Messiah is well known as being a “traditional” congregation. We offer the traditional liturgy. We have liturgical worship, with the organ, the hymnal, and all the accoutrements. And we like it this way. We see it as a strength, a selling point, a real positive. We stand in contrast to many of the churches in our area, even within the LCMS, as being distinctly traditional. It’s a big reason a lot of us are here.
But today, our Lord Jesus Christ warns us of the dangers of tradition. Or, more specifically, of teaching as doctrine the traditions of men. We must be crystal clear – God’s word is one thing, and human tradition is another. And human tradition ought never overshadow or oppose the word of God.
But like all good gifts, we sinners have a tendency to misuse them. The Pharisees certainly did so. The particular problem came when Jesus’ disciples were not following the ritual washings prescribed by the Pharisees, and the Pharisees complained about it. Mark tells us some background here, how the Jews used to ritually wash (or baptize) everything from their hands, to pots and pans, to their couches. And while the Law of Moses certainly did contain some rituals and ceremonies that God commanded the Old Testament people to perform, the Pharisees took these to a much higher level, and created laws upon laws, tradition upon tradition, in their vain attempts at works righteous legalism.
But here exactly is the problem. They set aside the law of God in their pursuit of all these man-made laws. They may have looked outwardly pious, but inside was the rot. “They praise me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me,” says the Lord.
Jesus gives them an example. They had prescribed a work-around for the 4th commandment of honoring father and mother. They said, “if you give money to the temple, then you’re off the hook. You aren’t responsible for your aging parents anymore.” But Moses taught them the command of God as such, honor your father and mother, and it cannot be annulled by a tradition of man.
And many such things you do, Jesus said. Might he say the same of us?
This sort of thing was a huge issue in the Reformation. Rome had devised all sorts of human traditions that supplanted the teaching of God’s word. Buy this indulgence and your sins will be forgiven! Pray at this relic, and you’ll save yourself some time in purgatory. Do these good deeds and God will reward your merit with even more grace. They had a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish man-made traditions.
I remember something wise a certain pastor once said, “Legalists are masters of the loophole”. And it’s so true. By setting up man-made laws, laws that perhaps we can actually fulfill and accomplish, we let ourselves off of the true, God-given law. If I just do so-and-so, then I don’t have to face the full measure of God’s expectations for me. I can convince myself that I’ve satisfied the requirements. That I’ve done enough, and done good enough, to be counted righteous.
But the divine law is not so easily set aside or sabotaged. You don’t get to stop honoring your parents just because to did something nice for them once. You don’t get to divorce your wife willy nilly because you signed the right paperwork according to Moses. You don’t get to leave your neighbor to die in a ditch because it’s the Sabbath day and you aren’t supposed to do any work.
You don’t get to switch off the commandment because you think you’ve done enough good over here in this other area to balance the scales. The commandments aren’t suggestions, nor do they have an expiration date, nor can they be funneled or bottled or minimized or excused away. No matter how and how much we sinners try to undermine them, the commands of the law always stand. The word of the Lord endures forever.
Love God with all your heart. There’s a big one. There’s a tough one. For even if I thought I could approach such a thing (and that would be a self-delusion anyway), that little word gets you every time: all. All your heart. Not just most or some or a majority of the time. The law demands perfection. It leaves no wiggle room, no matter how we try to tame it with human traditions. And love your neighbor isn’t much easier to accomplish!
This is not to say that tradition is bad, mind you! That would be to grossly misunderstand Jesus here. Tradition simply means what is handed over to us, or handed down to us. Much of that is very good! Some of that, is the very Word of God itself! And the traditions of the past, to the extent that they serve the word of God and keep it, to the extent that they help us gladly hear and learn the word of God, then they are good traditions. But even the best of man-made traditions is not the Word of God itself.
Look, there are good reasons to use hymnals and liturgies and organs and candles and robes. There are beloved and helpful traditions in our religious life and walk that serve to point us to Christ in various ways. But they do not save us! And they cannot take the place of Christ, or of his word. The traditions of man must never supplant the doctrine of God.
And what pride can come, even from our good traditions! Here is a real danger for us at a church like this, as we make a flippant comment about a church with a rock band, or contemporary worship. As we say things that make ourselves feel better and more righteous. Beware! Is it a valid criticism? Is it true and kind and helpful? Or is it just to stroke our own spiritual egos with a sense of self-righteousness?
Look, I’m as traditional as anyone. I love our liturgy and so much of what we do and I can articulate pretty well why we do it. And I think I could offer a robust critique of those churches who have left so many of these good traditions behind and turned aside to, well, other traditions, that are not as helpful, and might even be harmful.
But we must always distinguish between the traditions of man, and the doctrine of God. For the tradition of man does not save us. But the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God for salvation. The traditions of man may be helpful, but they cannot assist us in keeping the law (at least not as we should). And they cannot add a single bit to our salvation. All that is already done in Christ.
Christ, who for his part, kept the law perfectly. And not just the various laws of Moses, the ceremonies and customs of the Jews, but the law of God – the perfect, holy, will of God. Jesus always loved God with all his heart. He always loved his neighbor. He never broke the law of God, any of the commandments, but always, always, fulfilled them perfectly.
And he, Jesus, gave the only sacrifice required. Not some corban sacrifice to appease the traditions of man, but the perfect sacrifice of all time, to satisfy the justice of God. Not to shirk his responsibilities to parents, but to make all who believe in him dear children of God.
He was handed over, betrayed into the hands of men. Handed over by the Jews to the Romans. Handed over by Pilate to the will of the murderous mob. Handed over to the soldiers who drove the nails, pressed the crown of thorns upon him, and hoisted his cross upright for all to see as he died for all.
If you want the perfect righteousness that comes from keeping the law, don’t think you can do it yourself. Trust in Christ. Trust not in the traditions of men, as good and helpful as they might be. Trust in Christ. And don’t think that you can do some other good deed or outward work to fill in the gaps. Trust in Christ. Trust in the one who did it all for you.
Paul uses that language of “handed over” or “delivered” to point us to a blessed gift – Holy Communion.
“For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread…” etc.
So let us come to the table today and receive the sacred tradition, the blessed handing-over, of Christ’s body and blood, in the bread and wine. Paul received it from Christ, and the church has handed it down through the ages, and today it is handed over to us, distributed freely for repentant sinners to eat and drink and be forgiven. Trust not in the traditions of man. Trust in Christ, who hands himself over for you, and to you. Amen.
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