No Space for God: Spiritual Clutter

He's always been a good singer. All right, if you would open your Bibles to Matthew chapter six tonight. Matthew, chapter six.

As I was really just now, within the last couple of minutes, thinking about how that I could easily offend someone with this, and I don't want to do that.

And so I will readily say that what I am about to talk about just for a minute, really just in the introduction and the title and part of the body and the ending and the conclusion. Now, the subject that I chose could be a little offensive. I didn't mean for it to be. I didn't even think about it when I was writing it.

But I do recognize that what I'm going to talk about there is a legitimate, for some people, legitimate psychological imbalance regarding this particular subject. But for the most part, it's not. For the most part it's not okay. So I just want to clear that up, that I do recognize that.

So In Matthew, chapter 6, verse 33, the Bible says, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take, therefore, no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

How many have ever watched, and this is a long time ago, I don't know how long ago, it's been many, probably at least 10 years or more. When I saw the. The program called Hoarding Buried Alive. You watched that, You've seen that. Y' all have seen that.

I never did watch that show on purpose. I always, whatever. If I was flipping through the channels and I saw it, I just couldn't believe what I was seeing.

And I just stopped because I was just so overwhelmed that this could actually take place. And some of it was just.

Well, you know, like I said, I believe that for some of those people there was a legitimate psychological issue, but not with everybody. And I don't mean to be cruel or judgmental. I really don't.

When I was pastoring in, in Seattle, in Bellevue, we had an older couple, a senior couple in our church, and the Zimmermans, Ms. May May and Earl Zimmerman. I led Ms. May to the Lord. She was 83 years old, got saved, gloriously saved.

If you can imagine an 83 year old woman getting gloriously saved, baptized too. 83 years old. It's wonderful. And so I asked, I said, well, can I come over and visit with you? And boy, she was really reluctant.

She had married Earl and she sold her house and they moved into his house. And she just didn't want me to come over. She said, well, I'm really kind of embarrassed for you to come over, Pastor.

I said, well, don't worry about it, May, it's all right. And she said, well, it's kind of a mess. And so I went in. She invited me over.

We went in, my wife and I, and I honestly, I just, I couldn't believe it. I just could not believe it. Stuff everywhere. Everywhere. I could not see the couch when I, when I walked.

I know there was one there because stuff was sitting on it and stuff was sitting in front of it and stuff was sitting beside it and stuff was piled up and there were two chairs sitting right in front of the television. And then so from the, from the, from the front door there was a, I mean, a pencil thin trail to those two chairs.

And then from those two chairs to the kitchen, to the sink, there was a pencil thin trail. And then from there there was a pencil thin trail to the restroom, their bedroom.

There was absolutely no room for not one more single person to live in that home unless they just moved a bunch of stuff. I mean, they would have had to clean it out, container full, just for one more person to get in there.

Now the crazy thing was that I never would have guessed that by looking at them, because when they started coming to church, both of them were immaculate. He wore a nice suit every day, every Sunday she was in a nice dress, had a really nice looking car.

And when I was over there to visit with him, I did ask him could I use the restroom. And I did go into the restroom and they had their clothes hanging up in there and it was all fresh from the cleaners.

So that's why they looked immaculate when they went to church. But it occurred to me that the same recurring theme prevailed as I watched that show Hoarders, the same reoccurring theme.

And outside of the fact that some of them there might be that psychological issue, the majority of the time it was just pure selfishness. It was all about me. That's my stuff. Don't you touch it. It's my stuff. I'm going to do with it what I want to do with it. How dare you invade my.

It's my stuff. You leave it alone. It's mine. So when I watched Hoarders, I always said, I'll never get like that.

I will never, I mean, I mean, I made, I made a decision. I am never going to get like that. And praise God, I never have. But I'm convinced that most Christians in America are hoarders of a different kind.

And so I'd like to ask a few pointed questions this evening. It's not going to all be as somber as this, but I want to ask a few pointed questions this evening. How much room is dedicated in your life?

