In the past week there was an armadillo carcass at the bottom of the hill. I noticed it walking to the gym, and boy o’ boy, did I notice it. Yuck. I did my best not to retch too badly as I walked past it. On the way back from the gym, I held my breath, but it was still pretty rough.
The next day I drove instead of walking, noting that it looked like a few more cars had flattened the armored mammal – but doubting that it improved the smell.
I couldn’t help but think that this armadillo was someone’s problem. Was it the responsibility of the city to pick up the nauseating carcass? Did the duty belong to the homeowner? Was it my place as a good neighbor to try to figure out how to do that and not lose my lunch? Should have the driver who creamed it stopped and cleaned it up? It was somebody’s problem, but whose problem was it?
I think we wonder similar things about the sinful world around us. It STINKS, even worse than day old dead armadillo on the pavement in Florida heat. Our sinful world is something that we should find nauseating. We look around and we see war, lust, selfishness, racism, and all of the other evidences – and we can’t help but retch a little in our mouths.
But whose problem is it? We can do the same kind of finger pointing. Is it my responsibility? Does the blame lay with the devil? Hey, God is all powerful, why did He let this happen in the first place? Is someone else at fault? An evil politician or political regime? Is it influencers and cultural icons? We can point to everyone and everyplace, but it doesn’t necessarily fix the problem. The armadillo is still rotting.
It turns out “my” armadillo was washed down the storm sewer. God took care of it. He washed it away with one of our afternoon rain showers. The stink is erased, the stain is gone. I can walk by that spot again.
It’s probably not the best metaphor for God’s grace, but maybe it’s not too terrible. God takes the stink of sin, the stink that we can all formulate all kinds of answers about, but rather than just giving us an answer – He does something about it. He washes that sin away with the shower of His Son’s blood – washing all that terrible, stinking sin into the sewer of the Abyss. It is gone from us as far as east is from west. And one day, He will come to renew all of creation – even roadkill prone armadillos.