“The
Study and the Dining Room”
“My
Heart, Christ’s Home” series
II
Timothy 2:14-19, Matthew 6:19-21
May
1, 2005
First
Presbyterian Church Carson City
Pastor
Bruce Kochsmeier
Purpose:
For people to understand the practical nature of letting their lives be a home
for Christ by looking specifically at what they study and ingest in daily
living.
Today we
begin a time of considering what it means to make our hearts Christ’s home.
The central question is, Does Jesus have a place to live in our lives or
is he left to sleep on our porch or worse?
The one thing that keeps the world in which we live from knowing peace is
NOT knowing Jesus Christ on a very practical and intimate level.
The purpose of this series is to encourage each of us to come to this
knowledge.
Our
lives are made up of different rooms of experience.
God wants to occupy every single room.
But today our lives are subdivided in such a way that often there is
little space for God to work. To
begin this journey we will need to go room by room to see if we are willing to
give God the room necessary to show us the piece that has been stolen by the
many things that crowd out the room God needs to be our Savior.
Paul
describes this dilemma talking with Timothy.
Jesus describes it in talking about treasure.
This all starts in what Robert Munger calls “the study”.
How many of our homes and lives even have a study; a place dedicated to
learning and growing and deepening our understanding of faith and life?
Most all of our homes have a TV or three and a computer and an office,
but how many of us have a study; a place of quiet devotion to knowing Jesus
Christ? I do not ask this to be
critical, but to ask whether we are really open to the wonder of letting
God truly control the center of our hearts and minds.
Dr.
Munger in writing “My Heart, Christ’s Home” describes the study as the
place that is the control room of the house.
He states that Jesus wants to come take possession of that room, but
often finds it cluttered with a lot of junk and some stuff that is down right
ugly. Paul in writing to Timothy says that this clutter and junk
are the very things that keep us from the rich relationship we need with Jesus
Christ. His encouragement is this,
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who
has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.”
Is this
who we are as a church and as individuals?
Or do we find ourselves surrounded by clutter?
Many times the clutter is a sign of trying to be involved in too many
things for fear we will miss out on something.
Isn’t it ironic that this attempt is precisely what causes us to miss
the BEST in life? God wants to be
the center of our lives because God knows we will never be content or whole or
at peace, we will never be who we were created to be until Christ is central to
all we are about. Until the room
that is the study of our lives is clear of the junk and clutter there will be no
room for Jesus to reside; there will be only distraction from being devoted to
him. It can’t be both ways.
Have you
noticed how hard it is to get anything done well by people these days? In ANY field there is a distinct lack of craftsmanship and
devotion to doing a job one can really be proud of. This is disappointing for the worker and the one for whom the
work is being done. It is precisely
the issue that Jesus came to confront and heal.
But only as he is made central in our study will the power of evil be
overcome. Only as the things that
take up Jesus’ space are ruthlessly eliminated will we have this healing.
My
parents were both great craftspeople in what they did.
They worked hard to hone their craft.
In the same way they devoted themselves to the purpose of Jesus Christ.
They ended their journey here with nothing to be ashamed of because their
whole lives were spent continually studying what it means to be workers whose
work was approved by the Master. I
want to be like this. And I know
you do too. But if we are going to
experience this meaning and purpose we will have to be ruthlessly eliminating
stuff from our lives on a very practical level.
How much
TV do I watch? How much time in the
newspaper or magazines compared to the Bible and devotional works that are so
much richer?
That
leads to the dining room. What are
we consuming? Does it bring us
closer to Jesus Christ and his purpose for our lives or drive us farther away? If I am going to be a great athlete I have to watch not only
how much I eat but the content. Am
I getting enough protein? Carbohyrdates?
What kind? Could Jesus dine
with me? Would he find what I am
putting into my spiritual body to be nourishing?
Again, I have to ask myself, “What needs to be left off in order that I
can partake of what I really need for my life with Christ?
A worker
who has no need to be ashamed – people who did their work well.
Is this what we are doing?
So much
of how God describes our relationship with himself is in terms of where and how
we live: John 1:14 – He moved into the neighborhood.
Rev. 3:20 – Behold I stand at the door.
John 14 – I go to prepare a place.
Psalm 23 – I shall dwell in the house…
A home
with Christ. How are we preparing a
place for him to live with us? This
is the question that trumps are other questions.
This is what will determine what we think and what we take into ourselves
as our diet for life. And what we
decide will make the difference between being empty or full; a house that stands
and a home that really is a home for eternity.
Jesus Christ came as God in person to give himself up on the cross so
that we would know what belongs in our house; so that we could have him in the
home of our hearts. He spread this
table to make the home clear to us. Ours
is to decide if we will let him in. May we say yes to him today.
May we let him show us what belongs in our lives.
And because we are invited HERE may we never look back and never worry
about what we let go to be here. Amen.