“Spring
Cleaning”
a condensed version of the
sermon delivered by Kyle Tade on Sunday, March 15, 2009 at
Westchester Community Church in Westchester, IL
Scripture: Exodus 20:1-17, John 2:13-22
Good morning and what a beautiful morning it is, for this is a day that the Lord has most assuredly made.
It feels great to be back here, standing before you all, and I think you for giving me the opportunity to share the meditation with you this morning.
The texts for today, admittedly were a bit difficult to grasp ahold of completely. The 10 Commandments, and Jesus cleansing the temple, "Dear Lord", I thought to myself "What do I have to say about them".
Well, let’s look at the Gospel lesson, in John. This passage occurs during Jesus first year of Ministry, unlike the other Gospels, this is not the event that ends up preceding Jesus arrest and his eventual crucifixion, which does occur in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, & Luke.
So, Jesus goes into the temple of Jerusalem and sees the marketplace set up in the temple. Now the way Jesus sees it, it would be like Joe coming in here on a Sunday morning seeing the sanctuary being torn apart by looters. Though they may worship the Lord, their God, their intentions are not sacred.
Jesus, was and pardon the expression, but Jesus was pissed off by witnessing this. That’s the best way to describe his anger. So…in his anger, what does Jesus do, he kicks everyone and thing, man, woman and creature out of the temple.
What does Jesus do? He wipes it clean, commanding that they, the Jews destroy the temple and Jesus shall rebuild it in 3 days. The temple he refers to of course, according to scripture, is that of his body. So he shall raise in 3 days time.
So, what does this mean for us? We are not Jews (at least as I assume all who are here), nor do we have any temples in cause or need of destroying.
On the contrary, take a second to think about it.
And while you are doing that, I’m going to provide you with an image, and a few questions. I ask that you close your eyes.
Think of your heart and your mind as an attic in a house. An attic where many store physical mementoes of things that have happened to us, things that have happened with us, and things that we have been involved in that have happened to others.
Revisit those thoughts, those things that you have held on to for a day, a week, a month, a year, 2 years, 5 years, 10, 15, 20 or more. Remember what you’ve got up there.
Or have you been one of consistent, and have cleaned things out little by little? Replacing the older, with not as old? Making sure each year to do your spring cleaning and get a chance to look at the stuff you’ve got up there?
Either way, you go ahead and do your spring cleaning; opening up the boxes that even in the past year have long since been covered in dust. Opening them, not expecting to hear a creaking sound from cardboard, yet some how it happens.
You’ve opened the first box and go through it, piece by piece, chachqui by chachqui, and you begin to make the decisions as to what should stay or what should go. How does that feel, knowing that you must let go of something because you don’t need it anymore? How does it feel releasing something that made you weak for years, yet you still feel weak without it.
Much as I have learned about myself even in the past six months let alone my life, it’s not easy to just let things go; to stop and say that "No, I do not need this, and I can do without it". As painful as it may be, as hard of a choice as that may be.
Personal story, as I mentioned the past six months for me have been much along this message. I have had to open up those boxes relating to particular relationships that I have and do have with those close to me in my life; family, friends, and even a romantic relationship or two, even my school life has come into question. I have begun to search deep into those boxes to question what it is that I have and why, what it is that I want and why, and what it is that I need and why, but also what can I do without.
We hold onto things for reasons I don’t even think we know why. Perhaps we are hoping that one day that experience good or bad can come into use. Perhaps we are in denial about accepting something…some truth about ourselves or someone we care about, but we don’t want to run the risk of letting them go, and losing them for fear we might need them someday in the future.
I know for me, with what I have been trying to figure out all of this, as it has been a very painful, not because I am have been hurt because of these things in my life but because it stirs and creates in me a level of uncertainty that really, as someone who’s a control freak I’m really not feeling okay with.
Another part of this whole process, you know the one thing that I have ignored, since I have spent sooo much time on everything else, I truly had begun to forget my faith. I let the fires of anxiety consume me, the fires of stress, creating in me a greater focus, taking me away from God. I ignored the fact that all I had to do was look and see that God had set a cool path for me breaking through the fiery walls that surround me, all I had to do is walk it.
At first, the pain must happen, the separation, the loss, the anxiety that we feel by letting go of some of those things that we have not felt strong enough to. But we must know that it is for the betterment of ourselves, that this is what God has called us to do. We must clean our temples. Confess the burdens of our hearts to the Father, and tell him that we have forgiven ourselves. It is then and only then, are we able to truly hear God’s call for us to live, and to love, and to give to best of our ability as God has created each of us in image of the great divine.
That’s where we find J-e-s-u-s. Jesus has purged his temple, his father’s house, the one in which he was created of anything that could do him wrong. Though he knew he would suffer, "Destroy this temple" he called to the Jews, "And" but what he really says is that "I shall be raised in 3 days time".
Much as Christ wiped everything out, Christ suffered, much as the pain, the anxiety, the stress we feel, but Christ was also raised! He was Raised! And made whole! God took him into his arms and said to him that surely, you are my son. As God will most certainly do the same for you! He will lead you to the answers; the Lord shall guide your faith and your life to where it needs to go. But you must follow Him; you must follow it, your faith that is. By not losing sight of that, as I have and had begun to so, you will be cleansed! And you shall share a love unlike anything the world has ever seen! AND…It…WILL…BE…GLORIOUS!
So to the people I say, do your spring cleaning, look at each piece, and really look at it piece by piece. Pray to the Lord about what it is that you have, what it is that you want, what it is that you need, that these are the same. But also, that you are able to: mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically get rid of what you don’t.
Amen.
Let us pray,
Heavenly Father, Sacred Mother, eternal and guiding spirit, you have called us into being and we thank you. You have chosen our paths for us and as we walk them we thank you. We have called on you now for your help; For your help in our struggle, in our fight, in our task of cleansing our temples. Help us to discern what we need, what is essential and what we may want to keep, but also we can and need to let go of so that one day we may love you and each other as much as you have loved us. We thank you Lord in the name of your soon to be crucified and risen Son, Jesus the Christ, Amen.