Scripture: Ephesians 4:17 - 32; 2 Chronicles 29:1-19
Title: Spiritual Clutterbug?
Theme: Spiritual Cleansing
Sermon is based on the need to do some spiritual decluttering.
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
I want to talk to you this morning about reshaping the sacred space in our lives. That is to say I want for us to take some time this morning and reflect on our lives and see if we need to do a little spiritual cleaning or what has been called - spiritually decluttering.
Some of us this morning could be labeled Clutter Bugs and others well may be on the road to being hoarders so a little intervention is good for all of us.
One of the ways you can test yourself if you are a clutter bug is to go to your closets, the drawers in your office, work shop or kitchen and open them. Are they tidy? Are they well organized? Is there stuff there that you constantly use?
Or do they suffer from a little or a lot of clutter? Are they full of all kinds of stuff because you either didn't know what to do with it or you just knew that you needed to save it? Or have other people just piled stuff in without your knowledge or permission?
Imagine this with me and see if there is something like this in your house.
We yank open our junk drawer and noticed that in the corner is a button we thought we needed to keep but now we realize we no longer own that coat. Stuffed over in another corner are some crumpled up receipts. How old they are we really don't know. Laying on top of a stack of other papers is a ticket where we went to see a movie. It was a good movie so we wanted to keep the ticket as a nice reminder. As we rummage around we find that there all kinds of stuff - some expired medications, quite a number of pens, paper clips, rubber bands, bobby pens, a screw driver or two and some other miscellaneous stuff.
Hmm. Maybe we do need to do a little decluttering. Let's go to another area of our home - a Closet.
Looking in we notice that there are some shoes we thought we would like but we didn't . However, we don't want to get rid of them because there is a chance that we might still need them some day. There is no reason to get rid of them - yet. There are those clothes that use to fit and after we go on this diet or that diet then we will be able to wear them again. At least that is our plan. Forget that they will no longer be in style. The main thing is there are they to remind us or motivate us to put down that Girl Scout Cookie or that bowl of ice cream.
And why should we get rid of that shirt or those old jeans? They have finally gotten comfortable. Sure there are a few holes but that just means that the material has gotten soft enough to feel good. No reason to get rid of good clothes.
Does that sound like you or at least like someone you know?
On top of all of this there are those little grime areas that find themselves in our homes. We do our best to turn a blind eye but every now and then we see them. Actually, we see them better in someone else's house than we do our own but we won't talk about that.
You know those little grime areas - the space on top of the refrigerator. The spot behind the washing machine. That little gap underneath the microwave. That area underneath the sofa or the stuff in the sofa. That little track that goes along the window sills and the windows themselves. The grime that seems to somehow build up along the baseboards and in the corners. Where does all that stuff come from anyway?
The reality is this morning most of us have some clutter, some unnecessary messes and some disorder in our homes. There are some shelves that need straightening and some areas that need some tender loving care.
I think it is also legitimate to say that in most of our lives there are some things that that for lack of a better word are merely "junk". Things that get stuck here and there instead of being tossed in the garbage can. We either didn't take the time to toss them or we just got lazy and decided not to do it.
Now, of course, there are some things that do have value. They were bought thinking that we needed them or that they would work but then we found out that they were either the wrong size, the wrong product or just didn't work. We kept them because we didn't want to go and stand in some kind of line to get a refund. It's too much of a hassle and there is the odd chance that we could use it someday.
What is true in our physical lives can also be true in our social, our emotional and our spiritual lives. If we are not careful we will find that they can look a lot like our closets, our drawers and our shelves. They can look like those spaces underneath our microwaves, our sofa and in the corners of our walls.
That is what happened to the Temple in Jerusalem before King Hezekiah. That is what Paul is sharing in his letter to the Ephesians can happen in our spiritual lives after we come to faith.
Every so often we need to take some time and do some cleaning and decluttering in our lives - physically, emotionally, socially and most importantly spiritually.
The Bible tells us that under King Hezekiah the nation of Israel experienced an amazing Revival. A revival that started off with a massive cleaning project - a massive spiritual decluttering of God's Temple in Jerusalem.
