The Weekly Encourager – January 4, 2013 – Picking Up Trash

What's the best way to be neighborly? You're probably good at it, but, I failed last week, and the Holy Spirit has brought conviction.

Our next-door neighbor, “Ted,” is not known for his helpfulness. Here's an example. The beautiful tall mass of evergreen trees on the line between our two properties was one of the key reasons why we selected to buy this particular house. The large growth evoked happy memories of summers at our grandparents' homes in Tennessee. Also, the wall of green hid Ted's house completely, making us feel as if we lived next to the woods. Two or three years ago, Ted chopped down most of the trees, including some of ours! His justification was, “I hate holly trees and all those junk trees!” By contrast, I feel that it's a crime to cut down a mature tree, unless it's rotting or growing roots under the house. I told him that old trees were one of the benefits of living in an old neighborhood, and if he didn't like trees he should move to Arizona. (See what a great neighbor I am?) After viewing his trash, beer cans, old cars, and boat, I got estimates on putting up a fence, then realized that a green hedge would be cheaper and more attractive. I remember telling the story to a friend who is not a believer. Her response was, “I would just go right out and plant a whole row of hollies there.” I thought, “Well, that's the world's way: return evil for evil. But I am more spiritual. Even though I really like holly trees, I know my neighbor hates them, so I'll look for something else.” A few months later, I found lovely fast-growing shrubs on sale unexpectedly. I felt that the Lord had honored my faithfulness and made provision.

That was a great spiritual lesson in loving your neighbor, a lesson which I later forgot. Now the neighbor is adding a major addition to the house, which is his right, of course. However, after 24 years of looking out from our dining room at a very pleasant view of green trees with sky beyond, I'm finding it hard to look at Tyvek every day instead. When the first roof line went up, I thought, “It's not so bad, I can see sky to one side of it; I can get used to this.” Then another structure went up, with another roof blocking the other side. I thought, “Well, the two roofs form a nice V, and I can still see sky and one or two distant trees in that V. I can get used to this.” A few days later, you guessed it, another roof went up, this one perpendicular to the other two, and crooked! Now I have to get used to this!

There's loud noise from the construction site but I know it's temporary. What really annoys me is the workers piling junk on the edge of the property, sliding into my carefully-planted garden area. Trucks park in front of our house and drip oil onto “our” street, and trash gets tossed onto the ground. I've been pretty irritated by the mess. One morning last week I went out and shoved some of the large pieces back onto Ted's land, then picked up various scraps of trash and threw them back over to his yard!

As “luck” would have it, just as I tossed the last coke bottle onto Ted's driveway, a construction worker was coming out the front door. I started to feel a little bit guilty, but I probably looked angry still. He looked at me with a strange unfriendly expression, and I said, “All this trash!” as justification. Immediately after that, a second worker came out from the house, and he gave me a huge smile and cheerful greeting! What a contrast! I think it was the Holy Spirit who posed the question in my mind, “Which one was the Christian?”

Was the second worker a Christian, or just a friendlier guy? It doesn't matter – either way, I should have behaved as a Christian, whether anyone was looking or not. Love is not easily irritated, not easily provoked. When I raked up all that debris, it would have been almost as easy to put it in a trash bag as to toss it down the street. If I loved my Jesus and loved my neighbor, I could have been glad for the opportunity to help someone else, even though I didn't create the mess. The Son of Man came to serve, not to be served. Oh, how far away I am from true love! Jesus says, don't just love the neighbor who saves the trees, keeps a tidy yard, speaks kindly to you, and offers to water your garden while you're on vacation. Jesus says love your enemy, do good for your enemy. How much better if I had simply picked up the neighbor's trash and added it to my own.

Picking up trash is such a small thing, but it revealed the state of my heart. Deep in my heart, I do not love the Lord Jesus as I ought. My heart is desperately wicked. I seek my own good above that of others, my own pleasure above serving the needs of my neighbor. This trash incident is but one tiny example of a much larger problem. Pride and selfishness are stinking debris in my heart, trash that needs to be carried away. Thanks be to God, Jesus Christ came to earth to die for our sins, so that if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us! He lived a perfectly clean life, not creating even one piece of trash, yet He was sent to pick up my personal trash and remove it as far as the East is from the West. And He was glad to do it!

Lord Jesus, teach me to love You more and more, and to love my neighbor as myself. Grow in me a heart of holiness that seeks to obey You and serve the people You have placed in my life.

God is faithful,