The Garbage Collectors

Pastor James Avery

There was a couple living in a fairly affluent neighbourhood. They seemed normal. Each morning they got in their cars and drove off to work. In the early evenings they would return home and enter their house. They lived in a moderate sized house with a single car garage. The trees and shrubs that decorated the front lawn were well kept, and their grass was neatly mowed and fertilized. Everything appeared normal on the outside of the house, however the inside of the house was a different story. For some reason the couple collected their garbage. Instead of taking it to the curb like most of their neighbours, this couple just kept piling the garbage up inside their home. Why would they do such a thing? Well, they didn’t want their friends and neighbours to see how much and what kind of garbage they had. The solution, they thought, was simple: all they needed to do was to hide their garbage in the garage. In there, it was isolated and out of sight. The problem was that it wasn’t long before the garbage filled the garage and started to creep into all of the other rooms of the house. As hard as the couple tried, they could not keep their garbage hidden. Not only were they aware of, and able to see the garbage, but the stench constantly reminded them that it was there. As time went on, the couple had to spend more and more time and energy trying to conceal their garbage. Soon this problem left them feeling very isolated and alone. Sounds too crazy to be true right? Sure, there are not many people in this world who do not take their garbage to the curb to be taken away. However, our sin is much like the garbage in the story. We try to hide it away in our hearts and not let it surface. We try to pretend that it is not there. God’s word tells us that we have all sinned and fallen short of the purpose that we were created for (Romans 3:23). We all have faults; we often hurt ourselves and others by our words, thoughts and actions. When we sin, we can, like the couple in the story try to conceal it within. However, it isn’t long until we have to deal with our mistakes and hurts. No matter how hard we try, our sin will not go away. There is nothing that we can do on our own to change our sinfulness. Right after God reminds us that we are all sinful; He also reminds us that Jesus Christ, His only Son came so that He could remove the heavy baggage, garbage and sinfulness from us. As Jesus breathed His last breath on the cross on Calvary’s Hill, all of your sin, and mine, was also nailed to the cross, where it will forever remain through the power of Jesus life, death, and resurrection. The only way to deal with the garbage and sinfulness of this world is to give it to Jesus. It is only through Him that the garbage of our hearts will be taken away. It is truly a freeing and live giving experience to bring your sins to a Saviour who will remove them from you through His forgiveness. The gift of the forgiveness of sins has been won for all – for you, and for me — by the work of Christ on the cross. There is no garbage that is too stinky, heavy or disgusting for Jesus to handle. He will gladly take it all from you.