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Create In Me A Clean Heart, O God

            What kind of cleaning products do you have on your shelf?  Your answer would probably depend on what kind of stains I’m thinking about and where they’re located.  Fabric stains need one type of cleanser.  Sink and counter stains need another.  Upholstery and carpet stains need another.  Then there are those difficult-to-remove stains like candle wax, grease, mold, and paint.  If you were so minded, you could line your shelves with all kinds of cleansers to say nothing of suggested homemade cleansers and any of a cleansers suggested by stain-remover websites.

            Maybe you don’t consider yourself particularly dirty this morning, or maybe you sat down and realized there’s one of those road salt stains on the back of your pants or a mustard stain on the outside edge of your sleeve.  Whether you have noticed a few spots and stains on yourself today or whether you are as scrubbed clean as you possibly can be, the Lord Jesus is coming to us today to initiate a much needed cleansing.  He does that through a Bible account recorded by John from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  When we study this portion of Scripture, it will become obvious that King David had it right in one of his famous psalms.  His words from that ancient song, written one thousand years before the events recorded here in John chapter two, capture what we want to take home today, another two thousand years down the pike.  We can’t have any kind of a close connection with God unless we have a clean heart.  So, we join David to pray, Create In Me A Clean Heart, O God.

His cleansing exposes our sin-stains

            According to the laws of the rabbis every Israelite had to offer sacrifices at the annual spring time festival known as Passover, whatever he could afford.  The preference, of course, was that every family would offer a lamb.  But those who brought a lamb from home could easily be disappointed because the animal might not pass inspection by the time the temple priests got their hands on it and turned it this way and that to make sure it was up to snuff.  What if it scratched its little nose in some thorny underbrush along the road?  “Unfit for sacrifice!”  What if an ear got nipped by a watchdog?  “Unfit for sacrifice!”  What if it broke a leg while scampering over rocky terrain?  “Unfit for sacrifice!”  To save disappointment and argument with the inspectors, most Passover pilgrims purchased their sacrificial animals right in Jerusalem.  The religious leaders weren’t stupid.  They saw an opportunity here and seized it.  At Passover they jacked up the prices.  Mutton went from went from fourteen ninety-nine a pound to twenty-six ninety-nine, and they bagged the difference.  That explains why Jesus found in the temple courts men selling cattle, sheep, and doves.

            Jesus also witnessed others sitting at tables exchanging money.  Each worshiper had to pay the annual temple tax at the Passover festival.  But only a certain Israelite coin could be used, and the priests didn’t take Visa, Master Card, or a Capital One card.  Visitors had to exchange their foreign currency for the local coins in order to pay the tax and purchase a sacrificial animal.  For the convenience of the worshipers, money-changers were brought into the temple courtyard.  They sat at their little tables, balancing the different coins in their scales.  For each exchange they charged a nominal fee, which, of course, was inflated during Passover week so they could make a profit and pay the chief priests for rental space in the temple courtyard.

            Imagine the scene Jesus saw!  When a worshiper passed through the temple gates at the hour of prayer, he had to walk through the stench and filth of a stockyard.  The chants of the priests and praise hymns of the people were almost drowned out by bleating sheep, clinking coins, and the haggling and bartering of corrupt venders and prospective buyers.  It was time for him to clean house.  It was time for him to expose the corruption of the leaders and care-less attitude of the people.  He made a whip out of cords, and drove all the from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.  To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here!  How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”

            Most people think of Jesus as a quiet, calm teacher who huddled with his disciples and gently guided them with his instructions, or a caring friend who sat in Mary and Martha’s den and tenderly reminded Martha that making dinner is important but nourishing her soul is more important, or an insightful visitor who carefully guided a Samaritan woman of ill-repute to see her sin and him as Savior, or a gentle Shepherd who lovingly leads his sheep to green pastures and beside quiet waters.  This cleansing of his Father’s house hardly seems to match that image.  But remember that Jesus is not only our tender teacher, caring friend, insightful visitor, and gentle Shepherd.  He is also the almighty, holy Son of God.  By hauling out the cleanser of God’s holiness he exposed not just the presence but also the pathetic depths of sin-stains in these people’s hearts and minds.

            We can’t say that it was a sin to make animals available for sacrifice and to exchange money in the temple courtyard.  The real problem was the attitude of the leaders and people.  “What of it?” they asked, “So what if the noise, stench, and commotion interfere with worship?  What difference does it make as long as the sacrifices are being offered, and people are bodily present for these religious activities?”  In their opinion going through the motions of worship was good enough.

            Do you see their problem?  Do you see our problem?  We might imagine we’re Scotch-guarded against such sin-stains, but we can all too easily fall into the trap that reduces the demands of God to a few, pious, outward efforts and behaviors.  That’s just a small step from minimizing God’s demands by selecting items that are easiest to do.  Then we convince themselves that we can and do match up to what God wants in our lives.  The final step is that our spiritual life becomes a ritualistic habit, in which we say and sing the right words without really thinking about what we’re saying and singing, without those words flowing from a clean heart, a living and growing faith.  “Sorrow over sin?  All this repentance stuff during Lent?  Well, sort of, but I really don’t have all that much to be sorry for.”  “What do you mean, ‘Change my attitude’?  God can’t be angry for what I do behind closed doors.”  “Call on God for mercy?  What for?  I’ve already earned his nod of approval!”  Instead of falling on our knees and begging God for mercy and then lifting hearts and voices in praise to God for his giving it, we too easily fall into the trap the Israelite leaders and people fell into – going through the motions of religious activity just to put in our time and get it done.

