Dirty Windows

The thing about a sunny day, is that you can see the dirty windows more clearly.

We get the late afternoon sun beaming into the living room at this time of year. Westward facing, the sunsets can be stunning and of course, my windows are not so dirty I can’t even see them! But there are times when I can’t seem to see beyond the streaks and the rain spots and the bird droppings. 

When those things drag my focus away from what is inspiring and onto something the dirt, then it’s time to wash the windows. 

We’re in the middle of this general election campaign and I, like most people, am getting sick of all the promises being trotted out by each of the contenders. Each party likes to get the electorate to focus on the dirty streaks and spots left by the other party. Each party claims that if they achieve power, the dirt will be washed away for good. 

When the referendum was on here in Scotland, the national church sponsored and ran a series of focus sessions around the country, encouraging people to dream, to imagine, the kind of society they wanted to see. Then participants had to consider ways to achieve the aims which were imagined, and we found how difficult that really is.

I am sick of hearing empty promises. I would prefer to hear the parties presenting their vision for the future and establishing principles and strategies which could achieve those goals, without trying to dream up ways to erase the dirt spots which exist. Undoubtedly those dirt spots need to be scrubbed off but only when a government is in power will it be able to consider and implement ways to achieve their vision within the various constraints, financial and otherwise. 

I would imagine that most parties imagine similar visions of a society which is just, offering opportunities and providing first class health care to all. Perhaps the best way to achieve those goals is common to all parties. Our system of struggle and confrontation is not conducive to cooperation and compromise. Maybe that’s the advantage of a hung parliament.

Anyway, I’m no politician so I will get off this soap box and get out there with my brand new German-made window washing vacuum. I am hoping to justify the expense, and to enjoy a glorious sunset tonight from un-streaked windows. 

Though as soon as I’ve done them, it’s bound to rain... 

It’s a bit like sin. As soon as I’ve confessed my latest infraction and been cleansed, I’m likely to mess up again. It’s such a comfort to know that Jesus is much better than the window washing vacuum. His sacrifice washes the accumulated dirt off us in an instant, and it’s gone for good. Then I just need to have a daily foot wash from him, as he told Peter in the upper room at that last supper. 

His washing leaves us white as snow, spotless and without a streak. I can’t do it myself, though I try. Only he can wash away every stain, and fill me again with his Spirit to encourage me to keep on walking the walk.

Pernicious Weeds

Coming back up the drive, Don paused to gather as many dandelion flowers as he could before they puff themselves up into a jillion seeds which rain down on the garden and invade the cultivated landscape.

They get put away into a bag, in the bin, where their seeds are contained, wither and die.

Dandelions flower in many areas of our lives and culture today. They add colour and variety but can be pernicious weeds if we leave them to flower and reseed. Sometimes we need to be ruthless in recognising potential future dangers and getting rid of them before they spread. Different approaches to law and order, for instance. Acceptance of sexual innuendoes which may usher in abuse. Gender discrimination over employment and pay. Tolerance of drinking which can lead to violence and social unrest. Outlandish bonuses for managers even when the work done is below standard. The list goes on.

Dandelions in my own life? Sure, plenty of them. Self-indulgence which can undermine my work ethic and sabotage the goals God has for me. Laziness which can keep me from effective prayer. Fear which can short-circuit faith and become a ruthless slave-driver. And so on.

As Paul wrote to the Romans, ‘although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ‘ Or in another version, 'the moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. ... I’ve tried everything and nothing helps ... is there no one who can do anything for me? ...

‘The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does.’

I am so grateful that I can ask him to not only break off the dandelion flowers of sin in my life, but actually dig them out, and uproot them so they can’t re-flower. 

I want no pernicious weeds in my life, and I thank God that he can get rid of them for me.

Lilies of the Valley

Last week I spent a few hours digging out the Lilies of the Valley. Their little fragrant flowers are delicate and lovely in the spring, but they became so tightly matted and entwined and threatened to march across the entire garden, so I decided they had to go. 

This morning in the blazing sun I sifted through the dirt again, and found lots of stray roots. Unbelievable, after my thorough weeding last week. It’s amazing how a root can go deeper rather than be lifted out. I’m sure there are more out there still.

