IF JESUS CAME TO YOUR HOUSE
I hope many of you, like myself are discovering that the book of Leviticus is anything but a dull book of law. Today we continue our series of sermons from the book of Leviticus. The text comes from the third section chapters 11-16. This section concerns God’s laws regarding what is clean and what is unclean in the areas of food and other matters. Two of the chapters in this section deal with the dreadful disease of leprosy on the body and in the houses. I want to concentrate on the kind of leprosy that attacks the structure of a house and then consider how spiritual leprosy can attack our homes.
Again you may ask why does the Bible include all these detailed instructions on what to eat and how to keep clean and how to treat leprosy. And again I will point you to God’s reason stated in 11:43-45 “For I am the LORD your God; sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy for I am holy…For I am the LORD who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; you shall be holy, for I am holy.”
(Read the text Lev. 14:33-57)
This week I found a realtor’s website that began by including this very passage from Leviticus 14 then went on to describe how mold attacks houses today. Mold infected houses has caused a flood of lawsuits that seek compensation for health problems and property damage. In some cases the problem became so severe that residents had to abandon and even burn their houses and belongings in order to rid them of mold infestations.
Toxic mold can incubate and grow wherever there is water leaking, flooding, clothes dryers not vented to outside, and water standing in houseplants to name just a few ways. Toxic mold is a kind of leprosy that is literally attacking thousands of houses in America today.
I wonder if you noticed where the toxic greenish and reddish spots of mold originated in the Biblical text? Did you catch the source of leprosy God is describing? Listen again—“When you come into the land of Canaan which I give you for a possession, and I put a leprous disease in the house …”
God said to Moses tell the people when I put leprosy in a house then it is time to take the problem to the Priest and do what is necessary to get rid of the toxin. The house becomes unclean because the leprosy of sin has invaded the home and sin, like toxic mold grows and creates an environment that is unfit for holy people to live in. If it is allowed to grow and spread, it will contaminate the whole family and they will die!
We wonder why would God cause leprosy to attack the dwelling places of some people or how can a holy God cause an unholy disease to erupt in a dwelling place? I believe the answer is God put the disease in the houses just like God puts pain in our bodies. Let me explain.
Pain is a signal; it’s a warning sign. Pain is the smoke detector that goes off to let us know something is wrong inside our bodies and we’d better do something before the disease kills us. Can you imagine what it would be like if God had not put the sensation of pain in our bodies? We’d never know anything is wrong and we’d ruin our bodies.
God said I put a leprous disease in the house. It served as a reminder that there were matters within the house that needed attention and God was not referring to a water leak. He was making the family aware that sin had invaded the home and sin when it grows and spreads makes the family inside unholy. It contaminates and makes those who become contaminated unacceptable to the One who sees everything that takes place within the four walls of our homes.
Leprosy in the house was God’s smoke alarm! It was God’s way of warning the family that they’d better do something because a fire of sin was smoldering and if they didn’t get it stopped their whole household would be consumed by the deadly inferno of sin! Job 22:23, 25b, 26 says it this way…”If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored, if you remove unrighteousness from your tents…and if the Almighty is your gold and your precious silver, then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, and lift up your face to God.”
In II Chronicles 26 records how proud King Uzziah went into the temple with a bold arrogant and defiant attitude. He was a man who thought no one is going to tell me what I need to do or how I should worship. I’ll do it my way! So he made his own offering instead of asking the priest to do it for him as he should have. Here’s how Scripture describes his sin and what happened to him. (read 26:16- 21a). What a sad ending for King Uzziah. Humiliated, he had to live in exile as a leper until he died. Obedience to God is so important.
Miriam is another example of one who was struck with leprosy because of her sin but because she had a praying brother who went to God to plead for her healing, God answered his prayer. After seven days in quarantine, she was released and totally healed. I picture Miriam dancing with her tambourine, singing and praising God for healing her and restoring her to the company of God’s people again.
Now let’s go back to the text in Leviticus to see what God’s prescription was for dealing with an infected house.
1. The first step was to go get help. The head of the house was to go to a spiritual advisor and let him know that there was a problem at home (v.35). The head of the family was to let the priest know that there was something going on in his home that was not right. Maybe the man of the house wasn’t able to put his finger on exactly what kind of sinfulness had entered his home, or maybe he was the one sinning himself. Whatever the problem, God was working to alert the family that they needed help. Zechriah 5 sheds light on how God responded to sin in a home. “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land; for everyone who steals shall be cut off according to the writing on one side; and everyone who swears falsely shall be cut off according to the writing on the other side. I have sent it out, says the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name; and it shall abide in that house and consume it, both timber and stones.” (5:3,4)
2. The second step the family was to take, (v36), “The priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest goes to examine the disease, or all that is in the house has become unclean.” Even before the Priest came to inspect, they were supposed to get rid of all the rot inside that had the potential of infecting their lives. It might have been stolen property or evidences of lying. Today sin-infected houses need to be rid of evil books, harmful toys, suggestive videos, violent video games, anything that would lead the family to unholy living and to disobedience to a holy God. All such things should be pitched. Then the priest was to come and inspect.
