How Does Jesus View My Mess?

***Warning - This post contains a poo story***

Sarah, Jed and I were on a long haul flight between Australia and Africa. We sat down in the middle aisle. Between the three of us there was a spare seat, and then a stranger. I quickly started talking to this young man and found out a bit about him.

His name was Jesus.

He was from Brazil.

And he was a male stripper.

As the flight progressed I had to do Daddy duties. I took Jed to the toilets at the back of the plane and changed his nappy (or diaper for my North mercian friends). I got back to the seats and Sarah got up to go to the toilet herself. I let Jed crawl across the seats up to Jesus and back.

I went to pick something up and I noticed I had some poo on my finger.

“Where did that come from?” I asked myself. Being a relatively new parent finding poo, vomit, boogers, and food in strange places was nothing new.

But when I looked up at Jed I saw what only can be described as a horror scene. He had what us parents call a Nappy Explosion!

In this case the nappy was not big enough or good enough to hold in all this poo. There was poo all over the seats!

I had no idea what to do so I quickly grabbed Jed and wrapped him in the closest blanket. I called for the hostess who came and gasped in shock,

“Ahhhh! Is he not wearing a nappy?”

“Yes of course he is!” I hollered back!

As she did her best not to gag, she quickly got some wipes and air freshener and threw them at me as she ran towards the back of the plane.

Sarah eventually got back and I gave her Jed, thinking, “Where on earth have you been while I’m here in the middle of a war zone!”

By now the smell was circulating through the cabin. People were gagging behind us, and wondering what was going on.

I scrubbed the seats, sprayed the air freshener and prayed for time travel. I just wanted to get off this plane!

I quickly thought, “Oh no. What is Jesus going to think about this?” (Brazilian male stripper Jesus)

I looked across and there he was. He had pulled his hoody over his head and was rocking back and forward as though he was strapped into a stray jacket at a mental asylum.

We apologised to Jesus and knew that if he could have, he would have left us in a heartbeat.

The rest of the flight was fine. But once we landed, this whole situation made me think.

How does Jesus view my mess? Not Brazilian, male stripper, Jesus. But Jesus, from Heaven, who died and rose again.

Brazilian Jesus couldn’t look at our mess. He couldn’t stand to be near us. The smell was too bad. We made him too uncomfortable. Unfortunately that is a view that people hold of True Lord Jesus. They believe that God cannot look at our mess, and cannot stand to be with people who are all messed up.

But Jesus, Saviour of the World - He was different. This Jesus spent time with people that He wasn’t suppose to. He spent so much time with sinners that His nickname was, “The Friend of Sinners.” Their mess did not bother Him. He did not try and pull a parachute and jump out of the plane when He saw how messed up people were. Jesus clearly showed us that God is not allergic to sin.

What we see in Jesus Christ is that He enters into our darkness. Holds out His hands, hugs us, speaks to us, comforts us, and helps us clean up the mess. He doesn’t rock back and forward refusing to look at us. He gets in there and helps.

Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus is the exact representation of God. Jesus is God in the flesh. He shows us that God is more concerned with you, than your mess. But He doesn’t ignore your mess, He dives in and helps.

What a friend we have in Jesus!