If we are like Jesus, zeal that our lives and our church become a holy space, “set aside” for God’s purposes, will consume us. So, what tangible Kingdom attributes should we be zealous to put in the courtyard of our church and our lives so that the church flourishes as God’s transforming presence is made manifest in our transformed lives?
Sweep out Stinginess and replace it with Generosity – giving to those in need[1]
“You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” 2 Corinthians 9:11
“If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?” 1 John 3:17
“And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Hebrews 13:1
A generous community is a healthy community. The book of Acts records of the early church that “they sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.” This was one of a number of things recorded in Acts that led to them “enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”[2] Turns out generosity is a great witnessing tool. God’s people have a Great Commission: go everywhere, preaching the gospel and making disciples. Things like generosity cultivate the soil in which the seeds of the gospel will be planted. It helps to break up the hard ground in the hearts of souls of people.
Sweep out Harshness and replace it with Gentleness – keeping strength under control[3]
Ephesians 4:1–3 “I… urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness...”
1 Timothy 6:11–12 “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith.”
1 Peter 3:14–16 “Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”
Gentleness is not weakness. Gentle people are those with the ability to do harm who are careful not to do harm. You have to train dogs about the power of their own bite so they know how to be gentle. Kids have to learn it at an early age so siblings and pets don’t get hurt. Gentleness occurs when those who could hurt others, don’t.
“I could say this and leave no tip and let that waiter know just how bad of an experience this was.” Be gentle.
“I could gossip and throw him under the bus.” Be gentle.
“I could take that past failure of my friend or spouse or parent or that person across the room right now and use it against them for a long, long time.” Be gentle.
Sweep out Self-indulgence and replace it with Self-control – not being ruled by our appetites[4]
“Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Galatians 5:13-16
God gave us appetites and the proper fulfillment of them. If we are hungry; there’s food. If we want companionship, there are people. If we want order, there’s organization. If we want family, there’s marriage and sex. If we want independence (or agency) and there’s free will. If we want to learn, there’s knowledge. Appetites (or desires) are not necessarily the problem. What these verses highlight are two ways appetites and desire can go wrong:
They could knock us out of the race (compromise our witness)
They could cause us to bite and devour others to get what we want
When things other then Jesus begin to order or control our lives, we will live in such a way that we will begin to bite and devour others to get what we want.
Our desire for companionship becomes manipulative control of those around so we get all our needs met on our terms. Those around us become the sacrifice as we consume people to fill that void within us.
Our desire for order becomes a coercive demanding that people and things be just like we like them all the time, with the attached message that those not as orderly are not just physically deficient, but probably morally deficient in some way. And when disorder strikes, those around us become the sacrifice as we lash out at those who messed up our world.
Our desire for family becomes our desire for the perfect, ideal family, which becomes a fixation on everybody being perfect – well, everybody being what I want them to be. And when Billy doesn’t act or dress just right, or your spouse falls short…look out. They are about to become the sacrifice.
Our desire for agency becomes an excuse for indulgence and rebellion at all authority. “Nobody can tell me what to do.” Anytime there is a sense that we might be responsible to something or someone bigger than ourselves we reject it, because nobody is bigger than ourselves. When this happens, community gets sacrificed – and that includes the relationships with the people in it.
The opposite of being ruled by our desires is self-control, which is surrendering our desires to God’s desires. “Serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[5] This Paul calls “walking in the Spirit.” We talk about living a Spirit-led life, one in which the gifts and the fruit build up the body of Christ and serve as a witness to God’s transformative power at work in us. What does this look like? Serving one another in love.
Sweep out Self-Sufficiency and replace it with Prayer,[6] pouring out our soul to the Lord (Hannah, in 1 Samuel 1:15)
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. “ Matthew 26:41
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:6
I don’t know if ‘self-sufficiency’ is the best word, but here’s what I’m getting at: Prayer reminds us that we need help. We are not good at being autonomous. We lack the ability to be righteous and holy on our own. We thrive in the service of a King who is ‘far beyond what we ask or think,’[7] and without this King reigning in our lives, we’re in trouble (as are the people around us).
We resist temptation, but we also recognize the need for Holy Spirit power in that resistance, and we ask for and remind ourselves of that through prayer.
If we think we can be good or righteous through our own will, we will either be proud (“I nailed it and all these losers around me haven’t figured it out yet”) or ashamed (“I am the loser. I just can’t get it right!”), so we pray for God’s power to bring about righteousness in us that we simply can’t do on our own.
