A QUESTION OF FAITH
With Revd Simon Wearn (Rector, Holy Trinity Church) I love bin day!
Whether it’s rubbish or recycling – or especially the garden waste – as bin day approaches the wheelie bins are groaning, and the recycling is jam-packed.
And my relief to have them emptied is great - not to mention the excitement for small children seeing the rubbish lorry coming up the street with flashing lights and a mechanical lift at the back!
The sad thing is, however, that relief only lasts for a few days, before the bins start filling again and I’m waiting for the next bin day.
If this is how we feel about our household waste – how do we feel about the mess and muck in our own lives?
Our broken relationships, the hurt we have caused others, the times when we have pushed God out of our lives, or our personal failings and inadequacies?
Maybe you see your own problems, maybe it’s something to reflect on.
When we are aware of our own refuse – it gets us thinking: will someone take our rubbish away? And if so, who could do that?
The Bible talks about Jesus as carrying our hurts and sins: ‘Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering’.
And the Bible goes on to tell us of the swap that Jesus made with those who believe in him: ‘God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God’ – he takes our rubbish away (our sin) and he gives his righteousness (his perfect goodness) in exchange.
He is the spiritual bin man!
What’s more, he did it once for all time on the cross – a cosmic bin day!
It’s like all the rubbish in the universe being dumped on him.
But there’s one thing about bin day that is key – you’ve got to put your bins out.
Apologies to my neighbours, but there have been times when I’ve heard the lorry coming down the street early in the morning, and rushed out in my pyjamas to put out the brown bins! You see, for our rubbish to be collected, you’ve got to put your bins out. That’s true spiritually too – Jesus will take away all and any rubbish, when we confess there is rubbish in our lives and come to him for forgiveness.
So, when you next put out your rubbish or recycling ... ask yourself the question, who will take away your personal rubbish? Will you put out your spiritual bins for Jesus, the cosmic bin man?