I think it was Mike Warnke who said it: “Do you have to get cleaned up to take a bath?”
I’ve known her for perhaps my entire ministry. I’ve seen her rise and fall so many times; into drugs, into alcohol, into all manner of sin and losing control of herself. And I have always held my hands out to her.
And now she’s asked me to come to her house. With tears in her eyes, she tells me, “I’m ready to start over. I just… I just needed to get some things under control.”
Oh, my shattered sister… oh, my broken daughter… don’t you know? You will never, ever get anything under control. Not really. You can fake it, but you will never, ever get yourself put together. Not enough. If you wait until you are better, you will never, ever come. You will never clean yourself up enough for God.
She tells me, “I just feel such guilt… but I’m doing better now, you know? Why can’t I get rid of my guilt?”
Oh, my filthy loved one… oh, my stained heart… don’t you know? You can’t wash those stains away. You will never, ever be good enough to whitewash what you have been, what you have done. You will never clean yourself up enough for God.
She thinks she’s doing better, but there’s still this haunting specter. She can’t place it.
I can.
And after listening, after waiting for her to share what overflows from her heart, I share. “I know why you feel guilty. It’s because you really are guilty. That’s not a lie. You admitted to me: You know that what you did is wrong. And no matter what you do now… you will never, ever be good enough to change your past. You can’t pay for what you’ve done.
“But that’s why Jesus is so, so awesome. He came, even when you were so messed up. Even now, when you are still messed up. He loved you even in your darkest, most shameful moment. And before you did anything, before you could do anything… he took your guilt away from you. He soaked it all in, and let it all out in his blood and his last breath. You will never clean yourself up enough for God… but Jesus cleaned you up. Now you are dazzling… because of what he has done.”
She wept.
This week, I shared love. I shared love with those who thought they had to get cleaned up. Not just that woman.
There was another woman. Her son has just gone to jail and may go to prison. She was scared to tell me. I answered, “I am not ashamed of you.” And she wept.
Another woman messed up. She may lose her children. I told her that I wouldn’t cover up her sin, but I was still not ashamed of her. I’ve been with her nearly daily. I have seen her cry… and I do not think even her father has ever seen her cry since she was a toddler.
A man wants to leave behind his drinking. He tells me what he’s done to himself and his friends. I listen. I hold out my hand to him. He doesn’t have to clean himself up before I offer him forgiveness. Yes, he needs the law first… but he is living in misery. He has seen the law. It’s time for the Gospel.
And all these people… they believe the lie that they need to clean themselves up before Jesus can wash them clean.
And for these people, I get to show them Jesus. I get to stand beside them, sit beside them, kneel before them, and reach them through their tears and tell them the truth: You cannot be so bad that Jesus loves you less.
You, reading this? Take the message to heart. The Gospel is not something you need to have your life together to own. In fact, if you think you have your life together, you need to be broken so you learn the truth of where you are.
But you who recognize your brokenness? Don’t clean yourself up. Own your brokenness. Own where you are. Admit your darkness and your shame and all those things you hide from the world for fear that no one will love you.
Jesus knows those things. He loves you anyway. He knows those darkest moments, those doubts, those fears, and still, for the joy set before him, he endured the cross.
For the joy set before him, he was whipped.
For the joy set before him, he wore a crown of thorns and was beaten over the head, driving those thorns deeper and deeper into his scalp until blood flowed into his eyes.
For the joy set before him, he endured spikes being driven into each wrist and his ankles.
For the joy set before him, he hung all his weight on those spikes.
For the joy set before him, he suffered his Father turning his back.
And he scorned the shame of the cross.
For the joy set before him… for giving you the victory he earned. For giving you the white robes of righteousness. For forgiving you. For proclaiming you his son. For proclaiming you his daughter. For naming you a child of his Father. For giving you citizenship in the kingdom of heaven.
He chose you, and he does not regret it.
You can never, ever wash yourself up enough to be worthy of that. But he chose you anyway. He is the one who washed you.
And if that’s what he did for you… how could I ever be ashamed of you? If Jesus names you his son, his daughter… yes, I will still call a sin a sin and won’t shy from it. But you are both a sinner… and a saint. How could I be ashamed of a saint?
No, you don’t need to be washed up to take a bath.
Jesus has bathed you in his blood, and you are whiter than snow.
You have no more shame.
Ordained for Growth 