February 5 Outside In

Luke 11:37-41 When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so, he went in and reclined at the table. 38 But the Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised. 39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give what is inside [the dish] to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.”
 
TWO things here challenge our views of cleanliness at mealtime. First, Jesus doesn’t wash his hands. Why not? The Pharisees are adamant he does so. This seems appropriate to us. But Jesus pushes back with a cleanliness question of his own. Here’s how we understand the Pharisees’ challenge and Jesus’ rebuke.
    Washing one’s hands before a meal was not a common practice in this culture. Jesus was being normal. On the other hand, the Pharisees lived under certain rules they had developed in their tradition. Remember the Pharisees were well-intentioned men who desired to protect God’s laws from foreign desecration. But, as too many churches do today, they created rules outside of God’s gracious laws.
    One of those “new” laws required the Pharisees to religiously wash their hands and the outside of their cups. But, surprisingly, their law permitted the cup’s inside to remain unwashed! A cup, then, could be outside clean and inside dirty. That’s how Jesus saw the Pharisees - outside clean and inside dirty.
    As we recall Jesus’ teaching on light from yesterday, he urged us to be completely “light” on the inside. The Pharisees, though, were dark – unclean – inside. Dark judgment came from their eyes as they self-righteously gazed onto the righteous Christ. They are the people who cling to church rituals and rules while rejecting their relationship with the Christ. They are the ones devoted to process, forgetting its purpose.   
    Jesus urged these religious leaders to a true cleanliness. Wash away a self-focused heart. Stop being religiously clean because it really keeps your soul dirty. Turn your purpose to those in need. Give the food inside your cup to the poor. This true religion (James 1:27) will clean you inside.
 
Prayer: Lord God, forgive me for the ways I am unclean. Empower my heart to be clean inside to show your grace and mercy outside. In Jesus’ name, I pray for cleansing. Amen.