Dirty Laundry

Rev. James Harris

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Goal: That the confirmand and all hearers may rejoice in thier Lord Jesus who has washed our dirty laundry, stained with sin, in the water and blood of Jesus in Holy Baptism, and be encouraged and empowered to remain in their baptimsal faith of Jesus to obtain the goal of eternal life, the water of life and the tree of life in His New Jerusalem.

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So let’s just all admit it. Cleaning dirty laundry is a chore. I have family members who still remember their mother having a ringer washer. Those were the first type of wash machines for clothes. It had an open tub, that you would put your dirty laundry in and soap, then when the clothes were done, you had to put them through the ringer. It was not a setting on the machine like we have today, you know, the “spin dry” setting. Not at all. You physically had to put each piece of clothing in front of two rubber rolling pins that someone had to physically crank. It would pull the clothing through and squeeze out most of the water. Oh, then one had to hang the washed clothes on the clothes line for them to dry. And after that, the clothes had to be taken off the clothes line, ironed, and put away. Instead of just taking a few hours where the machine does all the work, except ironing, folding or hanging, and putting away; doing laundry back in the day was at least an all day task, if not multiple days to complete. Cleaning dirty laundry is an ongoing, never ending task, that most folks hate to do, but it is necessary for our appearance and health.

The text that we focus on today is the second reading for today, the Revelation given to St. John chapter 22, especially these words: “Blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates” (v 14).

Today is not just any day, it is a very special day, Confirmation Sunday. Young Bradly Nelson is being confirmed in his baptismal faith. It is not just a special day for him, but for all of us. Confirmation Sunday we all remember our own Baptism, and the faith that is given to us as we received the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit ().

This verse in chapter 22 has a twin, so-to-speak, in chapter 7 of Revelation. The angel of the Lord took St. John in the spirit to see the throne room of God. And there John is shown “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne of and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes...” One of the elders in heaven asked John, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” John replies, “Sir, you know.” and the elder answered him saying, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (vv 13-14).

For the Christian, Baptism is something extremely important. For starters, it is instituted and commanded by God through His Son, Jesus Christ, after “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” through completing the will of His Father, in sacrificing His life, shedding His blood on the cross for the redemption of the world. He continues on in verse 19 of saying, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” This command of God through Jesus regarding Baptism and His work in us through it is exemplified in other places of the New Testament. The Holy Spirit speaks through Mark’s Gospel and shows us, “The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned.” (16:16), and the same Holy Spirit who Jesus promises the Disciples who will guide them in all truth, who does not speak on His own authority, but what He hears from the Father (), is the same Holy Spirit testifies about Baptism through Paul, “Do you not know that all of us who have been Baptized into Christ Jesus were Baptized into His death?” () and again the Holy Spirit instructs us through Paul in , “But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian (that is the Law), for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

Baptism is efficacious because it is the Word of God combined with the water. God’s Word does what it promises. This is why Baptism “is of divine origin, [it is] not something devised or invented by human beings” (Large Catechism: Concerning Baptism).

So this vision that St. John has been blessed to not only see, but to also share with us is the culmination, or the conclusion or end goal, of what God has worked in and through Baptism for us. He shows us through figurative language: robes washed and made clean.

So what is it that makes our laundry dirty in the first place? This question reminds of that old saying regarding gossip, as airing someone’s dirty laundry. Anyway, if we look in Isaiah, the same Holy Spirit teaches us that “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. we all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind take us away.” (64:6). So, “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (1:18).

It is sin that stains our laundry. It is the inherited sin of Adam and Eve that pollutes everything about us, it has corrupted us to the core of our very being. Original Sin has destroyed what God has created. It severed the daily walk with God in the Garden. It condemned everything in creation; it expelled our parents from the Garden and placed an angel with flaming sword at the entrance so Adam and Eve had no access to the tree of life. It caused them and all their descendents from being outward focused, to curving in on our selves, always coveting, always wanting what is not ours. It has destroyed our thoughts, our words and our deeds. It is the robe we are born in, the robe that must be clean if we are to gain access once again to the tree of life; cleansed in the water and blood of Christ Jesus in Baptism to be able to be given new robes, wedding garments that grant us permission to “enter the city by the gates”.

The text today from John says “Blessed are those who wash their robes...” young Bradley, you are blessed. Bobby, you are blessed…Shari, you are blessed, Jacob, you too are blessed. All of you who have been Baptized into Christ have put on Christ, your laundry is clean, You too are all blessed. There is this promise from our Lord, through His Holy Spirit, that because you no longer have any dirty laundry, you have the right to the tree of life, and you may enter the city by the gates!