If your life was a house, how much room is dedicated in your house for Jesus Christ and the things of God? Is it limited to one hour per week?

That would be equivalent to the Zimmerman's allowing me to step inside the home and not allowing me to have access to any other portion of the house. Well, can I use the restroom, brother? Or no? No, you're just going to have to wait. Well, how about. Can I get it? Can I get. No, just.

You're fine where you're at. I'll let you in. That's good enough. And so do other things and activities crowd your life to such a degree that there is no room for God?

Here's a little test. What do you do on Monday that has any spiritual significance whatsoever? How do you connect with God on Tuesday?

How much time do you spend in fellowship with God on Wednesday? Which part of your prayer list do you pray through on Thursday? When on Friday, besides at the dinner table, do you communicate with God?

And then on Saturday, do you just take Saturday off? Because after all, it's a weekend. Now, do I exaggerate or do I paint a pretty grim but familiar picture? We're hoarders.

We've got a whole lot of stuff that will not allow God to have access to our house, to our life. Now, preacher, do you realize you're talking to the Wednesday night crowd? I do. I realize I'm talking to the choir section right here.

And this is the crowd that needs it the most. This is the crowd. Why do I say that? Why in the world do I think y' all are that rotten? Do I think y' all are that unspiritual? No, not at all.

Why you think you got this right? I'm here on Wednesday. I don't fit that bill. Well, what'd you do Tuesday? You see, I understand that.

I understand that if this, you know, if Hatchlet's going to be reached by Heritage Baptist Church, it's Typically going to be this crowd right here.

If things are going to get done in this church, most of the, you know, most of the volunteers that from anything that gets done in the church typically comes from this crowd right here. I know to whom I'm speaking and the word. And we have to take this to heart. This is the word of God.

The word of God says, let him who thinks he stands, take he lest he fall. Now, I know I didn't say it. Let him who thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he falleth. Amen.

And so what I want to do then is I want to show you six ways on how to keep from becoming a spiritual hoarder. Six ways to help you to keep from becoming a spiritual hoarder. See, because I don't think we're there yet.

I mean, I like to think we're not there yet. I'd like to think this is the crowd that I'm preaching to that allows God to have his way in their life on Monday morning, on Tuesday.

I'd like to think that there was some spirituality took place in your life, some spiritual exercise took place in your life before you came to church on Wednesday. This is that crowd. I believe that. I believe that there are some in here, maybe all.

I hope that actually do pray on Thursday and I understand and you'll say amen to this. It's easy, brother. And I say this with conviction because I've experienced it. Everybody in here can say amen to this.

It is easy for life to crowd out Jesus. It's easy for life to crowd out church. It's easy for life and business and things and sleep and bed to crowd out our devotions.

It's easy for life to crowd out our Bible reading, our prayer, our fellowship, even our spouses and our children. Life can crowd those things out.

We can allow things to get so built up into our life to crowd out the things that are most important and then the important becomes urgent. So I want to give you six ways on how to keep from becoming a spiritual hoarder. This isn't rocket science.

I'm not going to tell you anything you haven't heard before.

I'm just going to reiterate it and hopefully it'll come from a fresh voice tonight and we'll be able to apply it, you know, maybe just apply it tonight. Alright, here we go. First of all, number one. Be consumed with the giver, not the gifts. Be consumed with the giver, not the gifts. Verse 19 through 23.

I'm still in Matthew 6. You just got to back up a few verses in verse 19 through 23. The key word here in these verses is treasure. The key word is treasure.

He says, lay not for yourselves treasures upon the earth where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt. Where. And where thieves do not break through nor steal.

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Now again, the Lord is not condemning, and I'm not condemning wealth.

The Lord's not condemning wealth in this passage, nor the wise stewardship of saving against tomorrow. He commends that.

He commends the wise stewards and in Proverbs he instructs us to be like the ants and store up in the summertime against the harsh winter times of life. He tells us to do that. It's a smart person who will do that. Job was one of the richest men in the Bible. Abraham was said to be very wealthy.

