Work That is Never Finished!
A janitor’s work is never done. No sooner has the janitor cleaned a hallway, washed the windows, and vacuumed the carpet when dust begins to fall, dirt gets tracked in, hands are put on glass. The janitor’s work becomes an endless cycle of cleaning the same things time and time again.
Some people just stop cleaning. Eventually the house they live in is filthy—dirty dishes in the sink, papers on the floor, unsanitary bathrooms, unmade beds. This can happen to cities when people garbage piles up and rats abound. The result is disease and deaths. That sad picture is also an illustration of this who do not clean out their lives. For our lives are like a dirty floor. Each week more dirt gets dragged into our lives: dirt from the world that impacts our thoughts; dirt as we deal with other people—jealousy, greed, anger, foul words; and the dirt that comes forth from our minds.
This pollution is compounded by failures to do what is good. Failure to obey parents or government officials is the same as failure to obey God. Failure to love our neighbor or enemy is hating those whom God has made. When we fill our minds with the garbage of sin—foul words, immoral photos and books, lust, greed, anger, hate—the results are disastrous for those who live around us and for society.
So how do we clean up this mess? We cannot use a broom to sweep away our wickedness and failures. Caustic lye or bitting acid will not get rid of the dirt of sin. the Bible says, “Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before Me, says the Lord God (Jeremiah 2:22). Trying to do good to cover over sin, or hiding sin under a rug, will not work before God’s holy justice. He knows all things and must punish every violation of His law. While apologizing might work with people, it is not enough with God.
What is impossible for humans to clean up, God was able to clean up our sinful mess. God sent His Son, Jesus, to free us from sin and punishment. The Bible states, “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:9). Jesus lived on earth to keep God’s law without sin and to pay our punishment for sin by His death on the cross. Through faith in Jesus, God regards us as never having sinned! Through baptism, we are united with Jesus and all He did to rescue us from sin. The water of baptism, united with God’s Word, washes away of our sins, as St. Paul wrote: “According to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).
As we live in this world, the dirt of sin continues to track through our lives. We really need to return to God each week in order to clean up our messes. The worship service does this through the words of Absolution (“in the stead of Christ I forgive you all your sins”), through the sermon, and through the Lord’s Supper—all of which assure us of God’s loving and free gift of forgiveness through the work of Jesus on the cross.
Letting the dirt of sin pile up from week to week will give the devil opportunity to stir up the “dirt” and cause trouble—with problems in our attitude, lack of trust in God, frustration with our lives, temptations to doubt God or live contrary to His Word, problems in our relations with other people, etc. As our “janitor,” God is willing and able “to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). On Sunday morning, get swept away by God’s mercy and grace!