Hezekiah was a young man when he took the throne following his father's death. He was only 25 years of age but he was well aware of what it meant to live a holy life. The Bible tells us that Hezekiah was a lot like King David who loved the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY with all his heart. Hezekiah lived a life of great humility and wisdom and the Bible tells us that the LORD blessed him and enabled him and the people of Israel to experience tremendous blessings during his reign.
All of that is remarkable considering the home that he was raised in. It was not a righteous home or at least his father was not righteous. His father, King Ahaz lived an extremely wicked life.
King Ahaz did his best to anger the LORD and do everything he could to prove to his people that he did not believe in the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. Ahaz chose to serve the gods of the Canaanites; Baal and Molech. The Bible records that more than once King Ahaz volunteered one of his own children to be sacrificed in the fires of Molech. It is hard for us today to imagine that people willingly sacrificed their children to false gods but archaeologists have unearthed plenty of evidence of such activity.
All of that changed under young King Hezekiah. Protected and raised by his mother the young man understood that there was only One True God - the Good God of Creation - The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He knew that things needed to change in order for Israel to begin to be blessed by the LORD again. He knew that as long as the people served false gods and the Temple of the LORD was in disarray, God's favor would never be upon His people.
The steps that we see King Hezekiah doing and the thoughts of the Apostle Paul to the disciples in Ephesus can help us this morning in knowing how we can declutter our lives - spiritually, emotionally, socially and physically.
I. The First Thing We Can Do - OPEN THE DOOR AND LET THE LIGHT IN - verse 3
The very first thing that King Hezekiah does is to open the doors of the Temple. In other words the first thing that King Hezekiah does is to allow the LIGHT to enter into so he could see what needed to be done.
The Temple was constructed in such a way that when the doors opened up the morning sun was able to light up the whole place. The rays of sunshine would allow anyone walking in to be able to see everything.
One of the things we need to do is to allow the light of the Holy Spirit to shine into our spiritual, emotional and social lives. We need to open up the closets, the drawers and anywhere else we want the LORD to bring order out of chaos.
It is not by accident that we read in Genesis chapter one these words -
"In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, 'Let there be light' and there was light." (Genesis 1:1-3 NKJV)
What is amazing about this light is that it did not come from our sun. The Bible tells us that our sun was not created until verse 16. So where did this light come from? I believe that this light - this supernatural light is from God Himself. It is God's light emanating from God Himself.
The LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, the Good God of Creation does not need the sun, moon or the stars to provide light. God is light!
1 John 1:5 -
"This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is not darkness at all."
God Himself was the light for the first three days of Creation. God will be the Light for the New Heavens and New Earth:
Revelation 22:5
"There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the LORD will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever."
It is this same light that we need to see exactly what needs to be done in our lives. King Hezekiah did not know everything that was behind those doors. He did not know how big of mess he would be find. He did not know what type of work needed to be done in the Temple. But he knew the first thing that he needed to do was to open the doors and let the Light come in.
The same is true in our lives. Whether it is in our physical lives, our emotional lives, our social lives or our spiritual lives we must allow the light of the Holy Spirit to shine. If we don't we will never recognize what really needs to be decluttered from our lives.
Now, not all the things that we will find in our sacred spaces this morning will be a result of our doings. The Evil One - the Devil does his best to put all kinds of things in our spiritual spaces. He leaves little notes reminding us of our failures, our addictions and our short comings. He leaves little reminders that will accuse off all kinds of things. He leaves little notes that he hopes will cause us great guilt and shame.
That is why we need the light of the LORD. For the light of the LORD will show us the truth. The Light of the LORD will show us if the things that we have cluttering up our lives are real things or not. The Light of the LORD will cast out the darkness, cast out the things that will harm our lives and that will cause us to become depressed and powerless.
The light of God will remind us that
"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us." - Psalm 103:11-12
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:9
The Devil does his best to get us to live in the past. He does his best to accuse us. The truth is the Lord forgives and forgets. The Lord chooses to no longer remember our sins or hold them against us. They are forever gone.
We need to allow God's light to burn up any thoughts of doubt, guilt or accusation. We need to realize that anything that the Devil has tried to put in our sacred spaces is based on lies.
King Hezekiah knew that in order for him to know what needed to be done in the Temple he needed to allow the Light to come in. The Apostle Paul in sharing the Good News with his readers knew that the only way for them to know what was a part of the Old Man and what was a part of the New Man was to let the Light in.
