April 14th, 2009
Dead Leaves
“To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints”
Romans 1:7
We have had some gorgeous days, haven’t we? OK, so it has been a bit cold, but the sun has been out and, when I’m inside I look out and would like to be outside! At least, that’s what happened on Saturday. So, last Saturday afternoon I went out to clean up the dead leaves around the bushes in our front yard. There were handfuls of wet, dead, decaying leaves. However, there were not as many as last year. You see, last spring as I was cleaning up the piles of dead leaves, I realized that it had been a few years since I had focused on the front yard. So there were literally piles of dead leaves nestled in between the bushes and the house. The job was much easier this year, or so I thought…. After cleaning up the front bushes, I walked around to the other side of our garage and, to my dismay, saw leaves in the bushes there. Why did it bother me? Because a couple of weeks ago I had cleaned out the dead leaves from that area!!! More had blown in, making this an ever-present, on-going process. Ugh. I knew there had to be a blog illustration in there somewhere and yesterday, as I began reading Romans 1, it fit.
Now, I know we are called to be saints. I understand that. I have taught that. However, the other day as I read Paul’s words to the Romans, I was again shocked by that thought. Me? A Saint? Whew, that’s a pretty high calling, and I am pretty sure I cannot live up to that one! So, I began reading to find out what, exactly, Paul meant by that (in other words, is there some way that I am, possibly, a saint?). In his writing, Paul often will give lists of sins, and Romans 1 includes one of those lists. As I got to it (1:29-32), I thought about my own life, and my un-saintly-ness was pretty apparent. Here’s the list: wickedness, evil, greed, depravity, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, boastful, disobedience to parents, senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless, knowing God’s righteous decree but not doing it. Now, most of us probably have not sinned in ALL of these ways, but I can guarantee that if you were to read it while examining your life, then you would be convicted just like I was. Those made me think of the dead, decaying, ever-present leaves…
Most of you who read this probably are not murderers nor would you be considered ruthless. However, what about a gossip or someone who has slandered someone else? Have you ever boasted about anything? These are the dead leaves in our lives. They are ever-present, and, just when we think we have them cleaned up, more will blow in. It may get discouraging, battling these leaves – I mean, if we will never completely clean them out of our lives, then why even try? As my front yard illustrated, it’s a mess if you leave dead leaves around for a few years. There are bugs, rot, and smell that accumulate. The piles become overwhelming. It is an ever-present battle, but it is easier to battle handful-by-handful than to give up and allow the sin to accumulate.
While getting a bit depressed about the dead leaves in my life, I went back to Paul’s greeting to the church in Rome. He says they were called to be saints. You know what? Those Christians in Rome were no different than you and I. They sinned, they picked up the dead leaves; they even allowed some to sit and rot. But Paul still reminded them that they were saints. That encouraged me. Yes, it’s a battle, but there is hope. God loves us so much that he has called us to be saints. There is beauty under the leaves. So, let’s put on our gardening gloves and battle the leaves, and while doing so remember that we are “loved by God and called to be saints.”