Ep 129: Stains, Billy Mays, and the Blood of Jesus

How can an infomercial remind us of the blood of Jesus?

Let's talk about that here in just a sec.

Welcome to the show. I'm Daniel Dalp, and this is For Your Sunday Morning Drive, the short podcast with the goal of providing some motivation, encouragement, and maybe a little bit of a challenge and helping to prepare your mind for worship on a Sunday morning just like this.

I've got just one announcement for you this morning.

Before we get started, the esteemed gentleman over at the Through the Eyes of Jesus Podcast, Isaiah and Walker, had me on recently to talk about God's protection. I've put a link in the show notes to that episode, and I encourage you to check them out and subscribe to their show.

Well, let's go ahead and get the show on the road today.

This is Episode 129, "Stains, Billy Mays and the Blood of Jesus."

Let's go to church.

Are we there yet?

If you're a longtime listener to the show, you know that I'm a sucker for nostalgia. I can't help it. Good or bad, I enjoy taking a trip down memory lane, and there are a few things I enjoy more than that moment where you uncover that little piece of '90s or early 2000s memorabilia that just unlocks a memory that I haven't thought about in years.

So much so that when I'm not doing a whole lot around the house, or if I'm just sitting down to read, I'll put on a YouTube playlist just for background noise. And it's full of TV commercials from the era.

Yes, I know that's weird, but that's not the point.

Recently, one of those commercials that came on was an old ad for OxiClean, hosted by the one and only legendary pitchman and infomercial guru Billy Mays.

You remember him? For younger listeners, this is what he sounded like.

"Hi, Billy Mays here for OxiClean, the stain specialist. Powered by the air you breathe, activated by the water that you and I drink."

Man, so good.

You know, I never used OxiClean, and I don't think my parents ever used it either. But if you remember that commercial, you remember that image of stains just vanishing. Once something was submerged in that solution, it was like magic. No trace of that stain remained, regardless of how bad it was. No matter how hard you might look, it was completely washed away.

Now, I know it's a silly example, and admittedly, to equate OxiClean to the blood of Christ, yes, it seems tantamount to sacrilege. But I've got to tell you, that's the first place my mind went. Forgive me, I'm nearly 130 episodes deep in this thing, and maybe I've scratched the bottom of the barrel with this one.

Regardless, I think it's worth taking some time reminding ourselves today how thankful we should be for the blood of Jesus, for the fact that when we come in contact with that blood, He washes us clean.

That stain of sin, that horrible mark of spiritual death and eternal damnation, even though it runs so deep, no trace of it remains. Regardless of how bad we or others think our sin was, no matter how hard we or others might look, it's gone, completely washed away.

And we should be so thankful. We should be so confident in the promises of God that those stains are gone.

But wait, there's more.

If we trust that Jesus has cleansed us and our brethren of those stains, we should stop looking for them, and instead maybe we champion the great forgiveness that we've taken hold of.

I think of Saul of Tarsus. The stains of his sin ran deep, so deep, in fact, that long after first meeting Jesus on the Damascus Road, he looked back and said this about the goodness and forgiveness of Jesus in 1 Timothy 1:12–16:

"And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man. I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

"This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life."

Paul looking back.

Paul, the man who held the coats of those who stoned Stephen, who dragged Christians away to prison and to death.

Paul, who Ananias questioned Jesus about.

Paul, who many in Jerusalem thought was unworthy of ministry and forgiveness until defended by Barnabas.

That Paul was washed clean. That stain was gone, and he didn't let the fact that it used to be there hinder him.

Sometimes we let it hinder us, don't we?

We come to Jesus, we're baptized for the remission, the forgiveness of our sins. But do we have moments where we can't help but look to see if the stains are still there?

Those moments where we let the guilt of a life lived pre-Jesus stop us from furthering the mission of the Kingdom?

Or do we, like the Jerusalem brethren, pounce on our brethren for hints of stains long washed away?

Isaiah 1:18 says this:

"Come now and let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; and though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

Listeners, my encouragement for you today is if you're looking for stains in your robe and dings in your crown after they've been through the blood of Jesus, your eyes will long fail you before you find them.

You are forgiven.

Live like it, go and sin no more, and help your brethren along the way because the blood of Jesus is precious, it's powerful, and it's more than enough to get those tough stains.

Well, those are my thoughts for your Sunday morning drive.

Now it's time to hear yours.

Our discussion questions for this week are: Why is it sometimes difficult for us to believe that our past sins have truly been forgiven?

How should knowing that we are forgiven affect the way we live after coming to Christ?

And here's Evelyn with this week's kids question.

How can you show forgiveness to someone else?

Hey, thank you for listening. Thank you for spending some time with us this morning.

If you're forgiven, live like it.

And if you're not, come to Jesus.

Hang in there, focus on Jesus, and I'll see you Sunday.