Jacob was a wealthy man when he came back from Haran. And God has given us richly all things to enjoy. So I'm not saying that you shouldn't have things, and God's not saying that.

First Timothy 6:17 says, Charge them that are rich in this world. Uh oh, watch out rich people. He's fixing to condemn you. No, no.

He says, charge them that are rich, that they be not high minded nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.

It's all right to have things as long as we don't put those things in front of God, as long as we don't allow those things to keep us out of church, to keep us from our Bible, to keep us from our devotions, to keep us from prayer with our families, to keep us from spending time with our families. Those things that God gave us to be priorities in our life. Are you a spiritual hoarder? Do you have so much going on in your life?

You've already made plans to not be here on Sunday? We've come up with this saying that just kind of smooths it all over. It gives a preacher an out. You know what that saying is?

Just saying, just saying. What is condemned is the love of money and the desire to be wealthy. The desire to be wealthy.

It's okay to desire to have a store for later, but to think on and to constantly look for ways to get more and more and more because you know how it is when you have more. How much is enough? Just a little more. When's your house big enough? Just a little bigger. How nice of a car do you need? Just a little nicer.

It's never enough, is it? We have to let God be enough. The key word in this passage is treasure. Verse 22 and 23 says this.

The thing that you set your heart on is what will consume you. Look what he says in verse 22. The light of the body is the eye. If therefore, thine eye be single, the whole body shall be full of light.

But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If, therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness? The thing you set your heart on is what's going to consume you.

And the word of God tells us where your treasure is, there will your heart be. Amen. The thing we set our heart on, the thing we set our eye on, the thing we set our heart on, that's the thing that's going to consume us.

Number one, be consumed with the giver, not the gifts. Number two, recognize one master in your life. Folks, it's an epidemic. Christian hoarding is an epidemic.

We don't give God near the time that we used to give in America. Christianity has changed. I mean, the overall. The overall character of Christianity has changed in America.

And I believe that one of the reasons is that because we're trying to split our allegiance between God, we try to compartmentalize our life. And when we try to. As a Christian, you cannot compartmentalize your life. You can't. All right, so you have a great job. That's wonderful. But have a.

Be a Christian who has a great job. You can't compartmentalize it. You can't switch it. You can't say, oh, I had. This is my. This.

My job has my allegiance, and if I have some little extra time, then I'll give it to God. No, God is number one. Recognize one master in your life. He tells us in verse 24, same chapter. No man can do what serve two masters.

No man can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God in Mammon.

Now, we read that and we think to ourselves, there's no way I'd despise God. There's no way I would despise God. Until your wife says, honey, why aren't you coming to? We need to go to church, but you've got other plans.

And now you're getting mad because she's almost demanding you come to church and now you're getting mad. You know what you're doing? You're despising one of the masters. And God says, you can't do. You can't serve, too.

Don't think you're going to serve your job or your hobbies and serve God, too. You can't split your allegiance. You're going to love one and hate the other. One cannot divide his allegiance between God and things.

Home Depot did not die for your sins. Right? Okay, ladies. TJ Maxx did not hang on a cross for you. JC Penney didn't shed his blood for you. And let me ask you this.

Young men, and maybe young ladies. And it's not always young men. It could be some older guys, too. Which one deserves more time from you, your hobbies and your games? Jesus Christ.

Gaming is an epidemic. You know the word of God still. It still reads in there. When I became a man, I put away childish things.

And if your night is eaten up playing games when you ought to be in bed with your wife, you've yet to put away childish things. Hoarder. You're a hoarder because you're allowing that to crowd out the most important things. Hoarder. Number two, recognize one master in your life.

Number one, be consumed with the giver, not the gifts. Number two, recognize one master in your life. And number three. Don't sweat the small stuff. Don't sweat the small stuff. Look at verse 25 through 31.

Beginning in verse 25, it says, Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor yet for your body what you shall put on is not the life more than meat and the body than raiment. One of the reasons a person becomes enslaved to things has become a word. Before I even go there, let me.

