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Cleaning House (Lent)February 24, 2009Matthew 6:1 Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. "The house of my soul is too small for you to enter: make it more spacious by your coming. It lies in ruins: rebuild it. Some things are to be found there which will offend your gaze; I confess this to be so and know it well. But who will clean my house?" This is a question that Saint Augustine asked in The Confessions. What a fitting question during the season of lent. On Wednesday the season of Lent begins. Every year the church recognizes this forty day period as a solemn time when Jesus prepares to be arrested, tried, and crucified. It ends joyously on Easter morning with Christ's resurrection. Lent encourages Christians to use this time as an opportunity to reflect on the condition of our own spiritual health. In the excerpt above, Saint Augustine takes inventory of his own spiritual house and finds it cluttered and in need of repair. He knows it must be cleaned, but wonders how this will happen. Don't we all live in cluttered houses? Many of us physically live in cluttered spaces in need of cleaning and repair, but we also find this true of our spiritual house as well. So how do we clean our spiritual house? In Matthew 6, Jesus instructs his disciples to practice their piety, to actively engage in spiritual disciplines. The ones he immediately refers to have to do with giving, prayer, and fasting. He warns his disciples that to do these things in order that others may see them is missing the mark. Spiritual disciplines are not designed to impress others by how spiritual one looks; rather, spiritual disciples have to do with one's relationship with God, not one's perceived relationship with God. Practicing spiritual disciplines remains valuable for us today. By devoting ourselves to prayer, fasting, tithing, etc. we create room for God in our cluttered lives. God is always with us, but sometimes we get so preoccupied with ourselves and the world around us that we forget to recognize God and don't do anything to strengthen our relationship with Him. Lent is a perfect time to devote ourselves to a spiritual discipline. We can use this forty day period to focus on cleaning out the cluttered spaces in our lives. The intention is not so that we can fill them up later with more clutter, but rather so that we can make room for God everyday. Only we can clean our own house. We can't hire someone to do it for us. Where will you begin? Prayer: Lord, my house is a mess, but you want to come over anyway. You are standing at the door knocking. I want to make room for you to enter. I want you to be my honored guest. Show me what to throw away and what to keep so that I can experience you more fully. Amen. For more informationRev. Leigh Martin |
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