The Rag Man

Walter Wangerin, Jr, is a Lutheran pastor who for decades now has written powerful stories to help young people understand the beauty of the Christian faith.

Perhaps one of his most moving stories is his parable called The Ragman.

It takes place in an unnamed city. A man goes for a walk before dawn on a Friday morning and is intrigued by a ragman he sees walking ahead of him. Pushing a cart full of rags, he cries out, “Rags! Rags! New rags for old! I take your tired rags!”

Because the Ragman was young and strong, the person watching him wondered why he would have such a useless job. At the same time, he could not help but follow him.

Soon they came to a house where a young girl was sitting on a porch crying hysterically into a handkerchief. The Ragman came up to her, took her handkerchief and gave her a clean rag. Her sadness disappeared and she smiled at him. However, when the Ragman returned to his cart, he began sobbing uncontrollably just as she had.

Then they came upon a woman standing on the street corner. She was weak from a wound on her forehead which was covered with a blood soaked bandage. The Ragman took the bandage from her forehead, wrapped the wound in a fresh rag and put the bandage on his own forehead. As he walked away, the woman’s wound healed. But blood began to pour from the Ragman’s head.

Still sobbing and with blood now streaming down his face, the Ragman approached a man who was leaning against a telephone pole. When the Ragman spoke to him, he turned to reveal that he had only one arm. The Ragman offered to exchange coats with him. Miraculously, as the man put on the Ragman’s coat, an arm grew into the sleeve. However, when the Ragman put on the man’s coat, he was left with only one arm.

And so it went on all day, the Ragman encountered broken bodies and wounded spirits all over the city and took upon himself their sorrow, pain and burdens. As the sun set,  the Ragman went into an alley. He was bloodied, soaked in tears, missing an arm and unable to go any further. He lay himself down in that alley and died.

The man who had been following him broke down in tears. This Ragman who had brought so much consolation and hope to the people of that city was now gone. He sobbed inconsolably that such a generous man would have to die alone in the street. So he stayed by his side all through that night and all day Saturday as well until Sunday morning.

Then, early on Sunday morning, the man was awakened by an explosion of light. He looked to where the Ragman’s body had lain  and was amazed by what he saw. The Ragman, now alive and as vigorous as he had been on that first Friday morning, gathered his rags into his cart and began to walk again through the city.

The man who had stayed by his side all that time now had the courage to run up to him and speak to him. He asked him to take the rags off him and exchange them for new ones. He asked the Ragman to take the grief he felt over his many sins and wrap him in joy. In fact, the Ragman exchanged clothes with the man taking on his regrets, his bitterness and his sorrow leaving him with a generous heart full of compassion for others.

The parable ends with this powerful paragraph: “Taking the old, tired rags of my existence that covered the griefs and wounds of a life sadly lived, he replaced them with the new clothes of a life spent following Him. He put new rags on me and I am now a reflection of the hope he offers to us all. The Ragman. The Christ.”

This beautiful story captures why Jesus came to earth. He came to exchange our sinfulness for His grace. He came to take upon Himself the punishment we deserved so that we could have the hope of everlasting life in Heaven. We can offer Him our sorrow, bitterness and anguish and take upon ourselves His joy, compassion and peace. As the Ragman did, Jesus walks among us taking on Himself whatever beats us down and oppresses us.

In today’s first reading, the prophet Baruch tells the people of Israel, “Jerusalem, take off your robe of mourning and misery; put on the splendor of glory from God forever…”That is the work of this Advent Season, to leave behind all that keeps us from following Jesus and to choose faith over fear, hope over despair and love over indifference. It is a time to turn to God who makes the crooked ways straight, who makes the rough ways smooth and levels the mountains before us. In this way we can begin to live out of the strength he gives to accomplish all that He has in store for us.

We have gathered here today to witness the greatest exchange of all. We will bring simple bread and wine and He will transform them into His own Body and Blood to nourish and comfort us on this journey. As we approach to receive Him, let us bring all the torn and filthy rags of our sinfulness, the wounds of our unhealthy choices and the scars that the sins of others have left on us and exchange them for His love, grace, joy and peace. Then, when we leave this place, we can do the same for all those we meet in the course of this week so that the hope given us by the Ragman, the Christ, can extend throughout our broken world.