Starting off with song lyrics this time. Don’t dismiss them because they’re song lyrics either. Actually read them. NO skimming. (Stern look pointed your direction.)
Shaun Groves - “Welcome Home”
“Welcome to this heart of mine
Buried under prideful vines
Grown to hide the mess I’ve made
Inside of me. Come decorate it, Lord.
Open up the creaking door
Walk upon the dusty floor
Scrape away the guilty stains
Until no sin or shame remains
Spread your love upon the walls
And occupy the empty halls
Until the man I am has faded
No more doors are barricaded
Come inside this heart of mine
It’s not my own
Make it home
Come and take this heart and make it
All your own
Make it home
Take a seat, pull up a chair
Forgive me for the disrepair
And the souvenirs from floor to ceiling
Gathered on my search for meaning
And every closet’s filled with clutter
And messes yet to be discovered
I’m overwhelmed, I understand
I can’t make this place all that you can
I took this space that you placed in me
Redecorated in shades of greed
And I made sure every door stayed locked
Every window blocked, and still you knocked
Come inside this heart of mine
It’s not my own
Make it home
Come and take this heart
And make it all your own
Welcome Home!”
Alright on with the message.
I was cleaning house tonight - a constant for me since Kris deployed. Although the common sense, logical side of my mind says, “Hey, he’s still got ‘x’ number of months left,” there’s this other louder part that says, “Hey, what if he came home early?!?!” (I can dream can’t I?) And as I’m cleaning, I’m trying to work through the latest message God has been pressing on my heart. I knew that the idea of being a temple of God was what I needed to convey, but how do I say that beyond just the Bible verse:
“Do you not realize that your body is a sacred place, the temple of the Holy Spirit? Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole thing. So let people see God in and through your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
So as I’m scrubbing the bathroom and singing along to the iPod, God hits me with it. Snap, crackle, and pop I’ve got it! Man this is a good one! Are you wearing a seatbelt?
I love my husband. And because I love my husband, I maintain a constant state of readiness should he suddenly appear at the door. I keep the house spotless. The kitchen stocked. The truck washed and detailed. My legs shaved. I am ready for him to get home at any point.
Why do we not do the same for God? The Lord and Maker of the universe, the One who sets captives free, the Alpha, Omega, Beginning and The End, King of Kings, the only One who has the power to take away sin, the only One who stands between us and an eternity in Hell, the One who gave His only Son for us! No, Him we toss to the side and say, “I just don’t have time today.” “I’ll make time for God tomorrow/next week/next month/next year/right before I die.” “I have plenty of time to ask God’s forgiveness.” “I have plenty of time to clean up my act.” “God understands I have a busy schedule.”
Let me tell you something……….
You do NOT have time!
You do NOT have anything more important than getting right with God!
You do NOT have time for anything right now other than getting on your face before Him and confessing all the dark, dirty stuff.
There is NOTHING more important, more desperate, more dire than getting your heart and soul cleaned up for God.
Because………….
“ No one knows the day or the hour. Not even the angels in Heaven. Not the Son. But only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.” Mark 13:32-33
“So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.” Matthew 24:43-44
If Kris walked into my home right now, would I be proud of what he’d be coming home to? Or would I feel ashamed of being lazy and inattentive to our home and children while he was gone?
If God walked into your home right now and, before He even looked at you, knew every thought, deed, and word that’s come out of you, would you be proud of what He sees? Or would you want to melt into the linoleum from shame at what He saw in your heart and mind?
If you asked Kris, he’d probably tell you that he could care less about the house or the truck or what’s in the fridge. His primary concern is getting safely home to me.
And when you’re facing God, whether it’s in your kitchen or in front of His judgment seat, He’s not going to care about your busy schedule or your excuses. His primary concern is going to be whether or not you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior and followed Him to the best of your ability.
You, yes I’m talking to you, were created to be a temple of the Living God. You were meant to be filled with His holy presence and be in constant communion with Him (not the wine and crackers communion, though that’s nice too). I’m talking about being at a oneness with God, where you don’t take a step without being confident that God’s going with you, where when people see you talking to yourself, it’s not you you were talking to. Remember how we talked before about the voice of God taking the place of your conscience? That’s part of it. Before you get in that car or make that decision or open your mouth, that’s the voice that says, “What part of ‘thou shall not’ did you not understand?”
And notice that I said “filled with His holy presence.” I did not say to find the warm, fuzzy feeling on Sunday morning and then go out and start sinning again. I did not say you have to start speaking in tongues and dancing naked like King David did when the Spirit of the Lord moved upon him (although if you feel so inclined, please keep nudity somewhere private). I said you were meant to be filled with His holy presence. Some of you don’t know what this means.....Okay. Think of the happiest or most in love you’ve ever been. When your heart feels so full it could burst. When you feel like if you don’t jump up and down or kiss somebody or scream, you’re going to explode from so much inner good-feeling pressure. You feel full. Now combine that concept of “fullness” with this: There is One who saw the person you were going to be before you were ever born. He fashioned you with his own hands. He held you in his arms before you were even in your mother’s womb. He spoke life and love and peace to you. He made plans for your life that would give you hope and bring you joy. But he also knew every mistake you would make. Every time you would be hurt by yourself and by others. He knew every tear you would cry. Every imperfection. Every feeling of hopelessness and desperation. He knew every decision you would ever make. He knew how utterly and totally you would mess your life up. He knew that the penalty for all of the bad things you would do was death. And he couldn’t bear to see you, the one he’d held in his arms and made such big plans for, put to death and separated from him forever. So he died for you. He took all of the bad stuff you’ve done and he paid for it with his life and his blood. You no longer owe a debt to Hell. You are no longer separated from this wonderful, loving Savior because of your sin. He’s restored your peace. He’s renewed your life. He loves you. He loves you in spite of everything you think is so horrible about yourself. And He still has great plans and purposes for you. He’s given you hope and a future!
Do you feel that hope and adoration and thankfulness swelling within you? When you accept Christ and God’s plan for you fully and you let Him in completely, you will know what I’m talking about. You will feel the swell inside until you feel ready to pop. You will know what it’s like to be filled with the presence of God. Now what are you going to do with it? What kind of container are you going to be?
"In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets - some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing." 2 Timothy 2:20-21
You are the carrier of the presence of God. The temple of God. And temples are not small buildings hiding in some far-off corner of the city. They are central to the city. A constant reminder of the spiritual direction in which the people need to be headed. If you are going to be a temple of God, you’ve gotta get right with Him inside and shortly thereafter, you’d better start working on the outside. You are called to be the central focal point of your city. Everywhere you go, you are a reflection of the God you serve. If the temple looks shoddy and rundown, where are you directing people? If the temple is covered in cleavage, strippers, and pornography, where are you directing people? If the temple is hosting an annual meth lab competition or drink off, where are you directing people? If the temple regularly raises the “I’m a hypocrite. Do as I say, not as I do," banner, where are you directing people?
So now you have to decide:
Are you going to be the trash can or the crystal goblet in God’s kitchen? Is He going to bring you out to show you off to the world, proud to set you up for all to see, or is He going to hide you out back somewhere? Why not strive to be the crystal, the clean and pure temple, beautiful on the outside and the inside? And then even if you fall a little short of crystal, at least you can be confident that you’re not going to be set out with the trash.
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