Cleaning House; Matthew 12; Luke 11

May the mumbling commence!

Do you want to make a lasting change in your life – one that calls for deep restructuring of your attitudes, thoughts, words, and actions?  It will mean laying aside many of the things we do.  It will mean changing the way we do things – period.  But there is an inherent danger to laying aside old habits.  What if we do not replace old unhealthful habits?  I think the danger of returning to old habits is there.  Not only that – the danger to journey farther down the road on life killing ways of living is imminent.  I believe that Jesus talks about this danger in these passages from Matthew and Luke:

"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.  Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.  Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation." (Matthew 12:43-45)

"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.'   When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.  Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first."  (Luke 11:24-26)

I love it when two different gospels record Jesus’ teachings so close to one another.  These two passages are almost identical.  The gospel of Matthew has some additional material.  I have highlighted it by putting it in purple.  Matthew gives us an additional adjective for the house of the spirit – unoccupied.  Ever hear the old saying, “Idle hands are the devil’s playground”?  Well, the same thing can be said of the unoccupied spirit of a person.

So, lasting and deep change means not only leaving behind some of the unhealthful things we used to do but it also means picking up some new more healthful habits.  These habits will be built upon the new attitudes, thoughts, and words that we are embracing.  Part of that embracing is doing some different things and doing some old things quite differently.  We can argue if someone does something because they are or if they do something to become something.  Does being come first and then doing?  Or is it the other way around?  I think it is both-and.

What is the key to making these deep changes in our lives?  Accept Jesus into our lives.  What does that mean?  It means acknowledging who Jesus is – the Son of God.  It means accepting the work of atonement that Jesus did for us on the cross.  It means believing in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead – a resurrection that defeated the power of death.  And that’s not all – it means listening to what Jesus taught, paying attention to how Jesus lived his earthly life (in full obedience to God), and living out what we have learned.

Accepting Jesus into our lives and allowing Jesus reign over all the corners and closets of the house of our lives is extremely difficult.  It is a life-long journey.  Can we do it?  No.  We cannot do it on our own.  Thanks be to God for the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Welcome the Holy Spirit into your life each day and you will see how your attitudes and thoughts and words and actions change.  You see, with God it is possible.

Oh, God.  May Your Holy Spirit occupy my spirit.  May I receive renewal of life beyond anything I can imagine.  May Your Holy Spirit heal all my relationships – those with You, those with my brothers and sisters in Christ, those with Your natural world around me.  This is my prayer today.  This is my prayer every day.

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out