FALSE DOCTRINE PRODUCES EMPTY WORSHIP
Sermon Text, St. Mark 7:1-13. 1

Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes came together to Him, having come from Jerusalem. 2 Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault. 3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches. 5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?” 6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 7 And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men – the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.” 9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift to God), 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother, 13 making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. Almighty and everlasting God, we ask You, for the sake of Jesus Christ, to help us rightly use our ears so that we hear Your Word diligently and devoutly as Your truth and order our lives according to it, and to help us rightly use our gift of speech so that we confess Your truth clearly and praise and glorify You. Amen!
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ:
In the church, we use the word doctrine a lot. It means teaching. We speak of “true doctrine” vs. “false doctrine.” Or we speak of specific teachings, for instance the doctrine of original sin or the doctrine of Christ’s two natures. We’re used to seeing doctrine this way, sort of in textbook form, like in the catechism or a church’s doctrinal statements.
Here Jesus speaks to the Pharisees and scribes using the word “doctrines.” So the church didn’t come up with this word; Jesus uses it! But He also makes it clear that doctrine doesn’t simply belong to the realm of “stuff you learn.” He says “doctrines” and “worship” in the same breath.
Jesus recites God’s words in Isaiah – “In vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” – and applies it to the Pharisees’ relationship to God. Their worship is “vain,” empty, and it’s because of doctrine.
They were accusing Jesus of leading His disciples to sin by letting them eat with unwashed hands. It wasn’t about being sanitary, it wasn’t being physically clean but ceremonially clean, able to be in God’s presence. These washings were required so often, they kept large jars on hand, like the waterpots at the wedding in Cana. The method was a big deal too: The hands were lifted up to make the water run to the wrist, to ensure that water polluted by the hand didn’t run down the fingers; also, one hand was washed with the fist closed so the other wouldn’t become unclean.
The point Jesus makes is that while they spoke of this as “the law,” it wasn’t *God’s* Law. It wasn’t His Word. It was “the tradition of men.” The tradition itself wasn’t wrong, but it was wrong to make it supersede what God says in His Word. Jesus says they made “the word of God of no effect.”
Jesus goes on to point out that they even had established a man-made law that gave people permission to ignore and disobey the 4th Commandment. They could say the word “Corban,” a binding vow which would tie up that money so it could not be used to help their parents. This man-made law overruled what God’s Word said in the commandment to honor your father and mother.
Jesus is showing that doctrine doesn’t just sit there. It affects what you do.
This eating-with-unwashed-hands business affected how they worshipped God. They manufactured pretend sins, which drove them farther from God and made people self-righteous, so they didn’t deal with real sins. Also, creating a vow that would block them from giving real help to aging parents isn’t just a doctrine that sits there. It kept them from loving and honoring their parents.
Jesus’ concern – and the main reason He exposes the false doctrine — is the worship that people actually do: First, how you worship God in your relationship with Him: what you believe, think and say to Him in your prayers and praises. And second, how you worship Him in what you do in your life with others. Remember what the catechism says in the commandments: that how you honor parents and authorities, how you help those in need and keep from hurting, it reflects how you fear and love God. So even our lives of sanctification are part of how you worship God.
Jesus doesn’t want His people to “teach as doctrines (from God) the commandments of men” because He doesn’t want them to “worship Me in vain.”
Many people don’t suspect worship has anything to do with doctrine. They decide on a church based on whether people are nice, what activities are available for their kids, and as far as worship goes, they look for a style they’re comfortable with, if it doesn’t bore them, if the music is “fun,” if the words are on a screen to make it easy, etc. Some have so-called “Kids’ Church” that takes children out of the sanctuary and moves them to a place where they play games. They play games to help teach things, surely, but what do kids remember? The games.
But here Jesus shows that worship is not a game. It matters what worship is filled with, and the very last question we should be asking is what we want, or what we feel or think. What matters in worship is what God wants our worship to be filled with, and He has not kept this a secret. He tells us in His Word.
Jesus says in John 4 that the true God must be worshipped not only “in spirit,” but also “in truth,” later in John’s gospel He said, “I Am the Truth,” and we hear of Jesus’ death that “he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true … he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.” And what is believing in Him? Worship.
This is what true worship must be filled with: the truth of God’s Word. It’s why we aren’t just baptized but also taught, from Sunday School on. It’s why we have catechism class and Bible class. It’s why we hear the Bible read and say the creed every Sunday. It’s why we don’t just sing “favorite hymns” or music to make us feel good but (in the Lutheran church) we sing doctrinal hymns filled with correct doctrine drawn from God’s Word. In church we use prayers that are carefully written, so we ask in accordance with God’s will. The point isn’t to file information away somewhere, but to worship Him “in truth!”
So you see what happens if there is any false doctrine: it makes worship “empty,” not in the sense that there is nothing there – since even false worship is filled with teaching, but teaching of the wrong kind. In this situation the worship is emptied of Christ, the true God who wants to be your God, who makes Himself personally present for you to enjoy Him. That’s what worship is.
True worship is filled with true doctrine, the Truth, that is, Christ Himself. It isn’t a list of rules, though it must include the correct teaching of the Law: the 10 Commandments showing you your sins, so you know that you need a Savior.
But it’s filled especially with the correct teaching of the Gospel, the message of His forgiveness, so you believe in His grace, His forgiveness. Notice, this all comes from what’s written down in the Bible. To love His Word is to love Him. In and through His Word He comes to you; that is the essence of true worship.
We often think of worship as something we do, also that doctrine is what we do through good teaching and attentive listening. But neither one is primarily your work. You can never learn it all, retain it all, or worship perfectly.
So Jesus comes to you in His Word and Sacraments, He makes you His temple.
It’s no accident that the one episode from Jesus’ childhood in the Bible shows Him in the temple. Why do we see Him learning in perfect humility, and see His perfect desire to be about His Father’s business and gladly hear and learn His Word, and then we see Him honoring His parents and superiors?
It’s so that when you fail to learn, when you forget what you’ve been taught or fail to live it out, when you let His Word take second place, when your worship is too much about you and not enough about Jesus, you can know that what Jesus did counts for you as if you’ve done it. Jesus comes to you in His Word, and in the Sacraments, to give you His purity. God sees in you – for Jesus’ sake – perfect adherence to His truth, love for His Word, and worship that can’t be improved.
In this way our worship is joined to the perfect worship of Him being done by angels, archangels and all the company of heaven. As His will is done there – where they know all things and worship Him not only with perfect music and the best hymns, but also with perfect joy, unselfishness, and contentment – His will is also done here on earth, in you.
The blood of Jesus purifies your worship and your prayers, and takes away all abusing of the truth and misuse of knowledge and reason. By His grace you do worship Him in spirit and in truth, until He brings you where there is only room for the truth, the voice of praise is never silent, and true worship of Him is all you’ll do and the only life you’ll know, forever and ever. Amen!