Good morning.  This morning we are going to continue our series called, “Life On The Farm.”  Now, as I have said before, I am by no means an expert on farming.  I simply have drawn a few conclusions this summer while I spend a weekend in Indiana on a friend’s Dairy Farm, and a day of helping Keith bail hay.  So far, we have taken a look at some things that we can learn from Putting Up Hay, and Lessons that we can learn from Manure.  Today, we are going to be taking a look at Water, Weeds, and Bugs.

If you want to go ahead turn with me to Mark 7:1-23, that is where we will be in a moment.  But first, I want to tell you a story.  I can remember the very first time that I planted a little garden.  I had begged mom and dad to let me plant a few pumpkin seeds.  Finally, my crying around won them over.  They allowed me to plant the seeds in the upper corner of our yard.  So, I did it, and automatically expected that I would get plenty of pumpkins.  What I failed to realize was that there were certain enemies that would attack the growth of my crop.

Everything started off okay, but after they began to grow, the enemies crept in.  First off, some of the plants died because I didn’t give them enough water.  So then I started watering them religiously.  Then some of the plants died because of too much water.  Once I got a hold on the water, the weeds came into the picture.  Because it was in the corner of our yard, I had to fight grass and briars from the woods next to them.  So needless to say, the weeds killed off some of my pumpkin patch.

To make a long story short, and the end of the time, I only had one pumpkin.  However, before it could turn orange, the bugs got to it and killed the plant, and then the pumpkin began to rot.  Now, because of that wonderful garden experience of my childhood, I have never planted another garden.

So, now you may be asking, what does all of that have to do with today sermon?  Well here is the main point that I want you to get out of today.  There are natural enemies to growth that must be confronted and overcome.

Before we move on this morning, let’s begin with a word of prayer.  Let’s Pray!

Let me share with you what another person wrote about their farming experiences.  The man writes:
“I began my ministry as a 23 year old in Southern Illinois.  It was there that I learned about wheat and corn farming.  It was there I rode my first combine.  I discovered that farming crops is significantly different than livestock.  The weather in Illinois is also quite different than it is in Texas and Oklahoma.  The seasons were to be respected and they created a rhythm for the farmers that could not be violated or overridden easily.  There were certain times of the year that you turned your soil and planted and certain times that you brought in the harvest.

Crop farming has other interesting distinctions from cattle farms too.  I became aware of “the enemies.”  As essential as water is to farmers it can also be an enemy; as small as an insect seems to many, it is a crop farmers nightmare; as harmless as a weed might seem, it is a corn farmer’s competitor.”

He goes on to say, “Water at the wrong time means you can’t get your crops in the ground … or you can’t bring in the harvest.

Insects come in all forms and are always a threat.  Soil borne pests attack the seeds and the root system; others attack the stalk, leaves, and the fruit.  Scientists and farmers are always seeking new and more effective ways to combat this enemy.

Weeds compete for moisture and nutrients.  They can take over a field and choke out a wheat harvest.  Agro chemists are always working with the farmers to protect the harvest and the ecology.  They are always attempting to find ways to produce a stronger and better yield.”

Now, the farmer has to know his enemies if he is to outsmart them.  In other words, if he is to see his desired effect accomplished in spite of the enemy, he needs to know what they are.

The same applies to Kingdom.  If we want to see real growth, then we need to realize and determine what the enemies are.  There are enemies of the soul.  Becoming aware of them is essential if we are to see the desired effect accomplished.

In today’s passage, Jesus exposes some of the spiritual enemies that we face.  Listen to this passage, and have the imagery of the enemies to farming in the back of you mind.  Mark 7:1-23 says, “1”

Now, crop farming definitely has its enemies, the interesting thing is that these enemies can look like friends at times as well.  When they act right and do the right things they can be beneficial but when they gain control and start running the farm, well, then they are an enemy.
• Water is essential … but too much water is destructive.
• Insects can be helpful … but too many are destructive.
• And “weeds” … there is a place for weeds … but it isn’t in the harvest field.

