Pastor's Corner

There is a bumper sticker that reads "Who Collects the Most Stuff Wins." Well, all of us do our share of collecting stuff, and some of us seem to be reluctant to part with it.

Sometimes this reluctance can be attributed to the excuse that we don't have a truck to haul our stuff off. But then, in the spring the city comes along with a fabulous offer you can't seem to refuse, too good to be true. The city says that if you'll make the effort to get our unwanted stuff to the curb, they will haul it off. Wow! It's a wonderful idea.

Someone is willing to take away everything that clutters our lives and get it out of sight, haul it off to the landfill -- at no charge. I love the concept! Just makes you feel cleaner, fresher, doesn't it? See if you think you hear a little bit of this concept in the following words of the Apostle Peter in Acts 3:19: "Repent, therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." I must confess to you that I chose this scripture because it's traditionally been one used during the season of Lent, a time to seek the Lord's forgiveness, a time of confession and repentance. Last Sunday was the first Sunday of Lent in 2002. To be quite honest, I don't think it is too big of a leap to liken Lent to our spring "Clean Up Week," especially when you add the words of Psalm 103:12 to Peter's remarks: "As far as the east is from the west, so far does God remove our transgressions from us." Now, that's what I call "hauling your stuff away," removing it big-time. God must have a heavenly landfill site that is enormous. After all, He's been in this forgiveness business a long time.

As soon as the announcement comes concerning the citywide "Clean Up Week," most of us start doing a mental inventory of our attics, garages and storage sheds. "Let's see, what didn't I get rid of last year, things I thought I couldn't live without but haven't touched?" If we're brave enough, sometimes we even do an on-site inventory, actually climb up there in the attic, venture into the storage shed or rummage through the garage.

So, when the announcement comes out this year and the pick-up schedules are publicized, we'll once again drag our old sprayers, containers, old motors, broken window frames, plastic wading pools, old tires, pieces of fence, faded plastic flowers, scraps of carpet, lawn fertilizer spreaders, old mattresses and box springs to the curb.

Have you done your inventory yet? What about your Lenten list? What unwanted spiritual stuff have you collected which needs to be removed from your life? Let me give you some ideas that might help you think of specific things you need to drag to the curb of your life this Lenten season.

Perhaps you'd like to get rid of the remembrances of some of your old sins that still linger in the attic of your mind: wrongful, harmful, sinful deeds that you committed long ago and can't forget. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to drag those to the curb of your life and just leave them there with a guarantee that God will come around and remove them, haul them off for you for good, for all time to that heavenly landfill. "As far as the east is from the west, so far does God remove our transgressions from us." That's a fabulous offer, don't you think. It's too good of an offer to refuse. Or perhaps you'd like to get rid of some inappropriate behavior. You don't need to have anyone remind you that you have done things which are out of line, words you shouldn't have spoken. Wouldn't it be good if you let God erase those from your memory and help you not act that way or speak that way ever again? "Repent, therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." Fabulous offer, don't you think? Too good of an offer to refuse.

Or perhaps you have some old resentments stored around somewhere in your heart, an ill feeling that you have harbored against another person in the attic of your memory for a number of months or years, some hurt feelings which you've kept in the garage of your emotions. Wouldn't it be great if you let God haul those off for you? Fabulous offer, don't you think? Too good of an offer to refuse.

Or perhaps you've clung to some unfulfilled dreams for your life that still haunt you and cause you bitterness from time to time. Maybe you even blame your spouse or your children. You may feel like a failure, with the accompanying feelings of disappointment and incompleteness. Wouldn't you like to feel clean again, to experience a fresh start, to be fulfilled even if your dream was not yet realized, to at least feel you are where you need to be and where God wants you to be right now.

Well, Lent provides each of us with a great opportunity to experience God's love, forgiveness and renewal. The key to experiencing this, however, is up to us. We have to sort through our unwanted spiritual "stuff" and put forth the effort to get it to the curb of our lives. And that takes some doing, some effort on our part, some analyzing ourselves and possibly even confessing. God's offer is not too good to be true. It is true! He will haul our unwanted spiritual "stuff" completely away -- "as far as the east is from the west . . . ." Free of charge. That's what He does. He's been in the business a long time. He knows what He's doing, and He does it well. You only have to give Him a chance. If you accept His offer, He guarantees that you'll feel cleansed, renewed and forgiven.

Rev. Gary Mayes is pastor of First Christian Church in Kennett.