Yuck

           Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. (I Peter 1:3-5)

About a quarter of a century ago, I bought paint for my kitchen: metallic gold, silver, and bronze. My goal was to color-wash the walls I got the south wall done before my typical “Yuck” reaction kicked in. I say “yuck” to 99% of my creative projects at some point along the way and the only reason the other 1% doesn’t get that reaction is that I’m done before it kicks in. I’m familiar with the yuck phase, so I cleaned up and walked away, giving myself the time to (I hoped) bring the clarity of objectivity to the situation. When I returned to it a couple hours later, it was with the question “Is it ‘yucky’ or do I really hate it?” The answer was that I really hated it. I found new paint and instead of a color-wash, I put a darker border at the top with scrollwork stenciled in white. I like the border well enough that when I painted the walls again, I left it.

Was I justified in painting over the color-wash that had not turned out as I wanted it to? I paid for all the paint. I provided all the labor. I can’t imagine anyone complaining. In a similar way, God would have been entirely justified in scrapping the whole universe when Adam and Eve sinned. He would be justified in scrapping any person who failed to measure up to His standard of excellence. We might think we have the right to over-rule Him because we’re a bit of the creation involved, but He still has the right.

What does He do, instead? He plans with the yuck factor in mind. He provides a solution to the problem. He shows mercy. He adds grace. He looks at the wall that is our lives and sends Jesus to shed His blood, that we can be washed in it, and His stencil at the top of the wall is “His banner over me is love.”