Looking back – Jesus fed the 5,000, that is 5k men with their families.  There is no small number whoare following Jesus.  His teaching, his miracles, his persona, and his compassion all lead people to follow him.  Then the teaching begins to get hard.  First of all it is difficult to accept that this son of Mary and Joseph (as the people see him) is really the one who came down from heaven.  Secondly, how we can eat his body and drink his blood in order to attain eternal salvation?  The hard teachings are used as an excuse to go away.  But Peter proclaimed, “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.” 

 

From this point on, the teaching gets more direct, and harder for sinful people with sinful prides to accept.  As people and in all societies, we cry out, “There ought to be a law!”  It seems that just making a law, making a rule will satisfy all of our needs.  Then someone finds a way to get around that law and we go about making another new law.  We try to fix things from the outside.  Isn’t that how many of our candidates for office win our hearts, the laws they are going to make and enforce to make this a better place for us?

 

Who would vote for that candidate if he would stand up and say, “Hey people!  Get your acts together.  Start behaving yourselves and live decent lives yourselves.  Then you don’t need all of these “laws” to “fix” things.  Didn’t Bill Cosby do something like that not too long ago?  Look at yourself.  What makes you a good citizen?  Is it the laws of this community, state, and nation?  Or is it something inside of you that causes you to live a decent life, that makes you want to take care of your property and live in a way that is not harmful, but, in fact, helpful to others?  Do you really need a sign saying “25 MPH” when you are driving down a crowded street with children playing in the yards and sidewalks? 

 

Let’s go back to the readings for today and what they are telling us.  God speaks to Israel as they are entering Canaan.  He has given evidence that he is the one true God.  What other group of people have that evidence as he led them out of Pharaoh’s grasp, sustained them in the wilderness, and made them victorious over armies that should have annihilated them?  Now, if they live according to his commands, others will still see a people who belong to God.  Listen to the lesson there for you and me here in Des Plaines today.

 

In Psalm 119, ho wonderful are God’s commands as we ponder, “What would this world be like if all lived according to God’s commands of love, commands that lead us to live peaceful lives as he made us to live?  Again, it isn’t the list of laws that matters, but the individual who lives according to them. 

 

Ephesians tells us where the real battle in our lives and in this world is.  That battle is between the forces of good and evil both here on earth and in the heavenly realms.  God’s angels are very busy and, to our amazement and great comfort, victorious in overtaking the forces of evil that would love to grasp our souls on the road to heaven.  When you and I are unable to overcome, God gives us his angels to guard us in all of our ways [Psalm 91].  As God has Paul describe the armor we are to put on, note that it is not physical armor, but the word of truth that God gives us to hold inside and to live from the inside out.

 

Now, in Mark we see Pharisees coming after Jesus and the disciples for not performing certain “rituals” of the Jewish religion.  Those rituals originally were to remind people how God saves you.  However, the rituals became a “law” that burdened people instead of pointing them to relief from those burdens.  The concept of sin became lost to those people.  The concept of sin has become lost to our world and societies today.  The concept of sin is lost in your lives and my life too as each one of us plays Nipsy Russell of an old TV show, “The devil made me do it!”  We forget that God originally made us in his image, perfect and following his will in all holiness and purity.  We forget that all sin comes from the inside of a person, beginning in Eden desiring to know as much as God, making myself a God.  That only comes from the inside. 

 

Through Paul, God plainly tells us that he has given us a way out in each and every temptation that we encounter.  That is in that perfect image in which he made us.  But we are conceived and born sinful.  That original sin permeates these “images of God,” in a way that you and I cannot overcome.  In that we succumb to the temptations in life.  In that we are more afraid of germs than we are of sin.  In that we find we do not want to wash away those sins we enjoy yet work so hard to look good on the outside.

 

After getting dirty working, we look forward to scrubbing up and being clean again.  Even after a rather passive day, how refreshing it is to just wash the face, or to shower or bathe as dirt just seems to cling to these bodies.  We brush our teeth and use mouthwash after consuming certain foods, or even after simple meals or snacks.  Do we want to wash up after being in a sinful environment or activity?  We can scrub and scrub but that doesn’t take away the guilt and shame, even of cursing beneath the breath at something that bothered you.

 

Today, two infants are brought by their parents to baptism.  They know this little boy and this little girl are lousy sinners just as they are.  They know this little boy and this little girl need a washing that no baby soap, no clean diaper, no wipes or powder can provide.  We all know what this true washing is, baptism in the name of the Triune God, the one and only God who does get to the root of all sin and can cleanse each and every stain of sin from these bodies.  The symbols of baptism on this beautiful banner tell us again of God’s promise, how he delivers this promise, and the results of this promise.  A new life not just on this earth, but eternally with him.

 

How does this happen?  Back to today’s Gospel.  There is denial of the inward and Jesus pushes the envelop of our human pride to break us down, to get at what sin really is.  There is denial of Christ, the Son of God, yet Jesus perseveres and does not evade or downplay this truth that saves.  He is up front and in the face of you, me, all of the world, and Satan himself with proclaiming this truth that he is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Jesus puts aside his divine powers as we might wish him to display them, but not his divine being as he overcomes all sins, the world, Satan and all of his forces in order to save you and alal who believe in him.

 

Do good works save you?  Not your good works but God’s good work in Jesus.  Are good works important?  Yes, they are the fruits of your faith as you trust God above all things, yourself and the temptations that come at you.  Yes, thy are evidence of God’s love that your neighbor will see in you as you live, work, do your daily duties and play.  Your neighbor will see them as God promises in Deuteronomy, to know that your God is nearer to you than any other god ever was, is, or ever can be.  Good works do come from within the heart of one who is loved by God and loves God in return, one who knows how great this love of forgiveness is.  Let us live together in this peace that comes only in Christ Jesus.  Amen.