Whiter than White

My new church is very old but now that it has been painted it looks very new again!

It reminds me of the occasion when Jesus and two of his disciples went up a mountain. At the summit Jesus met with God. To the disciples' eyes Jesus became too bright to look at. Matthew, the efficient tax-collector, just says that Jesus' clothes became bright. Mark describes Jesus' clothes as whiter than a bleach can bleach. But Luke, the sophisticated doctor, says that Jesus' clothes flashed or dazzled, using a word that elsewhere is used to describe the dazzling flashes of lightning!

St Andrew's church certainly looks very bright, and I expect that when the sun shines brightly, anyone standing next to it will have their eyes dazzled!

On the other hand, we often use white paint to cover up the dinginess underneath. In the case of this church, the walls had become rather dull and shabby, stained with the passing of the years. You can see what they looked like in my photo below, taken back in March (2010).

But what lies underneath now is hidden from view. The church looks as if it has always been so beautifully white. It is clean and spotless - untarnished.

It looks the way we would like to be - clean, perfect, spotless, unblemished, shining bright. Yet we know what we are like inside, in our secret places, or even in the sight of our friends and family. We are not the person we would like to be.

No matter how much we try to cover up our inadequacies and failures, God knows what we are like, really, truly. But the wonderful Good News is that God still loves us.

What's more God gives us the perfect coat of Jesus to wear. He took our place on the Cross and gave us his dazzling white robes to wear. When God looks at you and me, He doesn't see the dirt underneath. Instead He sees the glorious, dazzling, white robes of Jesus.

Each one of us is offered the Son's (and Daughter's) place beside the Father, in his house, at his table, for ever.

Go on, put on the Son's robe today. You don't deserve it, but it is held out for you to put on all the same. Become a daughter or son of God today.