            Of course, none of us has ever just gone through the motions of coming to church and putting in our appearance, while the entire time our mind was on something else, like problems in a relationship or a project at work that has to get done.  None of us has ever bargained with God, “I’ve been so good.  How come you can’t make things go right for once?  Give me a break, Lord!”  None of us has ever fallen into the trap of low-level commitment Christianity, you know, where you come to church and expect a decent sermon, friendly people, uplifting music, “But don’t expect me to get involved.  I’m a private person, and busy on top of that.  Don’t expect me to analyze my finances so that I can manage and get out of debt and continue to offer an increasing proportion of my income to the Lord for his work.  Don’t expect me to introduce myself to visitors, guests, or new members.  If they want to fit it, they can introduce themselves to me.”  None of us would ever have thoughts or actions like that, would we?

            My friends, the same Savior who cleansed the temple is the same Savior who demands that the temple of our hearts be clean.  Jesus is entering your heart and mine today and overturning tables.  He’s cleaning house by rubbing on the cleanser and removing the cover-up layer – like scrubbing at a layer of paint to refinish a kitchen chair and finding two more layers of paint underneath, like shining a big flashlight under the couch and finding a four dusty M&Ms, a rubber-band, two stale Fritos, and a fuzz-ball.  Jesus wants us to have a clean heart so that we can live with God who is Mr. CLEAN with all capital letters.  That’s why he first exposes our sin-stains so that we know what we’re dealing, which in turn forces us to plead, “Create In Me A Clean Heart, O God!”  Listen to the Savior’s answer, “That’s exactly what I’ll do!”

His cleansing erases our sin-stains

            The chief priests and temple rulers naturally hated to see their business driven out of the temple.  How could they stop this Jesus?  They couldn’t arrest him because the people would rally behind him for having eliminated those crooked and cheating money dealers.  Besides, any commotion in the temple would bring a detachment of Roman soldiers from the nearby garrison.  Instead, the leaders hatched a plan to discredit Jesus in front of the people.  They challenged Jesus by demanding that he give them evidence that he had authority.  “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”  Wasn’t cleansing the temple evidence enough?  Didn’t they know enough Scripture to put two and two together and say, “The Messiah has come!  Lord, have mercy on our greedy, sinful souls!”?

            The religious leaders may have known Scripture, but they didn’t want Jesus as their Messiah.  Their demand for more evidence revealed their unbelief.  They were looking for a magic man or a war hero or anyone who would tell them how great they were.  A Messiah who scrubbed away at their hearts to expose their sin-stain was out of the question.

            Jesus met their challenge with a counter challenge, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days”.  They wanted evidence of his authority so he gave them it to them.  But it was evidence unacceptable to their unbelieving eyes and ears.  John explains what Jesus meant, “The temple he had spoken about was his body”.  In other words Jesus was saying, “If you kill me, I will rise in three days.”

            That’s exactly what happened, isn’t it?  His fellow countrymen did destroy his body.  But the One whom they crucified was not just a mere human, not some backwoods preacher, not some over-zealous prophet.  His body did not remain in the grave.  Triumphantly he rose on the third day.  He had announced plainly and clearly, “When I rise, you will have unmistakable proof that I am the true Messiah, the only source of heart cleansing.”

            Check out the different reactions.  The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?”  They pretended that they didn’t understand him.  He had exposed their sin-stain, but they closed their eyes and pretended that those stains were not there.

            The reaction of the disciples was different.  At the time they didn’t understand completely.  It was hard to imagine that their leader, the Messiah, would have to die to reach glory.  But they treasured his words, and John tells us, “After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said.  Then they believed the Scriptures and the words that Jesus had spoken”.

            When you get up in the morning and look in the mirror, you can see all the spots and scars and blemishes.  Yuck!  But take a look at your sin-stains, and pray each day, “Create In Me A Clean Heart, O God!”  Then rejoice that Jesus has erased your sin-stains from God’s sight.  I’m reminded of a familiar Bible account in which ten lepers came to Jesus for healing.  He sent them off, and all were cleansed.  One came back to say, “Thank you.”  Remember that?  Jesus remarked how wonderful it was to see such trust and sent him on his way.  I’ve often wondered what happened to that guy.  Don’t you think he was shouting from the housetop, “I’m clean!  I’m clean!” not because he was arrogant or bragging but because he was so happy for the internal spiritual cleansing Jesus had given him and because he wanted others to know, “Jesus has done that for you!”  When you drive home today, crank down your car window, stick your head out (it’s not that cold today), and shout, “I’m clean!  I’m clean!”               Amen.

Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (http://www.gracedowntown.org/) on March 15, 2009

Services

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Mondays 6:30 pm

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church | 1209 North Broadway Milwaukee, WI 53202 | (414) 271-3006

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