OnFire Encouragement Letter

Hi Folks:

Interesting times in our lives. After talking about it all summer, I took the boys canoe camping Sunday night in a remote area about 30 minutes from here. We followed some of the route from our men's trip earlier in the year and camped in the woods. The only human sounds were us and the jets in the air overhead. At about 10pm, we heard a lone coyote cry a few times. That was little disturbing. And then at about 5am, we heard a family of coyotes yelling and yipping. Pretty cool! I have a few pictures of the trip on the website if you're interested www.onfireletter.com

It was an adventure getting there. On the way something happened to cause the rear passenger wheel to overheat. We nursed it to a friend's house, losing the brakes in the process. Thankfully it happened then, and not after Jan had dropped us off. Another friend took us to our drop off. Today we had the van towed to the garage. Tomorrow we find out the damage.

We thought we had our old computer fixed. It really needs to be replaced, but Ian starts braces in a few weeks, so we are nursing it along. We tried another hard drive, but the same problems came up. Today we took it in and swapped the hard drive and memory into a cpu Jan's sister sent over to us. It seems to be working. Thank you Jill and Dana!

And, we had a crew here today repairing our ongoing roof leak. Its almost been two years since we first discovered it. Just when we thought we had it fixed, it would leak again. Hopefully this is it.

So many times our family news relates in some way to the OnFire message. This week is no exception. As we talk about broken things, Peter discovered a broken faith, where appearances meant more than substance.

Blessings for your week.,

Troy

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Peter said, "Explain the parable to us."

"Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man `unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man `unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him `unclean.' " (Matthew 15:15-20)*

I love Peter. He was never afraid to ask the questions others were afraid to. As they sat around scratching their heads on this one, Peter piped up, "Explain the parable to us." We have the benefit of hindsight and time so that we can read, study, and examine what others said. Peter and the others had to understand on the fly. It wasn't always easy.

At the start of chapter 15, we learn that Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee and continued to heal people. Then the Pharisees accosted Jesus and the disciples because they did not wash their hands before they ate.

This was a religious matter, not a matter of hygiene. The elders had taught that ritual hand washing was important, and so the Pharisees equated these matters with signs of godliness and holiness. The more they observed these rituals, the more godly they must be.

It is easy to criticize the Pharisees for their legalism, but I am called back to a time in my own experience. As a young Christian, I had my list of behaviours which divided the world into "in" and "out." Smoking was a big test. I remember being at an outdoor auction and, since it was the early eighties, everyone was smoking. It seemed obvious to me that there were many non-believers around me, and so I kept praying for the salvation of everyone around me (silently, of course). I couldn't follow the auction and pray for so many people, however, so I devised a "code" with God. "Amen" meant, "I am praying for the salvation of that person." I walked around praying, "Amen," "Amen," "Amen." God must look at us and shake his head!!

Fast-forward a few years to my first year of Christian college. After a few weeks, I had a new list by which I could judge people. Not only could I judge people by their behaviour, now I could judge them on their beliefs about the second coming, predestination, and other controversial doctrines. If they believed as I did, they were "in."

Some kind advice led me in a different direction (see #19, "Kindest Kick in the Pants" http://www.onfireletter.com/archives.html ), and over time I realized I could be like the Pharisees we like to criticize. I lived a good life on the outside. I had respect and trust from my peers and the college profs, but inside I was a mess of lust and anger.

That's what Jesus wanted Peter and the others to see. It is easy to make godliness a matter of external matters. We can so easily think we are "OK" because of what we do or don't do.

It is a much harder thing to make godliness a matter of the heart. I cleaned up my behaviour at an early age, but I am learning that it is a more difficult thing to clean up the head and heart. "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander." (Matt. 15:19)

Jesus explained that holiness was about more than making it look good on the outside. The Pharisees honoured the teaching of the elders, but ignored clear commands of scripture. One example was in honouring their parents. By claiming money for religious purposes they allowed their aging parents to suffer in poverty (vv.5-7). Their hands were supposed to be symbols of the purity of their souls, but greed boiled dark and deep within their hearts. No amount of external washing would make them come clean inside.

If we want to be pure and holy, we have to do the hard work of washing and purifying the heart, and not only the hands. Thanks for asking, Peter. We need to know these things.

Hope this helps. Be OnFire.

Troy

ON FIRE is a weekly letter of encouragement by Troy Dennis. To be added to or removed from the ON FIRE list contact him at onfire@eastlink.ca . Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com This letter published Sept 4, 2007. *All scripture references from the New International Version, copyright 1973, 1978 by the International Bible Society.