I just thought about this, and I probably shouldn't say it, but I've already meddled anyway. I'm just going to go ahead and meddle a little bit more. How many pair of shoes do you need? How many purses do you need? Yeah, I know. I'm meddling now.

Okay. How many pairs of boots do you need? Here's what I'm saying. If you can afford it. Amen. God bless you. But, yeah, I was just meddling.

That really doesn't have anything to do with this. But seriously, though, you know what, though? There are some people that are addicted to shoes. Hello?

Some people are addicted to body art, just like some people are addicted to piercings. Mm. Yeah, it is it's an epidemic. It really is.

So one of the reasons that a person becomes so enslaved to things is because of worry and insecurities, anxiety and fearfully fretting over the basic necessities of life until their life becomes so consumed with the things that there's no room or time for God constantly worried. Verse 26 through 31. Behold the fowls of the air. For they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.

Are ye not much better than they? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment?

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

We read that the birds and the flowers are taken care of by God. Are you not more value to God than a soulless bird? You're made in the image of God. Think about this.

Those of you who you know, you know you have more shoes than you can possibly wear. Those of you who know you have more purses than you need.

Think about this the next time you get the urge to spend a hundred bucks on a pair of shoes when you know you've already got a dozen pair or more. Think about medical missions. Think about a missionary that you could send that money to. Seriously. Laying up treasures in heaven.

Lay not up treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt thieves break through and steal. How many of you ever had your home broken into and you were burglarized? You had stuff stolen. Man, that's a horrible feeling.

You think to yourself, man, I worked so hard, spent my money for that, and somebody stole it from me. Yeah, that's exactly what happens. That's what God's saying. That's what he's saying. Your treasure is not here on the earth.

Put some treasure up in heaven. You know what would be awesome? I know everybody in here. I know everybody in here could, if you wanted to, probably. Probably.

You could probably take on one missionary for support on your own, by yourself. I mean, 50, 100 bucks a month. Yeah, you could. And there are some people in here that actually do that, who are not on the wall.

It's a missionary that they like somebody that they know. They know a missionary that I do it. I have a missionary that's not on our wall. He's a friend of mine.

He's in another part of the world, and our church doesn't support him. But I want to support him. And you can do that, too. You can. And I don't even miss it every month. I don't even miss it. Don't even miss it.

You know what? I still had a coffee today. My wife bought me a coffee. Isn't that awesome? And still support a missionary? Of course.

I vacuumed the house the other day and I had to move my wife's shoes. And I put them on the. You can tell her I said this. And I put them on the steps to get them out of the way. And I counted them on purpose.

And this was only what was in the living room. I'm gonna go ahead and say it. I'm gonna do it. I am gonna do it. She had 11 pair of shoes in the living room alone.

That didn't count what was upstairs in her closet. Come on, now. And all the men said, you chickens scared to death. It is what it is. You know? It is what it is.

All right, let me give you number four before I dig my grave any deeper. So, number one, be consumed with the giver, not the gifts. We're talking about how not to become a spiritual hoarder.

How not to allow your life to get so filled with junk and things that God doesn't have room. There's no room for the Lord. So, number one, be consumed with the giver, not the gifts. Number two, recognize only one master in your life.

In fact, before we buy anything, we ought to ask him. Is that it? Okay. Can you be glorified in this, Lord, Whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Whether therefore, you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Number three. Don't sweat the small stuff. And then number four. This is a big one. Consider your testimony. Consider your testimony. Verse 32.

For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. After all these things do the Gentiles seek. This is how the lost people think and act.

In fact, I printed this out because while you're already familiar with it, I thought I would just go ahead and solidify what you already know. We live in. And I'm not making fun of people. We live in what is known as nationwide, the me generation.

The me generation and there are young people and the me generation, it spans a specific age group and there are even some of the godly young people who are in that age group who will say, yes, this generation is that. And it breaks their heart and they don't want to be characterized like that. But this is the, this is the fact.

