Cleaning House

“Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.  Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.”  Matthew 23:25-26

You’ve likely heard the old saying, “Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes all the way to the bone!”  How about this one, “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.”  And of course, directly from scriptures, “…for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart” (I Samuel 16:7b).  All of these sayings are true; the first two made to be funny, but the last one describes the superficiality of humans and the loving sincerity of Christ.  People do judge by appearance.  It’s a known fact that if a person goes into a car dealership looking like he or she just finished mowing the lawn and cleaning out the gutters, he or she will receive little attention from the salesperson.  However, one can walk into the showroom dressed in his or her Sunday best, and the salesperson is “Johnny on the spot”, showering the potential buyer with attention in eager anticipation of a big sale.  Speaking of Sunday best, that phrase hardly fits any more.  People dress much more casually for church services than years ago.  What Jesus said about looking on the heart means He is not all that concerned about a person’s personal appearance as long as it is not immodest.  However, my philosophy concerning what to wear to church is that one should wear his or her best to God’s house as a matter of respect, but that’s not how all church goers feel.  It has a lot to do with upbringing.  I’d rather someone come in jeans and a t-shirt than not come to church at all because it’s how the heart is prepared for worship, not one’s external appearance.

Speaking of external and internal, I started the project the other day of cleaning the windows in my house.  I don’t clean them very often, but since winter is coming, I want to make sure that plenty of sun can shine into my house to help warm it during the day.  What I always find interesting and in the theme of this blog is that my windows are always dirtier on the inside than on the outside.  One reason to explain this is that rain helps to wash off the dust and dirt of the outdoors that accumulates on the glass.  Thus the outside of the window looks better than the inside which has accumulated dust, steam from cooking and occasionally frying food, and the fact that the house is closed up most of the year.  Fireplaces give off soot, and steam from showers can also produce mildew and mold.  Even an empty house will get dirty over time.

Windows are one thing, but the worst place for dirt to accumulate is within the human heart, and I am not speaking of cholesterol and saturated fats which can clog the arteries and cause a heart attack.  Rather, I am speaking of the sin which can harm the spiritual life of a man or woman.  It’s astonishing how repentance and turning from sin, relying on God’s grace through Christ can improve not only a person’s physical appearance, but his or her mental outlook on life.  A person who is allowing sin to rule his or her life usually doesn’t make very good company, but one who is filled with the Holy Spirit and understands the depth at which Christ went to in order to pardon from sin and bless with a life of peace and joy attracts others, not by the external appearance, but rather an internal heart filled with love for God and for others.

If the windows of our hearts have become dirty with unconfessed sin, then it’s time to do a little housecleaning.  If the sin is allowed to remain, our hearts will only become dirtier, causing us to not be able to see our neighbors in need or the path in which God desires for us to follow in fulfilling His purpose for our lives.  No sin is worth missing God’s best.