Our Filthy Rags… Hello Hump Day readers. We are in the second week of Lent–a time that seems so long but that’s because it’s 40 days! A friend of mine told me that Lent was very difficult for her and her family. She said “In Lent, for each mid-week and then Sunday church, we feel that the sermon puts us down as if we can’t do anything right. As we left from church, my 14-year-old daughter asked the pastor “Are we really just filthy rags? It seems each time we come to church we leave thinking we are worthless.” Sadly, the pastor didn’t want to talk with her and now this family doesn’t go to church at all.

Yes, we do have our filthy rags because we are sinners. But God forgives and if we cannot put that into our Lenten forty-day slog, we are missing the point. Below is an interesting and true story from the White House…yep, that’s what I said!

When her father was president, Amy Carter came home from school one Friday night with an assignment to write a paper answering a tough question about the Industrial Revolution. Amy sought help from her mom, Rosalynn, who was also baffled and decided to seek clarification from the Labor Department. So, a “rush” was placed on the request since the assignment was due Monday. The Labor Department, thinking it was a question from the president himself, cranked up the government computer and kept staff working overtime all weekend!

On Sunday a massive computer printout was delivered to the White House. Amy was so sure this would give her a good ‘A’ and impress her teacher. So, on Monday she showed up with her paper at school and quickly gave it to her teacher. Her teacher, however, was not very impressed at all. And all the work and overtime by those employees only merited Amy a “C” on her paper. Amy couldn’t figure out why her hard work only got a “C” so she talked with her teacher and learned a few things about wisdom rather than trying to impress someone.

In Isaiah 64:6 [ERV] we see the stains of our sins as the prophet says “We are all dirty with sin. Even our good works are not pure. They are like bloodstained rags. We are all like dead leaves. Our sins have carried us away like wind. We don’t call to you for help. We aren’t excited about following you, so you have turned away from us. We are helpless before you, because we are full of sin.”

In the Old Testament, folks were under the Law of Moses and obedience to God–it was quite a process! Today Jews will still attempt to dutifully carry out hundreds of the commandments of the Law found in the Old Testament—but so do we. We think if we work hard for our salvation God will love us more. But we need to remember that Isaiah wrote centuries before Christ, mindlessly jumping through all the hoops of the Law and it still won’t give anyone a passing grade. In fact—it’s worthless, filthy rags and all. We know we have them and we know that our sin is infectious. So, it doesn’t matter how hard you work for salvation because the work of salvation is done only through Christ. What matters for us is our faith in Christ.

In Lent we can do all good works, giving up something, etc., but it isn’t going to get you to heaven! Focusing on good works to get God to love you more is a slap-in-the-face to God. Indeed, God’s standard is absolute perfection but God loves us so much he sent his only Son, Jesus, to take away our sins—to take away our filthy rags and turn them into something beautiful. I think Jesus would say to us: “Instead of focusing on all the things you think you need to be doing to be a better person, I would prefer that you focus your trust in me for your salvation. So, throw away your filthy rags, you are forgiven, and you are mine forever, my precious child.” AMEN.