Doing Laundry With Jesus

Frankly the ordinary places are the hardest places to visualize Jesus showing up. 

I mean, it’s fairly easy to see Jesus in church, or when things are great.  But to see Jesus in the common, to see Jesus in the ordinary, is hard. 

Any number of biblical characters saw Jesus in the ordinary, including the prophetess Anna, in Luke 2.  Why Luke tells us that Anna never stopped seeing and acknowledging Jesus, as Anna “…worshipped [the Lord] night and day…” (Luke 2:37), apparently every day, even on ordinary days.

A while back Craig Barnes invited his congregation to imagine they could go back in time and spend one day with Jesus.  The catch:  you couldn’t pick the day!  Well finally your day comes, and bingo you go back in time.  But your day with Jesus turns out to be -- laundry day!  Wow, are you bummed -- what a disappointment!  I mean I thought my day with Jesus would be ‘heal the blind day’ – or ‘turn the water into wine day’ – or ‘feed the five thousand day.’  But I get laundry day! 

You see we forget that if you add up all the recorded days of Jesus in the gospels, which tend to be extraordinary days, they’re less than a year.  And so in three and a half years of ministry, Jesus must have had a few laundry days!   But does it really matter, because – think about it -- just doing laundry with Jesus would be pretty incredible!  (adapted:  Craig Barnes, Walking In Circles, Sermon, National Presbyterian Church, November 25, 2001)  

It's my contention that folk skeptical to faith, in particular, want to see us do laundry with Jesus;  they want to know:  does Jesus relate to my common, ordinary lot:  my ‘ups and downs’ as a Mom -- my boredom and lack of purpose on rainy days -- my high and low emotions -- the ordinary routine of life? 

It's important to note that folk skeptical to the faith are increasing.  Last October the Pew Research Center released a study that revealed that one-fifth of all American adults, 46 million, have no religious affiliation.  Popularly called the ‘Nones’ this group is made up of every conceivable belief system, from ‘some faith, to no faith,’ and everything in between. 

Though the ‘Nones’ are not the only trend in religion, they’re a significant trend alerting us that Christian faith and values are indeed waning. 

Thus, our mission as the church must be intensifying; translated we need bubble over with faith, expressing in even bolder ways, our conviction that Jesus is Lord.

And so here’s the challenge:  bubble over with faith, in even bolder ways.  Demonstrate Jesus on growing number of days -- including ordinary days. 

Translated: do laundry with Jesus, letting Jesus shine in every aspect of life, including your common routine.