Too proud to whitewash, too poor to paint

Slaked lime, a little chalk, and water - mixed together make a white substance which covers surfaces with a white coating.  It isn't really paint, but this white-wash will give the impression of coating and covering over whatever it touches.  The point of whitewash was not always to paint the surface, but to give a quick and very cheap covering.  It was also a cheap solution to covering over surfaces which needed some sprucing up.  As the whitewash is put on the surface, it provides very little protection to the surface - because it needs a few days to harden and almost "bond" with the surface it is used on. Living in Arizona, I have observed the combination of whitewash on the walls of adobe brick - something which actually works very well together because each binds well to the other.  These are both low cost building materials, and because of their strength, were some of the first types of buildings erected in the area.  There was an old saying that went something like, "You are too proud to whitewash, too poor to paint".  It really signified the individual could easily have used a little whitewash on their walls, but were too proud to because it didn't dazzle like the paints.  In reality, although the whitewash is a covering material, it rubs off, so it creates a less than permanent solution to the problem of needing to cover a surface.  

You can’t whitewash your sins and get by with it; you find mercy by admitting and leaving them. (Proverbs 28:13 MSG)

I think there are times when we pursue less than permanent solutions to the "covering over" of our sins.  We get all involved in trying to find a way to fix our sin - through a series of good works, or some penance of some kind - but in reality, we are doing nothing more than applying a poor man's coat of whitewash to the sin!  In fact, we have the perfect covering, but we choose the less effective, cheaper, and non-permanent because it is something WE can do!  Silly us!  When will we learn that our sin is not permanently covered by anything other than the blood of Jesus - crimson red, flowing freely, covering and permeating that which it connects with!

Break it down with me:

- Whitewash is pretty easily come by in the world today.  We sometimes look for the solution which seems to come easy for us - if we can concoct it in our minds, it must work, right?  Not!  The easiest solution may not make the best remedy.

- Whitewash is cheap.  We are reluctant to either obtain the costly (through going to Christ and asking him to cover our sins with his blood), or we are too afraid our sin doesn't measure up to needing such a costly fix (as though there were a "grade" to sin).

- Whitewash is less than permanent.  At best, our fixes are probably immediately available to us, take a little while to "fix", but they also don't last.  In the time it takes to have the "fix" bond to our sin, we probably have had sin "leak through" again!  Another coat of whitewash will only mask what is underneath - it doesn't take it away.

- Whitewash is man made.  It is our fix - not that which comes from the throne of God.  Nothing quite fixes our fix like the fix Jesus brings!

The blood of Jesus was costly, but the cost was paid, once for all - nothing needs to be paid again.  Now, if we have the stain remover available and choose to use a stain covering instead, isn't that just plain silly?  The blood of Jesus removes the stain, gives a permanent fix to our sin, and provides a lasting beauty realized by no other solution.  Just sayin!

The cells of life

"Any and every Israelite—this also goes for the foreigners—who hunts down an animal or bird that is edible, must bleed it and cover the blood with dirt, because the life of every animal is its blood—the blood is its life."

(Leviticus 17:13-15 The Message)

The life is in the blood - the blood is its life.  These words speak volumes to those that suffer from incurable diseases of the blood.  The inability of the body to produce the right quantities of blood cells, the response of the body to produce too many of one type of cell over another, all create such "imbalance" and leave a person fighting for life.  The truth is that the very life of each and every man and woman is nothing without the blood!

This week, my dearest friend will go through the process known as hematopoietic stem cell phoresis for the purpose of donating those life-giving cells to her brother who is fighting for his life with leukemia.  The process involves injections that will increase her white blood cell count by sending her body into a period of over-producing white cells.  Within her blood fully mature white cells will circulate, along with tiny "baby" white cells known as "stem cells".  Both carry an important function and will be "harvested" to be given to her brother.

As I considered the importance of what she is doing, some thoughts came to mind that I hope will speak to you as clearly as they have spoken to me.

- Those "mature" white cells already have a "job" in the body.  They are there to fight off disease - surrounding "bad stuff" in our body and removing it.  In fact, when a virus or bacteria attempts to "set up shop" in our bodies, those mature white cells are called into service in astronomical ways.  They envelope the "invading" virus or bacteria, forming a secure "covering" that encapsulates the bad stuff.  The white cells actually work to damage the invading "bad stuff" so that they cannot any longer affect the body.  

As I thought about that, I began to see the importance of each of us in the Body of Christ.  There are "mature" believers within the Body of Christ, called upon from time to time to keep the "immature" and "unknowing" of our Body safe and secure.  Sometimes we call this "standing in the gap" for another.  As mature believers, we are able to recognize the "threat" that certain "invading beliefs", "unwelcomed attacks", and "cunning compromises" have dramatic power to "take down" the weak.  There is no greater sacrifice that we can offer but to stand in the gap for the one who is weak and unable to stand alone.

- Those "stem cells" have the potential to mature - they just need a "safe" environment in which to grow.  The "stem cells" have growing to do - but if they are in an environment that is "hostile" to their growth (such as what happens when a patient undergoes chemotherapy), they will be killed off before they ever have a chance to develop.  They learn their work of providing life-giving aid to the body as they are able to develop.  The same is true of those in the Body of Christ who are "young" in their faith.  They need a safe place to grow.  In fact, white cells do all their development "in the blood".  The red cells do all their development in the bones.  That means that the white cells actually develop as they "journey" through the body. 

These stem cells will "learn" from the mature cells around them.  If they see the mature white cells performing their designed roles well, they will have great "role-models" to pattern their growth after.  The Body of Christ needs strong "role-models" - those that can exemplify the attributes of what it means to be embraced by grace, to stand in strength against enemies that seek to harm, and to be on the ready for every attack.

- The stem cells have to "settle in" within the body of the one receiving them in order to begin to do their work.  As the stem cells are removed from the donor, they are given to the one needing them.  Then the work begins.  The stem cells go right for the bone marrow of the one receiving the transplant.  They have to "engraft" in order to begin their work.  They are actually going to give life to the one receiving them.

The immature believer has so much life to give - they just need a place to develop - to engraft.  It is in the engrafting process that the opportunity to grow and affect dramatic change within the body.  That is exactly what new believers do for the Body of Christ - they keep a continual growth and development experience occurring.  

- The stem cells of the donor become the defense of the recipient.  The "immune" defense of the donor is transferred to the transplant recipient - giving the recipient new, or lost, immunities.  The immunities provided actually help the recipient fight off disease and will hopefully kick the leukemia into remission.

Immunity is not always something we get to experience just because we were "exposed" to something.  In fact, I have had the measles, have been exposed to them multiple times, and have had many booster immunizations.  I just cannot seem to develop "enough" immunity to say that my blood "titer" level is high enough to fight off the disease if I am exposed again.  The same is true in the Body of Christ - just because we have been exposed to a particular circumstance does not mean that we will be able to handle it on our own.  We need the "immunities" of each other to help us walk through it!

I know I probably did not do justice to this whole process of blood stem cell transplant.  My hope is that I gave you a little food for thought.  You see, life really is in the blood - and the blood is our life.  The greatest "gift of life" was given in the shedding of blood on the cross.  The greatest "gift of life" we can embrace is the "engrafting" of the blood of Christ in us.  It has the power to change us!  It has the power to "save us" - the blood is truly our life!