sermon: Simplifying Life (Part One): Eliminating Physical and Spiritual Clutter
Eliminating Physical and Spiritual Clutter
David F. Maas
Given 08-Mar-25; Sermon #1807A; 34 minutes
Description: (show)
Greetings brothers and sisters from Colton, California, at the western edge of the mighty Mojave Desert, out in the heart of the Golden West.
I Corinthians 5:7-8 Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you are truly unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
The Amplified Classic Edition adds the following additional compelling details: “Purge (clean out) the old leaven that you may be fresh (new) dough, still uncontaminated (as you are), for Christ, our Passover [Lamb] has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, not with the leaven of vice and malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened [bread] of purity (nobility, honor) and sincerity and [unadulterated] truth.”
So, what is the apostle Paul’s biggest concern: crumbs? or sinful behavior? Why, both of course! The concrete, visible, physical surroundings provide abundant analogies and vivid, memorable pictures for understanding unseen or invisible spiritual insights.
We remember that the apostle Paul’s mentor, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, used the metaphor and figure of speech as His chief teaching vehicle, using numerous parables, which often confused even His disciples. Christ used parables to reveal truth to those who were willing to listen and consider what He had to say, and to conceal truth from non-believers, keeping truth from those who purposely hardened their hearts against Him. Only God’s chosen saints, with the earnest payment of God’s Holy Spirit (referring to II Corinthians 1:22 and Ephesians 1:14-16) have the capacity to connect the visible concrete grounds of comparison to the veiled or hidden spiritual insight. Personally, the last 50 years of my life, the study of metaphor—literary, scientific, and biblical—has been one of my dominant pursuits. As the late Rush Limbaugh often warned, “We should never ever exalt symbolism over substance.” As I first came into God’s church, our pastor enlightened the Minneapolis congregation that the custom of spring cleaning originated in the lands occupied by Abraham’s and Jacob’s offspring, directly tied to the Passover season and unleavened bread, an insight corroborated in several publications, including the National Geographic and Country Living Magazine.
In her April 28, 2016, article, “How Spring Cleaning Became an Annual Tradition,” appearing in Country Living Magazine, Maria Carter gives the following explanation:
In Jewish custom, spring cleaning is linked to Passover in March or April, which marks the liberation of Jews [as well as the rest of Jacob’s offspring we may add] from slavery in Egypt. Before the start of the holiday, a general cleaning takes place to remove any yeast, bread, or chametz, from the home. Allegedly Egyptian slaves were fed unleavened bread which the Jews later adopted as a symbol of survival. Thus, having leaven or bread made with yeast, even crumbs is considered ungrateful.
She then describes the tradition of Lent, in the Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox churches, observing that the “members of the Greek Orthodox church clean house for a week leading up to Lent.” The Persian New Year Nowruz, coinciding with the first day of spring, similarly involves a 13-day celebration, involving massive cleaning or “shaking the house,” a tradition, like the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant so called “Christian” celebration of Lent, all appearing centuries after the first observance of Passover, are obviously counterfeits of God’s Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread.
None of these groups ever attempted to remove a smidgeon of leaven. As a matter of fact, all the Eastern Orthodox churches use leavened bread in their eucharist with a double portion of yeast for Pascha or Easter called babka to be eaten the entire week of Easter. Leave it to people to do the opposite of what God requires!
In his highly insightful March 21, 2015, message: “Stuff: Do We Have Too Much Stuff?” the late Mike Ford taught us that getting rid of accumulated clutter is a positive goal as we simplify our lives in our preparation of extracting ourselves from the world and following God.
Many of us have the carnal habit of accumulating loads of stuff, cluttering up both our physical surroundings, as well as the inner chambers of our minds. Back in April of 1973, while I was teaching at the National College of Business in Rapid City, South Dakota, the owner of our institution, Harold Buckingham, made a stealth tour of our offices. When he stopped at the office I shared with a colleague, he exclaimed loudly, “A cluttered up desk is the sign of a cluttered-up mind!!” Quickly, my office partner came to my defense, retorting, “Well, pray tell, Mr. Buckingham, what does an empty desk signify?” (Here is a metaphor one of you speakers may want to develop in a future message.)
As we symbolically mechanically apply the practice of deleavening or meticulously cleaning or decluttering our homes, we should never elevate symbolism over substance—in other words, forgetting what our primary focus is, which is to eradicate sin rather than crumbs. The primary leavening or spiritual clutter should be removed from our minds where we form the attachment to physical idols which we have a difficult time discarding. As our ancient forbears on the Sinai were called upon to walk away from their stuff twice, we must be just as ready to walk away from any physical object, idea, or bitter grudge for which we have developed an inordinate attachment.
