Visiting at my aunt and
uncle’s one Saturday afternoon in July, while my cousins and I played, my uncle
was busy vacuuming out the cars, wiping down the dashboards, and washing the
windows. In the west, thunderclouds were building. The air was getting heavy,
promising a good summer thunderstorm.
Near suppertime, my aunt came
out and asked, “How long before you are ready to eat?”
He responded, “Well, that all
depends on whether you want me to wash the cars or whether you want God to do
the job.”
As we ate supper, the storm
came in, a real downpour. After supper when the rain had stopped, my uncle went
out and wiped down the cars. When he was done, he said, “Well, God did a pretty
good job.”
I oftentimes think that sin
is a little like driving our cars. We clean and polish, but when we drive down
the road, like sin, dirt, bugs, and the calling cards of birds collect on the
body and windshield until it is difficult to clearly see the world around us.
Cleansing is needed for good safe operation.
Christ has made that
cleansing possible for us in the waters of Baptism, with the promise of
forgiveness in confession, and at the table where we hear those words, “Shed
for you and all people for the forgiveness of sin.”
God has done a pretty good
job, don’t you think?
Prayer
Lord, Jesus Christ, we thank
you for making us your own in the cleansing water of baptism and with the cup
of the new covenant, for by your power we are sanctified and made clean. Amen
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