Matthew 12:38-45
You've Been Cleaning Your Life. But What If It's Still Empty?
A clean life is not the same as a full one. In Matthew 12:38-45, the Pharisees demand a sign from Jesus after he has already given them many, and he warns about a house swept clean and put in order but left empty. Jesus didn’t come only to clean us up. He came to move in and fill every part of our lives.
Message notes
Pastor Pat opens with family business. New Hope Hawaii Kai is nearing 25 years, and after the directional team asked whether he had ever taken a sabbatical, he announces a 12-week sabbatical starting May 18. He says he is in a good place, he thanks the church, and he celebrates more than 50 people in the latest Growth Track.
Then he asks the message’s question: is my life clean but empty? With three kids at home, his desk gets covered in papers and Costco boxes land on the table where he does devotions. He tells his wife that someday he will put something down and it will still be there in the morning. She answers that he’ll miss the chaos of a full life.
If we’re not careful, Pat says, faith turns into cleaning up: cussing a little less in 2026 than in 2025, showing up because Jesus is counting attendance. The person most in danger in the New Testament is the one who manages to clean it all up and still ends up worse off.
In Matthew 12, after Jesus has healed and delivered people, the Pharisees demand a sign. Jesus promises only the sign of Jonah, his death and resurrection. Pat says “the sign we want isn’t the one we need,” and urges the church to stop waiting for a sign to obey what Jesus has already said, like forgiving a spouse or sharing the good news.
Next, the Ninevites and the Queen of the South will condemn that generation. Outsiders saw less and responded with more. Pat warns that “familiarity can be more dangerous to faith than doubt.” In 2012, the first time he saw a whale breach, he made a friend pull over. This past February he saw one and just said, “Sweet.” Jesus is greater than the temple, Jonah and Solomon: the perfect priest, prophet and king.
Finally, the impure spirit returns to a house swept clean and put in order but empty, and brings seven more. The Pharisees were the cleanest people in Israel and were about to crucify Jesus. A house doesn’t become a home until someone lives there. Pat calls the church to stop rearranging the furniture: “Jesus didn’t come to just clean us up. He came to move in.” He invites anyone who wants to fully surrender to come forward for prayer.
From the message
Sometimes the sign we want isn’t the one we need.
Familiarity can be more dangerous to faith than doubt.
Just because your life is clean doesn’t mean that your life is filled.
Jesus didn’t come to just clean us up. He came to move in.
Life Group discussion guide
You've Been Cleaning Your Life. But What If It's Still Empty?, Matthew 12:38-45. April 26, 2026.
Start here
What is something beautiful or amazing you have gotten so used to that you hardly notice it anymore?
Read Matthew 12:38-45
Open your Bibles and read it out loud together before you start.
What does it say?
In Matthew 12:38-40, what do the Pharisees ask for, and what sign does Jesus say they will get?
Who are the two groups Jesus says will stand up at the judgment in verses 41-42, and what did each of them do?
In verses 43-45, what condition is the house in when the spirit returns, and how does the story end?
What does it mean?
Pastor Pat said the Pharisees asked for a sign while ignoring the healings Jesus had just done. Why would people with hardened hearts miss signs that are right in front of them?
Jesus calls himself greater than the temple (Matthew 12:6), greater than Jonah and greater than Solomon. What does it mean that he is the perfect priest, prophet and king?
How can someone reform their life without being regenerated, and why does the empty house end up worse off than before?
What do we do with it?
Where are you waiting for a sign before you obey something Jesus has already made clear, such as forgiving someone, being generous or sharing your faith?
Where has familiarity dulled your awe of Jesus, in Sunday worship, in your marriage or friendships, or in your time in the Bible?
What room of your life are you still keeping clean but closed off from Jesus, and what would it look like to invite him into it this week?
Pray
Ask Jesus to forgive you for the places you have grown familiar with him, and invite him into the room of your life you have kept closed. Pray that he would fill every space, not just clean it.
New Hope Hawaii Kai. Watch the message and read the notes at newhopehk.org/sermons/is-your-life-clean-but-empty/