No Laundry in Heaven?

Like many people, I’m not a fan of wash day.  I think there’s a lot of truth in the expression ‘washday blues’ (and I don’t mind admitting my age by adding that this doesn’t refer to a little blue cube in a cloth cover, made by Reckitts!)

There’s a feeling of resentment as the wash basket gradually fills and the day draws nearer for the well-rehearsed routine to be kicked off again.  OK, it’s much easier for us today than it was in Victorian times, but the general sequence of load, wash, unload, dry and iron remains and the finale is putting away the clean clothes in the knowledge that they won’t stay clean for long.

It’s a thankless task and one inevitably needing constant repetition.

Similar in its quality of a relentless need for repetition was the Old Testament pattern of Temple sacrifices.  The sacrifices were demanded by the Law in an attempt to obtain forgiveness for specific sins, which were detailed in a very long list.  In essence, it was contended, the blood spilled in killing the animals for sacrifice settled the account with God instead of the blood of the sinner.  The sacrifices had no more effect on the underlying sinfulness of the people than the constant washing has on the propensity of the clothes to get dirty in use.

Although the dimensions are different, a similar argument can be offered in respect of the 21st century Christian church.  The sequence of confession and absolution, whether individually or corporate, is effectively a reminder of the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus to pay for the sins of those who believe in Him and repent of them.  It has no lasting effect on the underlying sinfulness of humanity.

St Paul presents us with an excellent explanation of the sinful human condition (Romans 7:15-25).  In the following chapter he makes it clear that, once we have accepted God’s Holy Spirit into our lives (8:9), it controls us, rather than the sins that did before (what Paul refers to as ‘the flesh’).  If we set our minds (8:5) – in the sense that a piece of machinery is set according to surrounding conditions or local legislation – on a worldly basis (the flesh), then our destiny is no better than that of the people of the ancient world.  If, however, we use the Spirit as the basis for ‘re-setting our mind on Him’, then we can look forward to ‘life and peace’ (8:6) with Christ, the Lamb of God.

Revelation is a book of images; there are lots of pictures and as many interpretations of them as there are people willing to contrive them.  However, one image that I find particularly encouraging is this one.  “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.  They were wearing white robes and we holding palm branches in their hands” (Rev. 7:9).

A few verses later we are brought back to my opening theme, when John, who saw all these images and described them in his book, asked about these people.  He was told, “they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (v.14).  I like to think that the verses that follow imply that, once so powerfully washed, those robes would require no further cleansing!