United Methodist Church Hyde Park, NY

 SPRING CLEANING
Psalm 51:1-10
 
Each year when springtime came around, my grandmother gave her house a really thorough cleaning. Every year, for as long as I can remember, when springtime has come around, my mother has given her house a really thorough cleaning. And yes, as you have no doubt already guessed, each year when springtime comes around, I give my house a really thorough cleaning. In many households, spring is a time for cleaning. We clean out all the winter dust and cobwebs, then open the windows to let in fresh air.
 
The church has its version of springtime cleaning as well. It’s called Lent. The name for this pre-Easter season comes from the old Anglo-Saxon word lencten,
which means the lengthening of the days as spring appears. It is the old English word for spring. Every Ash Wednesday, right at the very beginning of Lent, the appointed psalm is read – number 51. This morning, as Lent draws to a close, the Lectionary called for us to hear again the same psalm. Why? It can only be because Psalm 51 expresses so well the penitence and introspection that are central to the Lenten season. The psalmist repents a less-than-spotless life, and pleads for God to do a bit of spring soul cleaning:
“. . . according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin . . .
. . .purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow . . .
. . . Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.”
 
Lent is the church’s springtime. Out of sin’s darkness and winter’s death
emerges a people made new in their Lord’s resurrection. Just as housekeepers have annually prepared their homes for the light and airiness of summer by engaging in some spring cleaning, the clearing out of winter’s debris, so, too, have Christians prepared for the brilliance and joy of Easter by doing some spiritual housekeeping, the clearing out of sin’s detritus.
 
There are people who believe the saying “Cleanliness is next to godliness”
came straight from the Bible . . . and it sounds like it might have – but it didn’t. The idea can be traced back to an ancient Jewish rabbi, Phineas ben Yair. In listing a number of virtues, he ended with cleanliness and then godliness, literally putting “cleanliness” next to “godliness.” John Wesley was referring to this when he said in a sermon:
“Cleanliness is indeed next to godliness.” The Bible makes clear that
the cleanliness that leads to godliness comes neither from clean hands nor clean houses, but from precisely what the psalmist sought: a clean heart.
Lent is the time when we are called to identify and clear out our faults and failures, even the not-so-obvious ones that lie hidden deep within our hearts.
I smiled knowingly as I read one woman’s confession that she is not the world’s greatest housekeeper. She usually gives the place “a lick and a promise” as the old saying goes. Lick meaning “I’ll swipe the dust mop around the furniture.”
Promise meaning “I’ll swipe the dust mop under the furniture next time.” She said her philosophy was: “If what they don’t know won’t hurt them, then it stands to reason that what they can’t see, they won’t know is there. No guest is going to lie on my floor and look underneath the furniture, anyhow.” At least, that was her philosophy until one day when guests came in her front door
which is on the east side of the house. A strong wind was coming from that direction, too. At that moment, all the dust that had collected underneath the furniture rolled out and lodged against the west wall in neat balls. There was no use making excuses. Obviously, she’d made too many licks without fulfilling the promises.
 
Sometimes our lives are like that. We don’t show outward sins, but our inward sins are like dust balls under the furniture. We promise ourselves we’ll take care of them . . . sometime. Lent reminds us that the time for some spring cleaning of our hearts is now – for hearts that are soiled or filled with resentments or hate or fear, are hearts that will never sparkle with the new life and light of Easter. To be ready for Easter requires more than a house swept clean. One needs a heart made clean.
 
Every spring I give my house a really thorough cleaning. I clean out closets and drawers, wash windows and curtains, shampoo rugs, polish silver, and yes, move the furniture to sweep away those dust balls! What a good feeling it is to be rid of the dirt and clutter! Every once in a while, my heart also needs to be cleaned, rinsed off, relieved of all the dark and dirty stuff that somehow lodges there. I often need to brush off frantic busyness so I can see God more clearly in people and events. Harsh thoughts and hasty judgments must be washed away. The residue from old battles with others needs to be rinsed off. I have to cleanse my heart of anxiety and lack of trust. Prejudices must be scrubbed off. On and on the list goes. There is some junk I need to get rid of as well: the resentment toward the person who criticized, the misunderstanding about that money matter, the hurt feelings I’ve nursed since that thoughtless remark, the opinion I formed about that person whose ideas seemed strange to me. I know – and God knows – just how many sins of commission and omission are dirtying and cluttering my heart.
 
Lent is almost over; Easter is only two weeks away . . . but I’m sure it’s not too late to give my heart a good spring cleaning. I know I won’t be able to get rid of all of sin’s debris by myself, so I’ll do as the psalmist did: I’ll ask God to help. I’m going to work on cleaning my heart for Easter this year. How about you?