Trash Out

My father-in-law owned a cleaning company for many years.  Some of the worst jobs were the “trash outs.” If you’ve ever watched an episode of Hoarders, you have an idea of what might be involved.  The cleaning service empties and sanitizes the entire house. Hazmat suits and masks are involved.  You can bet that although the technicians are there to clean, they end up covered in filth.  If you don’t empty your trash one week, it might not be a big deal.  But if you continue to let week after week pass without attending to your mess, it doesn’t take long before there’s a whole lot of junk piled up.

Sin is a lot like that.  It makes an enormous mess.

And I think forgiving someone who has injured you in their sin is a lot like the cleaning crew that wades into the muck to clean it up.  Forgiveness isn’t a light and easy thing, the stuff of angel wings, birds, flowers and sunsets. Instead, forgiveness requires that we intentionally enter the sludge and offer to pull the other person out.  And that means we’re going to get dirty in the process.

I know this is true because of Jesus.  He left heaven, where all is as it should be, and came to earth, where all is definitely not as it should be.  He waded right into our mess to clean it up and He wound up covered in it from thorny-crowned head to nail-pierced feet.

Even Jesus looked at the Cross and said, “I don’t really want to go there.” True forgiveness is costly. So don’t be discouraged if forgiving someone doesn’t come easily.  It’s not natural. It’s a God-thing, a miracle really. Something only God can do.

If it’s hard and messy and not very much fun, why would we even try to do it?  Why would we forgive someone who has thrown their waste all over us?  Look at what God says in Colossians 3:12-13 – “Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience (these are your hazmat suit).  You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you.  Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others” (comment added).

I think that’s the answer – because God didn’t condemn you to die but instead plowed right in to rescue you.  He had compassion on you. He treated you with undeserved favor. He didn’t insist on keeping Himself clean while you were being buried under a mountain of your own garbage.  He withheld His anger. He was willing to try and try again to reach you. And most important of all, He saw all your junk and He loved you with an everlasting love anyway. That is what makes forgiveness such a powerful thing, strong enough to wash away the stain of any sin.

Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7