I realized a while ago I often said, “I’ve been thinking and praying about this,” and I wasn’t trying to be dishonest, but it turned out I was just thinking. Why? Because of course I could figure it out. I didn’t need God’s input. Ummmmm…
Prayer is, among other things, a constant acknowledgment that I can’t do this by myself. It’s an act of surrender in which we take the ball and put it in God’s court – which is where it was always meant to be.
Sweep out “Right”ness and replace it with Righteousness – doing that which God would approve[8]
“In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God…”1 John 3:10.
“Then Peter said: ‘In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation, whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.’” Acts 10:34-35.
I am defining “right”ness as, “But it’s my right!” But doing what we have the right to do can sometimes be very different from doing what is righteous. Paul as clear: even when things are permissible, they are not always beneficial.[9] I have the right to say almost anything I want here in our country, but not all of it would be righteous; so, as a child of God, I can’t exercise that right like others can, at least not in good conscience. I have a right to hoard my money; I have a right to gamble it all away. I have a right to drive around town with offensive bumper stickers. I have a right to go all kinds of places online.
But, as a follower of Jesus, my rights exist in service to the righteousness to which I am called. Righteousness is “right living” in the eyes of God, and living righteously is not just a necessary goal for the individual health of Christians, it’s an act of love for others. How can I love you well? Do what God tells me is the right thing to do.
Sweep out lords and replace them with servants – looking to serve rather than be served
"Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins… As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace." 1 Peter 4:8-10
Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”
Luke 22:26-27 “Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.”
So this comes back to the question of power. God gives us power in order to help us serve more effectively. In the corporate world, those with power are often those for whom others work. The more people you lead, the more people work for you, and the more important you are.
Not so in the church. The more people you lead, the more people you serve. The more power you have, the more you are called to be broken and spilled out for others, not them for you.
Sweep out unrighteous Judgment and replace it with Nurture – caring for those who are hurting or broken[10]
Romans 14:19 “So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”
1 Thessalonians 5:14 “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29
I’ve recently head the analogy of a garden to describe our lives. I like it. Comparing people with plants and farms is good biblical territory. J So, what do we do if we want a garden to flourish? WE TAKE CARE OF IT. I don’t angrily pound plants into the ground because they have bugs on them. I don’t withhold water because I’m mad the beans aren’t a tall as they should be. I don't ignore weeds that are overwhelming my plants because I figure the plants should be dealing with their own problems. I fertilize, weed, prune, water, dust for bugs. I take care of my garden because fruit follows nurture.
You want to see Holy Spirit fruit in your life? Nurture yourself in the Word, in prayer, surrounded by God’s people. You want to see fruit in the people around you? The Holy Spirit is doing Holy Spirit work, but we are on a co-mission with God. . Nurture them.
Sweep out Timidity and replace it with Boldness – fearlessly doing and saying what is righteous[11]
2 Corinthians 3:12 “Since we have such a hope, we are very bold.”
1 Thessalonians 2:2 “But thought we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi…we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.”
Philippians 1:14 “And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.”
Bold is not brash, pushy or obnoxious. It’s just confident and unashamed in spite of whatever difficulties result. And notice the passage from Philippians: because of my chains, most have become confident. Apparently, persecution clarifies for people that it is time to go big or go home.
Church: we need to ‘go big’ all the time. By that I mean unashamed confidence ought to characterize our lives. Some of you get the opportunity sitting around a dinner table or a family reunion; for some of you, it’s every day at work. Some of you might take it to a larger scale. Wherever we are, unashamed confidence ought to characterize our lives. We are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ; it is the power of God unto salvation.[12]
Help us, Lord, to play our part in this church becoming increasingly a holy community of love, truth, prayer, worship, repentance, forgiveness, justice and mercy – a place for people of all neighborhoods and nations, a place where the grace of Jesus’ saving atonement is central, a place where God’s name is honored in our words and actions and God’s presence is experienced as transformative, saving, and healing. May zeal for the integrity of your house, guided by your Word and empowered by the Holy Spirit, consume us.[13]
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[1] “Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered.” Proverbs 21:13
“Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses.” Proverbs 28:27
“Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.” Luke 6:30
[2] Acts 2:42-47
[3] 2 Timothy 2:24–25 “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.”
Titus 3:1-2 “Remind them to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, not to be contentious, to be gentle, showing all humility toward all men.”
[4] “Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.” Proverbs 16:32
“Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.” Proverbs 25:2
[5] Galatians 5:13
[6] “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.”
[7] Ephesians 3:20
[8] “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” Proverbs 21:3.
“If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.” 1 John 2:29.
[9] 1 Corinthians 6:12
[10] James 2:14-17 “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
[11] Proverbs 28:1 “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are like a lion.”
[12] Romans 1:16
[13] Colin Smith, https://openthebible.org/sermon/zeal-for-gods-house/