It is characterized by focus on individualism, self interest, personal fulfillment, often seen as self centered and materialistic. Now let me just some common characteristics of the me generation. I just, I printed this out.

And individualism, a strong focus on personal needs and desires over the collective good. Self interest, prioritizing personal interests above other considerations.

Materialism, a focus on consumer culture and acquiring goods, Narcissism and entitlement, increased self esteem and a belief that one deserves certain benefits or privileges. Entitlement, rejection of traditional A tendency to move away from traditional values and behaviors in favor of what works best for the individual.

And then focus on self expression.

A strong emphasis on personal identity and self expression and brother, listen, I can give you five, six, ten verses that speak against each and every one of those. That is not how we are supposed to be.

We are not supposed to be characterized as focused on me, not me, me, me, me, as opposed to the collective good or anybody else. I am not entitled to anything. I'm supposed to be content with such things as I have. And so consider your testimony.

When we're out there spinning like the world. Listen, if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck.

And if we look like the world and act like the world, and dress like the world, and talk like the world, and spin like the world and dress like the world, people are going to look at us and say, where's Jesus? Consider your testimony. Number five. Make a decision and then let your decision make your decisions. Did you hear that?

Make a decision and then let your decisions make your decisions. Verse 33 but seek ye first the kingdom of God, all his righteousness and all these other things shall be added unto you.

I mean, just determine that you're going to live for Jesus Christ no matter what. And if hard times come because of that, then just stand. Just let the hard times come. Jesus will hold you up. He'll see you through it.

Make a decision and let your decisions make your decisions. In other words, look, when you got saved, surely there are some of you in here. I know that when I got saved I made this decision.

I'm going to church, man. I'm going to serve Jesus Christ. He died for my sins. I'm saved, man. I'm going to miss hell and make heaven. I'm going to church.

I want to be where God's word is preached and I want to learn the word of God.

I'm going to go to church and there hasn't been one family reunion that has kept me from it in all the years that I've been working as a bi vocational pastor and just as a Christian in general.

I can count on one hand and I'm not trying to pat me on the back, I'm just saying I made a decision a long time ago and that decision made my decisions. I can count on one hand how many times I've missed a Sunday morning service in 40 plus years. Why?

Because I made that decision a long time ago and that decision made all the other decisions. Sounds so bad. But may I give you one more personal illustration?

When I came to Fort Worth to go to Bible college, my goal was God called me to preach. I didn't want anything to get in the way of that. Nothing. I was single minded, boy, I was tunnel vision.

I have to work, but I'm going to go to Bible college. Went to Bible college. My first class is at seven in the morning. I went to college till noon and then I had to work. And it was amazing.

I'm telling you, it's amazing. How many jobs was offered to me in those four years that would have kept me from getting to that 7 o' clock class or having to cut out.

Instead of four years, I could have dragged it out into five years or even six years. But boy, I'd have made good money. You want to know which one offered me the greatest money, the greatest amount of money?

It was Winn Dixie distribution warehouse, working in the freezer at night. They offered a lot of money. I was a young, I was single at this time. I was a single Bible college student.

Broke, I mean paycheck to paycheck, barely paying the rent, tithing, giving admissions, but broke after that. If pastor's wife hadn't fed me every day after work, I don't know, some days I'm sure I would not have eaten. But God just put it in my heart.

He said, no, that's not why you're here. You're here to go to Bible college. You're here to. I called you to preach. You're here to become a preacher and eventually a pastor.

I called you to that. And I can say, by the grace of God, that was more overpowered. I made that decision a long time ago, and that decision made all my other decisions.

Put God first. Let him be your treasure. And your wants will change, and your needs will be met. Your wants will change.

Proverbs 37:4 says, Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Now, you know what that means. You know what that means. I don't have to preach it at you, but I'm going to say it anyway.

We delight ourselves in the Lord, and he'll give us the desires. He'll put the right desires in our heart, and then that's the things we'll desire, and he'll give us those. I had a Dodge Ares car.

Now, how many of you believe that my desire was to have something other than a Dodge Ares car? God did not give me that desire of my heart. In fact, well, you know how it is. I'm driving down the road, and all of a sudden the wipers come on.

