It's Worth It to Him!

I like to have a clean car.   My family would probably suggest that I’m a little obsessed about it. I will wash my car and vacuum it pretty much weekly from early spring to late fall.  My neighbors undoubtedly shake their heads at me when they see me outside washing and detailing it… yet again.  Quirky though it may be, I don’t like the dirt on the outside or the clutter on the inside.  And with baseball and softball seasons now back in full force, there is always infield dirt, artificial turf pieces, or the occasional fast-food wrapper to be found.  And so… I vacuum, I wash, I wipe down, and I make shine.  As a matter of fact, this past Saturday morning I was literally washing my car in the rain so that I could pull it into the garage and apply its first coat of wax for the season.  
 
That being said, this is also the time of the year where I will occasionally wonder if it is worth it.  Moments following any wash, after a few minutes sitting in the church parking lot or my driveway at home, the inevitable and unavoidable light dusting of pollen shows up.  Within a short time, my car turns from “Radiant Red” to “Pollen Powder Yellow.”  And no matter how fast I go down the highway, that dust doesn’t go anywhere!  These are definitely the early days of nicer weather when I wonder if I should just let the dirt, the grime, and the filth buildup and stay on my car until pollen season comes to a close.
 
Part of the Gospel reading for this coming Sunday is the risen Jesus restoring the disciple Peter, after having denied Him three times prior to His death.  Peter is dirty, more accurately, sinful.  His self-preserving denials were only a few days behind him. Guilt and regret was just as stuck to Peter as that pollen coats to my CRV.  Peter had sinned often and repeatedly in the past, and in spite of Jesus’ reinstatement of sorts in this post-resurrection encounter, he will most definitely be sinning again in the future. Can you imagine if Jesus had the same mindset that I have towards my car… Should I even bother? Should I forgive him, he’s just going to screw up again? I know I just cleansed him, but give him a few minutes and the damning stain of selfishness will cover him again shortly. Is this really worth it? Why should I continue to forgive those that can’t keep the dust of sin away?
 
Thanks be to God, Jesus does NOT treat Peter in this way. Jesus does NOT treat any of us this way.  We are no different from Peter. Although we confess our sins and promise to do better, our best laid plans and intentions will not come to fruition.  But Jesus never gives up on us. He never stops showing up to wash us and make us new again.  You might even say, with His love and compassion, Jesus is obsessed about us.  His amazing love will never stop pursing us, to cleanses us and make us whiter than snow! (cf. Psalm 51:7) Over and over the soot and blemish of sin engulfs us; but over and over again, Jesus pours out His mercy. He does not give up. With nail scarred hands, He scrubs us clean!
 
“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” (1 John 1:9)