Matthew 15:1-9 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands before they eat." 3 He answered them, "And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, 'Honor your father and your mother,' and, 'Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.' 5 But you say that whoever tells father or mother, 'Whatever support you might have had from me is given to God,' then that person need not honor the father. 6 So, for the sake of your tradition, you make void the word of God. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said: 8 'This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.'"
Do we ignore Jesus' teaching to take care of our family? And who is our family?
In our culture, I think most of us are probably able to hang onto this teaching while denying Jesus' others teachings that go along with it. It is pretty easy to take money we would have given to church and give it to a family member who is depending on us instead. After all, either way, we were giving the money away.
But what we fail to realize is that there are other teachings of Jesus that should inform this teaching. For instance, instead of seeing our family as just those we have a genetic relationship with, Jesus breaks down those walls and tells us we are all now one family. Therefore, we can extend this teaching to taking care of all our brothers and sisters in Christ.
We worship God when we take care of one another. Never make giving into something superstitious: "the more I give to the church bank account, the more God will bless me, therefore I will give even if it means neglecting those I am charged with caring for." Instead, the hands and feet of Jesus have this priority worked out: Put those needing my support first, then the church treasury."
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Note: This passage contains more than just one teaching. They have been divided over the last few posts.
- Following the word of God is more important than following tradition
- Honoring God with our lips and not our heart is meaningless
- Worship is meaningless when hearts are far from God
- Teaching human precepts as doctrine is wrong
- Neglecting one's parents (giving to church treasuries support they need) is not honoring to God
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