Just as the farmer must know and protect against his enemies in the fields, so should the Christian.  This morning, I want us to take a look at a few of our enemies that can erode the soul.

First, Is Busyness, Or I Like To Call Them “Traditions”

The Greek word for “tradition” is also the root word for “surrender.”  That gets to the core of the matter.  What will you give yourself to?  God or some kind of a replacement?
Defining spirituality through busyness is a dangerous trap.  Those who do so may find they cannot do enough, that was what Martin Luther discovered.  Regardless of the amount of works that they do, they always seem to be lacking and having to do more.  Others begin to feel superior to those who do less, or different, acts.  This was the downfall of the Pharisees.  The Pharisees deemed themselves holy, or pure and right with God because of certain rituals and traditions that they performed.

That is why they were so often offended by Jesus.  He found His spirituality in His relationship with the Father.  This explains how Jesus could touch a leper, a corpse, be touched by a defiling woman, and eat with sinners without fear of defilement to Himself.  The Pharisees on the other hand, they focused too much on their own rituals and traditions.  To them, it was all about Doing Stuff, and less about an actual relationship with God.

Now, I believe that Busyness, or Traditions can easily do 2 things.  First, It Produces Hypocrites.  In verse 6, Jesus tells us that much.  You see, it is possible to look right and sound right and yet be entirely wrong.  To talk of love and not actually show love; to speak of forgiveness and not be willing to forgive is hypocrisy.  So I would encourage you to beware of lip service, and make sure that you are not being a hypocrite.

And Secondly, It Hinders, Or Makes It Impossible To Have Real Worship.  Jesus says in verse 7, “They worship me in vain…”

Worship can only be defined by what goes on inside of you, and not by actions on the outside.  The only ones who know if you are truly worshipping are you and God.  Sadly, busyness and traditions cause us to do things in our worship to God simply because that is the way we think is should be done.  We do things, without the right feelings and the right attitude inside.  However, God can see right through all of those fronts that we put up, and He knows if we are being sincere or not.  So make sure that the busyness of life does not cause you problems in having real worship with God.

Now in our passage today, Jesus challenges His opponents to a more radical understanding of spirituality than they embraced.  He moves them from externals to internals.  He explains to them that it is not what is on the outside that makes a person, rather it is what is on the inside that defines or and what they really are.

We must look to the “heart” or the “person within” as the source of righteousness and not to our own actions.  Our actions must be spawn by the condition of the heart not be established in spite of the heart’s condition.

What Jesus is doing is moving the discussion from law and regulation to love and relationship.  For these people, this was a new and radical concept!  The Pharisees show lip service, external allegiance to God’s demands, while ignoring the personal break in their relationship to God, “their hearts are far from me” Jesus says.  So, we need to make sure that we are aware of the enemy of busyness and traditions.

Secondly, We Need To Be Aware Of Barrenness, Or Emptiness

My experience and observation is that busyness often leads to barrenness.  We think activity can replace a real relationship.  We think it will fill the void within us if we keep busy.  Sadly, it often leads to disillusion not fulfillment.  Sometimes it also leads to self-righteousness too.

You see, these leaders and teachers of the law Did A Lot Of Stuff.  However, it actually made them empty on the inside.  They were trying to fake a relationship by doing stuff.  They did a lot of deeds and works to try and show themselves to be religious.  In a way, they were trying to earn their relationship with God.  But God is not looking for your works and deeds.  God is looking for a contrite/broken heart.

The people we read about in this story were empty on the inside.  They had filled up their outside appearance with plenty of busyness and traditions, but on the inside, they were lacking.

When it comes to being able to fight the enemies in farming, the first step is to define the enemy, and then attack it.  Right now, we have defined the enemy as being emptiness.  Now we have to decide how we are going to fight against that enemy.

