Laundry is a funny thing around my house. I don’t know, maybe it is around your house too. In my house, laundry is a daily activity…or at least should be. We don’t make a daily one, as there are mounds of clothes currently in my hall outside the laundry closet to testify to this. However, whenever my wife and I trudge up the will to fight the battle ahead, it usually happens in heaps. Yep, we usually grab one big, supersized mound of clothes and throw it in the wash. Sometimes they’re even separated into whites, darks, and towels. Depending on how much there is to do will usually determine the time and effort put toward the proper separation of the clothes. That’s probably not too uncommon from house to house in America is we’re honest with ourselves. Then, the process usually continues with the steps of washing the clothes. In our case, we turn the water on, dump in the soap and close the lid. What caught my attention today were all the dials on the washer. Sure, I’ve seen them many times, but common, who really uses all those. Seriously! In our house, regardless of the size of the load that goes in the wash, the dial that adjusts the water according to the size is ALWAYS on “LARGE”. There are two other settings; “SMALL” and “MEDIUM”. Those suckers NEVER get used in my house. On top of that, there’s actually a line in your laundry detergent cap to show you where to fill the cap up to depending on the size load you are washing. Once again, our loads (regardless of size) all get the full cap of laundry detergent. HA, isn’t that a bit silly? Is that the way it works in your house too? (My wife hates me right now for revealing the way we do laundry in our house, I’m sure.) Today, I’m proud to say I took one more step closer to correcting myself. I actually switched the “LARGE” dial to “SMALL”, which was appropriate for the size load today. However, I still filled the cap up and dumped it in before I thought about what I was doing. Guess old habits will die hard.
My laundry experience today made me thing of the parable of the workers in the Bible. You know, the one where all the workers get paid the same amount of wages at the end of the day, regardless of how much time they’d put in. Here, check out the parable below.
Matt 20:1-16
"For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. To them he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. About the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle. He said to them, ‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’ "They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ "He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.’ When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.’ "When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius. When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household, saying, ‘These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’ "But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius? Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you. Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’
Just as my laundry received the same amount of cleanser to be washed, so did the workers receive the same wage. This story is ultimately about our choosing Christ. It doesn’t matter if you come to Christ late in life or early, the reward is the same. The Grace that enables your cleansing is the same. No matter how big the mound of dirt is in your life, or how small, the same love and mercy and forgiveness is offered to all. God’s not in the business of define who is better than another because ALL have sinned and are in need of a savior. The question for me is, am I offering grace in equal amounts like Christ, or am I stingy and choosy with my grace? What about you?
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