December 20, 2011
Cleaning the Inside
As my grandma got older the dishes that she washed by hand weren’t
always as clean as they should be. I’m sure there were many contributing
factors, such as failing eyesight, loss of concentration and even relaxed
cleaning standards. I’ve noticed lately that every once in awhile as I’m
washing dishes the person drying them for me will hand back a utensil that
needs to be re-washed. I suppose I was focusing more on cleaning the areas that
I thought were touched by food. For instance I’ll wash the surface of the plate
more thoroughly than the bottom because theoretically, there wasn’t any food on
the bottom. Spiritually speaking, we believers are often guilty of just
cleaning the parts of our lives that we think have been soiled by the world. “Woe to you, teachers of
the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and
dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee!
First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be
clean.” (Matt 23:25-26 NIV)
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1 comment:
Gail;
-----Washing the business side of the plate is really what Jesus was saying about washing the inside of the cup and dish. His metaphor entails a little bit of magic: the outside of the cup and dish magically become clean just by washing the inside. Yours didn’t. That’s because this magic doesn’t work on dishes like God works it on us.
-----Jesus was always the vivid type. He used another interesting metaphor quite paralleling this one when He called the Pharisees whitewashed tombs. Think about eating off a dish filthy on its top and squeaky clean on its bottom while your insides are a dead rot, but you’re all bright and white and pretty looking to others. Jesus told us not to pray on the street corners where being seen is easy, but to pray in private where only the One to whom you pray will see. He said not to blow a trumpet when you give alms, but give them in secret where your Father seeing them in secret will reward them. Those hungering for righteousness will be satisfied; the pure in heart shall see God; anger becomes killing; lust becomes adultery. Something about this inside private space interested Jesus.
-----An old adage says you can’t change a man by giving him new clothes. But like most similitudes, the similarities do not run through the complete list of its characteristics. Paul tells us to put on the new nature, our heavenly dwelling, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, patience, love, and indeed, to put on Jesus Christ. Isn’t that whitewashing the tomb? Surely, a lot of behavioral change can not happen by just thinking about a new behavior, agreeing with it, or even liking it. Avoiding the boring psychobabble, I’ll just say that the new behavior must actually be produced in your actions before it becomes a part of your entire soul. And although the imagining of the new behavior happens first, the knowing of the behavior is not complete until it has been done unto someone else (even observing the other person’s response to it becomes part of knowing it.) Therefore, changing behavior really does entail some amount of putting a new garment on an old man (albeit a properly prepared for change old man, if only bathed.) But this exterior servicing really is meant to make interior improvement on the one hand, and to effect other people for the better on the other.
-----The exterior maintenance of whitewashing the tomb and scrubbing the outside of the pot has as its purpose nothing more than upgrading the presentableness of the tomb or pot. Such purpose involves nothing in the nature of refining one’s own inner essence. And even if such refinement were the purpose of renewing of the mind, failing to actually put on the behavior would be to think sitting around going, “Ahhmm, ahhhmmm, ahhhhmmmm...,” all day is going to do anybody any good. No. Certainly God works what magic upon us He chooses. But our participation in transformation requires the whole soul effort of our spirit, mind, and body.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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