We need to do the same. Before we do anything - before we touch our spiritual lives, our emotional lives and our social lives we need to invite the Holy Spirit to shine the light of His glory and grace into our situation. Only then will we know what to do. Only then will we know to take the second step:
II. The Second Step is to Purge and Purify - v. 5, 16
King Hezekiah's next step was to purge and purify.
After allowing the light to come in it was rather easy to see what needed to be removed from the Temple. Anything that had to do with paganism or anything that would hinder the work of the LORD King Hezekiah quickly removed.
Bible scholars tell us that over the years the Temple had become a place to store all kinds of junk. Things that no one knew what to do with they just put in the Temple. Old idols that were broken or could not be repaired they put them in the Temple. Since King Ahaz did not believe in the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, he showed his disrespect by junking up the place. In his mind the Temple of the LORD was no better than an old garage or a junk yard.
King Hezekiah immediately began a purge and purify mission. He carried out the rubbish. He got rid of the mess, the disorder and anything that hide the beauty of the Temple.
In the same way we are invited to do the same. We are invited to allow the Light of the Holy Spirit to come in and then experience firsthand the words that the Apostle Paul shared with the Ephesians in verse 31 -
"Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."
Put all that stuff in the garbage can.
James the brother of Jesus says it this way in James 1:21:
"Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls."
Again, grab the garbage can and empty any of that stuff in it quickly.
1 Thessalonians 5:22 says:
"Abstain from every form of evil."
We are to realize this morning that there are some things that may come into our sacred space that will never help us. Instead, they will hurt us. They will slow down our spiritual walk with the LORD. They will rob us of our first love. They will depress us and take away needed space for God's righteousness and holiness. They will slow down our spiritual walk with the LORD.
This is what Paul was alluding to in Galatians 5:19-21. The Devil was doing his best to get the people to fill their sacred spaces and lives with all kinds of things. Listen to the list Paul gives us:
"Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the like ..."
Just like we leave crumpled pieces of paper, loose buttons, worn out shoes, out of style clothes and other things that clutter up our physical lives we must make sure that things like
+Bitterness, grudges, pride, anger, envy, jealousies and grumblings not fill up our sacred spaces.
The Devil loves to go messing around in the sacred places of our lives and filling them up with junk so that we can't see what is good, what is right and holy. He loves it when instead of having a life that is well ordered and righteous it is full of all kinds of things that will stop us from becoming the people that God wants us to become.
The Bible tells us that not only did King Hezekiah purge the Temple of the debris he got rid of it permanently. He set it on fire. That is what happened down at the Brook Kidron. It was an area set aside to burn things. King Hezekiah didn't merely want to throw the garbage out he wanted to make sure that it was gone forever never to return again.
There are some things as we declutter our lives we don't need to see again or experience again. There are some things that not only need to be thrown out they need to be burned in the fires of the Holy Spirit.
Today, we don't talk much about the fire of the Holy Spirit but we need to. We need to let people know that there are some things that try to clutter up our spiritual lives and spiritual sacred spaces that need more than just a little dusting. They need more than just to be thrown out in the trash. They need to be burned in the fires of the Holy Spirit and transformed.
Malachi 3:2-3 and John the Baptist's words in Matthew 3:1 reminds us that the Holy Spirit is able to bring a refiner's fire. A refiner's fire is one that purges, destroys, removes and cleanses. A refiner's fire is able to remove any sin that is in our lives. A refiner's fire can root out the sin, can destroy the works of the old man and can rid forever our sins.
For centuries farmers all over the world have used fires to cleanse their fields before planting the next year's crop. These fires are organized and controlled in such a way that they are able to burn up the weeds and harmful plants while at the same time enable the plants they want to grow to grow even better. Instead of these fires harming the environment they enhanced it.
In like manner it may not make sense but we need to allow the fire of the Holy Spirit to have full sway in our sacred spaces - emotionally, socially and spiritually. There are some things that need to be both purged and burned up. We don't have the wisdom or the knowledge nor the power to do this on our own. We need to surrender our lives to the will of God's Holy Spirit and watch what happens. God will take our mess, our grime and our clutter and transform it. He will burn up that which is junk and will enable that which is good to be sanctified wholly.
