Accept Jesus as my Master

The Fifth Sunday in Lent 2022. 4. 3.

Matthew 12:43~45

Accept Jesus as my Master.

 

Today is the fifth Sunday in Lent. Now we are spending in Lenten season. Lent is a penitential period of preparation for Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday and lasts for forty days except the six Sundays within the season.

 

We begin to emphasize penitence: a recognition of our rebellion against God and our alienation from God’s creation. And we move on to the fruits of repentance: the change of life that results we conform to the mind of Christ.

 

Lenten disciplines should be continued repentance and change, not temporary deletion or addition.

 

Today’s text is a good one to reflect on human existence and repentance. This text is not a famous story. It is also not an interesting story. And it is not really a beautiful story.

 

But it is an important story!! This story is very essential to teach us how to live as human beings and how to live as children of God.

 

This story is simple. It is a parable sermon of Jesus. Let’s go into this parable.

 

OK. Let’s read the verse 45 once again. “Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

 

In this phrase, who was the wicked generation?

 

In the text, Jesus was describing the faith and attitude of Israel people and the religious leaders in particular. This means that the Israel’s corruption was serious.

 

Jesus diagnosed that the condition of the people of Israel is dominated by evil spirits. Due to the occupation of evil spirits, they defiled God’s law and turned Jehovah religion into a mixed religion.

 

“So will it be also with this evil generation!” That is, “If you don’t repent, you will be in a worse situation, too.” This is a serious warning.

 

John the Baptist also warned the people of Israel seriously. Let’s read Matthew 3:7 together: But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

 

This is a warning for those who do not intend to repent but only think that they wish to go to heaven without repentance. And also this is a warning for those who do not intend to bear fruit but only think that they wish to be saved without repentance.

 

The process of our religious life is important. Of course, the finish of our religious life should be happy ending. If we want our religious life to end with a happy ending, we should remember that our faith of today is decisive!

 

There is only a present salvation! Today’s faith is the only one that is recognized by God. The most important thing is today’s faith, not tomorrow’s. So we have to do our best to walk with God today! We have to try to bear good fruit today, not tomorrow.

 

Now, let’s read the verse 44 together. “Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order.”

 

There was an evil spirit-possessed man. The original evil spirit living within him departed. Then the evil spirit traveled through waterless place. After that, an evil spirit said, “I will return to my house from which I came.”

 

Jesus used, here, a house as a metaphor for a human soul.

Likewise, the evil spirit sees the person as its house.

 

The wandering evil spirit, after all, returned to the house where he lived. And it saw the condition of the house still empty! clean! and fixed up!

 

In here, what we will pay attention to is three verbs: unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. All three verbs were used grammatically as participles.

 

This means that the person’s spiritual state is not a day or two. It refers to the spiritual phenomena of the man who has been away from God for so many years!

 

What is important in the text is that the house is empty! Remember that it is dangerous if the house is empty. No matter how cleaned and repaired it is, we cannot stop evil spirits from invading.

 

The state of an empty house is dangerous. So what does an empty house mean? It means that there is no owner in the house.

 

Let’s read the screen writing together. “An empty house is dangerous. Because there is no owner in the house.”

 

Evil spirits search for empty houses. Those are looking for a soul without an owner. Let’s read 1 Peter 5:8, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

 

Then, how should we live now? What should we do?

 

Let’s read the gospel according to John 15:5 together. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

 

If there is no Jesus in us, we will easily become a playground for evil spirits. No matter how big and no matter how splendid and no matter how refined, it is worthless. It is important who is the owner within us!!

 

The state of empty houses are in danger. We believers have to accept the Lord as our owners. If the Lord Jesus is in us, we can follow his teachings. Our Lord should be come inside us and act as our Master.

 

Our Lord must rule over us. Then, we will happily follow his teachings We can armed with the spirit of the cross. And we can live by the values of the kingdom of God.

 

Now let’s read the today’s verse 43 together. “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.”

 

This is a very important phrase that contains the message of the text. The place where the unclean spirit find is the place without water.

 

What is the antonym of the word “waterless”? That’s right! “Water.”

So what does the word “water” symbolize in the Bible?

Water symbolizes God’s grace!!

 

In other words, evil spirits like to live in a soul without grace at all.

This is why we should not stop getting grace.

We have to use the means of grace whenever we have a chance!

 

The kingdom of God never comes by itself (Mt 11:12). We have to ask, seek, and knock (Mt 7:7). Whether to live as a slave of sin and to be ruled by darkness or to live as disciples of the Lord in the light, it depends on our decision and faith now.

 

Beloved brothers and sisters!

Let’s accept Jesus as our Master every day.

Let’s live together with the Lord every time.

Let’s not to receive the grace of God in vain (2Cor 6:1).

Let’s ask and stay in the grace of God.

 

Then the Lord restores us to be true humanity.

The Lord makes us to do truth, and leads us to walk the way of eternal life.

When the Lord becomes our Master in us, we can work out our full salvation.

 

We have to accept Jesus as our Master!

 

Decisive Prayer: I myself can not be the owner in me. We must not allow evil spirits to be our masters. We must not allow uncleaned spirits to enter us as our ruler. Only Jesus should be our Master in us. Jesus should be our Lord, our Savior and our Master. So Holy Spirit, help us. Amen.