It made me think of the way sin and bad habits can become embedded in our personalities. No matter how thoroughly we have worked to eradicate them from our behaviour, sometimes an insidious root sprouts again and threatens to overtake all the good work we’ve previously done.

That’s why we have to stay alert and be ready to wheak these bad habits out before they re-establish themselves and choke all the good that we’ve sown in their place.

Day by day as we walk with the Lord, he helps us to weed out that which is no good. He sifts the soil of our hearts, raising the roots from darkness to light, where we can see them for what they are and reject them in the power of his glorious name.

Now I know, Lilies of the Valley are not weeds. They do have a beautiful scent. But anything that gets as overgrown and matted as they were in my flower bed, overtaking and strangling other good things, is not welcome. 

It’s so easy for life to become unbalanced. For us to be so immersed, enthusiastically, in one ‘good’ thing that we let the other good things slide. I think God wants us to live balanced lives. Lives where one good trait complements another, and builds a complete package, a complete personality. 

May your day be balanced with good, and free of the bad. By God’s grace and mercy.

The Cost of Forgiveness

There are things I did in my youth which still make me blush with shame. Things that were cruel and uncaring, deceitful ... just plain sinful. The thought that my parents might find out about those things has always made me shift with unease, afraid of the disappointment I would cause them, fearful of their judgment.

Odd that I can confess those things to God without that same fear. God – the holy one – the creator, the Almighty. Why do I not fear the same look of disappointment from him? Why do I not fear his judgment?

I hate to admit it but the reason I don’t fear his look of disappointment is because I don’t know him as well as I know my parents. I can try to imagine his look of disappointment, but not really knowing how his face looks, I find that stretches my imagination a bit too far. I can try to work up in myself a sense of how awful such a look would be, but actually, I can’t do it. I’m left asking him to show me the truth of this one – what does his disappointment look like?

I am not a masochist, but I do want to have a proper sense of shame for the sins of my youth – shame before the Almighty God.

And then the judgment. Why do I not fear his judgment? Not because he doesn’t judge – he is a holy and righteous God who cannot abide sin. No. I don’t fear his judgment because his judgment on my sin has already fallen – and been paid – by Jesus. My Saviour.

I am asking Him to help me really appreciate what that looks like. 

Again, I am not a masochist. But I do want to be filled with the overwhelming gratitude which is the only right response to the incredible sacrifice Jesus made for me. 

I fear I take it all too lightly and matter-of-factly. This Lent, o Lord, may I learn to better appreciate what the price of my sin was to you.

I don’t mean to imply by these thoughts that I consider my sin to be all in the past. I know that daily I continue to disappoint and sin, in thought, word and deed. Help me, O Lord, to grow more like Jesus every day, cleansed of the sin that clogs and stains, filled with the Spirit who liberates and transforms.

The Wild Wind

Gales buffet the house, bending trees and branches and carrying small birds off course. The sun is shining but with that wild wind – I wouldn’t call it a beautiful day.

But my husband just did, and he pointed out that the wind is drying the garage and fields, melting the snow and ice, and restoring a balance to the earth. So, I guess I shouldn’t complain.

Of course I shouldn’t complain. This is the day that the Lord has made, and he knows why we need winds like this to preserve the eco-system. 

I have heard sad news over these last few days. News of a young woman, studying to be a doctor, stricken with cancer for the second time in a few years, this one triggered by the chemo she received to kill the first cancer attack. News of another young woman, age 27, killed in a car accident. One of my cousins, aged 57, is on his deathbed with cancer he’s fought for a couple of decades. 

I don’t understand why such terrible things happen. Why God doesn’t intervene in every pending tragedy and prevent it. It’s not the same as the winds and the eco-system, which is part of God’s design, though perhaps there is a possible parallel. Natural disasters are occurring more frequently now, as pollution perverts and changes the way it was meant to be. 

Sin has perverted the way God intended humanity to live, and we live with the consequences. We live in a fallen world, and in that fallen world, bad things happen, things that God never intended to happen.

Wild winds blow in every life. We don’t understand. We do know that God stands beside us, weeps with us, comforts us by the power of his Holy Spirit, and strengthens us.

We do have a hope which is sure, that one day God will wipe away every tear, and that he will re-create the earth so that it is exactly as he intended it to be. Thanks to the price Jesus paid on the cross.

All creation groans in anticipation of that glorious day. Come, Lord Jesus.