If you have ever felt distanced from others, maybe its time you take a bath. Most of us shower every single day because we sweat and work hard. Some work in stinky jobs or in jobs with tons of dirt and dust flying everywhere. Sometimes we just need a bath. How many of you have jumped in a mud puddle and then went home and faced your parents? If I remember correctly my mother had flames coming out of her eyes, nose, ears, and mouth when she saw how dirty and nasty I had gotten myself. Immediately, I had to take off my shoes and leave them outside and then march myself into the bathroom and take a bath. I was dirty and needed a shower. You wouldn’t dare try to get romantic with your spouse without a shower either would you? There is something about smelling really nice and having nice clean teeth that makes that process go much better. Clean just has a feeling to it.
Life wasn’t and isn’t this way in many parts of the world today. Most cannot take a bath any time they like. Most don’t even try to take one daily. Cleansing themselves is important however for health concerns.
Medical Procedures and Facilities
We would never want to subject ourselves or anyone else to improper medical procedures but two-hundred years ago they didn’t really know any different. “In 1818, Ignaz Phillip Semmelweis was born into a world of dying women. The finest hospitals lost one out of six young mothers to the scourge of "childbed fever." A doctor’s daily routine began in the dissecting room where he performed autopsies. From there he made his way to the hospital to examine expectant mothers without ever pausing to wash his hands. Dr. Semmelweis was the first man in history to associate such examinations with the resultant infection and death. His own practice was to wash with a chlorine solution, and after eleven years and the delivery of 8,537 babies, he lost only 184 mothers--about one in fifty.
He spent the vigor of his life lecturing and debating with his colleagues. Once he argued, "Puerperal fever is caused by decomposed material conveyed to a wound . . . I have shown how it can be prevented. I have proved all that I have said. But while we talk, talk, talk, gentlemen, women are dying. I am not asking anything world shaking. I am asking you only to wash...For God’s sake, wash your hands." Virtually no one believed him.” – Boyce Mouton.
If you went to the doctor for a surgery and he told you that he wouldn’t be wearing sterile gloves, wouldn’t be sterilizing any of the equipment he had used for the last operation, and gave you a 1 in 3 chance of contracting a disease, you would probably leave in a heartbeat. Today, sterilization of everything is a big key in the success of so many people living even after the most complicated of surgeries. Not only could the doctors put themselves in danger but they would be putting us in danger as well. I think we hold being clean and pure at a very high standard, especially in the medical industry where lives are at stake. When Amy was actually having the baby, every single nurse had on scrubs and rubber gloves. Every single package whether it was a needle, gauze pad, etc all were prepackaged individually so that no contamination could occur. Everything in that room was as sterile as you can make it. They always used fresh bleached sheets; even in the baby weighing machine it was totally clean. We all value our precious lives being free from contaminants.
House Full of Feces
Speaking of contaminants let me tell you about a house I once helped my landlord clean. It was back when we lived in Moberly, just a few blocks away from our house. I had helped my landlord, Dr. Stan McCreary, do many things and so he asked me if I wouldn’t mind helping him fix up a house he had just bought so that students could live in it. After I had volunteered, he then told me the story behind the house and how he had acquired it. He said that he knew the lady and her daughter who lived there. They always looked clean and even smelled nice. They never looked dirty or unkempt. However, the Department of Human Services got a tip that they should go and check this person’s house because the neighbors could smell it. The DHS people went into the home only to find that these nice clean people had animal feces covering every inch of the house. It had to be the most disgusting sight I had ever seen. I put on my jeans and a shirt and then I put on scrubs over that. I used duct-tape to seal my scrubs around my ankles, my wrists, and my collar. I had two layers of gloves on my hands, a hat covering my head, and a face mask on.
I must have looked like I had come from a sci-fi audition but at least I felt somewhat safe from the germs. A friend of mine had taken some unused and unneeded bottles of medical facility grade chemicals for me to use. After scrubbing for about 6 hours a group of us had finished cleaning most of the house with one chemical that smelled like peppermint. We had no choice but to throw away everything including all the appliances in the house; even the refrigerator was finally tossed because no one could put food in without the thought of animal feces being in it. We have no idea how they ate because rotten food filled the refrigerator and the freezer was actually a giant block of ice. I guarantee you that it was the worst sight you have ever seen and then some. I’ll stop here for the sake of your stomachs but I will note it got much worse. Who could ever live in such an environment? I think we can all agree that living in such an environment was not only horrible but also very dangerous to your physical well-being.
