rubbish

 Yesterday I spent almost the whole day cleaning my house.  This was necessary because I absolutely detest housework with a passion and therefore put off doing chores until the place is so messy I cant bear it!  Spending a day sorting out loads of washing, trying to find Ben's bedroom floor and sweeping dust bunnies from under beds hardly lends itself to deeply spiritual thoughts so when I came to write the blog today I was at a bit of a loss as to what to say.

I reviewed the day and my mind rested upon the scene of devastation which met me when I pulled out Ben's bed from the wall in order to change the bedsheets.   Up until this point I thought Id pretty much finished the cleaning of his room - silly me, not thinking to look down the side of the bed.  Here's what I found. 

( In his defence Ben pointed out that he has recently been isolating in his room for 10 days and that this accumulation of sweet wrappers was ' covid related'  !!)

On reflecting back on the day, I felt God illuminating the whole issue of rubbish.   And how we deal with it.

We all accumulate spiritual rubbish in our lives, in just the same way we accumulate physical rubbish.  Some of the things we consume ( the things we watch, read, experience ) come in packaging that really needs to be thrown out.  Sometimes the whole thing needs to be thrown out.  What do we do with our spiritual rubbish?  Do we deal with it rigorously, daily, throwing it in the bin on a regular basis and making sure its not lying around to trip us up or put other people off?  Or do we do what Ben does, throw it casually down the side of the bed, thinking that its either out of sight, out of mind, or that we can deal with it later?    Of course, the latter approach just means that at some point in the future, instead of just having one or two bits of rubbish to deal with, we find ourselves overwhelmed with a  huge pile of junk.  The longer we leave it the worse it look and smells.   

A couple of weeks ago someone asked me how they could tell if their constant sense of guilt and failure at not spending enough time with God and doing the things they knew they ought to be doing was God being upset with them or just them being upset with themselves.   I pointed out that God brings conviction,  the devil brings condemnation.    Conviction is specific and leads to action - usually repentance and a change in behaviour - I recognise that the rubbish stuffed down the side of the bed is not good or healthy and I clear it up and start to put each piece in the bin from now on.   Condemnation looks at the scene above, sits on the floor and sobs because I am the worst person in the world, then goes and finds another chocolate bar to eat to console myself.  And the wrapper goes on the floor.  And I feel like even more of a failure.

As this year draws to a close perhaps it is time to do a quick tidy up of our spiritual lives.   Where have we become lazy?  What have we stopped doing that we know we should be doing.  What have we started doing which we know isnt good for us?  Have we broken promises to anyone?  Have we been dishonest in any of our dealings?  Have we told lies because it was convenient or easy?   Have we avoided people who we find difficult or made excuses for bad attitudes in people we like?    Your rubbish will look different from mine but we all have some.

Paul says something which Ive always found a bit mysterious.   He says

Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” [Eph 5:25-27 ESV]

Ive always struggled to see why Paul bothers to include the word ' water' in there.   But reading more about this phrase Ive come to understand that ' the washing of water' was a ceremony the Jews used to undertake before they went through any ritual of purification - it was a thing in itself.  A bit like the shower you take before entering the swimming pool.  The washing with water removes the surface dirt so that the ritual of purification can remove the soul dirt. 

So firstly Jesus washes us with the word of God - exposing our sins to us and showing us the judgement that those sins deserve.  Then He washes us with the blood He shed for us, sanctifying us and making us holy.

The pre-wash and then the wash.   Law and grace.  Judgement and mercy.  We can sweep up and clean our rooms and keep the place looking tidy, but only Jesus, by His death and resurrection can present us holy. spotless and without blemish as a bride on the last day.

One Good Thing.

I got a charity letter from the Salvation Army asking for funds.  It included a Christmas card which you could write so that they can give it to a homeless person to let them know someone cares.  I've put countless of these in the bin over many years but this year I decided to write the card and send a donation.  I wrote a proper message of hope and positivity and included a prayer card too.