“Cleaning Our Plates”
Ezekiel 36:24-28 (verses taken from NKJV unless noted)
Wakelee Church ~ September 12, 2004
Theme: When we repent, let God reshape, and let God replace, then we can celebrate the fact that there is now room on our Spiritual plates for God’s will in our lives.
Visual: A plate full of food representing different areas of life...job, family, hobbies...and the like.
Introduction – It’s amazing to me that many people come to church each Sunday looking for the the Holy Spirit to "fill" them, but to be honest they’re relunctant to remove, or repent of, anything from their plates to make the room so that God can reshape and replace.
This morning, you’ll have the opportunity to do just that.
Illus. - “Eating from a dirty plate…” [Laurie Beth Jones]
[“In this country, it is not only improper—it is technically illegal to be served with a dirty plate. Salad bars post signs indicating that the health department requires that each time you step up to the buffet, you must do so with a clean plate.
Yet every day many of us step up to God’s banquet with a dirty plate, and then wonder why we aren’t served. Jesus, too, insists on a clean plate for everyone.
Jesus could not have motivated his team if he had not given each of them a clean plate. Former prostitute? No problem! You will become my example of precious, holy love. Former coward? No problem! You will become a legendary leader. Former skeptic? No problem! You, Paul, will go on to declare the Gospel in new and exciting ways. No more lingering germs or stains. Clean plate. Clean plate. Clean plate.
The danger in having the grunge of resentment on your plate is the poison that can come from it. Are there some unwashed portions---even on the underside? Are we harboring grunge-filled resentments or clumps of baked-on anger as we continually ask for second helpings? Have we forgiven ourselves?
It finally occurred to me that the only one hurt by the grunge on my plate is the person who eats from my plate…myself. If I hold on to it, thinking that the other person is being punished, thinking that I’m being noble, thinking that I have the right too, thinking that I cannot live without, I am wrong.
That’s why Jesus said we had to get rid of it—not only so the object of our anger could be set free, but more importantly, so we can.
Every one of the people Jesus worked with—those who walked forward—was given a new, bright, robe of righteousness to wear and very clean feet. No left over sins, unwashed resentment, or half-baked disappointments, lingered on the plates that Jesus handed out. Jesus said, “If I do not wash you, you have no part in me.” (John 13:8). Jesus gives cleans plates.]
How do you clean a plate? 1. Clean off the remnants…repentance. 2. Wash the plate for the next
use…reshaping. 3. Use it for the next meal…replacing.
Our text for this morning said, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols…” (Ezekiel 36:24-28) – God is in the plate cleaning business.
I. Repentance…
Luke 15:7 – 99% didn’t think they needed saving – We like to focus on the one that the shepherd went to find, but here how Jesus finished that parable…”I say to you that like wise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents [listen now] than over the ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. “
Was Jesus saying that only certain people needed repentance? Of course not. But it was saying that there is a slew of people of there…99% by Jesus’ count…you have no need…or no clue that they do need…repentance.
Isn’t that the message of 2 Chronicles 7:14. When the one who realizes their need for repentance,
becomes humble, begins to pray, and begins to seek, then God hears, forgives, and heals.
If you‘re looking for a how-to formula on repentance here it is…get humble, pray, and seek and then God will hear, forgive and heal.
This morning we’re going to give you the opportunity to do just that…
Congregational Act of Repentance - #891 – Prayer of Confession
II. Reshaping…
If the first step is repentance, then the second step is reshaping. The Bible is rich with many
“reshaping” occurrences.
The potter in Jeremiah 18:1-4 – didn’t patch the vessel, he reshaped it.
Jacob in Genesis 32:34-42 – didn’t just discuss religion, but wrestled with God himself, being
reshaped right down to a broken hip, as he searched and eventually received God’s blessing.
The Canaanite woman in Matthew 15:21 – didn’t accept Jesus’ excuse that God’s reshaping was for
the Jews only. Because here daughter’s life was at stake, she in faith demanding that she was
ready to be reshaped even by the crumbs that fell from the master’s table.
And then there’s the disciples who throughout the gospels found themselves being reshaped and
retrained by this Jesus from Galilee, this carpenter’s boy from Nazareth.
