January 20, 2006

Ironing Things Out

Teenage boys.  Housework.

Not two terms you generally hear in the same sentence.  Teenage boys love housework the way cats love water--they don’t want to touch it.  Given the choice between doing housework or eating live grubs most boys would go for the grubs.

Maybe that’s why 15 year-old Gordon’s decision was such a surprising one. 

His parents went out for the day.  He had the house to himself.  He could do whatever he wanted.  Watch TV.  Blast the radio.  Go out with friends.  Have friends over.  Shoot hoops all afternoon.  Grab a good book or comic book.  Chat for hours on the phone with that cute girl from class.  Or just chill.  The possibilities seemed limitless.  Freedom.  That’s what most teenagers want and that’s what Gordon had.  Now he just had to decide what to do with it. 

Then he spotted something.  Clothes.  Baskets of them.  One.  Two.  Three.  Four baskets.  That struck Gordon as unusual.  Mom liked to keep an orderly house.  It wasn’t like her to leave four baskets of clothes unattended to.  But, come to think of it,  Mom had been a bit stressed and overworked lately.  Maybe she planned to get to the clothes soon.  Then an idea flashed.  He could iron the clothes for her.  True he didn’t really know how to iron, but how tough could it be?  He’d seen mom spray stuff on the wrinkled fabric and run the hot iron over it plenty of times.  She even tried to teach him once or twice.  But he hated housework so he didn’t pay attention.  This, however, was different.  No one asked him to do anything.  He’d do the ironing of his own free will and make Mom proud.

Pulling out the ironing board he set it up in the living room.  Rummaging in the linen closet he found the iron and a spray can of something called starch.  The task proved slow at first.  Gordon felt clumsy with the iron and unsure how much starch to use.  Getting the clothes to lay flat proved harder than it looked.  More than once Gordon ironed wrinkles into a shirt instead of out.  And getting the crease straight on Dad’s dress pants was tricky.  Gordon went through the whole can of starch before he was even half done.  Fortunately he found another one in the laundry room.  He used most of that one too, but he figured that was probably okay.  There were four baskets after all.

To Gordon’s surprise the ironing took up most of the morning.  Putting the iron and board away he carefully hung the ironed clothes in various closets.  Gordon couldn’t wait for his folks to return that evening.  Wouldn’t they be surprised.  And pleased.  Actually, Gordon felt pretty pleased with himself.  There weren’t many teenage boys, he told himself, that would do as much. 

When his parents arrived home Gordon didn’t say a word.  He wanted them to notice.  It didn’t take long.  Walking through the house Mom saw the four empty laundry baskets and asked what happened to the clothes.  Puffing out his chest a bit Gordon casually mentioned that he had ironed them.  Sure enough, his mothers face registered a look of complete surprise.  Then she said, “Did you wash them first?”

Gordon froze.  And as comprehension fell, so did his face. 

Clothes aren’t the only things that need washing.  People need it too.  Not just a bath to clean the outside, but a deeper washing to cleanse the inside.  The Apostle Paul describes it this way:

"So let us come to him with a true heart.  Let us come because we believe all these things.  Let us come with our hearts washed clean from our wrong ways.  Let us come with our bodies washed with clean water."  Hebrews 10:22 WE

Paul’s words resonate with me.  Sometimes I find myself trying to iron the wrinkles out of my life so I look good to others on the outside.  I don’t want people to see my dirty laundry.  I don’t want them to know about my many imperfections.  So I stiffly starch the exterior and make my best attempt to display an unruffled life and uncrinkled character.

But deep down I know Paul is right.  I need to be scoured and scrubbed.  I need a heart washed clean.  And I know I can’t do it.  Only one can.  God.  He has plenty of experience cleaning soiled hearts and lives.  He’s ready to use his cleansing capability on any who are willing.

“God, I’m willing...”

“Will you start with my heart...”

“But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord...” 1 Corinthians 6:11 NIV

Todd Chobotar
Mission development
Florida Hospital