Get Rid of the Junk!

Eastford Baptist Church

July 6, 2006
Get Rid of the Junk!

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.”
(1 John 1: 8-10)

I enjoyed reading recently about a ministry at the First United Church in Hamilton, Canada who sponsors an annual auction sale. One year as they were preparing for the fund raising event, everybody gathered up their accumulated “junk” and sent it down to the church. Each year they bring in a professional auctioneer for the occasion. Each year he attempts to sell all this stuff the people bring in and raise some money for their missionaries. Well, one couple, Joe and Mildred, had some old lawn furniture that had been lying about. Mildred thought that the auction sale was a marvelous opportunity to get rid of it and contribute to their local church at the same time. So she sent it all off to be sold. When the time came for the auction, Mildred was ill and couldn't go. Joe went instead. You guessed it! Joe saw this lawn furniture and thought he had found a terrific bargain. He bids it up and unknowingly ends up re-buying his own lawn furniture and hauls it back to the house. Poor Mildred! She had to wait another year to get rid of the stuff she had just hauled away!

Isn’t that just like many of us? We keep bringing back the stuff we really ought to be getting rid of. It’s particularly true when it comes to the sin in our life. As many times as we say we are going to throw it out for good – often we find ourselves bringing it right back home again. In the passage above John teaches us how we should respond to the junk we need to get rid of.
1. Take sin seriously. When I was a boy growing up on a farm in southwest Pennsylvania I was able to capture a baby raccoon. I took him home and made a pet out of him, calling him Charlie. Charlie became quite the companion for me. Every where I went, Charlie would follow. It was an interesting site to see a raccoon running after me much the same as a dog would follow his master. As Charlie grew, I was warned by several people that pet raccoons should never be kept into adulthood. “Raccoons go through a glandular change at a certain age and after that they often become wild and will attack their owners.” “Not my pet.” I insisted. “It will be different for me! Charlie will never hurt me!” Well as you can imagine, the day came when Charlie went through the change and out of the blue, he bit me and my neighbor and then disappeared into the woods. Only then did I take their advice seriously. Sin too often comes dressed in an adorable disguise, and as we play with it, how easy it is to say, “It will be different for me.”

2. Confess sin. Confession brings reconciliation. Stop and read that again. Confession brings reconciliation. Ask yourself why God wants confession of sin. He desire confession because he desires intimacy. Sin violates intimacy with our loving God. So out of love God says, let’s bring it out of the dark and into the light and get honest about it. We are not to deny it but confess it. You might say, “But I’ve had to confess this so many times before.” OK – then confess it again, and again and again and again if you must, but never give up on working towards deeper intimacy with the Lord. If the junk keeps working itself back into the closets of your life, then just keep throwing it out again. Just don’t ever take the attitude that you are satisfied with it accumulating more and more! God promises that as many times as you confess, He is prepared to forgive and purify.

3. Walk in the light. Light produces life, growth, and beauty. Not much grows in the dark (perhaps mold?) The more we choose to walk in the light of Christ the more we will begin to see His life growing within us. The more we walk with Christ, the more we live a life which corresponds to his nature. He’ll cause his nature to grow within us.
It’s a given that we all have junk in the closet that needs to be thrown out the door. Maybe it’s time to take it seriously, confess our sin to our Heavenly Father and commit to walking in the light.

God Bless,
PT