A Clean Sweep

The Rev. Whitworth Ferguson III
Manassas Presbyterian Church
Manassas, Virginia
March 4, 2007
Second Sunday in Lent

A Clean Sweep
Luke 4:1-13
1 John 1:5-10

A broom.
An ordinary broom.
I think the best symbol for Lent is an ordinary broom.
I don’t think ashes capture Lent as well as a broom;
I don’t think giving up French Fries or ice cream
captures Lent as well as a broom.
A broom is the ideal symbol for Lent,
for Lent is the perfect time of year
to do some house cleaning,
some spiritual housecleaning.

The word “Lent” comes from an old English word
that means “Spring”,
and when we think about the word “Spring”,
we tend to think about Spring cleaning.
Try as we might to keep our houses clean and tidy during the year,
clutter accumulates,
dust bunnies propagate and send their children off
to live in every corner of the house;
kitchen drawers can’t be opened for the stuff that piles up;
closets bulge with clothes that we promise ourselves
we will wear again just as soon as we lose a few pounds;
Garages overflow with things we thought we had to have,
but which we haven’t used in months.

When the first fresh breeze of springtime blows in,
as it did this past week,
we clean out, air out,
move out, and throw out.
Everyone gets involved:
each child is assigned a room,
husbands are sent to garages,
and even the youngest can pick up sticks in the backyard.
We attack our homes, our apartments, our condos
with vigor, passion, and energy.

Why would we not take the same approach to our Spiritual homes?
Why would we not want to do some spiritual housecleaning,
and do it with the same vigor, the same passion, the same energy?

Over the course of the year,
our spiritual lives get covered with dust and dirt;
junk accumulates that gets in the way of a fresh and vibrant faith;
staleness descends upon us like a heavy gray cloud,
leaving us slothful, tired, and dull.

There is dirt and dust even in the deepest corners of our lives,
dirt and dust we need to clean out.
Dirt and dust that accumulates, a little here, a little there;
dirt and dust that accumulates
every time we give in to temptation:
little temptations here and there,
and it is the little temptations
that trip us up far more often
than bigger temptations.

We give in to temptation every time we give in to
anger,
to envy,
to contempt, to judgment,
to pride, to selfishness;
we give in to temptation when we tell
even the tiniest of fibs.

It was in the sixth century that Pope Gregory
made his list of what we now refer to as the Seven Deadly Sins:
Lust, greed,
gluttony, sloth,
wrath, envy,
and pride.
Dante turned those seven sins into his seven levels of Purgatory
in his “Divine Comedy”.
The list is certainly not exhaustive:
we are much too creative and clever to be limited to seven sins!
But we are all guilty of every one of those sins on Gregory’s list,
and each time we succumb,
each time we give in to temptation,
each time we choose to turn from God,
another layer of dust and dirt coats us.

No one likes to acknowledge his or her sins.
It is so much easier to rationalize our sins:
We think our sins aren’t so bad compared with those of others:
“I’m not much of a sinner, especially when I compare
myself with the two people sitting right behind me.”
But sins are not relative;
your own sin belongs to you.
God does not compare your sins
with the sins of anyone else.
God is interested in your sins, and your sins alone.

What God wants from you, me, each of us
is to acknowledge our sins,
acknowledge them so we can learn from them,
as we are forgiven by God’s love in Jesus Christ.
That’s the first step in our spiritual housecleaning.
Acknowledging our sin, taking ownership of it,
standing before God and saying, “yes, I turned from you,
yes, I did wrong. I do not deny. I confess.”
It’s a hard thing to do,
But it’s the first step to coming clean.

Still, who wants to think of himself as greedy?
Who wants to acknowledge herself a liar?
Who wants to look in the mirror and see the reflection
of someone who has repeatedly given in
to one temptation after another,
who has run through every sin on Gregory’s list,
broken too many Commandments,
and ignored too many of Christ’s teachings?

We live in an era in which no one wants to take
responsibility for himself or herself.
Have you ever noticed when a prominent figure
apologizes for something,
he or she rarely says, “I am sorry I did that.”
They usually couch their words,
“I am sorry if anyone found
what I did or said offensive”,
as though the problem is with us
for finding the behavior or words offensive.

It’s why a few years back I wrote in an article
for the Christian Century a prayer of confession
that reflects our times:
"Almighty God, I may or may not need your mercy,
for I am neither admitting nor denying that I have transgressed.
For I would come to you with a penitent and contrite heart,
if I were guilty of sin, which I am not saying I am,
and I am not saying that I am not.
For all those sins which I may or may not have committed,
forgive me, even as I deny any specific need for forgiveness.
Wash me clean and restore in me a right spirit,
notwithstanding the fact that my present spirit may require
neither washing nor restoration. Amen"

But didn’t John remind us in our first lesson,
“If we say we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves
and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8)
If we deny our sin,
even if we try to minimize our sin,
aren’t we guilty of giving in to the temptation of lying?
Aren't we guilty of giving in to the sin of pride,
that somehow what we have done is not that
bad when compared with others?
We all need to come clean before the Lord.

So we need to get out the spiritual brooms
and look into all those parts of our lives that need cleaning:
dig into the corners, open up the closets,
pull out the drawers, throw open the windows:
Clean out the dirt, scrub ourselves clean.

Start with the layer of dirt that has built up
over the past year,
that accumulation of dust and dirt that covers every one of us.
Then turn your attention to all the junk
you’ve accumulated over the last year:
the clutter that fills up your life that distracts you,
and pulls you away from Christ.
Acknowledge the clutter. What is it?
Too much time in front of the television?
Too much of an obsession with celebrities or sports?
Too much time worrying?
Too much of a focus on accumulating things?
(that wonderful phrase, “retail therapy”.)
Too much time spent complaining?
Too much time gossiping about other people?
Too much time text messaging or IMing.
Too much indulgence in food or alcohol?
Too much time doing things that don’t lead to growth,
healthy spiritual growth?

What is cluttering up your life
that keeps you from praying each day?
"I meant to, but I was busy all day."
What gets in the way of your reading the Bible each day?
"I had planned to, but something else came up."
What clutter causes you to fit worship
into your other Sunday plans,
rather than fitting your other Sunday plans
into how you keep the Sabbath?

Sweep it all out!
throw it all out!
all in the trash, all the dirt,
all the clutter, all the junk,
everything out,
gone!
Give meaning to the words of the Psalmist:
“create in me a clean heart,
and put a new and right spirit within me.”

Now, the dilemma we have with our houses is that
it seems that no sooner do we clean out
cupboards, closets, basements, and garages,
than we start filling them up again with a new collection of stuff.
And we tend to do the same thing with our spiritual households.
What we need to do, though,
is to fill those newly cleaned spaces with good things,
healthy things,
things that will enrich and strengthen your spiritual homes.
Things like a more disciplined prayer life;
A greater familiarity with Christ’s teachings;
More knowledge of God’s words that come to us in the Bible.

Fill up those newly cleaned spaces with
a greater willingness to forgive;
a stronger commitment to reaching out to those in need;
a greater sense of awareness that we are all God’s children
and all of us created in God’s image;
a greater commitment to being a better caretaker
of this creation God has entrusted to us.

As you come to the Lord’s Table
I encourage you to think about
where you will start with your spiritual housecleaning.
Not when: start today
We’re ten days into Lent,
but we still have 35 days until Easter Sunday
so we have plenty of time to do some spiritual scrubbing,
to put out the trash and get rid of the clutter.

You will have help:
As John reminds us,
“he who is faithful and just will…cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9);
The Holy Spirit will give you the energy;
and God will be delighted in your newly cleaned house.

AMEN