Embarrassing Key Moment

I had been on the road for a few consecutive days and had managed to aquire some unwanted litter in the car. The odd empty rolling water bottle, some chocolate wrappers and a discarded pack of Walkers finest (to avoid the perception of me favouring one snack manufacturer over another it’s important that I point out that there are also other crisp producers) and so as I pulled into the petrol station to satisfy my thirsty vehicle, I decided to make use of the bin on the forecourt.

I stopped the car, removed the key and began to gather the offending items, clutching them in my hands as I continued to de-clutter. Hands full I proceeded to the bin and dropped everything in. On returning to the car I began to feel in my pockets for the key. It wasn’t there – I must have left it in the car. I searched the car – under the seats, in every gap and even lifted out the carpets but I couldn’t find anything. I checked my pockets again before looking around on the floor of the petrol station forecourt. Nothing!

I repeated all of these steps numerous times, convinced that each new search would be more thorough than the last. By now the staff in the shop were staring out of the window trying to work out what I was doing. I had been parked for some time, had put no fuel in the car and was causing the traffic to back up behind me. They looked perplexed.

I looked towards the bin that had so gratefully received my rubbish – surely I hadn’t dropped the key in also? I walked over to it and peered through the little gap –I thought I would be able to fit my hand in. As I reached in I was greeted by some unfamiliar textures – it was like a poor version of a bush tucker trial in a famous TV show. I felt the crisp packet, located one of the empty drink bottles but just couldn’t find the key. A wide range of onlookers were now giving me some very strange looks.

I needed to take the lid off the bin but it was locked – I decided it was time to explain my suspicious actions to the staff. Their eyes followed me all the way to the tills where I proceeded to share my plight. ‘Do you have a key for the bin please’? I asked.

A very friendly (if not slightly chuckling) lady followed me back towards the bin and turned the lock with her key. We pulled the lid off and lifted out the entire contents. I rummaged through, sure that it would be easy to spot – the lady put on her latex gloves and joined in. We now had quite an audience. I began to wonder if I had failed to search the car properly and had caused all this fuss in error – just then a big beaming smile came across the ladies face as she held up the key!!!!

This was indeed a moment of celebration – once lost, condemned to the rubbish bin but now found, able to engage in its true destiny once again. A little ‘jig’ would have surely been appropriate in front of the watching crowd but I resisted and simply whispered a prayer of thanks.

How often do we mistake useful things with things that should be thrown out? Have we lost some valuable traditions in the process of a church de-clutter? We need to get rid of that which is no longer of value but let’s not confuse them with things that still have current worth. Have we convinced ourselves that we have no value, have we looked at ourselves or others and written them off? Jesus wants to rescue those who have been thrown away. He sees our value and came to relentlessly seek and save our lost and discarded lives. Not only has He saved us but He’s passionately committed to restoring our lives to fulfil great purposes and plans once again. This may be a good moment to do a little ‘jig’ or whisper a new prayer of thanks!

A bundle of joy!

‘What was that you said?’

‘I’m sorry I don’t understand what you mean?’

‘Please say that again in a way I can understand’

‘I haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about’

In our minds we may know exactly what we mean. It’s crystal clear to us, obvious in fact. Simple, perceivable and surely understandable – but something can often go wrong when we attempt to communicate it to others. Instead of our illuminated thoughts switching lights on in the understanding of others, it can seem that we have simply managed to draw the curtains in their mind and created a haze of perplexed misunderstandings.

I have a friend who had been encouraged by others in his church to join them for an after meeting takeaway. The dish of choice was a mixed meat kebab and although the experience was new to him, it was quite a regular custom for the others. As they sat in the service listening to a scintillating message their rumbling stomachs ached for the moment that was drawing ever closer – the moment where they would feast on their ‘bundle of joy!’ That’s what they called it – the delights of this pitta bread stuffed with chicken, lamb, salad and oozing with spicy sauce had been given its own nickname.

After the service they made their way to the takeaway and talked freely about their inevitable ‘bundle of joy’. My friends anticipation grew as he looked forward to experiencing this for the first time. He made sure he was at the front of the queue and aware that he had the attention of the obliging worker the other side of the counter asked ‘can I have a bundle of joy please?’

The others rolled around the floor with hysterical laughter and my friend wondered what was going on. Why were they laughing? Why was the man serving him looking so confused? ‘Bundle of joy?’ he asked ‘What are you talking about?’ The others were now holding their stomachs with muscle cramp from the laughter. ‘A bundle of joy’ my friend repeated – ‘one of those please’ pointing to a picture of what he had seen in his mind all along. ‘You mean a mixed meat kebab – why didn’t you say that in the first place?’

So often the church can have its own language – expressing real things in ways that mean real things to us. But to those outside the church in the Post-Christendom world we are now living, the response can often be ‘What are you talking about?’ But rather than asking us to clarify what we mean, they just walk off confused with their understanding dulled.

Romans 10:14 asks how people can believe unless they hear - but this cannot just be the resonance of an audio sound in their ears – it must be the communication of a truth with their understanding and for many people today this will involve example – it will call for us to point to an articulated picture of what we mean, a story, a testimony as an expression of what we are trying to communicate.

Do our neighbours, families and communities know what we’re talking about? Do they understand us or our churches? Faced with stares of perplexed faces that are simply confused about God, these are great questions to ask. Let’s be patient, creative and authentic as we seek to express what we mean with living stories of what the gospel means and what it can also mean for others.