Filthy Rags


Isaiah 64:6

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

I don't know if you have seen those infomercials where the jolly, ADD, and hyper-kinetic man shouts that we should not waste our money on paper towels. Instead, we should purchase the uber-sheet of questionable composition that you can use over and over again without having to buy rolls and rolls of paper towels that get tossed.

But, is not that the point of paper towels? Some messes are so odious that I really rather not have to rinse and repeat. Instead, I want to toss it into the abyss never to be seen or smelled again. For instance, I just cleaned my bathroom and specifically the inside and outside of my toliet. The inside I hit with a scrub brush and isopropyl alcohol. The outside, I bring the paper towels with the isopropyl to bear and ask that the paper towels to sacrifice nobly for the cause, making their posterity of paper so damn proud. Everyday heroism.

I would really not want to recycle the filth cycle. I mean, seriously, such a repeat rag--no matter how space-age--would have to be thrown in the autoclave to sterilize. Instead, throw the paper towels away for good. Don't be so green as to contract dysentery or some other human waste product and mouth-ingested mash-up.

The prophet Isaiah makes the same point spiritually. Our good works as a source of salvation are not sufficient for even our best works are tainted by sin. Filthy rags. Toss 'em. We tend to view salvation as a formula of subtraction (Good works minus Bad Works) and if the result is a positive number, we think we have earned Heaven like Cashback from Discover. God has a different equation. When good works are done for the wrong reason, to try and even the score, we are on a wrong track. We do good works not to right wrong but to do right for its own sake. Our rightness is established by Christ. Only then do we escape the tyranny of am I good enough, have I done enough good, to get over the line.

We do the sheet of good works to make the world a better place, to love our neighbor. Not for salvation.



  




  

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