Imperfect

Every Wednesday morning I help out at the luncheon club that is held in the church hall just further along the street where I live.  We had a break for the summer during the month of August but this week we were back again.  Someone had donated a large bag full of apples they thought we might be able to make some use of.  As it happened, on the menu this week was pork and gammon so some freshly made apple sauce was just right.  There was plenty left over that was partly cooked and put in the freezer to use at some future date in some dessert.  What caught my attention was that they were all apples that you would never have been able to buy at any store.  

They weren't perfectly formed.  Some had bruises from their fall from the trees and some had a few bits that had to be cut away and discarded.  Having said all that we made good use of what we had, imperfect as they were.  It never ceases to amaze me just how much food must be discarded just because it is not perfectly formed or has some bruising or is maybe a little overripe.  What a waste!  We don't know because such merchandise never actually gets into the shops for us to buy even if we wanted to.  

It seems that nowadays everybody looks for perfection in all things.  Nobody wants to tolerate anything less than perfection, whether that be the shape of fruit or any other merchandise we may want to buy.  Anything that is even slightly damaged is discarded.  We would be in real trouble if God thought that about us though!  'If you're not perfect, you're not welcome here in heaven' is not something that God who is love would say to anyone.  We sing the song 'Just as I am' and that's how God accepts us.  

Stories from the Old Testament should really open our eyes to the overwhelming love and grace that God has for his creation.  King David who is held in such high esteem was a murderer and coveted the wife of another.  Lot got drunk and had incestuous relations with his daughters (even though it was their idea)  Samson was a womaniser.  Gideon kept asking God for proof of what God was asking him to do.  Joseph was an arrogant show-off, always taunting his older brothers.  Jacob was a cheat, finding a way to steal his brother's birthright.  Rahab was a prostitute.  And in the New Testament, Paul, who is so revered and quoted by Christians, aided and abetted in the extermination of Christians, ruthlessly hunting them down and gloating at the stoning of Stephen.  These make up many stories in our Scriptures - God's word.  The murderer David and the prostitute Rahab are mentioned in the lineage of Jesus, the perfect son of God.  

Nobody's perfect!  Yet God loves and blesses and uses us.  He does not discard us because of our imperfections.  I need to remember that whenever I see something not quite perfect or before making some judgmental remark about someone.