Today, I want to begin a new series of messages on the practice of simplifying our spiritual lives, by reclaiming control over our space, our time, and thereby winning the continual tug of war between our eternal, spiritual goals and our distracting, transient, short-lived, physical goals. Taking a cue from Richard last week, this series will probably expand to at least one or two more.
In talking with several spiritual siblings over the past several months, I find that they have the same driving concern as I do about the tremendous difficulty simplifying, downsizing, and decluttering both our physical and spiritual lives. I may be the least qualified to talk about this subject, but I also painfully realize the driving necessity to comprehend or find a solution, and moreover, to put into practice. I have discussed this topic in the past in several messages, including my January 2002 Forerunner article “A Time to Throw Away,” in which I conceded that I had developed the “pack rat” mentality from my parents who were in their teenage years when the Great Depression ravaged the country in the 1930s.
Some of my students within the sound of my voice may remember how I identified with Benjamin Franklin in his autobiography where he described his immense difficulty dealing with clutter and order, especially regarding finding places for things—papers, etc.—which he found extremely difficult to acquire.
Franklin lamented, “This article [problem], therefore, cost me so much painful attention, and my faults in it vexed me so much, and I made so little progress in amendment, and had such frequent relapses, that I was almost ready to give up the attempt, and content myself with a faulty character in that respect.” Franklin then used a metaphor of a person wanting a smith to polish a speckled axe head [having many rough spots], but ultimately giving up, suggesting, “but I think I like a speckled ax best.” By his 79th year, Franklin still despaired that this virtue of order and eliminating clutter he had not yet achieved.
Likewise, at the age of 80½ (28,380 days), my metaphorical axe head is still speckled. Without God’s help and a forceful nudge in the right direction, I would probably remain that way until the Great White Throne Judgment. Thankfully, over the past several months, I derived unexpected inspiration from a dear sibling in Christ, Barbara Shanks in Montgomery Alabama who, after her horrible physical affliction leaving her partially paralyzed, nevertheless undertook the immense project or Herculean task of decluttering her physical surroundings, placing her light years beyond anything I have accomplished in my entire lifetime in terms of downsizing and decluttering. Her contagious enthusiasm triggered within me (and many others) a desire to continue battling against physical and spiritual clutter.
She revealed that the first step was to remove the clutter from an area where she felt ashamed that company or strangers would judge her. When she started to receive positive feedback from several guests entering her house, she became motivated to begin removing truckloads of stuff, and the process continues to this very day. Within the past week, I have taken a similar step, eliminating excessive clutter on the tables aside my recliner (which constitutes my present office). No, for me it is not truckloads yet—but it is a start. Before my next message, I hope to show more progress.
Now let us see what Almighty God has to say about clutter and what to do about it. In the time I have left, I would like to provide specific reasons why we must place at a higher priority the obligation to remove physical and spiritual clutter.
The first reason God’s saints are obligated to declutter is to be good stewards of God’s Family name, our time, our talents, our spiritual gifts, and our physical possessions. When we have lived up to our responsibility as His faithful stewards, it opens the door for God to bestow us with more blessings. We are expected to uphold His name and character.
I Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
The Berean Standard Bible renders this passage: “For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace as in all the churches of the saints.” Every called-out chosen saint has been given the responsibility to become an ambassador for God’s Kingdom (II Corinthians 5:20). As we go through this world, we represent another Kingdom (John 18:36) and it is our responsibility to represent the values and character, including cleanliness and purity. To fail to keep order is tantamount to breaking the third commandment (Exodus 20:7). To clutter is just as reprehensible as cursing or swearing, bringing shame on our Family name as God’s offspring.
Secondly, physical possessions can become an idol. When we place our accumulated stuff above our relationship with Almighty God, it eventually turns into an idol. Consequently, feverishly hanging on to physical possessions breaks the first and second commandments (Exodus 20:3-6). And furthermore, as John Ritenbaugh told us in the Bible study last night, it also breaks the ninth commandment.
The Scriptures repeatedly warn about the traps of idolatry, including placing our accumulated possessions above our relationship with Almighty God, risking replacing Him as our ultimate source of security and purpose. Matthew 6:19-21 warns us about setting our hearts on transient, subject to decay, physical possessions. Please permit me to read this passage from the Amplified Bible:
Matthew 6:19-21 Do not store up for yourselves [material] treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal; For where your treasure is, there your heart [your wishes, your desires; that on which your life centers] will be also.
