"Spring Cleaning" Sermon by Reverend Karen W. Schneider

It is that time of the year when we start to think about cleaning our home, yard, and everything attached. There is something about the beautiful weather, opening up the house to air it out, clean the corner of the rooms, the walls, the floor, not just a brush over cleaning but a deep cleaning. The fresh air motivates us to dig deep into the dirt of our homes and remove it.

There is another type of "Spring Cleaning" in our Christian lives, and that is the Spring Cleaning of our heart, soul and mind. With Resurrection Sunday on the horizon, it is that time of year when we look to the most important event in Christian History. A time when we fast, find moments of renewal, find rebirth, relearning, move into reevaluation and recharge our souls. Just as we start to find items in our home when we deep clean, we will find segments of lost pieces of our souls which will mend upon cleansing.

As we take Communion today, we can erase the wrongdoing, the dirt, the evil in our presence and replace it with a clean heart ready to take on the service for our Lord in the coming months. With Communion we are reminded of the gift Jesus gave us, his life. Nothing is more precious than that, and he gave us the tools to remind us of his life and presence.

Several scriptures relate to "Spring Cleaning".....

John 1:9.."We confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. The Lord through our renewal and rebirth cleanses us from all righteousness.

Corinthians 7:1...."Because we have these promises, Dear Friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit."

Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of our body and spirit, bringing the love of Jesus and holiness in the respect of our God. Move out the evil, move out the devilish ways, and the slandering that can ruin and defile our body and spirit. Move it out, Move it out, get rid of it, eliminate it, push it out....push it out.

Psalm 51:10..."Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." RENEW MY SPIRIT OH LORD, RENEW MY SPIRIT, ALLOW ME TO HAVE A CLEAN HEART, CLEANSE MY SOUL AND HEART....

Restore in me the joy of your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.

Romans 12:2...."Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the Will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Let it be perfect, through the Will of God. Let us be transformed, transcended, changed, cleansed thoroughly, washed, let us cleanse to the truth, to the perfect, and to the Will of God.

In Romans 12:2...Paul is urging Christians to respond to God's mercy, his forgiveness of our sin, and his inclusion of us in his family. The appropriate reaction would be offering to Him our entire lives as a form of living, breathing sacrifice.

So when you begin to clean out your garage and you find all kinds of items you didn't realize you had, when you clean your bathroom and find all kinds of soaps and fragrances you didn't know you had, when you clean your bedroom and find all kinds of items under the bed and is your closet you didn't know existed, and when you clean your living room and find two pictures you have been missing for six years, and when you clean the 200 messages from your cell phone which are pure junk, you are doing a thorough cleansing.

We are human and over a year's time, we accumulate a lot of dust on our souls, minds and hearts. Every year we need a thorough cleansing and when this happens, we feel like a ton of weight has been lifted off our shoulders. We have put that dust in a box and put it on a shelf never to see again.

Don't let your cleaning get you down, Christ wants us to be clean, he wants us to be conscious of the dirt, evil, slander, and cruel ways around us. Pull out the Duster and let it do its job. You will be surprized how good you will feel, you wil love the way you perceive the world, you will feel like a load of bricks has been lifted off your shoulders. That is the Will of God.

Amen.