Barn clothes

July 19, 2007

By Randy Mantik

Dad would have been 90 this year. He grew up on a farm in a family of German stock, and then farmed for most of the 64 years he lived. He and Mom raised all eight of us kids on the farm, and we spent our fair share of time in the barn doing chores.

In her never-ending battle to keep the house free from barn dirt and odors, Mom had a hard-and-fast rule — we were never to come into the house with our barn clothes on. We always had to take off our boots and jackets and leave them on the back porch. Because of that, I don’t recall our house smelling like a barn, but that back porch sure did. Until we got out of those barn clothes, we smelled like where we’d been.

The same thing applies to the spiritual realm. We smell like where we’ve been. The Psalmist speaks of Christ and says this: “You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from palaces adorned with ivory the music of the strings makes you glad” (Psalm 45:7,8, NIV).

When Christ came to earth, the smell of heaven was on Him — He smelled like where He’d been. But to keep that fragrance, even He needed regular refreshing in His Father’s presence. Christ was without sin, so His example is even more compelling for us as we struggle with our sinful nature.

As we go about this life, we often have to pass through places or encounter situations that defile us in mind and spirit. We begin to smell like where we’ve been. To get clean again, we must consistently take time to soak in God’s presence, becoming infused again with the sweet fragrance of heaven.

It is rather like the story told in the Book of Zechariah. The prophet had a vision of Joshua, the high priest, at the time the Jews returned from their Babylonian exile. As is so often the case with the righteous, Satan was right there trying to constantly accuse Joshua: “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him” (Zechariah 3:1).

While we live in this world, unclean stuff constantly tries to cling to us, making it difficult to live in righteousness. You can be sure the enemy of our souls is aiding and abetting that process. But God comes and defends us like He did Joshua: “The Lord said to Satan, ‘The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?’ ” (Zechariah 3:2).

The Lord asked that something very specific be done to deal with the unrighteousness clinging to Joshua: “Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, ‘Take off his filthy clothes.’ Then he said to Joshua, ‘See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.’ Then I said, ‘Put a clean turban on his head.’ So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him, while the angel of the Lord stood by” (Zechariah 3:4,5).

When we have been with God, we can be clothed anew in His righteousness. Once again we can “smell like where we’ve been,” fresh from His presence! Our daily time in God’s Word and in prayer is like that back porch on the farm where we left our barn clothes. We can put off the filthy clothes of sin and defilement we came with and put on the garments of righteousness. It’s not a change for style or propriety’s sake — it’s a change vital to our spiritual health and preservation.

Randy Mantik is senior pastor of Crossroads Church of the Assemblies of God in Pembine, Wis.