When I first came to New York City, I was surprised to see the garbage bags and trash cans piled up on the sidewalks all over the city in the evening. It just happened to be one of those days of the week you take your trash out. But it didn’t look like the New York City of my imagination. As the Capital of the World, I thought New York City should always be as clean and pleasant as other modern cities like Singapore.
However, the sanitation trucks came by to pick up the trash at night. The g...
When I first came to New York City, I was surprised to see the garbage bags and trash cans piled up on the sidewalks all over the city in the evening. It just happened to be one of those days of the week you take your trash out. But it didn’t look like the New York City of my imagination. As the Capital of the World, I thought New York City should always be as clean and pleasant as other modern cities like Singapore.
However, the sanitation trucks came by to pick up the trash at night. The garbage piles were gone the following day. Still, my question was, why do they have to put the garbage out in front of their homes by the sidewalks? It’s unsightly! In most modern cities, the trash is picked up from the back doors.
If you have been to New York City in the evenings before garbage collection, you can’t forget the unpleasant sight. It sticks in your memory. However, over the years, I have learned to appreciate it as an excellent metaphor for how to live a good life.
But, first, let me give you a little more subtle place for garbage dump—American media. The American media are like New York City streets, constantly exposing the garbage of the country. It’s unpleasant. Sometimes, they make you cringe; other times, they make your blood boil, triggering your rage. I didn’t like it, but now I appreciate the wisdom behind the First Amendment, which includes the freedom of the press. Exposing the garbage of the nation allows responsible leaders to clean it up.
When I was in Singapore many years ago, I noticed the news was carefully censored. Many other governments around the world control the media and don’t allow them to report the shameful news of the nation. They only report the positive news of their government, sweeping the garbage under the rugs until they rot and stink. By the time the skeleton came out of the closet, it was too late to clean.
So, the downside of exposing the trash constantly and publicly is unsightly, but the upside is it gets cleaned up. Hidden stuff behind the scenes is hard to clean. In the long run, it can make us sick.
How about it as a spiritual metaphor? Do you hide your spiritual trash to maintain a nice and clean facade? I know Trinity members are down-to-earth; we don’t wear masks to the church. (I’m not talking about protective masks but pretentious masks hiding the skeleton in the closet.)
Lent is the time for spring cleaning to maintain a clean heart and spirit. Why should we keep a clean heart? The Bible says our body is God’s temple. Paul said,
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (1 Co 6:19).
As a redeemed, your body is the temple. If Jesus were to look inside your body to make his home in it, what would he see? This question might make us cringe because we all have skeletons in the closet and prefer Jesus to stay with our neighbor instead. “Oh Jesus, I love my neighbors; I rather have you make home in their hearts. I don’t want to hoard you for myself.”
In today’s scripture lesson, we read that Jesus went to the Temple in Jerusalem and found it a mess. He cleaned it up and decided to tear it down and rebuild it inside your heart. There is no more physical temple today. There is only a broken wall left, called the Wailing Wall.
Jesus has moved the temple from Jerusalem to your heart. This church or any house of worship is not God’s temple. They are just a place for congregation. The temple is your body. That’s why you need to keep your body clean for God to dwell in.
Today, we will explore spiritual cleansing, developing the habit of taking your garbage out for Jesus to cleanse. So the trash inside will not become rotten and make us sick down the line. Most importantly, let’s prepare our body to be an acceptable temple of God as we welcome the risen Lord. So, let’s begin!
