When I was a new pastor, I laughed upon learning that my church had a Committee on Committees. Come to find out, it was an important committee, since it named all the other committees. If you were on it, you could keep from being on any of the others.

Now we learn about another important committee I didn't know existed: the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee. Today's New York Times tells us that this international Agency exists to fight a growing problem: space junk. Since the nations of the world began orbiting satellites, there's been a growing concern that the day would come when too much stuff was floating around up there. Inevitably something would run into something else, which would run into something else. The chain reaction could threaten satellites, space ships, and anything else venturing into the heavens.

Now that time has apparently come. China's recent anti-satellite test blasted an old satellite into more than 1,000 pieces. They join the 10,000 detectable objects (four inches wide or larger) already up there. They're playing space billiards, with frightening results.

There's no good way to remove all this trash. And fitting new spacecraft with heavier shields will only make them slower and costlier. This point of no interstellar return is known as the "Kessler syndrome" (named for a former NASA official who was one of the first to warn of the danger). For all our technological sophistication, some day we may find that we have grounded ourselves.

Our celestial problem is a parable for a spiritual issue much closer to home. We might call it the "spiritual Kessler syndrome": sin produces more sin. A glancing impression turns into a intentional thought, which becomes a persistent desire, which finally births a sinful action. Scripture warns: "after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death" (James 1:14-15). The sin is not the first look but the second. As Luther counseled, you cannot keep the birds from flying over your head--but you can keep them from nesting in your hair.

One good way to refuse seemingly innocuous temptation is to consider the end from the beginning. Your enemy will not be content with slander you keep to yourself or pride you hide from others. Private lust has not fulfilled Satan's purpose until it leads to public failure. So, if we ask where this sin is going, we can stop its progress before it's too late. Is spiritual junk orbiting your soul this morning? It will never be easier to seek God's forgiveness and victory than it is right now. Why do you need his grace today?

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