CORINTH

-Sermon Notes-

August 16, 2026

 

“Learning From a N.A.M.”

(Psalm 133, Matthew 15:10-20)

     Jesus used every day items and experiences when he was teaching about the Kingdom of God (often found in his parables.)  This past week as I was looking at some weather computer models, I found an illustration that works really well when connected to the passage from Matthew this morning. 

     Weather computer models come in two different forms; one is a block of numbers, while the other is a map.  Both of these models are produced when current measurements of the atmosphere (temperature, wind speed and direction, relative humidity, etc.) are fed into an algebraic formula.  The end result is a computer “model” which defines what the atmosphere should look like at a particular point in the future, which helps me figure out if it will be sunny, cloudy, rainy or otherwise (the weather model I’m referring to today is a N.A.M.-a North American Model.) Here’s a very important point: if the information being fed into the computer model is wrong, then the output (forecast) is going to be wrong.  Forecasters call this the “garbage in, garbage out” theory.  To me, this illustrates Jesus’ point.

     Jesus was reacting to criticism he was receiving from the religious leaders; they asked Jesus why his disciples weren’t washing their hands before eating bread.  Washing hands was a Jewish ritual that was supposed to make you pure before God.  Jesus replied that it wasn’t what happens on a person’s exterior that makes you holy, rather it is what is in the heart that determines one’s holiness before God (see vs. 17-20.) In other words, what we have in our hearts determines our thoughts, words and actions.  A person is not holy if they provide for someone’s needs but has hate for them in their heart.  The heart is where true ministry and holiness is born (in other words, garbage in, garbage out; just as a weather computer model is faulty if faulty information is used to create it, a person can’t be holy if holiness isn’t fed into the heart and mind of a person.)

     The wonderful unity we find celebrated in psalm 133 this morning happens not because of what we look like on the outside, but because of decisions we make generated by our hearts.

     1 Samuel 16 comes to mind this morning, when God reminded Samuel that God judges not as humankind does (outward appearances.)  Instead, God judges the interior-the heart. (over)

     May we learn from Jesus’ teaching from today’s scripture, remembering that our words and actions are best influenced when we invite the presence of God to reside in our hearts, for this is where genuine holiness begins.