Whiter than snow

By Monty Hope
Because of its rarity in these parts, a good snow storm always creates lasting memories.  From a South Carolina perspective, we have had two memory makers this year.  Tuesday, January 25th, marked a nice white covering for the midlands, but that storm will best be remembered for the apocalyptic traffic conditions in Atlanta.  I was stuck in a hotel about an hour north of Atlanta and my wife sent a picture of our home after the snow.  While the picture looked beautiful, I knew the real story under the covering of wintry wonder.

I know our porch has some rotten wood and needs painting.  I know many of the shrubs are >18 years old and need to be pulled up.  They look tired and weak.  I know multiple screens on the back porch have been ripped where my youngest son was practicing his best Lionel Messi routines.  I know there are crabgrass patches in the yard that need to be dug up and replanted with centipede.  I know Zone 4 of my sprinkler system doesn’t work because there is a short in it.  I could go on and on.  In fact, Rene’e can give a more detailed and exhaustive list of the things I never get around to fixing.  Bottom line: That beautiful picture is a cover up.

For some of us, our lives may look like a snow covered landscape.  We look clean or “all together” when seen by others.  Perhaps we are even camouflaging the truth from ourselves.  After all, we are good Baptists.  What possibly could be wrong?  What is the snow we “pile on” to make our lives seem clean / blessed to ourselves and others?

Is it material possessions?  Do we live in the right house in the right neighborhood?  Do we drive the right car? Do we wear the right clothes?  Nothing wrong with having what we have, but do we use these possessions to try and hide the truth?  Could the truth be that we have more debt than we should or that we spend more than we should or that we give less than we should?

Is it our work or occupations?  Do we have the right “position” with the right pay?  Do we use the “position” as a means to hide the strife and struggles we face in our work?  Do we use the job as a way to pretend the grass really is greener?  We know the truth.  You have to cut the grass no matter what side of the fence you are on.

Is it community service?  Do we belong to the right charity or volunteer in the right organization?  When we serve, is it to pile on the snow hiding the fact that our own family is a wreck and we are avoiding the time we need to spend there?

What about religion?  This one hurts.  Do we attend the right church or the right Sunday school class that somehow creates a façade of religion rather than a true relationship with Jesus and fellow believers?
Why do we pile this snow on?  To fool ourselves into thinking all is ok.  Perhaps we are suffering pain, uncertainty, or low self-esteem.  We believe piling snow will solve our problem.  At least it makes it look good.  Do we pile it on to fool our fellow man?  We surely do not want them to know what is going on.  Do we cover with snow to hide the sin that is in our lives rather than to deal with it?  For me, it’s all about pride.  I am a man.  I am an Engineer.  I am a leader.  It is my job to fix things.  So, what do I do?  When I am trying to fix things in my own power, they don’t get fixed; they get covered with snow.  Heck, instead of solving the problem, I often create a deeper mess to have to dig out of.

Jesus said in Matthew 23: 27-28, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.  In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”  Are we whitewashed tombs?  It’s God’s will for his sons and daughters to be blessed.  Please do not hear me say something is wrong with having wonderful possessions, wonderful jobs, or a wonderful church.  I know I just need to evaluate those for what they are: blessings.  I don’t need to use them to cover up what reality may be.

We have an alternative to the cover up plan.  We have the wash away plan.  Psalm 51:7 says, “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”  Isaiah 1:18 says, “Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord.  Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”  The wash away plan was perfected 2000 years ago when Christ died on the cross.  There is no need to pile on the snow; there is only a need to be cleansed.  When we know and accept that His blood was shed for us, we are perfected.  We must also recognize that, in this life, we need to stay connected to this cleansing power.  Our world is imperfect; we are imperfect.  When sin creeps in (and it will), we must return to the blood not cover with snow.

If we are true believers in Jesus, we will soon enough know perfection without sin.  Perhaps that day is today?  Are you ready?

The old hymn “I Shall Be Whiter than Snow” by James L. Nicholson states is well.

Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly entreat,
I wait, blessed Lord, at Thy crucified feet,
By faith for my cleansing, I see thy blood flow—
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow,
Now wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.