{"id":5586,"date":"2026-07-17T08:15:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T12:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/?p=5586"},"modified":"2026-07-17T08:15:49","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T12:15:49","slug":"the-dilemma-of-dirty-hands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/17\/the-dilemma-of-dirty-hands\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dilemma of Dirty Hands"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast<\/em>,\u00a0click here<\/a>


For English soccer fans, this week has been\u00a0d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu all over again.

The dreams that their beloved \u201cThree Lions\u201d team might finally bring home the nation\u2019s second World Cup were dashed two days ago in Atlanta.

And not just by any opponent. The English lads were crushed by Argentina \u2013 that Evil Empire led by aging wonder Lionel Messi. The Good Guys were even leading 1-0 in the late stages of the match. But they couldn\u2019t hold on, reeling helplessly as Messi and Crew scored two dramatic goals within seven minutes.

The Argentinian fans rubbed it in. The two countries have never seen eye-to-eye following their 1982 dustup over the Falkland Islands, and one of the chants from the South Americans in the stands was a not-so-subtle attempt to mock the United Kingdom. Within minutes of victory, Argentinian players even unfurled a banner proclaiming their sovereignty over the Falklands.

The Brits won it all in 1966. Since then\u2026heartbreak.

I happened to be in London in 2006 when the English team reached the World Cup quarterfinals, which they lost to Portugal. It was as if the entire country was plunged into existential grief.

This time was supposed to be different. Instead, sportswriters on both sides of the Atlantic agree that this represents the nation\u2019s most dispiriting defeat in six decades. And it will be four long years before The Three Lions get another shot at glory. \u00a0

For now, they will have to relive the triumph of 1966, and especially Robert Federick Chelsea Moore, otherwise known as \u201cBobby,\u201d the hero of the hour.

The Brazilian superstar Pele once described his English counterpart as the greatest defender he ever played against.

Bobby Moore died in 1993 at the age of 51. Seven years later, the nation\u2019s soccer-crazed citizens voted him one of the 100 Greatest Britons of All Time.

England hosted the World Cup in 1966, and the final match was played in historic Wembley Stadium. Queen Elizabeth II was in attendance and personally presented the solid gold Jules Rimet Trophy to Moore, who was representing the victors.

An interviewer once asked him what it was like on that extraordinary occasion to ascend the balcony and approach the queen. \u201cIt must have been a wonderful experience to do that before a home crowd,\u201d the interviewer gushed.

\u201cActually,\u201d said Moore, \u201cit was terrifying.\u201d

He continued, \u201cAs I was going up the steps, I noticed that the queen was wearing some beautiful white gloves. I looked at my hands and realized that they were covered with Wembley mud. I thought, \u2018How can I shake hands with her like this? I\u2019ll make her gloves dirty.\u2019\u201d

When you watch the historic footage of the ceremony, you can see Bobby Moore desperately wiping his hands on his shorts. As he gets closer to the queen, he even wipes his hands on a nearby velvet tablecloth. \u00a0

For English football fans, it is one of the endearing images of that memorable day.

For centuries, theologians have pondered a crucial question: How can people with dirty hands \u2013 we who have soiled ourselves through our actions, words, and motivations \u2013 ever come into the presence of a holy God? \u00a0How can we approach a deity whose essential nature is infinitely purer and whiter than any queen\u2019s gloves?

We find the answer in the book of Hebrews:

\u201cTherefore, since we have a great high priest\u00a0who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God,\u00a0let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.\u00a0For we do not have a high priest\u00a0who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are\u2014yet he did not sin.\u00a0Let us then approach\u00a0God\u2019s throne of grace with confidence,\u00a0so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need\u201d (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Incredibly, people with spiritually soiled hands are not only welcome in God\u2019s throne room.

We can even approach God\u2019s throne of grace.

And we can do so with confidence<\/em>.

That\u2019s because Jesus, through his work on the cross and his status as our high priest, has cleansed our hearts and minds.

For four more years, English fans will have to sigh deeply and find encouragement chiefly by looking to the past.

Followers of Jesus, however, are blessed by a present <\/em>reality \u2013 unobstructed access to our Father in heaven who will never turn us away. \u00a0\u00a0
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here For English soccer fans, this week has been\u00a0d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu all over again. The dreams that their beloved \u201cThree Lions\u201d team might finally bring home the nation\u2019s second World Cup were dashed two days ago in Atlanta. And not just by any opponent. The English lads were crushed by Argentina \u2013 that… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5587,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[101,1151,1152],"class_list":["post-5586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-grace","tag-soccer","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5586"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5588,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5586\/revisions\/5588"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}