My thought on this issue is that when we realize that there is an emptiness inside of us, we need to realize that the only way to fill that void is with Jesus.  The Pharisees and the religious leaders tried to fill it with activity, busyness, and traditions that had been handed down to them.  But Jesus says that isn’t the way to fill the void.  The only way to defeat barrenness and emptiness is to develop a stronger relationship with God.

This can be done in a variety of ways.  It could be done in the form of a deeper Bible study, more prayer time, more personal quiet time with God, better attendance to group meetings here at church, and many other ways that you can begin to deeper that relationship with God.  But, in all of those things, you need to make sure that you are doing them for the right reasons, otherwise, they just become more busyness and more traditions that lead to more emptiness.

And Finally This Morning, We Need To Be Aware Of Blemishes, Corruption And Uncleanness

What a tragedy that religious people would ignorantly practice their religion and become worse for doing it.  But it happens all too often.  Note the tragic sequence of events from this passage alone.
{1} Verse 7 tells us that they taught human doctrine as God’s Word.
{2} Verse 8 lets us know that they laid aside God’s Word.
{3} In verse 9 we find that they even rejected God’s Word altogether.
{4} Verse 13 tells us that they robbed God’s Word of its power.
The religious people thought their works and the beliefs that they had made them acceptable to God.  But what God is looking for is a heart, or the inner person that is turned towards Him.  The condition of the heart determines the relationship with God.  Not one’s deeds.

A person is never given right standing with God or purity by their actions.  Jesus exposes their corruption by showing them what lies within their own hearts.  He says that within their hearts are several things.  He finds within the hearts of these people:

• Evil thoughts = the inward act of choosing that which is offensive to God over a known and righteous alternative.
• Sexual Immorality = following in all sexual thoughts and activities.
• Theft = stealing the things that belong to God and others.
• Murder = the idea of killing another, even the thought of murdering someone.
• Adultery – violating the covenant of commitment with one’s spouse.
• Greed = “To have more” – the curse of wanting what others have and what one does not already have.
• Malice = the desire to harm or inflict evil on another.
• Deceit = “bait” and has the word picture of the Troy Trojan Horse story.  It is being crafty, cunning, or treacherous.  It is scheming, trapping, and setting someone up for harm.
• Lewdness = a disposition of the soul that resist discipline, no restraints, without any shame.
• Envy = “evil eye” – hatred of others success or good fortune, jealousy and envy.
• Slander = blasphemy = insult to God or to man.
• Arrogance = Pride = showing one’s self above.  This is an inner vice that may never show outward expressions but lives and rules all of a man’s motives within.
• Folly = intentional choice to be brainless – to choose to be a fool.
And what Jesus tells us about these things is interesting.  In Mark 7:23 Jesus says, “All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’”

So, we need tot be careful; do not go through the list of sins and excuse or condemn yourself.  That misses the point.  Jesus is suggesting that if you can do one – you can do them all – they all spring from the same place.  The unclean heart that is inside of us.

Now, as we begin to wrap things up this morning, weeds, water, and bugs have a place on the farm but in excess they become the enemy.  Well guess what, there are enemies of the soul as well.  They can appear to be pious and wholesome but inwardly they are eating away at you.

Jesus’ entire ministry is focused on solving this all too human problem of genuine defilement.  Jesus’ ministry on the cross is the only way to rid one’s self of the heart’s impurity.  As we see from the stories today in Mark’s Gospel, any man-made solution just adds to the problem.

Part of the solution lies in the word “tradition.”  Do you remember what I said the root of that word was?  The root of the word tradition is actually the word “Surrender.”  The problem is, the people were surrendering to the wrong authorities.  They were surrendering to their own man made things.  Conquering the enemies of the soul begins when you surrender to God’s authority and to His Word.  When you choose to turn and become obedient God.

So, now we know what some of the enemies are when it comes to our spiritual growth.  Now we need to attack them by surrendering to God and His word.

Let’s Pray!