Articles From Our Bulletins
Cleaning Gutters
It’s that time of year again. In order to prevent last Fall’s leaves, Winter’s debris, and Spring’s showers from clogging the gutters and flooding May’s flowers, those gutters need to be cleaned. I confess that this is not a job to which I look forward or necessarily enjoy, nor do I know anyone who does! But it is, nonetheless, a necessarily important duty. Failure to keep up with it leads to overflows that rot fascia boards, eaves, and even rafter ends. But such seemingly mundane tasks provide time for spiritual reflection, so please consider that…
Cleaning the gutters doesn’t require:
- Any specialized knowledge or discernment to know it needs doing- anyone with eyes can see leaves in them, or weeds growing from them;
- Any specialized skill- anyone with basic mobility and balance can do it;
- Any specialized tools or equipment- a ladder and fingers will do, though a putty knife or scraper is helpful; or,
- Any specialized highly technical instruction – just get the muck out and wash up.
It does require:
+ An “It’s MY responsibility” mentality- they’re my gutters on my house, therefore cleaning them is my job;
+ An “I can do this” mentality- I can see that it needs doing, I have the ability to climb a ladder, and I have or can easily get the required tools (ladder and hands or a scraper);
+ A willingness to work and get dirty- it’s a sometimes stinky and always dirty job that requires the considerable efforts of moving the ladder, climbing up and down it numerous times, as well as actually getting the leaves, gravel (from asphalt shingles), and general muck and mess out; I can’t do this particular job by pushing a button or swiping an App; I, the gutters, and my tools are going to need a good washing to complete the job;
+ A willingness to do a job repetitively- no matter how well I do it this time, it will need doing again- if “time” remains, Fall leaves and Spring rains will require that I repeat the cleaning.
Now, let’s make some important spiritual applications from this seemingly mundane task:
- The muck in my gutters is sin in my life. It doesn’t take any specialized knowledge or discernment to recognize its presence, or its eternal consequences, “for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23; and “the wages of sin is death,” Romans 6:23. Rather than allowing the “storms of life” to flow harmlessly away, this muck and mess of sin causes them to back up and flood my soul with cares of “this” life rather than the next.
- Cleaning the muck from my gutters is my responsibility. God has done His part-
- He loved me (and everyone else) enough to show me the dirtiness of my sin in His Word, Romans 7:7;
- He manifested His grace to me (and everyone else), Romans 5:8-10; 20-21; and,
- He provided the opportunity for my (and everyone else’s) cleansing through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, Romans 6:1-11.
But I have to do my part too:
- I have to acknowledge the sin (muck) in my gutters- and thus my need of cleaning, John 9:35-41;
- I have to accept responsibility for it and be willing to do something about it, Acts 2:37b-38;
- I have to climb the ladder of His love and grace that elevates me to the place where, Titus 2:11-13;
- I can do my part of the requisite cleansing, Acts 22:16; and,
- I have to keep on cleaning as the need arises, 1John 1:8-9.
These things don’t require any special discernment, any special tools (besides the ladder of God’s love and grace, Titus 2:11-13), any special skills (cf. Acts 10:34-35), or any highly specialized/technical instruction (just believe and be baptized, Mark 16:16). They do require me to accept responsibility for and be willing to do my part to clean “my gutters,” to be willing to get dirty and work hard to clean them, and to be willing to do it all again when the need arises. Now let’s all go and clean our gutters- the spiritual ones at least!
- Cleaning_Gutters.pdf (95.06 kB)