And, of course, there’s Paul – who, recorded in Acts 9, had his whole destiny reshaped when on the
road to Damascus, Jesus took the greatest persecutor of the church and reshaped him into one
of Christianity’s greatest heroes.
This morning, you are going to be given an opportunity to experience God’s reshaping power in
your life. As we sing this next hymn, I invite you to experience it in your own lives.
If you’ve never felt the awesome power of God’s forgiveness and leadership in your life…I invite
you to pray for it as we sing together.
Maybe you have prayed that prayer in the past, but you want to recommit yourself to God’s shape in
you, I invite you to pray.
And maybe you know of someone else, a friend or relative (as if those two are mutually exclusive
) who needs God’s reshaping, I invite you to pray for them.
And, last but not least, if you know you’ve been reshaped and you’re experience the Spirit moving
in you even as we speak, I invite you to celebrate and give praise to God as we sing.
If you’d like to use the altar, please do. If you feel more at home where you are, that’s great too. It’s
my hope that you’ll allow God to touch you in whatever way he needs to get this reshaping thing accomplished. (Congregational Act of Reshaping - #367 – He Touched Me)
III. Replacing…
And if we’ve repented, and let God shaped the plate, then we need to replace what was once there with
something better. Sure enough, we’re offered a good three-course Spiritual meal to make it happen.
First course -In John 6:51, we are offered the “Bread of Life”…Jesus Christ is our spiritual main course..
Second course – In Galatians 5:22-23, we hear about the “Fruit of the Spirit”…this is the Spirit leading,
guiding and directing in lives…replacing what needs to be replaced.
Third course - In John 4:13-14 – Jesus offered the woman at the well “Living Water.” The grace-filled
offer of never having to go thirsty again.
God wants to replace our plate, filled with all our stuff, with his plate…a clean plate…that will sustain
us and fill us more than any other meal we’ve ever had.
We talked last week about finding our STRIDE in order to serve from the heart. This is where that concept would fit in. For those who weren’t here last Sunday and for a memory refresher to those who were.
In order to find our stride – S – T – R – I - D – E – we need to recognize our Spiritual gifts, use our talents, discover our resources, celebrate our individuality, find purpose in our dreams, and share our experiences.
When we’ve repented and we’ve been reshaped than it’s God who is waiting to do the replacing. But it’s
something that no one else can do for you.
This morning, we’re going to take a moment and personally ask God what he wants to replace on our
plates. For some of us, he may take our plates and send us back to the Spiritual smorgasbord to start fresh. For others he made just need to add a Spiritual side dish.
Whatever the case…I invite us now to take a few moments in personal prayer…just you and God…in order to start this replacing process. Let us pray…
Congregational Act of Replacing – (personal prayer)
Conclusion – This morning we have had the opportunity to clean our plates and start again with God. It’s
definitely something to celebrate…(Amen?).
Let me leave you with some advice that Paul left to the church in Rome. It’s found in Romans 12:1-2 –
and I’ll be reading from “The Message” translation…
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” (Romans 12:1-2)
There is no doubt that God is in the transformation business…From dirty plates to clean plates…from spiritually dead plates to plates that continually focus on filling themselves with God’s abundant supply…
Through our repentance of all the stuff we carry on our plate…
Through God’s reshaping our plates as we draw closer to Him
And through God’s replacing his stuff on our plates in exchange for ours…
God is offering each of us a change to clean our plates and start fresh with him.
The question only remains, if you are willing to present yourself and your plate to God, in the full assurance that he willing always give you all that you need and more, so that you may be all that he has created you to be.
As always, the choice remains yours….
Closing Song - Congregational Act of Celebration - #402 – Lord I Want to Be A Christian
Benediction…
Lord our plates are yours…
Do with them as you please…
We repent…we want you to reshape us…we want you to fill us…
we want to be all that you have created us to be.
We pray this in the name of the One who Creates, Redeems, and Sustains,
through Jesus Christ our Lord,. Amen.
Next week: “Faith and a Radical Financial Investment” ~
Jeremiah 32:1-3, 6-15
[SOURCES: Introduction taken from “Jesus in Blue Jeans” by Laurie Beth Jones]
