God cleans the crap off us
The core message of the Gospel is about how God cleans the crap off us, and then invites us to clean the crap off each other.
After preaching this essential message on Sunday about what Love (agape) looks like to God, I got a bit of a terrifying reminder tonight. Having come home from a lovely date night with Heather, I peeked my head into Rory’s room to give him a kiss and whisper goodnight. As I lay down next to him, I quickly realized that he’d been quite sick – everywhere – in his sleep. All over his sheets, his pillows, his pajamas – I felt like I was elbows deep in the mud. I picked him up and yelled for Heather, as he became startled and a bit confused. I took off his PJ’s and wrapped him in a blanket, while Heather stripped the sheets off his bed. He cried and moaned and yelled about feeling so ill, asking me to make it go away. I felt helpless and heartbroken and even a little scared (knowing full well that we all get sick from time to time). He had puke in his hair, a little on his cheek, and his breath was downright revolting. But, I didn’t think twice about kissing him, or holding him close, or getting it smeared all over myself – I just wanted him to know it would all be okay. Then for half a second, he calmed down, looked up at me to say, “I love you, Daddy.” And then he threw up on me.
I wonder if that’s not how God finds us, so often. Tired and sick, yelling and screaming, covered in all our own crap and mess. And yet She looks at us, She holds us close – never afraid of all our muck that will smear and spread. She hears both our cries for help and lament, and our moments of returned affection, and probably even knows what’s coming next.
Agape love. The very heart of the Gospel. God made manifest in the mess.