Redeeming toilets

2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.

I heard that what I’m about to tell you actually made it into a message preached by a friend of mine this past Sunday, so I thought I’d better write and about it and come clean: I fixed our toilet. I’ll give you a moment to let that sink in…

Now, as ordinary as that statement may be for some people who are considerably more handy than I am, when the words “I fixed our toilet” come out of my mouth, it is an extraordinary statement, the kind that causes people to pass out or place their hands over their mouths in disbelief. But I did, in fact, fix our toilet. It had been running constantly for a few days and I decided it was the perfect opportunity for me to try my hand at home repair because the worst that could happen was me calling our plumber to fix what I couldn’t. Sure there would be the shame of knowing that he knew that I couldn’t “man up” and fix something listed as “so easy a caveman can do it” at do-it-yourself websites, but we’ve shared that awkward moment before. Many times, actually.

A quick trip to a local hardware store got me what I needed, and I was off. There were a few times that Wendy came back and peeked in on me and smiled that “look at the way he’s trying” smile, but I shook it off! I would not be distracted until the last piece was in place, and when it was, I turned the water back on and flushed. It worked. Skeptical, I checked the floor to see if there was any water leaking. The floor was dry! I flushed it again…and again… and again. And every time I flushed, I smiled. In fact, for the rest of that week-end, I intentionally used that toilet so that I could flush it, and every time it flushed, I smiled.

(Before we get to the main point, let me assure you that I do not have some Pavlovian dog thing going on that makes me smile when toilets are flushed. That would be weird.)

As I told my friend later, it just felt good to be the fixer. It made me proud to know that I had saved our family the money of a professional service call and that it actually worked better when I was finished. But what I didn’t tell my friend is what I thought about later on when I wondered if this is also how God feels when He looks at those of us who were broken and in need of His repair. Is my fixed life one that causes Him so much joy that He can’t stop admiring His handiwork in me? And as odd as it sounds, does He just flush me over and over and over again so that He can see the new me, the one that actually works the way He originally intended? I think He just might, and if that’s what it takes to show off His grace to others who are broken, than I say flush away!

In the end, it’s all worth it to see Him smile.

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