritually corrupt. Sound familiar? No wonder why Jesus quoted from this particular chapter. Listen, just because we are not historical Pharisees does not mean we are abdicated, as we've already seen, abdicated from conviction and application from this text. I think we can be so quick to run to religious rituals or physical forms of our worship, feeling good about ourselves because this is the right way to do things. posturing ourselves as spiritual because of our liturgies and traditions, getting lost in the horizontal elevating of our own preferences, all while neglecting to see that God's desire and design for us is to return to a heart of worship. When we lose sight of the heart, we will gravitate towards what verse eight says. You will leave the commandments of God for the traditions of men. After all, in John, chapter 14, verse 15, Jesus says, if you love me, and this is a love that is motivated by an authentic gospel transformation, he says, then you will desire to keep my commandments. Listen, we will always be tempted to place on the mountaintop of our faith and worship things that were never intended to be there. We will always be tempted to place on the mountaintop of our faith and worship things that were never intended to be there, consequently making those things into idols. Bob Kauflin writes in his book Worship Matters, our greatest problem in worshiping God is not an ineffective leader, song choices, the people around us, or our circumstance, traditions, forms, liturgies, and so on. It is the idolatry of our hearts. When we have a professed God alongside functional gods, idolatry will rule our hearts. Just as a side note, remember, I brought up the passage from Exodus chapter 30 in relationship to Aaron and the Levites and their cleansing before they would go into the tabernacle. Well, do you know what happens two chapters later in the book of Exodus in chapter 32? A golden calf. The Israelites wanted a golden calf and Aaron says, Cool. How quickly can our hearts turn towards idolatry? So maybe a question as we pause and reflect this morning is what or who is ruling your heart today? What or who is ruling your heart today? Well, Jesus doesn't stop there. He goes on to give another practical example of the Pharisees' hypocrisy by showing how their understanding and application of the law is actually nullifying the Word of God, as the text says, undermining its authority, the heart, and the intent. He says again in verse 9, you have a fine way of rejecting the commandments of God in order to establish your tradition. He gives the rebuke through referencing commandments from the Old Testament, specifically Exodus 20, verse 12, and Deuteronomy 5, 16, where God commands his people to honor their father and their mother. You know where that's from? 10 Commandments. The issue Jesus is raising here is that the people could declare their possessions, which may have been used to help their elderly parents, as korban, which is Hebrew for gift, meaning that the possessions were now only devoted to God. And I read in a few commentaries that this act of declaring something as korban meant that the person could no longer use those resources to support or care for their parents, even though honoring one's parents was a clear command from God. So, in effect, this tradition allowed people to avoid their responsibilities to their parents under the guise of religious devotion. You know, as I was kind of going through the text and reading and kind of thinking about the sermon, there was part of me that really wanted to title the sermon, Stop Being Such a Pharisee. Or I really wanted to play that famous clip from R.C. Sproul where he's in like an interview thing and he's like, what's wrong with you people? But the more I thought about it, I realized that I'm the Pharisee, and I'm the you people, apart from the saving, transforming work of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit in my life. Amen? We've gotta let that sit. And listen, if we don't want our worship to be in vain, as the text says, if we don't want our worship to be confined to outward lip service, then we must prioritize the heart. For man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. We must continue to expose the insufficiency of elevating the tradition of men by heeding this rebuke from Jesus And point number three, and returning to a heart of worship. Returning to a heart of worship. While we've established that it can be easy to get lost and consumed with the how of our worship, I believe in order to prioritize the heart, we need to have a shift in our perspective. We can be so focused on all the details of our journey and of worship and faith that we can forget why we do it, how it's accomplished, and who it's ultimately for. And I think one short verse can help us sort of build a theological diving board, as it were, that will allow us to jump into the waters of a true and authentic heart of worship for Christ. So for the last few minutes this morning, we're gonna look at Romans 11.36. And just as a side note, I love that many of the times our dear brother Adam Hannan hosts on a Sunday morning here at church, he prays, and when he prays, he references this particular verse. The verse is