God and the scrap metal merchant

I was walking home from church yesterday morning when a rather strange sight caught my attention.  On the pavement, leaning against a garden wall, was a central heating radiator. Sadly, its purpose for being there wasn't to give warmth to passers-by on what was a rather chilly day!  The sight reminded of a lesson I learned not long after our arrival in Leicester.

I was planning to cut the lawn at the manse and looked in the garage for the lawnmower (Methodist manses are supposed to be equipped with a lawnmower).  In fact there were two!  One was a rather flimsy Flymo, the other a more substantial but somewhat older metal mower.  The latter looked more promising but I soon discovered that it didn't work any longer.  I was considering how we might best dispose of the lawnmower when someone suggested leaving it on the pavement in front of the house.  I thought it was rather strange advice, but nevertheless I did as suggested, and was surprised to discover that the following day it had disappeared.

I soon learned that, at least in our part of Leicester, there are scrap metal merchants who regularly tour the area looking for unwanted metal which they quickly load on their van.  Since that early experience we have managed to get rid of several unwanted and often bulky metal items in this way.  No doubt that was why the radiator had been put out on the pavement (the next time I passed that area there was no sight of the radiator).

As a preacher I can't resist a good illustration, and the thought came to me that this incident could perhaps be used to help describe the way God deals with our sin.  I love the verse on the Psalms which states, 'As far as the east is from the west, so far does God remove our sins from us.'  Perhaps the psalmist's use of east and west is significant.  If he had written, 'as far as the north is from the south' then that would have been a defined, measurable distance (we know how far the north pole is from the south pole).  But there is no east or west pole.  God removes our sin infinitely far from us.

Of course our friends the scrap metal merchants do not generally take things unless we decide that the items need to be got rid of and put them out in full view.  In the same way, God does not take away (forgive) our sins or wrongdoings until we make the decision to confess what we have done wrong (i.e. put them out in God's full view) and receive his offer of forgiveness.

Through Jesus, God has made the way by which our sins can be forgiven.  The offer is made.  He longs to set us free from the penalty of sin.  But we need to respond to the offer.  I'm sure that I will think of that next time I see a large metal object in the street!

PS Not sure what happend to the image - maybe it's gone to the scrappers!