Spring cleaning for Christmas

Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.  Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel?  For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live! (Ezekiel 18:30-32)

It’s almost Christmas.  Time to do our spring-cleaning!

Spring cleaning in December?  Yes, I typed that right.  It’s time to go through the closets, clean out the basement, empty the garage, and haul stuff down from the attic.  It’s time to fill garbage bags and drag them to the curb.  It’s time to straighten the pictures, dust the collectibles, and wash the fine china.  It’s time to scrub the floor and vacuum the rugs.  It’s time to check the fire extinguishers and smoke detectors.  It’s time to wash the windows and oil the door hinges.

Spring-cleaning is an awful lot of work—does preparing for Christmas have to be so demanding?  Sure, we’ll have guests over during the holidays, but there’s so much going on right now.  Isn’t it good enough to just shove things into the closet and deal with them later?  Once we get the decorations up, who’s going to notice the spider web in the corner?   We’d just as soon do the minimum to get by, give our homes a lick and a promise that we’ll clean more thoroughly come spring.

And yet Christmas brings us an important guest.  If the president of our country was coming to stay with you for the holidays, I guarantee that you would clean things up like you’ve never cleaned before.  If you were going to throw a party for a Hollywood celebrity, you’d make sure that no detail was overlooked.  But at Christmas, you are welcoming someone far more important than any politician or celebrity—you will be opening your home to Jesus Christ, the Son of God and King of the universe.  How much effort are you willing to make to get your home in order for His arrival?

I’m not talking about your house or your apartment.  I’m talking about your heart, the place that Jesus wants to be welcomed as a guest.  We are in Advent, the time of the year when we prepare for the Lord’s coming.  So I ask you—is December going to be your time to do a thorough spring-cleaning, or will you only offer God’s Son a lick and a promise? 

Spring-cleaning is a time to get rid of garbage.  It’s a time when you throw away the things that smell musty and open your home to the scent of fresh blooming flowers.  It’s a time when you eliminate clutter by separating the things you need from the things you don’t.  It’s a time when you wash the curtains and blinds so that light can fill your home.  It’s a time when you make sure that everything around the house is working as it should be, so you and your family members remain safe in an emergency.

So how does spring-cleaning compare to getting ready for Jesus’ arrival?  For one thing, it involves getting rid of everything in your life that smells musty or rotten.  Your life is made smelly by things like prejudice, jealousy, and pride.  You stink up the room when you act like a bully, complain when you don’t get your way, or stomp around with a big chip on your shoulder.  Mustiness comes from an unwillingness to change or try something new.  Mold grows on your soul when you are lazy or apathetic. 

Don’t embarrass yourself by offering Jesus a smelly heart to live in.  Open yourself to freshness.  Try different ways to improve your communication skills.  Change your routine; replace bad habits with good ones.  Pray to God’s Spirit for help in resisting temptation.  Make a point of smiling at everyone, especially when you’re feeling grumpy. 

It’s also important to deal with clutter.  Your life is filled with things, some important, others not.  Way too often, we let the trivial stuff distract us from what is truly important.  Playing sports instead of studying for tests.  Spending money on eating out instead of donating it to God’s church.  Working late instead of spending time with the family.  Our minds are cluttered too; we read things that distort or deny the truth which God reveals in the Bible, we watch shows that glorify sex and violence, we listen to jokes that tear down other people. 

A cluttered heart has little space for Jesus.  Take some of that clutter to the curb and let God haul it away.  Make time for prayer a part of your daily routine.  Develop a budget that puts God first, essential bills second, savings third, and frivolous spending last.  Do things as a family, especially eating meals together.  Read the Bible and good devotional literature.  Switch off the TV unless there is something on that’s worth watching.

You need light in order to see dirt; you cannot clean in the dark.  To see sin for what it is, you need the light of truth that shines from God.  The difference between right and wrong should be obvious, but lots of times it isn’t.  Sometimes we don’t want to see the truth because we like things the way they are.  Other times Satan tries to confuse the issue with a bunch of questions and half-truths.  We are somehow convinced that telling a lie is okay if it will spare another person’s feelings.  We rationalize that it’s okay to break a promise because we will do something later to make up for it. 

We turn on the lights to make our guests feel welcome.  In the same way, Jesus deserves a heart that is free of darkness.  Fill your heart with light by hearing God’s truth frequently.  Worship in church.  Have devotions together as a family.  Join a Bible study group.  Memorize verses from your Catechism. 

A thorough cleaning also involves safety checks and doing maintenance.  Have you evaluated your heart-health lately?  Do you get angry a lot?  Do you constantly worry about things going wrong?  Do you feel powerless or worthless?  Do you struggle with depression? 

We need good spiritual health.  When the soul is neglected or its health is taken for granted, problems grow as a result.  An engine needs regular lubrication to run properly.  An athlete needs a steady diet of nutritious food and lots of pure water.  Your soul needs the lubrication of forgiveness so old hurts do not make it seize up in pain.  Your soul needs the nourishment of Jesus’ body and blood that are offered through communion bread and wine.  Your soul needs the water of life that comes from Christ, the only water that gives new life beyond the grave.  Properly maintained, your soul will be strong and prepared for the challenges of earthly life.

Spring-cleaning is a lot of work.  And if you’re like me, it sounds like too much work.  I like a clean and tidy house, but I usually don’t have the ambition to get the job done.  Given a choice of how to spend the day, I can think of a lot of things I’d rather do than clean. 

We are spiritually lazy.  We know what God expects, but we don’t put in the effort necessary to please Him.  There are plenty of other things we would rather do; at the most we are willing to give our hearts a quick spit-shine and a promise to clean up more thoroughly later.  But that kind of haphazard tidying doesn’t pass muster with God.  He won’t accept anything less than perfection from us.  Our moral laziness makes Him angry, so angry that He will dump us into the cesspool of hell.

Our hearts are not fit places for Jesus to come and stay, yet in spite of that He comes to us anyway.  He came to earth to suffer and die, that we might be forgiven and live.  He comes to each of us through Word and Sacrament, opening our stubborn hearts with the key of faith.  He fills our darkness with His light, shows us what needs to be cleaned, and offers to help us with taking out the trash and mending what is broken.  By all rights, we should make our hearts a fit place for the Savior to come and stay, yet we need His help to make things suitable for His presence.

It’s almost Christmas.  Time to do your spring-cleaning!  Even though you have every reason to be ashamed, show your heart to Christ.  Ask Him to make it a place fit for the King of the universe.  Let Him haul away everything that needs to go.  Do this, that you might honor Him as the most important guest you will ever receive.