The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” The Holy Spirit is inviting all who have yet to clean their dirty laundry “Come.” You are invited to the wedding feast! You are invited by the Holy Spirit and the Church, who is the Bride, to come and have your thirst quenched. The Holy Spirit and the Bride invites you to fill your desire for the water of life. There is no cost, it is free.

As the Bride, I invite you all, as we celebrate Bradley Nelson’s confirmation of baptismal faith, to celebrate your own. If you don’t have one, a Baptismal faith, I invite you, the Holy Spirit invites you to come, be Baptized, receive new robes. The Bride and the Holy Spirit prays that you will thirst and have an unquenchable desire for the water of life. It is a free gift, no purchase necessary. Be redeemed in the Blood of Christ; let His crimson blood make your robes a dazzling white. Come, enter through the gate, come, receive the right to the water of life, and to the tree of life, the one transplanted from the Garden of Eden to the throne of the Lamb, from which flows the water of life that feeds the tree of life and gives it the rich and abundant leaves and fruit that feeds and nourishes you for your healing.

So, “How can the death of a man be able to do such things?” Well, ‘lil Jonney’, you see, When God loves you so much, He doesn’t add a bunch of other stuff on top of you in order for you to have to pay off your bill, so-to-say, so that you must now do all these other things to buy your ticket into my amusement park. You must fulfill each of these items on this list in order for you to “earn” your way into heaven.”

No, that is not a loving god. That is a god that you must appease with what you do, how much money you give, and do a quantifiable and proven perfect each and every day of the rest of your life. Oh, and the fine print here at the bottom states that if you fail just one time and any of these three things, you must start over. Of course, you understand there is also a processing fee along with that re-start, ‘lil Jonney’ “Oh, Mr. god, sir, that sounds like fun. But how much is that little processing fee?” The first time, it cost you 10 gold pieces. the rest is on a sliding fee scale. Each subsequent time, the scale slides higher by 100%”

No, the triune God is far more loving that that. When He loves you, He does everything for you. As your Father, He loves to hear from you, so He even gave you a prayer to pray, as well as an entire book of prayers called the Psalms. And as your Father is pleases Him to give you everything you need for your body and soul. He daily and richly forgives all your sin, and He provides even your food, clothes, home and a family. Not just your Mom and Dad, but in Baptism He adopts you as His son. Now you have an entirely new family. Brothers and Sisters you have never met before.

The price of Adam and Eve’s sin is so great that you are never able to pay anything in return. You know that list your god gave you. Well, the triune God has a bill also for you. If you ask Him, He will even show it to you. His is much longer. He details the effects of Adam and Eve’s sin on you. The very top line says that you are to only have one God. You know how many tick marks it has besides it? Me either, I can’t count that high. There are nine other itemized items also. The tick marks on those are as equally long.

There is something weird at the top of your bill that God has. It has a box on top of the bill that says underneath it, “for office use only”. It’s stamped with something, in a very sloppy way in the darkest redish-brown color I have ever seen.

So God told me to tell you that since your talents are approaching 10,000. Do you have any idea what that much amounts to? According to today’s market, with 12 troy ounces to one pound, and there are 75 pounds in one Talent, that comes out to approximately $11,753,730 total. How does your bank account look, ‘lil Jonney’? And with your skills and abilities, you are not going to be able to even come close to earning all that in your lifetime. You would be somewhere around $11,753,730 short.

So God the Father does the impossible. He loves you so much that He sent His Own Son to pay your bill for you. Jesus was conceived in a very unnatural way. God sent His Angel to Mary, a girl barely legal, and tells her that she had found favor with God and so she was to be ‘theotokas’; Mary was to be the God bearer.

Mary couldn’t understand why. The birds and the bees story she got from her Mom was something quite different. And since she had not even thought about doing that yet, she just didn’t get it.

But, since she knew that she didn’t let anyone else in her room that night, that this guy with wings is not a hallucination. So she told Him that she trusted, and then she found herself making up and singing a song on the spot. And the angel never touched her. The Angel told her that the Holy Spirit would overshadow her. She never seen it coming. The Angel dismissed himself and boom. Six months later, she is visiting her much elderly cousin, Elizabeth. She was like in her 80’s or 90’s at least. She was pregnant too. And when Mary came on the scene, Elizabeth’s baby kicked so hard, he jumped and leaped for joy.

