Life, Lemons and Miracle Berries
Yesterday me and my wife attended an interesting function. The food served was accompanied by a story that in some way related to the Christmas narrative of Jesus being born into this world. Just before the dessert was served, trays with lemon pieces were put on the tables. We were instructed to each take a lemon and lick it in order to make sure that it is indeed a lemon. With that confirmed by the expressions of all who obeyed, we were all handed a small red pill. It looked suspicious but it was a church function so we willfully participated when they instructed us to put it in our mouths. It was explained that this pill was in fact a berry from west Africa. It is called a miracle berry. The reason is that this berry changes how your tongue perceive food. We were instructed not to take the speaker’s word for it but to bite into the lemon pieces we just tasted. One by one the brave ones and then everybody did so, and surprised looks appeared all over. Mine was no exception. I was completely surprized by the fact that the very same lemon that was too sour to even lick a minute ago, now tasted like a sweet orange.
Things are not always what they seem. Sometimes, when you engage with something or someone you had a certain idea about, your idea changes. It feels to you like the person or object itself changed but it is in fact your perception that has changed. When this happens, it is the stuff great dinner parties are made off: growth, excitement, discovery and connection (with a tinge of discomfort, challenge and temporary confusion, perhaps).
There is a couple that sleeps on our church’s doorstep most evenings. Sometimes when I arrive at my office, they are just waking up. I find these encounters awkward. I feel like I just stepped into the privacy of a couple’s bedroom unexpectedly and uninvited. They probably feel they are in my way too. I try to be friendly and courteous whilst at the same time standing my ground to utilize the space for what it and I was mandated to use it for. The scene that plays off must look comical from God’s perspective. This pastor with the intention doing God’s work being met with a test about how pure and honest his understanding and motives are when it comes to people who matter to God; even though they are an inconvenience to others. It is the stuff parables are made off; I tell you!
On Friday evening we had another kind of dinner party. We had a few musicians entertaining us with their talent while we feasted on desserts. We printed flyers with invitations on them and handed it out to whoever would take them. As is often the case, one of my congregants was a step ahead of me. He invited the doorstepsleeping couple. I haven’t even considered doing that. I could think of many reasons not to. They won’t show. They will feel awkward if they come. They are probably addicted and there will be children who might not be safe in their company… Somehow, the gospel imperative, the fact that Jesus would have invited them, trumped all these other reason’s in my congregant’s mind. He invited them and they showed up on Friday!
They were neatly dressed up and enjoyed desserts and good music with us. People sat with them and made conversation. We have learned that their names are Jason and Amber. They did not let anybody into all the details of their lives. They did not confess their sins fervently, nor did they give their hearts to Jesus as far as I could tell. In fact, they did not stay very long and they didn’t show up at church on Sunday. On the surface nothing extraordinary happened.
But things are not what they seem. Look closer and you will realize that something beautiful and sweet happened. Our perception changed. Jason and Amber are no longer just a homeless couple on our doorstep, but persons with names. People who dress up and attend a function to have a good time. Our unconscious ideas that homeowners and homeless people cannot socialize and share a piece of cake were challenged. Our closed circle opened up a little bit more and is better off because of it. A perceived awkward predicament turned into an eye-opening encounter of grace goodness and God’s new world breaking through in this one. Hopefully for Jason and Amber too.
Grace is a miracle berry. It enables you to taste the sweetness of that which others despise. It opens your eyes to the fact that there is not more wrong with what you perceive than there is with your perception.
Life gives us lemons. Grace gives us the ability to perceive and experience them in a wholly different, sweet and mutually transforming way.
Gabriel J Snyman
December 2nd 2019