Swept and Bagged

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:5-10 ESV). As I left the house one day last week I saw some of the neighbors out doing some yard work. The leaves have all but fallen completely here in Middle Tennessee and it is easy to just use the gas-powered blower to “sweep” them away. One neighbor was doing just that as he cleared his driveway of the falling leaves. It was a quick way to clean it off, but they were still in the yard! It’s only a matter of time before a “norther” blows in. Now a norther in our area is a six hour big blow of arctic wind as a cold front moves in and changes our temperature about 30 degrees toward the chillier end of the scale! My neighbor will find that the leaves will be everywhere after that first windy day. Not only will his leaves be back on his driveway, they’ll be all over the yard too. The only real way to get rid of them is to sweep AND bag them. This requires a broom, a rake, and a trash bag, not a leaf blower! We live in a leaf blower culture! Get it done in a hurry. Don’t mess with the details. Why use a broom and get rid of the problem when you can blow the problem into someone else’s way. But it’s not just our culture. It’s also our walk with Jesus. We often look for shortcuts. When we’ve blown it, we want instant forgiveness. God generously gives us forgiveness, but we seldom look for growth, we take the shortcut to clean up in our own hearts and so we fall into the same traps again and again. Our reading this morning speaks of forgiveness in the context of community. Whether you call it small group, Christian friends, an accountability partner, we all need others to help us get through. To ask forgiveness and then not place ourselves into a relationship of accountability with others is like blowing leaves off the driveway. Everything looks clean for the moment, but the problem’s not gone. It’s just waiting for another ill wind and back come the leaves. Until we’ve swept them up and put them in a bag, they’re going to come back. You know, the next season for leaves to fall comes soon enough without having to deal with the ones that are already on the ground again. While a leaf blower works quickly, it doesn’t really get the job done. If the goal is to have clean sidewalks, they’re going to have to be swept and bagged, not just blown. Isn’t the same true with you?