January 25 - Lesson: Matthew 12.43-45

Sermon Title: Cleaning House

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INTRODUCTION

Bedtime Prayer (1)

Two young boys were spending the night at their grandparents.

At bedtime, the two boys knelt beside their beds to say their prayers when the youngest one began praying at the top of his lungs, "I PRAY FOR A NEW BICYCLE. I PRAY FOR A NEW NINTENDO. I PRAY FOR A NEW DVD PLAYER..."

His older brother leaned over and nudged the younger brother and said, "Why are you shouting your prayers? God isn't deaf."

To which the little brother replied, "No, but Gramma is!"

  1. What is the boy praying for?

    1. Let's not be critical but evaluative.

    2. He is praying for something new.

    3. This means that he probably has one that is old.

  2. What is he really praying for?

    1. He is praying for "stuff."

    2. We can use the word stuff to refer to what we acquire.

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Main Body

  1. Life is full of stuff.

    1. George Carlin, in A Place for Your Stuff, writes (2):

So stuff is important. You gotta take care of your stuff. You gotta have a PLACE for your stuff. Everybody's gotta have a place for his stuff. That's what life is all about, tryin' to find a place for your stuff! That's all your house is. Your house is nothin' but a place to keep your stuff. If you didn't have so much stuff, you wouldn't need a house. You could just walk around all the time.

So that's all your house is. It's just a pile of stuff with a cover on it. You can see that when you're taking off in an airplane. You look down and see all the little piles of stuff. Everybody's got his own little pile of stuff. And they lock it up. That's right! When you leave your house you gotta lock it up. Wouldn't want somebody to come by and TAKE some of your stuff. 'Cause they always take the wrong stuff. They always take the GOOD stuff. They don't bother with that [junk] you're saving: National Geographics, commemorative plates, your prized collection of Central American underwear. Ain't nobody interested in your kid's fourth-grade arithmetic papers. They just want the GOOD stuff. The shiny stuff. The electronic stuff.

    1. Donna Smallin, 39, a freelance writer and author of Unclutter Your Home: 7 Simple Steps; 700 Tips and Ideas: (3)

She writes that we "keep things for two main reasons:

      1. "Some things have sentimental value. It was your grandmother's. If you love it, keep it. It's good to surround yourself with things that are important to you.

      2. "The other reason to keep things is that you think they might be useful someday when you finally lose the 10 pounds and fit in those dresses again.

    1. Then she asks: "How much stuff is enough? If you keep buying things and throw nothing out, well, a house is a finite size."

    2. But there is a solution in a older Rubbermaid commercial.

      1. House is cluttered.

      2. What do we do with all this stuff?

      3. Purchase Rubbermaid containers.

        1. It is all cleaned up.

        2. Now what do we do?

      4. Go out and buy more stuff.

      5. Now there be no place to store your stuff.

  1. Jesus is talking about a person who has a serious problem with "stuff."

    1. The house, the mind, is cluttered with rather nasty stuff.

I remember being asked to visit with a family in Southern Ohio who even today shall remain nameless.

This family raised dogs: Peekapoos, Pekinese, and Chihuahuas.

There must have been a hundred dogs in this small house.

The air was foul, there was no place to walk; there was no place to sit

Needless to say this was not a long visit.

    1. The home owner in our biblical narrative lives in a house that is even more foul.

      1. It is demon possessed.

      2. This does not mean that he is not in his right mind.

      3. It means that he is inhabited with a spirit that is opposed to Jesus.

    2. The homeowner cleans up the house.

      1. It is emptied of debris.

        1. Swept clean

        2. It is painted.

        3. Redecorated.

      2. It remains empty.

      3. The homeowner is now perhaps short on energy or funds.

        1. This is a dangerous place to be.

        2. It leaves one vulnerable to complacency or misinterpretation.

Use Some Help? (4)

Walking through a rough part of the city one night, two social workers heard moans and groans and muted cries for help coming from an alley. Walking toward the sound, they found a semi-conscious man.

"Help me!" he said weakly. "I've been mugged and viciously beaten!"

The two social workers stared at him for a moment then walked back out of the alley.

One turned to the other and said, "You know, the person who did that really could use some help!"

    1. It is true this person could use some help in recognizing the serious of the situation.

      1. Help has been offered.

      2. Help is being offered.

      3. Help is always available.

      4. It is not being utilized.

    2. The problem that this homeowner faces is that the bad stuff has been taken care of but it has not been replaced with good stuff.

      1. So the person goes out and gets more bad, foul-smelling stuff.

      2. And the end is worse than the beginning.

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  1. So here we are dealing with our own stuff.

    1. What do we need to be able to understand and enter into a process of change, that is if we recognize the need for change.

