Sanctification, Perfection, and... Dirty Dishes

               (The following is a write-up of the short devotional thought I shared at the start of adult Sabbath School one morning last month. In keeping with the way I first shared these thoughts, I have retained the oral style. Feel free to share this with anyone whom you think may benefit!)

              I’m going to speak with you this morning about two things that we often think have nothing to do with us:

Sanctification and Perfection.

The reason we think these terms have nothing to do with us is that the devil has duped us into believing that—because we are but dust—we are trash. The devil has convinced us that we are so degraded by sin that God can do nothing with us. This could not be further from the truth. God constantly digs through the “rubbish” of this world, seeking someone—anyone—who will turn to Him. He sees us as treasures.

Yet somehow, even with a knowledge of God’s great love for us, these terms “Sanctification” and “Perfection” seem to loom over our heads. Why is that??? You know, I believe it’s because we’re afraid. We are afraid because we know how dirty and imperfect we really are. We have strived to “get our act together”—and failed. We’ve failed because we’ve decided to try and work for our own salvation instead of heeding God’s Words to work out our own salvation. And we shouldn’t be surprised that our greatest intentions fail when we try to “do it ourselves,” because God has reminded us many-a-time that apart from Him, we can do NOTHING.

How many of you had to wash dirty dishes this week? I tell ya’, the mountain of dishes that accumulates in our kitchen on Friday afternoon is quite foreboding! Now tell me, how many of those dishes wash themselves? Do the forks and plates ever say “Well, if I could just get up enough gumption I’d be able to scrub myself clean and jump back onto the shelf”? No! Of course not! Because there is nothing—NOTHING—that dirty dishes can do (in and of themselves) to make themselves clean. I think you need me to say that again:

There is nothing—NOTHING—that dirty dishes can do (in and of themselves) to make themselves clean.

Those dirty dishes must just sit and wait until someone bigger, someone stronger, comes along who can clean them up. We are like those dirty dishes; but, unlike those dishes, we have a choice: We can choose to remain dirty dishes and sit there on the counter, or we can allow Someone bigger— Someone stronger— than us to make us clean. And, equally amazing, is that when we allow Jesus to cleanse us, we won’t just sit on the shelf. Instead, we will have the opportunity to serve Him and others.

Have you ever thought “What’s the purpose of washing dishes, they’re just gonna’ get dirty again!” I know I’ve sighed that thought before, and I’ve heard similar sentiments from my younger siblings. Do we ever wonder this in our spiritual lives? “What’s the point of allowing God to cleanse me from this sinful thought, action, or habit? I’m probably gonna’ just do it again!” How quickly we forget that God understands our weaknesses. He knows our limitations. He realizes that on day one hundred two of submitting to Him, we are just as likely to try to do things our own dirty way as we are on day two to choose compost over dishsoap.

The devil lives to convince us that we are beyond hope, that we are filthy beyond cleansing, and that God has had enough of washing away our dirt. But God is in the dishwashing business. He doesn’t say “Hey, you! Didn’t I just wash you last week, yesterday, a few minutes ago? I’m done cleaning you up!” NO! Instead, He says, “Come to me, you who are coated in dried-stuck-on food, or you who just a moment ago chose wrongly and still have wet food residue—and I will clean you up.”

Here is the point I want you to hold onto from today, to remind yourself over and over again of this truth:

Sanctification is not something I am achieving, it is something I am receiving.

The same could be said of perfection.

Perfection is not something I am achieving, it is something I am receiving.

Day by day, as we grow closer to Jesus, submitting to Him the things that make us messy, He is perfecting our characters into His likeness. What a beautiful thing…

I would like to close by asking you to join me in the book of Titus, chapter three, verses three through seven. I just love this passage. It reminds me once again that it’s all about Him and what He has done—and is still doing—in our lives.

“For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. “ (dirty dishes) “But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
(Titus 3:3-7, underlining and italics mine)

Amen!

(Sabbath School Superintendent Remarks – September 13th, 2014)