Cleaned for the Season Ahead

Cleaning accompanies moves. We clean out for a new season. We clean as we prepare to move out or move in. There is also a cleaning happening spiritually as God gets us ready for what's ahead. As Jesus prepared the twelve to move, a portion of His powerful instructions found in Matthew chapter ten read:

"As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet." 

Jesus is clear about the message His disciples are to carry (which we get the privilege of carrying as well): The Kingdom of Heaven has come near. What does a Kingdom-is-at-hand life look like? It looks like the invasion of Heaven on Earth in a way that our reasoning and science cannot explain. The sick are healed. The dead are raised. Leprosy is healed. Demons are driven out. Generosity is wildly extravagant. God is trusted for provision along the way. Connection is sought both to bring new believers into the Kingdom and to strengthen and encourage those who already believe.

That phrase “give it your greeting” is the Greek aspazomai. It implies a salute, an embrace, or a welcome. It’s a paying of respect, a display of love, and a non-defensive welcome. This kind of welcome is with open arms and release the peace of the Lord. If that welcome was not received, Jesus says to “shake the dust off your feet”.

As I read this, I heard the phrase in my Spirit “in the dust of the rabbi”. In the time in which Jesus was living, this was a common phrase to describe those who followed a rabbi. They were said to “be covered in the dust of the rabbi” because it was literally a dusty endeavor. The saying may have come from the powdering of dust on the road that would be kicked up by the rabbi’s steps only to cake those following behind him. It may also have come from the practice of followers sitting on the dusty ground at the feet of rabbis during teaching time. Either way, to be covered in dust was the position of a learner.  

As I remembered this, I remembered the Lord’s words of “shaking off the dust” in regard to anyone who would not receive our message. In the passage (Matthew 10), our words are supposed to be His message that the Kingdom of God has come near. That Kingdom looks like a miracle-working God who has forgiven and reconciled us through Jesus, pursues us with love, and invades impossible circumstances. When we are confronted with ways of the world that oppose that message or teaching, we must "shake off the dust". That means, in rabbi terms,  we must not follow after or learn at the feet of that thing. We must shake off its dust by not pursuing the roads or courses that it takes. We must shake off the dust by not sitting as a student at its feet. If it isn’t the gospel Jesus taught, we need not be following after it.

Very shortly after that passage, Jesus tells his disciples He is sending them out as “sheep” (Matthew 10:16). In worship a few weeks ago, the Lord gave me the word “shearing”. I began to dig into what happens when sheep are sheared and why it needs to happen. Shearing is a shaving off or cutting away of old wool. The function is to keep the load from getting too heavy on the sheep, keep them from getting matted, keep them from overheating, and even protect the health of the sheep for the upcoming season.

We too need to let Him “shear” us. To do so, we first need to let Him cut off what has become too heavy. We also need to let Him cut off what can make us “matted”. When I heard the word “matted" (it was broken down into "mat"-ed), I immediately got an image of the paralytic on the mat being lowered to Jesus (Luke 5:18-25). The things that make our wool “matted” can be getting caught up in sin, not receiving or releasing forgiveness, embracing legalism, or even attacks from the enemy attempting to paralyze our movement forward.

We then need to let Him keep us from overheating. Overheating can look like burnout from keeping last season’s “wool” on too long. This can also look like the definition of overheating which is “agitation” or “overstimulation”. Agitation is "a throwing of oneself from side to side”, “tossing” or “setting in motion instead of standing” (The Free Dictionary). Every bit of that sounds like double-mindedness and doubt. “But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.” (James 1:6 NLT) Overstimulation also deals with uncertainty. It is the presence of too many messages or impulses. When we get overstimulated prophetically, we may be hearing God's Word, but we're also hearing and heeding many other messages that aren't His.

When God shears us, He gently cuts away the excess for the health of the season to come. In the natural, there is a cold season where wool is a wonderful thing to have, but too much wool in hotter seasons is a recipe for disaster. In the same way, the Lord carefully shears us for our season. How does He cut away what doesn’t belong? He shears like He prunes…with His Word. “You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you.” (John 15:3 NLT)

“You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” (John 15:3 NIV)

His Words will wash our feet of the dust of the ways of the world. His Words will shear off the excess so we don’t become matted or overburdened. His Word will simplify our focus for this season to match His focus. Shear us, dust us off, and make us ready, Lord!

Encounter Questions:

1.     Lord, what dust do I need to shake off of my life, and what does that look like?

2.     Holy Spirit, what have I let “mat” me (spiritually paralyze me, keep me caught up in looking away from You, leave me stuck in unforgiveness)? Right now, I receive and extend the healing and forgiveness You paid for in the name of Jesus.

3.     Jesus, what Word(s) do you want to speak over my season that will cleanse me and prune me to focus on Your Kingdom?