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Our church meets in a school. And several weeks ago, when we arrived there was sort of a stinky smell. Common fare for a middle school. But as the morning went on, the halls smelled like someone had tossed a poopy diaper in a trash can somewhere and forgotten to empty it.

By Noon, it smelled like something had died. If you went outside and recalibrated your smeller, it was almost stifling to come back in. It was ugly in there. And we had no idea what it was.

Of course, it didn’t matter that we didn’t know, because it’s not our building. So I chuckled about it with my friend Barry, the head custodian, wondering whether it was a mouse, a rat, a cat, or a dog. I told the story about when I hid the dead frog in Joetta Summers’ locker on Friday and forgot about it until I stepped into the building on Monday morning. We talked and laughed as I openly relished in it being his responsibility and not mine. He eventually locked the doors, figuring he’d tackle it with help in the morning, and we all went home.

About 8AM the next day, I stopped to check in on Barry and found the smell absolutely stifling. They had narrowed it down to the Commons/Cafeteria area, and they were going through all the lockers one by one, looking in every nook and cranny. We mused some more about what it might be, and since I could only stay ten minutes, I asked him to call my cell when he found it. “Especially if it’sspectacular, I really want to come see it.”

Well, they found it. I missed the call so I didn’t get to see it, but I’ll tell you what he described to me.

But first, it might help your imagination to know that in the Portland area, it’s not uncommon for a public building like a school to have no A/C. For a few weeks each summer, we all just sweat out the 90+ degree days, but the rest of the time it’s just not necessary. So we go without. Well, the week before this incident it had been in the low 100’s. Just plain hot.

What did they find? Turns out that a month earlier, at the end of the school year, someone had stocked the walk-in freezer full of meats and cheeses. And then protocol had turned it off for the summer. When they opened the freezer door they were hit with stench. It just came billowing out.

There was no doubt about it. It was rotting animal flesh and dairy products. And there was nothing they could do but jump in with both hands and carry it out.

So they got their hazmet suits with respirators and went in after it. Barry said the meat was actually warm to the touch from all that rotting going on, and the cheese was dripping like liquid. It took hours and they filled up two outside dumpsters.

When Barry took lunch at the Safeway a mile away he was standing in line and realized he could smell it all the way up there! Then he realized it was him he was smelling. The smell had permeated his clothes and hair and everything, and he couldn’t get away from it. To date it’s the worst thing Barry has ever had to do. And for a career jr high school custodian, that’s saying something.

Isn’t that what it’s like sometimes with people problems? Their life breaks and turns rancid and starts to rot? Maybe it’s a relationship gone bad, or maybe it’s cancer, or maybe it’s criminal activity. And the people around that person start to smell something really bad.

At first we’re intrigued. Everyone comes around trying to figure out what it is. And like me, the more spectacular it is, the more we want to know what’s causing the stench! We talk about it. We gossip. We pray about it. We call for the latest updates.

But just like I only wanted to satisfy my curiousity and had no intention of helping Barry, most of us would rather not have to help clean up the mess of people’s lives. It’s a good drama for us, and that’s about it. If you step in close enough to accept responsibility, you gotta reach in with both hands and start getting rid of what’s rotting. And that’s always ugly.

Wendy and I just celebrated 20 years of marriage. But 14 years ago we had separated. Our relationship had been broken violently by sin. Our hearts were broken and we were seeing a counselor, yet my heart was hard, and Wendy’s was bitter. And there was a stench. And there was no earthly hope for restoration.

At that time there were some people who offered really bad advice—advice that would have perpetuated the drama. There’s always a sort of morbid excitement about it when a relationship breaks apart, and people will often crowd in to get a spectacular view.

But by God’s grace, at that same time there were people intently praying for us. Not only that, there was one couple in particular who reached in with both hands. They included us in their family things, their small group things. They called all the time to see how we were doing. They ministered to us. They cried and laughed with us. We took up gobs of their time and energy. It was costly for them, but ultimately they led us to Christ, and to a miraculous reconciliation.

It was during that time that, through the encouragement and love of those people, God broke the grip of sin on my life. My eyes were opened, I was spiritually awakened and my heart was turned around 180 degrees. It was by God’s power. But it was also by the love of a few people who cared enough to move toward us in faith, when everything about the smell said emphatically to stay away.

Jesus said to “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Matt 22:37-39 (ESV)

At Eastridge we’ve boiled it down to the simple statement: Love God, love people. But the heart of that statement would quickly add words like “passionately” or “radically” or “with all that you have and all that you are”. And that’s what I’m eager to explore.

What is the Spirit saying to the churches? In what ways do we need to step forward in offering radical love to radically broken people?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 at 3:04 pm and is filed under redemptive relationships. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.