THE MOTHER OF
ALL MOUSE TRAPS
This past June we moved from a rural ministry in Letete, New Brunswick, to an urban ministry in Toronto, Ontario. After twelve years in the ministry, this was my first experience with an urban setting, so I wondered about the difference in ministry.
Obviously there are some differences: I have more people phoning and dropping by the church. We have more visitors in our Sunday worship times. The congregation here at Keele Street is certainly much more diverse. We have people from all over the world attending (they live here now and don't commute); and, believe it or not, we love each other and really get along. Our differences in race, culture, economic background and gender only add to the richness of our experience as we celebrate being one in Christ. As you can tell, I really enjoy serving with these wonderful people!
While there are some differences, there are many more similarities. The human heart, whether it is in the city, or the country, still is the human heart. Sin continues to be sin whether it's wearing overalls or an Armani; thus, the need for Jesus is certainly the same. The Word has to be preached. People need to be loved. Hearts have to be touched. So, much of the mechanics and substance of the ministry remains the same, or in the very least, it has the same foundation and function, even if the context has changed.
But, today I want to relate one more similarity between my rural and urban ministry. That similarity can be summed up with two words: church mice! Yep, we have church mice in this beautiful, modern facility in the midst of the urban landscape we call Toronto, and we also had mice in Letete. The reason we have mice in our building here at Keele is because part of our building goes back to 1890 and it has a solid rock foundation (what else would you expect for a church?). The foundation has been maintained and several of the tiny holes have been plugged with steel wool, but that does not stop the relentless rodents.
Thus we keep traps around the building and make sure we don't have any food sources to attract them. Still, we have the odd mouse make its presence known. This week, though, has been downright weird. When Sheila, my wife, is at work, I cook lunch for our three boys here at the church. This week she worked Monday, Tuesday and today (Wednesday). On Monday, I noticed a garbage can by one of the doors. This can had no bag, no food, and no garbage - nothing in it, except a live little squeaker. The can is about two and a half feet tall and I can't for the life of me figure out how, or why a mouse would expend the effort to jump into it. All that I do know is that once they are within the confines of this can, they can't get out.
Now, being the man of action that I am, and with a heart of cold steel, I had no problem dealing with the dilemma of the trapped mouse. I sent my son outside with the can in hand and he walked a couple of hundred yards down our back alleyway and released the wretched rodent to the elements. Why else have children if you can't get them to do your dirty work? Now, wait, I realize the story is interesting as all get out, and I have you eating out of my hand, but it gets better. On Tuesday, as I lumbered into the kitchen to prepare lunch, I just happened to look in the garbage can again and, lo and behold, there was another mouse! I couldn't believe it! I imagined that John had maybe lacked the heart to banish the mouse to said alley, but at the same time, it didn't really look like the same mouse. This time around I got David and Graham to walk down the street to the parkette and release the creature underneath a tree. This way it could take its last gasps in the beauty of nature. If you are going to die, you might as well have a nice view, right? Well, guess what happened today? Yep, today there was a third mouse in this empty garbage can. I released this one myself. Three days in a row, rodents have expended tremendous skill and energy to get into this empty waste receptacle. Why? What is the attraction? I am trying to reckon this out because I could make millions by building the better mousetrap; I mean three mice in three days, wow!
OK, here's what I want you to consider: we are much like mice. We have two ears, two eyes, pointy noses and we eat cheese. Actually, these aren't the similarities to which I was referring. We are like this trio of cheesers because we get ourselves stuck in situations for which there is no escape (at least from our perspective). We have all found ourselves deep in trouble with slippery slopes too steep to climb in our own strength. In other words, we are all powerless to help ourselves and we needed someone with a bigger heart than mine to help us out of the trap of our own making. Praise God that He was willing to help us. Paul, in Romans, puts it this way: "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom 5:6-8) Did you catch that? At just the right time, WHEN WE WERE STILL POWERLESS, Christ, through His death, reached into the garbage pail of our lives and lifted us to a warm, safe, place. I am so thankful that God treats us better than I treat mice! What about you? Are you still stuck in the garbage can? Do you want out? Well, guess what? You can't climb out on your own. As soon as you figure that out, the better you will be. Go ahead and ask God to reach in and pick you up. He won't leave you to die in the cold; instead He'll shelter you in the warmth of His unlimited love. In the meantime I can't wait to see if I am batting four for four tomorrow!
If you have any questions, or comments, please click on my name at the bottom of this page and I promise to write you back.
