Getting Our Hands Dirty

I would love a clean and orderly life. I would like to believe that everything could clean up with a little effort. I would like to think that the laws of thermodynamics don't apply to me or to the world in which I live. I would like to believe, but it just doesn't work that way.

The world is a messy place. If we try to stay above the fray, keep ourselves clean and holy we miss the point. All too often we use our belief systems to avoid the ugly garbage that crowds our world. All too often we hope that by saying the right prayer or doing the right deed we can avoid the pain that stigmatizes this world. All too often we look for God to lift us out of the mire so that we might experience a glory apart from this life. Yet the gospel of Jesus is all about a God who will not defer, but instead goes to great lengths to enter into the mire. In doing so he does not irradicate the ugliness of this world, but somehow gives us courage to see the holy in the midst.

Over the last few weeks my church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has chosen to enter into the mess with foolish courage rather than simply pretending that it is too holy for such things. I realize by going there that we have upset many and caused doubts to arise. I realize that the easier path would have been to do nothing and avert our eyes. Yet, by trusting in the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit and getting our hands stained, I believe the ELCA has clearly acknowledged that it will not be a dead religion seeking to maintain itself pristine and pure. This choice to step into the mess, knowing that there are no easy answers has meant that the church is now openly acknowledging the stain of sin in its midst and the ongoing redeeming activity of Christ that restores us. Being unsure of where one begins and the other ends, we live in this mystery of grace bounded only by our love in Christ.

Luther as he was dying was quoted as having said, "we are all beggars." Yes, it is true. If we pretend we have the answers, or imagine that we can maintain our holiness we have mistaken our abilities for God's nobility. We are beggars, beggars with dirty hands as we interact with and engage in a messy world. While I do find myself wishing for an orderly life, nonetheless I for one am learning to be okay with such an image, and I hope others will as well.

Peace.