Laundry

Here's this week's Bible study blog entry for i.ucc

My parents taught me how to use a washing machine to do laundry. I learned about how to fill the machine, how to keep the colors vibrant and how to get even the white fabrics sparkling clean.

I didn’t always pay attention to what I’d learned, however. I can remember several occasions where I had clothes that were splotched or still encrusted with laundry powder. (Did you ever to that by putting too much laundry in the machine?) To this day I still have problems filling the basket too full – resulting in a loud banging as the spin cycle attempts to spin an unbalanced load.

I would say that I do laundry ‘adequately.’ Things turn out pretty well and I don’t often have to do the ‘smell test’ on a piece of clothing to make sure it’s either clean or at least wearable. (Before you say ‘Eeeeww!’, think back to the most recent time you’ve done a ‘smell test.’)
No one, however, has ever remarked that my clothes look “dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them.”

I’ve seen folks wear dazzling outfits, but I don’t think I could describe any clothes I’ve ever seen that I could describe that way, either.

In this week’s Bible reading from Mark 9:2-9, that is exactly, however, as Jesus’ clothes are described from the time he was up on the mountain with Peter, James and John.
No matter how many laundry lessons we take and no matter how many ‘miracle laundry stain removers’ we use, we’ll never get clothes that dazzling.

Is it fair to draw the conclusion that no matter how much we try, we can never ‘clean up our act’ enough to make it as dazzlingly perfect as God? Is it also fair to say that even though we may be afraid and unable to say anything that makes much sense, that we’re invited to be on the journey with Jesus?

What are your thoughts?