The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
In the name of Jesus; amen.
Slowly, but surely I have begun the process of deep cleaning my house, what most people might refer to as “Spring Cleaning.” I actually prefer to do it now, right before the holiday season. Everything will get cleaned, or put away, or thrown out. I go through drawers and cabinets, behind furniture, under beds; every nook and cranny will get cleaned out.
I started this past Friday. The house is in desperate shape, but I have a plan of action: one room at a time. Usually I would begin with common areas like the play room or the kitchen or the dining / living room. But this Friday I cleaned my bedroom. Usually the bedroom, mine at least, is last on the list. It becomes the collector of things and never gets dusted because by the time I reach the bedroom all I want to do is sleep.
There is a peace that comes from cleaning. I slept so well on Friday night after I was done. It felt as though my soul had been washed and dried in a warm dryer or out on the line on a bright sunny spring day.
When I talked to my brother on Saturday I told him about cleaning my bedroom and how it made me feel. He reminded me that our external circumstances usually affect our internal circumstances and vice versa.
There is a theme to this week’s readings and that is the theme of repentance. Theologian Daniel Clendenin says that “repentance is central to life rather than peripheral. It’s essential rather than dispensable, obligatory and not optional. And contrary to modern misconceptions, when done well, repentance is entirely life-giving rather than death-dealing. Repentance is a movement toward health and wholeness rather than a descent into repression and self-recrimination.”
I have known for some time now that cleaning up my surroundings would make me feel better and repentance is like that too. Repentance, literally turning back to God, is like cleaning house. It can be a long and tiring task, but it puts us right with God.
The chief priests and the elders of the people were upset with Jesus when he told them that the tax collectors and the prostitutes were going to the kingdom of heaven ahead of them. They believed that their houses were clean and that they had less need for repenting.
But anyone who keeps house knows that there is always something that needs to be done. Dishes, laundry, the bed all have to be done on a regular basis or your house will start to look like mine.
As Christians there are just some things that we must do to keep right with God. God will always be right with us; loving us, caring for us, yearning for us, but we have to live lives of consistent prayer, and worship, and giving, and repentance.
Ezekiel’s message in our first reading warns the people that their transgressions will cause them to die. We can read into this literally because sometimes the wrong we do causes death, but living with our transgressions means living apart from God and that is a much worse kind of death.
As I swept under my bed on Friday the dust and pet fur began to make me cough and sneeze. The dirt literally hurt me. I was living with stuff that hurt me. Sweeping it up and throwing it out was actually good for my health physically and emotionally.
Repentance is our way of sweeping up the dirt from our spiritual lives. When we ask for forgiveness we are putting the trash out on the curb, trusting that God is going to come by and pick it up and get rid of it.
When the room was clean I put a brand new bed set on the bed. New pillows, new sheets, a new comforter now adorn my bed. When we repent and let God take away our sin we make room for something new to happen in our lives: something soft and warm; something comforting and beautiful.
Ezekiel puts it this way, speaking for God he says: “Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!”
Repentance renews us because it gives God a chance to enter into us and live through us. It’s why we confess our sins and hear the words of forgiveness every Sunday, so that we have a new heart and a new spirit before we enter into worship with God.
But it is not a once a week activity. If you save all the repentance for Sundays before church the work will pile up. Make it a constant in your lives, turning to God in all things.
The psalmist writes: “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. My God I put my trust in you…Remember, O LORD, your compassion and love, for they are from everlasting. Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions; remember me according to your steadfast love and for the sake of your goodness, O LORD.”
Lift up your souls daily, trusting in God. God will not forget you. Turn to God in every moment, God will always be there in goodness and steadfast love for you.
Amen.
Slowly, but surely I have begun the process of deep cleaning my house, what most people might refer to as “Spring Cleaning.” I actually prefer to do it now, right before the holiday season. Everything will get cleaned, or put away, or thrown out. I go through drawers and cabinets, behind furniture, under beds; every nook and cranny will get cleaned out.
I started this past Friday. The house is in desperate shape, but I have a plan of action: one room at a time. Usually I would begin with common areas like the play room or the kitchen or the dining / living room. But this Friday I cleaned my bedroom. Usually the bedroom, mine at least, is last on the list. It becomes the collector of things and never gets dusted because by the time I reach the bedroom all I want to do is sleep.
There is a peace that comes from cleaning. I slept so well on Friday night after I was done. It felt as though my soul had been washed and dried in a warm dryer or out on the line on a bright sunny spring day.
When I talked to my brother on Saturday I told him about cleaning my bedroom and how it made me feel. He reminded me that our external circumstances usually affect our internal circumstances and vice versa.
There is a theme to this week’s readings and that is the theme of repentance. Theologian Daniel Clendenin says that “repentance is central to life rather than peripheral. It’s essential rather than dispensable, obligatory and not optional. And contrary to modern misconceptions, when done well, repentance is entirely life-giving rather than death-dealing. Repentance is a movement toward health and wholeness rather than a descent into repression and self-recrimination.”
I have known for some time now that cleaning up my surroundings would make me feel better and repentance is like that too. Repentance, literally turning back to God, is like cleaning house. It can be a long and tiring task, but it puts us right with God.
The chief priests and the elders of the people were upset with Jesus when he told them that the tax collectors and the prostitutes were going to the kingdom of heaven ahead of them. They believed that their houses were clean and that they had less need for repenting.
But anyone who keeps house knows that there is always something that needs to be done. Dishes, laundry, the bed all have to be done on a regular basis or your house will start to look like mine.
As Christians there are just some things that we must do to keep right with God. God will always be right with us; loving us, caring for us, yearning for us, but we have to live lives of consistent prayer, and worship, and giving, and repentance.
Ezekiel’s message in our first reading warns the people that their transgressions will cause them to die. We can read into this literally because sometimes the wrong we do causes death, but living with our transgressions means living apart from God and that is a much worse kind of death.
As I swept under my bed on Friday the dust and pet fur began to make me cough and sneeze. The dirt literally hurt me. I was living with stuff that hurt me. Sweeping it up and throwing it out was actually good for my health physically and emotionally.
Repentance is our way of sweeping up the dirt from our spiritual lives. When we ask for forgiveness we are putting the trash out on the curb, trusting that God is going to come by and pick it up and get rid of it.
When the room was clean I put a brand new bed set on the bed. New pillows, new sheets, a new comforter now adorn my bed. When we repent and let God take away our sin we make room for something new to happen in our lives: something soft and warm; something comforting and beautiful.
Ezekiel puts it this way, speaking for God he says: “Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!”
Repentance renews us because it gives God a chance to enter into us and live through us. It’s why we confess our sins and hear the words of forgiveness every Sunday, so that we have a new heart and a new spirit before we enter into worship with God.
But it is not a once a week activity. If you save all the repentance for Sundays before church the work will pile up. Make it a constant in your lives, turning to God in all things.
The psalmist writes: “To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul. My God I put my trust in you…Remember, O LORD, your compassion and love, for they are from everlasting. Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions; remember me according to your steadfast love and for the sake of your goodness, O LORD.”
Lift up your souls daily, trusting in God. God will not forget you. Turn to God in every moment, God will always be there in goodness and steadfast love for you.
Amen.
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