We can all agree that both the medical facility and the house need to be cleaned and clear of as many germs as possible. You cannot avoid some but getting rid of most is important to our over-all health. We can all agree that the house I spoke of was no place for a human to live. If we can all agree on that, we can all agree that our spiritual lives could probably use some cleansing too. We all know that we need to clean the outside of our bodies; maybe it is time we learn to clean the inside of our bodies as well. Over time we get dirty as we fail and fall in the mud of life and there comes a time where we need to clean off. Turn to 1 John 1:5-2:2 please. We have already noted that this book is dedicated to showing us different attributes about our relationship with God. Today we will be taking a quick look at our need for cleansing. Fellowship with God means we continually cleanse ourselves by first identifying areas we need to clean, then honestly and earnestly confessing those areas to God, and then finally standing firm in the knowledge that Christ died for us and covers us like a hen over her eggs.
Darkness vs. Light: What needs to be cleaned? – 1:5-8
“This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
This is the message John wants to present to them; God is light and no darkness is in Him. God is a pure and holy being without a single impurity. Mankind cannot come in direct contact with this Holy God because his holiness would destroy them. Anyone or anything that wants to get close to this God must also be Holy and pure. They must not have any impurities. John has already told us that he has written this book so that his readers can have a close relationship with God and now he is warning them that coming close to God is no small task. He continues to warn them that if they “walk in darkness” they will not be able to approach God. The term for “walk” in this text refers to a continual action. If these men and women continued walking towards sin and away from God, they would lose their fellowship with Him. They would no longer be able to share their lives with Him. However, if they choose to continually walk light Christ did, their sins will be cleansed because Jesus Christ died for us all.
There is one attribute about the dark we are all very familiar with; it is very hard to see where we are going. Unless you have every where you go perfectly memorized, you don’t have a chance on a pitch dark night. Even if you do have your house memorized, you can still stub your toe or find that “lost toy” with your foot quite easily. It is also quite easy to hide things you don’t want seen or found as well. The key to darkness is that no one else sees what you are doing. It is hidden just like presents or the toy your foot found.
If you plan on living a Christian life, you had better start by identifying those dark and hidden areas of your life; those areas which you hide so well and yet God sees them perfectly clearly. Some people call these “Pet Sins.” Those issues of hate, holding a grudge, being unloving, not caring about someone else’s misfortune, secretly desiring money more than God, not giving God your all everyday, etc. What kind of darkness dwells in your life? Look at verse 8 again. “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” If you claim you don’t have a problem and that you are perfectly fine, you are lying to yourself and God. We all have areas we can improve on and if we truly love God and want to be with Him, then we will work with every fiber of our being to find and eliminate those areas we fail in. You cannot live as a Christian and ignore the fact that you have sinned and still sin. I have some advice for the brave; if you really want to change and grow just ask God to show you where you need to change. Only ask if you really want to know because he will tell you. He will show you where you are weak and where he can help. If darkness lives in your life, then you are not walking with God and you must change but how?
Honest Confession: How do I take a spiritual bath? – 1:9-10
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”
John has already spoken up saying that we must make a habit of living and acting the way Christ did or we are in danger of losing our relationship with Him. He tells those he wrote to and us today that we cannot habitually sin and say we are a Christian. John even tells the people that if they claim that they do not sin, they are liars and in verse 10 even tells them that they make a liar out of Christ. John admits that humans fail morally and although it would be better if we were perfect, there must be a way to deal with it. Verse nine tells us how to take a spiritual bath so to speak. We must openly and honestly confess to God specifically how we have failed. If a person willingly admits his or her faults to Christ, God will faithfully forgive each and every failure and clean up their lives so that the dirt and stains are completely gone. God will clean the person up and make the perfectly clean and pure so that they can come back and have fellowship with Him.