simple but profound. All things are for him, through him, and to him. Three important perspective shifts that will help us prioritize the heart over the tradition of man. Number one, all things are for him. Worship should be designated for Christ and Christ alone. The true purpose of our worship needs to first and foremost flow from our understanding of who this is ultimately for. All of our theology, Our forms, our experiences, our liturgies should be the drapes of the window that we open to gaze upon the magnificent splendor of our amazing King. All of our theologies, our forms, our experiences, our liturgies should be the drapes of the window that we open to gaze upon the magnificent splendor of our amazing King. We will always have the true purpose of our worship upside down when we prioritize the horizontal how at the expense of a transformed heart that pursues Christ himself. This verse is really a theological grenade thrown by Paul to help blow up and dismantle any efforts that man tries to employ which promote a self-centered worship. Returning to the heart of worship means a recognition that not some things, but what? All things, including our worship, are for him. Secondly, all things are through him. Do you realize that apart from Christ, we can do nothing? As it says in John 15 verse 5, we bring nothing of spiritual significance to the table. Anything we offer him on our own efforts are but filthy rags and empty. The Pharisees Wanted to bring all their pious good deeds to the table. They wanted to work their way to worship So are you trying to work your way to worship this morning But the ultimate reality is this Our good deeds do not outweigh our bad ones. We can't do enough good to earn merit or favor with God. And I believe that much of our Christian life is wrapped up in the temptation to follow after being accepted by God through our works. But it follows then that we actually cannot worship God the way he has called us to without an authentically transformed heart by the gospel of Jesus Christ. We actually can't do it. You see, in order to get back to the heart, the heart can only be motivated to designate worship to God because of the work of the Son on the cross and the empowerment of the Spirit in the life of every believer. Returning to the heart of worship means recognizing that not some things, all things, including our worship, are actually through him. A shift in perspective. Lastly, and as we close, all things are to him. Worship is directed toward him. We cannot let our worship be aimed anywhere else but towards Christ. The Pharisees' attempt to show their worship and devotion to God was ultimately a smokescreen for their true and prideful intentions of elevating themselves and their interpretations as superior, and by extension, the standard. No. God and his word is the ultimate standard. A picture that came into my mind was sort of like a religious coup that kind of purposed to strip away the ultimate preeminence of God and his word for the cheap counterfeit of the tradition of man. An attempt to strip away the ultimate preeminence of God and his word for the cheap counterfeit of the tradition of man. And I love looking through the lens of Paul in the New Testament as he addresses this importance in many of his letters. Think about Colossians, chapter one. He reminds us that he, Christ, is preeminent. Preeminent means he is first in everything. First in importance, first in honor, first in exaltation. And he puts more framing in that chapter and builds a bigger case for the preeminence of Christ by telling us, like in verse 16, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. This passage, again, helps us shift our perspective, recognizing these three things. Worship is designated for him, worship is delivered through him, and worship is directed toward him. Don't let the how of your worship this morning and devotion to God ever be prioritized over the heart. Flee the example of the Pharisees and return to the true purpose and heart of our worship. It's all about Christ. I'm gonna end where I started. To see him more clearly, to love him more deeply, and to respond to him in worship more fully and freely. From this moment into eternity, exalting Christ and Christ alone. Not perfectly now, but progressively as we seek to let the sails of our worship be carried along by the wind and the power of the indwelling presence of the Spirit in our lives. So as we close, and I invite the worship team out, here's what I wanna do. Let's practice the pillar of prayer in our church. I want us to take the next few minutes to go before the Lord in prayer, asking these things, asking the Lord to reveal any idols in your life. To reveal any priorities that might be upside down. to reveal any traditions, forms, liturgies, or perhaps even theologies that you've elevated to a place that they were never intended to be. And then move forward towards a moment of confession and repentance where needed. And then as a byproduct of that prayer, ask God to stir in you a passion to return to a true and authentic heart of worship in your life, that all else would fade away in comparison to the riches of His glorious grace. Would you take a few minutes and pray this morning?