The Living Dead

A guy in a taxi wanted to speak to the driver so he leaned forward and tapped him on the shoulder. The driver screamed, jumped in the air and yanked on the wheel. The taxi mounted the curb, clipped a powerpole and came to a stop inches from a shop window.

The startled, wide-eyed passenger said, “I didn’t mean to frighten you. I just wanted to ask you something.”

The taxi driver, breathing heavily, replied, “It’s not your fault sir. It’s my first day as a taxi driver. For the past 25 years I‘ve been driving a hearse!”

This might sound a bit whacky, but I think that coming to church is a little bit like that driver’s experience. You turn up and are seated for most of the time. Normally you just expect to sit there and not be disturbed. But you just never know when God’s going to tap you on the shoulder or whisper in your ear. You never know when He’s going to take the words of a Bible reading or a song or prayer or even a sermon and say in the deep places of your own heart or mind, “Hey you, I want you to listen to this. This is for you.” Or he might even say, “I want you to do something about this.” God’s not a dead passenger on life’s journey, and we come into church not just to talk to him, but hoping that he might respond, and in different ways, talk to us.