no launderer on earth can whiten them

Brother yesterday spoke of the need to "clean wool" from the sheep of a flock. The image he paints of dirty sheep and the responsibility shepherds have to whiten that wool is an apt one. Eph5 commands husbands to shepherd wives in such a way as to present them near perfect before God. As His bride, flocks need to be made presentable as well, and the shepherds who are tasked to mirror The Shepherd are the ones called to do it.

It is not a pretty calling, this woolcleaning. Not only is there great effort involved in whitening darkened gray, but you must also get into the dirt and the grime. You are exposed to filthiness you wish not to see on any terms ever. Many might find the cleaning the hardest part, the expenditure of mental and physical energy. Oh no, brother. The hardest part is that exposure to darkness. I already saw behind the facade, knew each had fallen short of the glory. I needn't see the details to realize that. And yet that detail brought to right under my eyes and told to view and told to correct. And that darkness before the eyes is always unsettling, always unsettling.