In the Methodist church we have parsonages. A parsonage is a home provided by the church in which the pastor lives. They are a vestige of the 19th century, and they are fading fast. Many large churches now give the pastor a housing allowance. I was an associate pastor in New Orleans when I moved into my first Methodist parsonage. I had lived in college dorms and seminary housing prior to living in this fine home.

The house had all the latest technology and equipment. It had a garage door opener and central heating and air. The house came with a doorbell, which you don’t find in most seminary provided housing. The house even came with the latest in kitchen equipment, an automatic dishwasher.

I knew all about dishwashing. I was the designated dryer. My other task was to put the dishes up. I had been washing and drying dishes since the 60’s. It was one of the chores of being mom’s child. This fancy Methodist parsonage had that new technology, an automatic dishwasher. Do you remember the dishwashers that were on castors? Yes, it was that kind. It sat in a corner until you needed it, and then you could roll it in place when the dishes needed washing.

I did not use it much. I was a bachelor minister at the time and my life consisted of food that involved paper plates. One weekend my mother came to see me. I pulled out the real plates for her.

I also decided to show off my fancy modern dishwasher. I knew the rudiments of connecting it to the kitchen sink. What I did not have were the little pods of dishwashing soap. I loaded the dishwasher and made a rational decision. Since I had dishwashing liquid, I would simply pour dishwashing liquid into the dishwasher.

You know what happened next. Dishwashing liquid and dishwashers are incompatible. There were suds everywhere! I also learned that it takes a couple of wash cycles to get all the detergent out of the dishwasher. There were suds everywhere for a couple of weeks. I learned my dishwasher lesson and have not repeated that mistake.

The Bible proclaims that we are all sinners. Even wearing our Sunday best, we are sinners. We can try to live a holy and perfect life. We can try to avoid sin and live for Jesus, but our very nature gets into our way.

We are like dishwasher suds, eventually sin gets everywhere. There is a remedy for our situation, the grace of God in Jesus Christ.