What Grace Is3 min read

A dump was dumped.

Someone left a broken-down mess of a trailer here at the District office. Driving in on a Monday morning we all saw it. In a little turnaround in the driveway sat a 32-foot trailer. A dump. Shabby. Old. Ratty. A wreck.

Dumped.

Obviously, someone wanted to get rid of this mess of a trailer. And that person decided to just dump it here at the District office figuring that “the Church” would take care of that mess.

And we did. We called the authorities to see what was up. Then we called the tow truck. Ultimately, we paid to have it towed away. That person’s problem was paid for by us.

Someone else’s mess. We paid.

You see where this is going? Isn’t this the story of the founder of our Church? We have nothing but a dump of a life to drop at the feet of Jesus. Through sin our lives are shabby, old, ratty, often a real wreck. But Jesus paid the price. He stood before the authorities on our behalf and then paid the cost of what it takes to remove what’s wrong.

That dumped trailer turned out to be an amusing and ultimately not that expensive of a lesson about the grace of God in Jesus. Our mess. He paid.

But let’s extend that lesson beyond Jesus and us and beyond this little event at the District office. Let’s extend it to your congregation and your community.

I bet there are any number of people in and around your congregation who have made a mess of their lives. You might say a lot of dumpster fires on two feet. Often in the church we inadvertently give off signals that such people are not really welcome. We think about love for all, but we really like the people who come to us already pretty cleaned up. Their sex life, their language, their relationship with money, their taste in music, are already in pretty good order.

We don’t want to go through the time and expense, the effort of relationship building and bearing with one another’s failings, to be patient enough for the Holy Spirit to bring them into faith. It can cost a lot to love other people. They have made a mess of their lives, and we don’t want to “pay for it.”

And yet, that is exactly what Jesus calls us to do as his Body in the world. He calls us to seek and save the lost. That would be not just to suffer through someone dumping a dump of a trailer in the parking lot, but putting up signs that say “Dump your junk here. We’re glad to get rid of it for you.”

This time of year, people do a lot of cleaning and throwing out of stuff. I know for a fact that often neighbors will drive by a church that has a big dumpster and dump their stuff there. And I know for a fact that that irritates people in the church. “Hey, why do we have to pay for getting rid of their trash?”

Next time that happens, instead of being annoyed, be reminded that, as beneficiaries of Jesus, the one who has paid to take all our “stuff” away, we should bear the “cost” of connecting with the wrecks of lives in our midst and serve them, bless them, share Jesus with them. Even if we have to pay for it.

Try this on your church sign: “Dump your stuff here.”

_{Photo by Adele Werner/Michigan District, LCMS}