Just for no reason. All kinds of things like that. I walked up to the car one day, and before I got to it, the door handle fell off. A Dodge Aries. That's a Dodge.

You talk about a lemon. That was the worst car I've ever had in my life. I think I actually ended up trading it in when I actually could afford to get another car.

And they said, we'll give you 200 on a trade, and something like that, and it was ridiculously low. I said, okay. I didn't even argue. I just. Man, you give me $10 for it, I'd have been happy. I'd have paid you to take it. It was a horrible car.

Delight thyself in the Lord, and he will give thee the desires of thine heart. Philippians 2:13 says, it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do. Of his good pleasure. God will give you the desire to do his will.

And the thing is, he'll put that in our hearts, and then we'll start calculating. I'm not sure I can do that. I'm not sure I can even afford to do that. Boy, I don't really think I got time to do that. I know he's.

I know he'd like for me to. I know he'd like. I know that I probably should give some time to vbs, but I really got. I don't Know about? I don't know.

Look, if God put the desire in your heart, He. He'll give you the ability. He'll give you the ability and the resources to make it happen. And then let me give you my final thought. Number six.

Live for Jesus today. Forget about yesterday and stop worrying about tomorrow. Look what he said in verse 34. Take, therefore, no thought for the morrow.

For the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Live today for Christ. Let tomorrow take care of itself.

There are two great eternities, yesterday and tomorrow. Those two days are eternal. You can't do anything about yesterday, and you may not have tomorrow eternal.

If your life is so cluttered that Jesus cannot interrupt your day to get you to do something for him. You are a spiritual hoarder. Let him come in with a container or two or three and declutter your life so that you can enjoy being a Christian.

The Christian life can be enjoyable. It can be fun. Let me ask you this. How many of you prefer a clean house over a dirty, cluttered house? Man, y' all are okay. Thank you. A couple of us.

How many of you? Let me see this one. By a raise hand. How many of you actually clean your house before you go out of town so that you can come back to a clean house?

Amen. Think about the house of a hoarder. You've seen that program. You think about the house of a hoarder. It's disgusting.

When I watched those programs, I did one of two things. I either felt sorry for them because they were truly mentally handicapped or something.

I felt sorry for them, I really did, or I was angry at them for being so stinking selfish. It was one of the two. Those are the emotions that I had.

So if we do wake up tomorrow, and there's no guarantee that we will, but if we do wake up tomorrow, I wonder if you'd be willing with me to pray, Lord, I blew it yesterday. And I might not even have tomorrow, but I have today. And you deserve to have all of me today. And, Lord, I can and I will live for you today.

We can't pray that prayer. We may not be able to pray. Lord, I'm going to live from you from now on till Jesus comes. You do that, you're going to break that promise.

But if you'll wake up in the morning and with me say, lord, I blew it yesterday. Good night. I don't even count how many times I blew it. But I got a fresh start today. Might not be here tomorrow, but I got today.

And Lord, I can serve you today. You deserve all of me, not just a part of my house, not just a small compartment. Lord, you deserve it all.

And so, Lord, help me to follow your will, your spirit, by faith today. Amen. Let's stand together. How not to become a spiritual hoarder. I know I'm preaching to the Wednesday night crowd. You're probably not that well.

This will help you to not be. To not become that. Let's pray. Father, we love you tonight. We thank you for working in our lives in such a way that.

Lord, first of all, if we do have too much stuff in our house, in our life, and it's crowding you out in so much that I can't. Insomuch that I can't. I don't have time to pray. I don't spend time with my wife, I don't spend time with my kids.

I rush off to work and I get home and I pick up my controllers and playing my games. Lord, I pray you'd forgive me. Lord, help me to declutter. Allow you to declutter my life. I don't want to be a spiritual hoarder.

I want you to have all of me. You deserve it, Father. Work in our hearts and in our lives. Have your way in our hearts. In this invitation this evening, I pray in Jesus name.