    2. Joanne Lynn and Joan Harrold, in their book Handbook for Mortals speak about the Four R's for the Spirit (5)

      1. Remembering.

        1. Take time to reflect on your life and its events.

        2. What were your accomplishments?

        3. What must be left undone?...

      2. Reassessing.

        1. Take time to see your life as a whole.

        2. You may ask what your life really added up to, or who you really were.

        3. You might share your thoughts with those who know and love you...

      3. Reconciling.

        1. Try to be at peace with yourself...

        2. Reconciliation with your imperfections and those of others can help you find peace.

      4. Reuniting.

        1. Try to be at peace with those you love...

        2. As serious illness threatens, it is important to come together with family and friends, when you can, and to have the chance to say farewells.

    3. Let us take their process and revise it to better fit our current needs.

    4. I need to do this for the freeing and betterment of myself.

Douglas Taylor-Weiss, Rector of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Dayton, Ohio, has proposed a new set of Ten Commandments that arise from our culture. While hardly soul-strengthening and spirit-building, these new dictums reflect some people's reality.

1. Have a good day.

2. Shop

3. Eliminate pain

4. Be up-to-date

5. Relax

6. Express yourself

7. Have a happy family

8. Be entertaining

9. Be entertained

10. Buy entertainment

      1. We are not demon-possessed, but perhaps we are not as close to Jesus as we ought to be.

      2. So how do we move from where we are to where we ought to be?

    1. We differentiate between "The Works of the Flesh and The Fruits of the Spirit" as outlined in Galatians 5:16-26 (NRSVA)

      1. 16Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.

      2. The Works of the Flesh

19Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, 21envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

      1. The Fruit of the Spirit

22By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.

    1. Try these four R's for improvement.

      1. Removing.

        1. What stuff do I have?

        2. What stuff do I want?

        3. What stuff do I really need?

      2. Renovating.

        1. What stuff do I have to get rid of?

        2. What stuff is in need of cleaning and/or repair?

      3. Retrieving.

        1. What do I need for an interior color scheme?

        2. What do I need for furnishings?

        3. What will be used to accomplish this?

      4. Regenerating.

        1. What will I become through the application of this process?

        2. Will I be a better person for myself and the others in my immediate and extended family?

    2. At least the house will not be empty to become the residence of all that I abhor.

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CONCLUSION

  1. Max Lucado compares the role of the Spirit in our lives to a guy who wants to learn to dance. (6)

He's a rational, intelligent sort of guy, so he goes to the bookstore and buys a how-to book. He takes it home and begins studying. He does everything it says with meticulous care. When the instructions say sway, he sways. When the instructions say lean, he leans. When the instructions say spin, he spins. He even cuts out paper footprints and arranges them on the family room floor so he will know exactly where to step.

Finally, he thinks he's got it down pat. He calls his wife in and says, Honey, watch! With book in hand and reading aloud so she'll know he's done his homework, he follows the instructions, step by step. It says, Take one step with your right foot. So he takes one step with his right foot. Then it says, Turn slowly to the left. He turns slowly to the left. He keeps it up, reading and then moving, reading and dancing, through the whole thing.

Then he collapses exhausted on the sofa and says to his wife, What do you think? I executed it perfectly!

To which she replies, You executed it all right. You killed it!

The bumfuzzled husband says, But I followed the rules, I laid out the pattern, I did everything the book said...

But, she sighs, you forgot the most important part. Where was the music?

    1. The demon possessed person is a person who is dancing without the music.

    2. What happens when we include the music.

    3. Continue the story from Max Lucado

With that, she puts on a CD. Try it again. Quit worrying about the steps and just follow the music. She holds out her hand, and he gets up and takes it. The music starts, and the next thing the guy knows he's dancing--without the book!

Max closes the story with this: We Christians are prone to follow the book while ignoring the music. We master the doctrine, outline the chapters, memorize the dispensations, debate the rules and stiffly step down the dance floor of life with no music in our hearts. Dancing with no music is tough stuff. Jesus knew that.

    1. An empty house is a dance without the music.

    2. It leaves us vulnerable to all the powers who oppose Jesus.

  1. Jesus provides not only the steps, but also the music.

    1. Do you hear it?

    2. If you do follow it!

    3. It is life and joy, love and peace. Amen!

1. cybersaltlists.org

2. --George Carlin, A Place for Your Stuff, "The Big Book of New American Humor" (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1990), 193.

3. Charles Leroux, A World of Clutter, The Washington Post, July 6, 1999, C4.

4. cybersaltlists.org

5. Joanne Lynn and Joan Harrold, Handbook for Mortals (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 30.

6. Rubel Shelly, Great themes of the Bible: Spirit's indwelling, Faith Matters, faithmatters.faithsite.com.

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