There is something incredibly satisfying about taking what is dirty through the harsh process of restoration, making it useful again. This skillet will be cooked in again. These sheets will become bandages, quilts and more. All these items that would take up space in a landfill are now made beautiful and called into service for the world’s good.
It doesn’t take a theological rocket scientist to see why a pastor like me would enjoy deep cleaning. This is what the sacrament of baptism is about: God drowning us to sin, raising us to new life, calling us to serve for the sake of the world. God takes our flaws – those same imperfections that keep us from being what we were initially intended to be – and repurposes them so that we can be the hands, feet, heart and voice of Christ. A deep cleaning of who we are, baptism restores our relationship with God for the sake of the holy, beloved world.
This message is excerpted from “God’s deep cleaning” by Kara Shaw in the July/August 2023 Gather magazine.
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