Hello,
Now that the spring has arrived, all that was hidden under
the snow has appeared much to the delight of my dog, Duncan.
A week or so ago Kate let him out to do his morning
business. In addition to doing
what he is supposed to do, he also likes to do a bit of exploring around our
property. On that particular
morning it was quite apparent that he had explored and his exploration was
successful.
I was just waking up when Duncan came bounding into the room
with Kate close on his tail. As he
approached, I was abruptly awakened as if smelling salts had been placed under
my nose. The smell was atrocious. Rank. Pungent. Eye
watering.
“He rolled in something,” Kate said, “and I’ve got to get
going. Have fun!”
So, I rolled out of bed and escorted Duncan into the bathtub
where after a liberal application of doggy shampoo and a thorough scrubbing, I
was willing to be in his presence again.
He doesn’t enjoy baths at all.
He slumps and pouts and is not very cooperative. After a quick toweling down, he took
things into his own hands and shook from head to toe spraying water all over me
and the bathroom. Another mess to
clean up.
I followed up with a shower of my own, and went off to
work. Later in the day, I
returned, and as usual, I let Duncan out.
He darted out of the house and headed out into the woods. I called for him, but I may as well
have been shouting into the wind as he had no desire to listen to me. His mind was set….set on rolling in
whatever he had rolled in before.
Sure enough, in about 10 minutes he was back carrying that smell that
brought gurgles to my stomach. I
threw him in my man cave so he wouldn’t smell the whole house up again, and I
went to get the shampoo and hook up the outside hose for his second washing of
the day.
As much as he
hates getting sprayed down and soaped up, you would think that he would learn
that the odor that he so much enjoys to roll in is not equally admired by
me. I find myself wondering what
is it about that smell that is so attractive to him? I think that the smell comes from something that has died
and has begun to rot now that the winter freeze is over. What is so attractive about rolling
around in the smell of death? It
makes no sense to me.
I suspect that God struggles with the same question as God sees
us rolling around, over and over again, in the smell of death (“the wages of
sin is death” Rom. 6:23). God must
wonder what is so attractive about rolling around in gossip that kills
relationships. God must wonder
what is so attractive about rolling around in defaming God’s name bringing
death to the hope that so many need.
God must wonder what we find so attractive about the smell of rolling
around in greed that has suffocated us and everyone around us? It must make no sense to God.
Nevertheless, God does for me whom he loves as I do for
Duncan whom I love. He gets out
the cleanser – the powerful cleanser of Baptism that has anointed me in a grace
that the stench of sin can never fully penetrate, and scrubs me up week after
week as he comes to me in, with, and under the bread and wine of his
supper. Although God may not
understand why I continue to roll in death, God understands the depth of God’s
love for me, a love that will not let the stench of sin keep me from him, nor
let the stench of sin expel me from the family of faith. So every time I roll in death…..God
graciously washes me…..washes me clean.
Even I know that the grace of God smells a lot better than
the stench of sin, and it is my hope…and God’s hope, too….that the aroma of
grace will capture my life and my nose, so that my attraction to rolling around
in the stench of death will not be something that I so often dash off to do…..for
God’s sake, for your sake, and for my sake, too.
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace,
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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