Me: Prodigal, who is that? I love his white fur!
Prodigal: This is Happy and he is white all over completely spotless!
Me: Well I am just finishing a busy week and busy weekend with Easter but wanted to share a story of what happened yesterday.
Prodigal: Sure, we can listen!
It was Thursday. It was going to be a back to back busy day. I had a therapy appointment started first thing in the morning and there was going to be four more through out the day. The little bit of free time I did have would be spent checking on some insurance information talking with some other professionals about others matters and grabbing a real quick bite to eat. Then driving through rush hour traffic I was going to attend my first Maundy Thursday at my church.
Just a quick background about Maundy Thursday. It is a service the Thursday before Easter and represents the Last Supper that Jesus had before his death. I really did not know what to expect but was able to make it there a little before the service started.
People read scripture, we sang and our pastor Justin preached some about Jesus and the sacrifice of dying on the cross for us for our sins. The lights were turned down and we had candles lit to soften the atmosphere. Part of the service was to participate in communion. I know several churches will handle this different but we have an alter and the grape juice and usually matzah is placed on the alter. We will stand in line to take a cup of grape juice and a piece of matzah.
We started with silent prayer reflecting on what Jesus has done for me and also clearing my heart of any sin of anger, un forgiveness, pride, or anything else before I partook of the communion. Now we have communion about once a month. I have been a partaker of this for years. The music starts and I see several who began to walk up front to take their sacraments. We were going to take them back to our seat and then eat and drink at the same time as a congregation.
I walk up and grab the juice and the matzah. I walk back to my seat in the front. I sit down and what do I do next? I spill half the grape juice all over my pants. Did I forget to mention that I had a social function I was attending right after the service. Being true to who I am, I did not spill in one small spot. It was not maybe on the inside of my leg so it might be hidden. It was on the front and rolled down so it was a couple of inches long. Don’t worry the mistake did not get on the carpet or the pew. It was just all over my pants for everyone to see.
Here I was in this service and we were reflecting God’s gift, Jesus’s sacrifice and the love of our God. Then I look down and there is this long stain on the front of my pants. So what could go through your mind at that moment. People are going to thing I am stupid that I don’t know how to drink cup for communion. They might not want to be around me with my mess. They may think that my life is a mess if my pants are. How fun will it be to walk around socializing with others with a huge stain for everyone to see. Then my mind return to the service and listened to more of Jesus and what a wonderful savior I have. The mistake was forgotten for the moment. It was not long and the service was over. We walked out into the sun in quietness.
I left the building and went to my car. I remember my stain and looked down and guess what? It was gone! You never would have noticed that I made that mistake. See I was wearing burgundy pants that day. When the grape juice dried it was the exact same color and it erased the mistake. My first thought was now THAT IS GODS GRACE!
God’s grace doesn’t go back in time and make me not spill the grape juice. It didn’t stop me from having a wet spot show up after my mistake but after turning to Jesus in repentance and giving some time the mistake was slowly erased with the surroundings.
Some of us are walking around with white pants and when a mistake is made it seems so big to us. With white pants mistakes do seem to be bigger. God never called us to wear white pants of perfection. We put that burden on ourselves. God knows we will make mistakes and he knows that they will show for a little while. His plan though is to redeem us and then it will be like the mistake never happened. May be it is time for you to stop trying to wear the white pants of perfection. Put on a pair of beige, blue, purple or any other color because that is who God made us to be!
1 John 2:2
He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for sins of the whole world.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