“In a meeting conducted in an Eastern city, I had made the statement in the first service that if one cherished in his heart any unconfessed sin he could not expect God to use him. One of the prominent men of the city, a member of the church, immediately rose and left the building. His pastor was quite disposed to criticize the shortness of the statement, while he admitted the truth of it. For three days the man was away from his home, but when he came back he sought me in my room to say that twelve years before as a young business man, he had taken at the close of the year about $125.00 which did not belong to him. At the close of the second year he did the same thing, and then realizing his awful danger he resolved that ever afterward he would be "’strictly honest, and, said he, "When I heard your statement in your first sermon it went through me like a knife, and I determined that I would seek out my partner, against whom I had sinned and make a full confession. I was obliged to travel to a neighboring city, but when with sobs and tears my confession was made I came away home filled with the peace of God. For all these twelve years, while I have been a nominal member of the church, I have been able to do nothing in the way of service. Two or three days later there came in a request from one of the neighboring pastors that some one should come to help him over Sunday. No minister could go, but this business man, whose lips had been sealed, volunteered to go, and when his report was made by the minister Monday morning it was as follows: He said, "He arose to announce his text and then stopped. Said it again, and was too full of emotion to go on, then standing before the congregation he told of his sin, of his confession, and of God’s gracious forgiveness, and as a result of his plea almost every unconverted person in the building came to Christ." And the prayer of every Christian ought to be in the light of such a story, "Search me, O God, and get my heart," and his determination ought to be, to be clean at any cost. -- J. W. C.” By J. Wilbur Chapan, "Present Day Parables."
Just as John said and so the prominent man did tells us exactly what confession can do; yet not only confession but righting the wrongs we have done. You cannot hold sins and failures to yourself or they will eat you up and spit you out. You will become useless to the kingdom of God because you will have no passion for it. You will march in week in and week out and find that your spiritual life doesn’t improve much if at all and then you’ll wonder what’s wrong. Ask God and he will tell you. You know the failures you’ve had and where you have cheated others. You know where you have disobeyed God and now you need to confess your failures, make amends, and renew your spiritual walk with Christ. When God takes a big whiff, what will he smell in you? When he takes a big whiff will you smell like a dark, dank and moldy basement? Or will he smell a freshly cleaned and beloved child? You stink; take a spiritual bath. If you want to live closely and be useful to God, confess your sins to Him and he will gladly clean you up.
God with a Magnifying Glass – What if… 2:1-2
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”
John continues by saying that he has written about confession and the forgiveness of sins so that they will not habitually sin. However, if someone does walk away from the straight and narrow, he has a court-appointed advocate named Jesus Christ. They have the very best advocate they could possibly have; the one who paid for their sins in the first place. Christ, himself, is the propitiation (say what?). This word means a sacrifice in the place of but is better translated a covering. Jesus Christ died so that he could cover our sins and protect us. He not only covers our sin but everyone in the entire world if they will only ask him for forgiveness.
I remember that not too long ago, probably four months or so, I failed to keep a deal with Nadene over here to deliver some food for her. I had left my phone in my office and Nadene was supposed to call me on it so that I could deliver the food. Well, that didn’t work out too well considering I didn’t have my phone. I spoke to her later and apologized for forgetting and leaving the phone and she accepted the apology although admitting that she was upset; rightfully so in my opinion. I forgot one critical component of restoring the relationship between Nadene and myself; I forgot to ask for forgiveness. I soon typed her an email hoping she would get it before we met again. She did and said she had forgiven me for failing her. Yes, I do believe it would have probably been fine but regardless I needed to ask for my sake and for hers. We both had to let go of the issue and move forward.
We can have confidence that we will be forgiven if we only ask. Having fellowship with Christ is much easier that we usually think. God isn’t a mean kid with a magnifying glass frying ants with pleasure. He doesn’t sit in heaven throwing lightning bolts down and destroying our lives. He doesn’t hate us. Why would he send His child to die for us if He hated us? Why would he give us someone to argue our case if He were mad at our failures? Why would Christ jump on the grenade to save us all if he wanted to hurt us? God loves you and wants nothing more than to cover your sins and become your best friend, father, and God. He wants to shower your life with blessings.
However he can’t until you have confessed the evils in your life. God cannot transform your life until you give up those dark places in your life to him. We need a bath I think. We need to get our lives clean and start living for Christ and not for ourselves. We need to confess our sins to God honestly, and with great humility. He will be faithful to forgive all your failures but you must name them. INVITATION!
