By: Denny

If there was an unexpected visitor ringing your doorbell, who would you not want it to be? If you had a family member in the military, it was never good news if it was two uniformed officers or a Western Union agent. Similarly, if the Highway patrol woke you up in the middle of the night, it wouldn’t be for a social call. A sheriff with papers in hand might mean you’re being served some legal documents or summons. The police might be there to inform you that you’re in violation of some city ordinance or code. Then, there’s that nosy neighbor who is always complaining about something. Your pastor could be stopping by to see how you’re doing after the loss of a family member, surgery, traumatic diagnosis, extended illness, or concern over your lack of attendance. Maybe it’s the friend who never calls ahead of time and catches you right in the middle of doing something important. You may want it to be Publishers Clearing House with a big check, but pigs might fly before that ever happens. Picture in your mind this scenario: You’re a stay-at-home mom with three kids ages 8 months, 2 and 4. It’s Monday and the sink is overflowing with dirty dishes from the weekend. You figure you can wash them later when all the kids are napping. In the meantime, its laundry day, which is an all-day job, so you want to get started on that first. The kids are in the living room, the baby is in the play pen and the other two are playing nicely on the floor. A perfect place to sort clothes so you can keep an eye on them. Out comes all the dirty laundry for the previous week and soon you’ve got piles of sorted clothes everywhere, and some smell obnoxiously bad. You didn’t notice the dog grab one of your bras and sneak off with it. Suddenly the doorbell rings and without thinking you head for the door. As soon as your hand touches the knob you realize that you’re still wearing your pajamas and your hair is a mess. The two older kids are now fighting over a toy and the baby is crying needing a diaper change. The dog with tail wagging and bra in mouth shows up to see who’s there. Too late, you open the door and which unexpected visitor do you suppose it is? Wait for it . . . . . . your mother-in-law! Of course, you let her in, but secretly wished it had been UPS delivering a package or even some JW’s so you could kindly say “no thanks” and close the door. She says, “Oh, did I catch you at a bad time?” as she looks down at the dog who you hadn’t noticed. You blush with embarrassment and grab the bra, but graciously say, “Oh no, come in.” She lives twenty miles away and says she came to town to do some shopping and thought she would drop by for a visit. A “visit” meant she’d be there for lunch, and you hadn’t even given that a thought yet. For a split second you remember the “Calgon, take me away” TV commercial and think, “Yaa right, like that’s going to happen.” She’s been where you are many times and sees your frustration. She reaches out to give you a hug and asks, “What can I do to help?” Your heart melts as you breathe a sigh of relief and know everything will be okay. Lucy will tell you that my mom was that type of mother-in-law. Having raised six rambunctious kids, I now look back and wonder how she did it and survived. Lucy shared with me what mom once told her; “If I drop by unannounced out of the blue, I don’t expect your house to be perfect, so don’t worry about it.” “However, if I’m invited to come to dinner or a special event, I expect things to be in order, clean, and food preparations underway.” That went a long way in helping Lucy relax and not feel pressure. She and mom had a great relationship, and we all miss her.

Jesus entered many homes. Sometimes invited and expected, other times unexpected yet welcomed, and at least one time He invited himself. (Luke 19) Poor Zacchaeus found himself in a situation. All he really wanted was to see Jesus as He passed by, so he climbed up a tree. Little did he know Jesus would stop and invite himself to his house. Imagine how that cell phone conversation with his wife sounded like. Z- “Hi sweetheart sugar pie, so I was in this tree, Jesus stopped and said He must stay at our house today, so I received Him joyfully.” “We’ll be there in five minutes.” W- “What! The house is a mess and I have no meal prepared.” “What were you thinking Zach?” (Luke 10: 38-42) Martha always gets a bum rap preached about her for this. She welcomed Jesus into her home expecting that her sister Mary would help with the necessary preparing and serving of food, which even today would be a realistic request. But no, there she was slaving away in the kitchen alone and missing out on the conversation in the other room. If only Mary would’ve pitched in and helped, things would’ve gotten done faster and they both could sit and enjoy Jesus’ speaking. When Jesus entered Peter’s house, his mother-in-law was laying sick with fever. He healed her and immediately she got up and begin to serve them. Some women love to cook and serve others, and that’s a gifting. Lucy is one such person who goes all out, but she too would like to sit and have conversation and not always get stuck in the kitchen alone doing everything. My job: clean the house before company comes.

Jesus isn’t so much concerned about the dishes, laundry, and other material things you often get behind in doing and cleaning. After all, He was born in a smelly dirty stable. However, He came down hard on the scribes and Pharisees calling them blind guides and hypocrites for putting on an outward show of religious piety. Matthew 23:25,26 “For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. First cleanse the inside of the cup and the dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.” He was referring to the condition of their hearts, because out of the heart flows all the issues of life. He didn’t say the outside shouldn’t be clean, but to first clean the inside. They say a person’s home and how they keep it reflects much about who they really are. I could delve into that further, but I don’t want a bunch of unexpected irate women visitors showing up at my door with rolling pins in hand. Jesus cares about your spiritual and heart condition and of those living in your house. Salvation came to Zacchaeus and his house when he got his heart right with God. Is your heart right with God? If Jesus were to ring your doorbell, would you receive Him joyfully or have a panic attack. Perhaps you would ask Him to wait outside while you “tidy things up a bit”. You know, like stuff the TV guide and those magazines under a cushion, dust off your Bible from a shelf and place it opened in a prominent location as if you’ve been reading it, quickly tune the radio to a Christian station, delete the history on your computer and cell phone, gather up empty beer cans and liquor bottles and put them in the trash and hide the full ones, and whatever else you wouldn’t want Him to see or secret sin to know about. Seriously, He already knows about all that. He’s just waiting for you to invite Him into your life so He can clean up the mess you’ve made of it. He’s there with a hug saying, “I’m here to help.” Won’t you let Him in? All you must do is ask, but don’t wait until it’s too late. Matthew 24:44 “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect him.”