But the Angel did tell Mary one thing. That Jesus would be the savior of the world. It didn’t take long. Jesus is what we all here would call a young man. He may have been around 30. He took off from home, and these guys started following Him around. Next thing you know, there are thousands of people crowding around Him 24/7. He couldn’t even find time to eat or rest. Mary thought He had fallen off His rocker. Anyway, it wasn’t long before the rumors started. All Bethlehem was buzzing from the bar-fly's and the baptists, “Jesus just fed something like 5000 men, as well as their wives and children on just 5 fish and 2 loaves of bread, and had over 7 baskets full of leftovers.” Then there were stories of people being made to see. A Bunch of Lepers were cleaned, dead were being raised back to life, blind people could see again and all sorts of crazy sounding stuff.

Next thing you know, is that them crooks in the Temple, you know, the Pharisees and Sadducee, Scribes, and Priests themselves, they were looking for someone to lye about what Jesus had said. They found some schmook, and Jesus was arrested. Within 24 hours, Jesus had been condemned, whipped, beaten and mocked; prior to being led out of the city carrying a cross.

Within an hour, He was nailed hand and feet to that cross and lifted up bare naked. He hung in there six hours, quoting Psalms while these mis-fits were insulting Him. Finally Jesus said His two last words. These words are still revered and remembered today. He cried out in His loudest voice, “It Is Finished” and he didn’t move again. Then some idiot soldier came trotting up and took his spear, and thrust it into Jesus side, like He was a piece of meat for a shiska-bob. Blood and water came gushing out.

He was dead. They buried Him in a new tomb that no one had every been laid in yet. The ladies came back two days later to finish preparing the body for death. But when they got there the stone was rolled away and He was not there. It’s a Miracle, ‘lil Jonney’. Jesus rose from the dead. He stayed forty days after that and were seen by many people. Even 500 persons at one time. But then He had to go back home. and He left and went back to heaven, while everyone was watching.

All that stuff, God did for you. That weird stamp in that box…God said it reads “Paid in Full”. The ink He used was the blood of His Own Son. That is how much God loves you. Jesus paid your bill, as well as everything's bill, all at the same time. Jesus bought you back from hell and satan. He even paid your transit fee. Instead of the economy class, one way trip to sunny Hell; He paid for a first class ticket to heaven. Your Bill is already paid for. You cannot pay anything more, as if you had anything to give to the Lord. You’re flat broke. You are worth more dead than alive.

However, now because of the Holy Spirit given you in Baptism, He calls you to the Gospel, every time you come in contact with Him, like especially where He promises to meet you. Group prayer (Where two or more are gathered together in my name…), or here in Church. You hear His Word being read. Well, John says, that’s Jesus Himself. And then later in the service, you are given a little cracker; sometimes its crispy, other times…well, not so much. Next you are given a little glass of wine. So little, a baby wouldn’t feel its effects. The bread is Jesus body, and the wine is Jesus’ blood. He is here too.

The Holy Spirit leads you into all truth. He doesn’t just give you an instant download to make things easy, He allows you to go through stuff, then teaches you the gifts that He has already given to you. It’s amazing if you sit and be still long enough, what He will show you and tell you.

All of this, our Triune God does for us. Jesus even gives to us one more gift. It is a gift that gets misused sometimes, and also not used properly when it should. The night He rose from the grave, He appeared to His disciples and breathed on them. He told them that He just gave them the Holy Spirit and they were to do something. Jesus gave to them and to us today, the power and authority to forgive or not forgive sins. This was not something to be used to make us fell good. He wants us to love as He loved us. He gave us a hint in the prayer He gave us to pray. It’s called the Fifth Petition. ‘lil Jonney’, we are to pray, “forgive us our trespasses, AS, we forgive those who trespass against us.” That means that as Jesus loves us so much that He forgave all of our sins, for the purpose of being with us for ever after we die; we are to love other people with the same motive and completeness. Jesus wants us to love others so much that we don’t want to see them in hell either. That’s why He tells us to “love your neighbor as He has loved you”.

Well, ‘lil Jonney’, and all you big Mr. Bill’s and Ms. Lois’, that is what we are here to remember from our own Baptism’s so many years ago. And wrapped up in all this is Jesus’ promise to us all. All of us who have washed our robes in the water and blood of Jesus have the right to the tree of life that He would not allow Adam and Eve to ever gain entrance to again, and also that we may enter His city by the gates. We don’t have to try to climb over some wall, or be like others who try to sky-dive into the city. We can’t get in that way, we must only bring our cleansed garments. Everyone else gets to hang outside the city with dogs, and a bunch of very nasty people.

This promise is for you, Mr. Bradley, as well as for all of you in the hearing of this proclamation. Jesus’ promises are always free, and Jesus always keeps His promises, especially when We don’t.