Christ the King

As I was wiping off the kitchen counter for the third time one day, I began to wonder if the person who first said “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” might not have been a bit obsessive compulsive.  After all, Jesus was criticized for touching “unclean” people—lepers and tax collectors.  His disciples were accused of eating with “unclean hands.”  The people who first heard Jesus proclaim that “the kingdom of God is like yeast” probably reacted by saying “Yuk.”

Jesus does not seem to have been overly concerned with cleanliness, with perfectionism, even with being good.  He seems to have been more interested in bringing people together, seeing the good in people, even those people with whom he did not see eye to eye.  I don’t know about you but I have generally found human relationships, even with people with whom I do see eye to eye, to be messy.  While it is difficult, sometime seemingly impossible, to love others, there is comfort in knowing that following Jesus does not require my house be in perfect order, my ability to love perfect.  Rather it seems that my messy life and sometimes dysfunctional relationships actually qualify me for discipleship.
 
I suppose what this reflection suggests to me is that I could spend less time tidying my house and more time having a beer with my “politically-confused” neighbor, tea with a newcomer to Al-Anon, or sharing a peanut butter sandwich with someone at Room in the Inn.