Resurrection

One of the things that the Upper Room does, is that we give out new socks to some of the homeless men and women. You walk around and sleep here and there even if you take care of yourself and shower, your socks get dirty. You’ve been wearing probably the same clothes for several days in a row and those socks get stanky and filthy. Believe me, the last thing that you want to do is picked up one these socks that used to be white but are now blackish gray and have literally just been peeled off of someone’s foot like a banana. And there is no way you will get that sucker clean again. Heck I wouldn’t want the thing in my washing machine. It would contaminate it.

Yet, David knows God can make him clean again. God can make him like new. A Genesis week. That is completely and totally new. A fresh start. Revelation depicts a scene where millions of people are worshiping God whose robes are pure white. They are the faithful. They are the ones who follow Jesus and the ways of God and don’t quit and don’t give up and don’t walk away from God or God’s people. No more death. Resurrection! No tears. No suffering.

These white robes were not new robes that replaced soiled ones that were cast off. These robes aren’t handed out like new pairs of white socks. They have washed and cleaned by Jesus. They are made white by his blood. They are washed in his blood and come out white again. They come out pure because of his death.

I have here a mop head that I recently replaced at the Upper Room. This has been used to mop urine. I know because I mopped up when this guy urinated all over himself, the couch he was sitting on, and the floor while he was asleep. It has mopped up the filth that was tracked in off the streets. It won’t come clean. I challenge you. There is no way in this world that you can make this like new. I have new mop head to compare. It will never be this white even with bleach because I have soaked this thing in bleach already to get this clean. The old mop head is literally falling apart.

Yet, Jesus was raised on the third day. His resurrection promises us resurrection as well. We are like this old mop head compared to God. But the resurrection of Jesus promises us that we will one day be resurrected. We will have a new body not like the old but a completely new body free from the flaws and defects of this life.

Notice how the new mop head is not really that white. God doesn’t just promise to restore us back the original condition but God promises more than we can imagine. If it is time for a change, God gives fresh starts. Easter is all about getting a fresh start, new lease on life, being born in a whole new way. This is your day. No matter how far down the ladder you have fallen or maybe how far down you feel you haven’t fallen, this is your day to change the mop head of your life.