III. Finally, we see this morning that King Hezekiah did one more step -
He sanctified and polished the Temple - 5, 15 - 17
There is something wonderful that happens after we have decluttered a closet, a work place, a kitchen drawer or our own spiritual sacred space. After we have allowed the light of the Holy Spirit to shine upon it and we have purged and purified the space we can then shine it up and sanctify it.
This is what we see King Hezekiah doing. He brings the Levites back into the Temple and allows them to dust it up, pray over it (sanctify) it and get it back into working order.
The decluttering was not done to just repair the Temple so that it would look good. King Hezekiah was not interested in creating some type of new spiritual museum. He wasn't interested in creating some kind of spiritual gallery or repository.
King Hezekiah was interested in opening the doors for worshippers. Worshippers who could enter in and bring their prayers, their sacrifices and their lives to the LORD. Worshippers who could come and learn the ways of the LORD. Worshippers who could gather together for times of fellowship and celebrations.
King Hezekiah was interested in making clean, open and righteous sacred spaces. He was interested in creating this place where people could come and literally be in the presence of the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.
King Hezekiah was interested in inviting the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY back into the lives of His people 24/7/365.
King Hezekiah was interested in bringing back the Shekinah glory of the LORD back into the Temple, into the Promise Land and into the lives of His People.
This morning one of the reasons for decluttering our spiritual lives of unnecessary things is to get rid of those things that can harm us.
But that is not the main reason. The main reason is to provide more useable/livable space for the LORD to work with us, enjoy our presence and celebrate our lives with Him.
The other day I decided that it was time to do some physical decluttering. I was working on this sermon so I thought it would be a good time clean up some areas. I took all the socks out of the drawer. I looked them over and got rid of those that were worn out and those that I haven't worn in a couple of years and really would never wear again. After that, I took all the stuff out of the top drawer and got rid of old receipts, old papers and stuff that over the last year I have just stuffed in there thinking that they would be important.
I was amazed at first how much was just junk. By the time I was finished the waste can was full.
Now, there is room to really see to get the things that I need. The socks are all lined up and easy to grab a pair. The stuff is all aligned in the top drawer so that I can quickly see what is there and can work with it.
That is the goal of any type of decluttering or simplifying. That is the goal of decluttering our sacred spaces/our spiritual lives. It is not to just do one more activity or to feel good. The goal is to allow us to have more room for the Holy Spirit. The goal is for us to be better equip to do the things that the Holy Spirit wants us to do.
If our lives are filled with all kinds of junk - either the junk we put there or the junk that the Devil and others put there we will spend a lot of time moving all that junk around to get to the stuff we really need. We could even get sidetracked by reexamining all that stuff and waste a bunch of time.
This time of the year welcomes us to do a little spring cleaning. This time of year is a great time for us to look over our lives and allow the Holy Spirit to:
+Shine Forth His Light
+Help us to do a little purging and purifying
+Help us do a bit of reorganizing and polishing up a bit
King Hezekiah knew that underneath all that stuff in the Temple was this amazingly beautiful sacred space. The Apostle Paul knew that underneath all the sin that wants to lie on top of us is the person God wants us to be. A person whose heart is at peace. A person whose life is well ordered. A person who reflects God's image. A person who is able to enjoy a life of holiness.
So, this week let's put all of this into action.
Let's take a closet or a drawer and declutter it - maybe it's the back seat or back of our vehicle. Maybe it's those shelves in the bathroom. Maybe it's the space under the sink. Maybe it's that area in our work shop.
Let's take some time and declutter that area and while we are at it open our hearts to allow the LORD to shine on anything in our emotional, social or spiritual life that needs decluttering. As we physically declutter our lives let's allow the Holy Spirit to talk to us. Are there things that we no longer need to hold on to - grudges, bitterness, hard feelings? Are there things that still weigh us down - old doubts, guilt or sin? Are there things that we need to let go? Are there areas in our lives that are a mess and they need some straightening up?
If we will do that this week then I know that we will be better for it. Let's allow God to do some Soul Cleaning this week!
(I owe a great deal to Mrs. Paula Huston's book - Simplifying The Soul)
Closing Response: I PRESS TOWARDS THE GOAL # 400 (Sing to the LORD)
# 399 - I Have Settled The Question
