Defilement

Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.” 

When he got home away from the crowd his disciples questioned him about the parable. He said to them, “Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters not the heart but the stomach and passes out into the latrine?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) “But what comes out of the man, that is what defiles him. From within the man, from his heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within, and they defile.” (Mark 7:14-23)

Can Jesus be any clearer?! Has any Jesus warning been more compelling and relevant for the time in which we now live?  

How many of us have been defiled by what has come out of our often-twisted mouths and snarled lips? What comes out of our stomachs, passes out into our latrines, but what comes out of our potty mouths can spread like manure over a garden or extensive field. It fertilizes hate and the entire litany of sins such as unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, and folly.  We foul our nests through the evil in our hearts that defiles us.  

Jesus summons us and commands: “Drive out your demons.  Be made clean!”  Let’s listen to him.  Let's hear his voice.

Deacon David Pierce