3. The next step if the leprosy continued to grow in the walls was (39-41)
They were to do a thorough and sever housecleaning even to the point of taking the pollution to the dump so that it wouldn’t be recycled and contaminate another family. We today need to do thorough soul searching and cleansing of everything that is sinful. It may be sinful material that should go directly to the garbage where it will be destroyed and not recycled at Goodwill or Salvation Army or sold at a garage sale only to contaminate another family.
It may be the clothes in our closets that we women, in particular, need to label unholy and ungodly because they have the potential to lead others to sin in their thoughts or in their actions. Or it may be body tattoos that are ungodly by what they symbolize. Whatever needs to be purged, God wants us to get rid of. The Psalmist prayed, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow!” God wants us to pray as earnestly as the Psalmist did about the sin in his home.
4. The next step (v.42) The old polluted stone walls needed to be replaced with new stones and new plaster. Everything in our houses should make a statement that Jesus is a welcome guest, in fact that he dwells in our home making our homes sacred and sweet. Everything from the pictures on the wall to all the things on our shelves, the music on our CDs, and the Bible on the coffee table. Kids, I want you to think about your rooms and ask yourself is there leprosy in my room?
The passage continues and points out that if the leprosy persists and is only half-heartedly dealt with then “He shall have the house torn down, its stones and timber and all the plaster of the house, and taken outside the city to an unclean place.” (v 44, 45). The whole house needed to be torn down. God can not tolerate half-hearted obedience.
Jesus says to us, “No one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.” You can’t say I’m no longer a drinker, I’m no longer going to allow several beers on Saturday night kill the desire to wake up on Sunday for worship, yet keep a beer or two in the refrigerator just in case I get the urge. Any activity that has the potential to lead to sin needs be purged.
Listen again to the words of Job, “If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored, if you remove unrighteousness from your tents…and if the Almighty is your gold and your precious silver, then you will delight yourself in the Almighty, and lift up your face to God.” When you get rid of all the unrighteousness in our home, you will be able to delight in the Lord and lift up your face to him in worship without guilt or shame. The whole atmosphere in the home changes.
What follows in the rest of chapter 14 of Leviticus is the final step of going to the House of God to offer a sacrifice for forgiveness. God’s pronouncement then “So he shall make atonement for the house and it shall be clean. (v 53).
Again we can shout Hallelujah, we don’t need to bring two birds or a goat or a lamb to church for a ritual slaying for our forgiveness. It’s already been done for us. I Jn 5:6 says, “This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood.” Jesus is the complete fulfillment of all God commanded for a house of leprosy to be cleansed.
The question I ask you this morning goes back to the song you heard during the prelude. What would you do if Jesus came to your house? Would Jesus be pleased with what he saw inside or would he find it infested with unholy garbage and full of a lethal toxic atmosphere. This question hit me early Saturday morning even before I got out of bed. You see, many of us may say, we don’t have any pornographic material in our house, or our music isn’t all that bad, or most of our videos are decent, and if Jesus came we’d turn off the TV so there’d be no problem with Jesus coming inside to visit. But how about the hidden things in our homes that no one can see with their eyes? In other words how about the moldy stuff in our hearts?
Is there an unforgiving spirit towards others in your home? Has someone done you wrong and you can’t forgive? And you know that your unforgiving spirit is consuming your heart and your home. Jesus teaches us to pray, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” As difficult as it is, he will provide the courage and power to forgive our offenders.
Or is your home infested with a coldness towards each other or towards your extended family? A cold, unloving spirit is another toxic mold that eats and spreads! Or do you feel that your neighbors are real jerks, or the people in the church—O yes, you speak to them but you’re not really interested or concerned about their joys or concerns. Do you really extend your love to people in a Christ-like manner. Jesus said “This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.” I’m discovering that there is no better way to get rid of a moldy, cold heart than to ask God to plant a deep love in my heart and in our home.
Or is your home tainted with the toxin of self-absorption? Does each person lives to satisfy his or her own needs and desires at the expense of family harmony? Do you find yourself reasoning, “ it is my time, my car, my pleasure, my recreation, my body. I will get what I want and don’t expect me to sacrifice any of my privileges or my entitlement for anyone else. I’m not available for serving. And don’t expect me to warm up to the idea that I should deny myself for someone else.”
I’ve discovered that Satan will take little things in our homes like petty annoyances and have a heyday with them. Satan loves to have a little sin sprout and spread into all kinds of little moldy demons. If we don’t take charge with the power of Jesus and ask for forgiveness and spiritual healing, we will eventually be overcome, sin-sick and miserable.
I don’t imagine that the first seeds of disharmony in the David Harris home in Houston or the Brent Anderson home locally would have caused the two wives to ever imagine that they might one day become so livid with anger that they would kill their husbands in such a horrendous way that they each did. That’s a spreading leprosy of the worst kind.
It’s not just toxic mold destroying the physical structures of houses in America, the leprosy of sin is destroying even more homes in America today. In many cases messed up families are becoming fragmented units scattered about in ruins carrying a strain of the toxic mold of sin with them.
The good news is that there are cases where new godly homes have been rebuilt with new cleansed and forgiven mothers and dads who have invited Christ to come into their homes to live and to take charge of all their affairs.
May God speak to you as he has spoken to me about keeping our homes pure and our lives holy before him. Hear again God’s command, “I am the LORD your God, sanctify yourselves therefore and be holy, for I am holy… You shall be holy for I am holy.” (11:44,45) Amen
