October 24, 2006
Laundry Day
John describes the great multitude in white robes as those, “…who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Rev 7:14 NIV) Sometimes after changing out of my Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes, I’ll hang them back in the closet rather than tossing them into the laundry. I’m thinking, ‘I only wore them for a couple hours and I can get another wear out of them before they need washed.’ It sounds reasonable, but I’m gambling that I haven’t overlooked a soiled spot that’s waiting to be revealed the next time I wear it. Since I can’t always remember whether I’ve worn something before, there’s the possibility of re-wearing clothes more than once. Sin can be a lot like Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes. Rather than repenting, we hang it back in the closet of our heart thinking, ‘it’s really not that dirty’. There’s never any end to laundry…or sins, but if I wash them after each wearing there won’t be any soiled spots to worry about.
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Gail;
----Our robes of righteousness are so much like the Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes you discuss. We are concerned about them being clean, and we cast some thought on whether or not they are clean before we put them on, or before we hang them back up, just like you pointed out. I once read that after a thorough shower, if everything that is actually and technically our bodies vanished completely, our exact likeness would still remain - entirely visable. All of the bacteria and other foreign matter on us and in us would remain there in our form. I love the smell of fabric softner in a freshly washed towel, and the crispness of a freshly starched shirt. Both cases indicate that there is foreign matter in the cloth. Anyone who has had athletes foot or certain parasitic infestations know that merely washing clothing will not remove these fungal and parasitic pests from the fabric. Like our freshly showered bodies, a microscopic venture through the fibres of the threads of the fabric will reveal mountains of foreign matter and multitudes of tiny little mountain dwellers. All of it is soil, and even though we do not see it, even though we do not think of it, even though we measure the Sunday-go-to-meeting garment as clean, the Lord can see it all.
----That is why the Lord has supplied us with a never-ending supply of laundry detergent - the blood of the Lamb. The garment becomes clean because it is washed in the blood. To our speculation, washing something in blood would entirely spoil it; it would never be cleanable again. But that merely re-enforces the point. It is not about the presence or absence of soil - that condition will never exist on this side of heaven. It is about what covers the soil: our efforts to achieve righteousness, or the sacrifice He made through which He sees us. My efforts to remove the smudges from my Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes do not make them white with righteousness, they just bonafi the fact that they are washed in the blood.
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