Pastor Dan Mangler's Sunday Sermon

A Short Spiritual Journey

Mark 7: 1-15

September 3, 2006

A Short Spiritual Journey

In the latter part of the 17th century, a lay preacher in England by the name of John Bunyon (not to be confused with the 18th century mythical lumberjack of American legend) was imprisoned for preaching without a license, a license refused because of Bunyon's beliefs which differed from that of the official Church of England. While imprisoned, he wrote a book entitled The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That which is to come: delivered under the Similitude of a Dream Wherein is Discovered, The manner of his setting out. His Dangerous Journey and safe Arrival at the Desired Country. We know it by its abbreviated title Pilgrim's Progress.

Pilgrim’s Progress is a dream-vision allegory of a journey toward salvation, Everyman's purposeful journey through life seeking peace of mind and eternal life. The work opens with the narrator's dreams of the central character named Christian, asking "What shall I do to be saved?" Bearing a pack (his burden of original sin) Christian rejects his own City of Destruction, his family and society, and begins his earthly "journey through the Wilderness of the World" on a pilgrimage to God's Promised Land. Although "all is Grace, not of Works" and all men predestined either for salvation or damnation (according to Bunyon) Christian's journey is beset by temptations, dangers, and difficulties. Accompanied at times by one of three traveling companions, Evangelist, Faithful, or Hopeful, Christian is, as the journey unfolds, mired in the Slough of Despond, learns not to trust Mr. Worldly Wiseman of Carnal City, is nearly crushed to death by the fiendish monster Apollyon (spiritual doubt), finds himself in the dungeon of Giant Despair of Doubting Castle, visits the town of Vanity and its Fair (the "pride and show of the acquisitive life) where he is tried and found guilty by the judge Hategood and the jury foreman Blind-man, escapes jail, sees the gaping mouth of Hell, and finally, after nearly drowning in the dark river, is welcomed into the Celestial City.

That's quite a journey, isn't it? After reading the book, studying the maps, and computing the distances according to the scale provided (or - not provided, it matters not) I have arrived at/the approximate length of Christian's journey. By my calculations the distance of Christian's journey, from start to finish, from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, the journey of salvation that stands before every Christian, was, and is, approximately 18 inches. (Pause) The journey of salvation is the distance from a person's eyes and ears and brain, to his heart. This was at the heart, if you will pardon this play on words, of Jesus' rebuke of the Pharisees in this morning’s gospel. Jesus, quoting Isaiah, said “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me”.

Outwardly the Pharisees were pillars of the religious, community. Jewish law and tradition permeated every act and every word. They strictly observed the teachings of the Talmud which interpreted O.T. law for every conceivable life circumstance. They were anything but religious slackers. They were sticklers on the Law. Only to the Jews did God give his law, so in obedience to it, this people evidenced to others their special position in God's eyes. The Pharisees, in enforcing these external laws and traditions, of washing hands, of forbidding the eating of some foods, were trying to preserve what outwardly made the Jews a special people.

But the Pharisees had confused what made them special with some external practices which only emphasized how they were different. What made them special was not when and how often they washed their hands, or what food they refused to eat, but rather God's love for them, and the love they were to return to God and share with others. In short, the Pharisees never made that short spiritual journey from head to heart. They knew of God's love, but they didn't have it in their hearts. With what other word picture can one use but that? The Pharisees had closed the doors of their hearts and could never fully come to know Jesus. They had eyes to see the miracles of Jesus. They had ears to hear Jesus’ teachings of God's kingdom promises. They had minds that, given a chance, could see in Jesus' words and deeds fulfillment of O.T. promises. But their hearts were closed; the sights and sounds and understanding never made the journey to the heart.

Medically, the heart is but a .pump. Heart transplants have moved beyond the experimental stage to a not uncommon medical procedural. Artificial hearts are being tried. But in biblical imagery the heart is the central and unifying organ of personal life, and by extension, the point of contact with God. It was in the heart that God could work in secret to transform a person’s character by implanting new thoughts and feelings. God works through the normal sense organs - sight, sound and through normal mental processes in the mind, But possession by God doesn’t come until the journey is complete in the heart. Only when God's word is allowed in the heart can he plant new thoughts and generate new feelings which is then evidence to others of a God-possessed Christian.

Jesus said that it was not what was outside a man that came into him that defiled him, or made him un-clean, but the things which come out of a man are what defile him, for from within, out of the heart, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, etc. Make no mistake - what is inside will, occasionally or often, come to the surface.

More than sixty years ago a fire somehow got started in the depths of an American coal mine. Believe it or not, the fire is still burning. Over the years it has destroyed more than twenty million tons of coal. But what is worse is that, from time to time, it has come to the surface causing roads to cave in, and many people to be overcome by poisonous gases. Indeed, what's inside will occasionally or often break to the surface.

Compare the curse waiting below the ground covering that burning coal with the blessings waiting underground in Placer County, California, where, every year, the mountain snow run-off brings to the surface gold long buried. When that buried mineral comes to the surface it brings riches.

It is precisely what is inside us, what is in our hearts, that either blesses or curses our own lives and the lives of those around us. For what is inside eventually comes to the surface where it touches, for better or worse, the lives of others. A heart empty of God breaks to the surface in greed, lust, hate, revenge. A heart filled with God breaks to the surface with love, compassion, understanding, charity, and forgiveness.

I am pleased that on this September day you are here gathered to hear with your ears the preached Word of God, to read with your own eyes God's written Word, to eat and drink the very presence of Christ in the bread and wine of Holy Communion, and to sing with your voices the praises of Jesus. My hope and prayer today is that the words you see and hear and taste today make that short but all important 18 inch journey to your heart because it is here that God changes lives. Amen.

May the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.