In Colossians 3:5 (AMP), the apostle Paul admonishes us to “put to death and deprive of power the evil longings of your earthly body [with its sensual, self-centered instincts] immorality, impurity, sinful passion, and greed [motivating most of the governments ruled over by Jacob’s offspring] which is [a kind of] idolatry [because it replaces our devotion to God].”
I Timothy 6:9-10 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Even though accumulating wealth and possessions is not inherently sinful, such as in the case of Job, Abraham, or Jacob, when they consume our affections and thoughts they have become idols.
The third incentive for getting control over physical clutter is to prevent chaos. We are encouraged to hold material things loosely, and instead to seek contentment in God rather than in physical possessions. In Luke 12:15, we are warned against all kinds of greed, remembering that life does not and has never consisted in an abundance of possessions.
In the merisms of Ecclesiastes 3:6, we are instructed that there is a time to keep and a time to throw away. Many of us who have lived with this destructive character deficit have experienced profound frustration, continually struggling to find what we have misplaced. I have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to locate a paper, a book, a piece of clothing, or a physical object for which I have repetitively lost and found, lost and found, and lost and found.
This reminds me of an old Yiddish proverb, which if followed or acted upon, would bring untold relief and peace of mind: Baym oyskern di shtub gefint men alts. That is, “When the house is swept everything turns up.” In German, it reads: Beim auskehren der Stube, findet man alles.
Other curses of allowing clutter to accumulate are guilt and regret at not having been a better steward of our financial resources, embarrassment, avoiding guests because of clutter, fear, worrying about others will think of our out-of-control mess, and multiple lost opportunities—from being chained to stuff instead of profitably investing in rewarding experiences or enjoyable relationships with others, in addition to Almighty God.
In Hebrews 12:1, we are admonished to throw off everything that hinders our spiritual progress. We are also promised that if we honor Almighty God with our wealth (tithes, offerings, and charitable gifts to those in need) He will fill our barns or storehouses with abundance.
Proverbs 28:27 assures us that if we give to the poor, we will never lack any needful thing.
Proverbs 19:17 teaches us that lending to the poor is equivalent to lending to the Lord, for which we will be repaid.
Whenever we allow God to loosen our grip on excess or unnecessary possessions, we automatically gain peace, order, and clarity, freeing us to serve Almighty God more effectively and efficiently.
Fourthly, clutter can be a manifestation of an unsatisfactory, pathogenic, spiritual condition. Often, when we are surrounded by clutter or chaos, it reveals a physical manifestation that we are not in sync with God’s will for our lives (realizing, of course, that God is a God of order (I Corinthians 14:33).
Obsessively clinging to things that we should have thrown away years ago paralyzes us to passively exist in a state of carnal chaos rather than actively live in a godly state of order, peace, and tranquility.
Our heavenly Father and Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ do not want us to be transfixed in the status quo of corruption and wasted resources as the government of the United States has done in the past, but it is now time to bring efficiency and momentum into our spiritual lives as well.
In the coming weeks ahead, we need to declutter our physical space, setting aside time to remove things that do not serve a godly purpose, asking “Does this thing bring peace or chaos—is it a useful tool for God’s purpose or an annoying distraction?”
We need to declutter our minds, spending less time on distractions such as social media and excessive entertainment, spending more time in prayer, Scripture, and fellowship, having our minds totally renewed. Permit me to read Romans 12:2 from the Amplified edition:
Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as we mature spiritually] by the renewing of our minds [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that we may prove [for ourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for us].
We must daily strive to replace negative thoughts with God’s wholesome truth (referring to Philippians 4:8).
We need to declutter our schedule, prioritizing time with Almighty God, and extracting ourselves from the busyness of the societal rat race, becoming still and knowing that “He is God,” as the psalmist David reminded us in Psalm 46:10.
Consequently, we should learn to say “No” to all things that are not in alignment with God’s purpose for us. In the coming five weeks before Passover, we need to declutter our hearts, letting go of past hurts, unforgiveness, bitterness, and other harmful emotional baggage.
James Stoertz used this next verse in the previous message.
Ephesians 4:31-32 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.
As the apostle Peter admonishes us, we must learn to “cast all our cares [all our anxieties, all our worries, and all our concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about us [with deepest affection], and watches over us very carefully.
In the coming weeks before Passover, let us incorporate Philippians 2:13 into our daily prayers.
Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
We want to remember this because, as David Grabbe mentioned two weeks ago in his message “How Much of the Mind of Christ Do We Have?”, developing the mind of God is not an easy task. We must ask Almighty God to give us the will.
DFM/jjm/drm
Sermon Topics
The Gospel
