No Charge

Last weekend we attended a wedding at The Rustic Barn in Steinbach.  We decided to stay in Steinbach for night so that we weren’t driving back late at night or early morning, depending on how long the reception would be and I’m glad we did. 

The following morning we walked out of our hotel room and made our way to the elevator that was just around the corner from our room.  We had decided not to stay for the free hotel breakfast but before we were going to leave I wanted to at least grab a coffee for the road.  As we were waiting for the elevator a young man about 20 years old or so swiftly walked by us.  He greeted us with a big smile and just kept walking.  After about 5 or 6 steps he stopped and turned around with a laugh. 

“The elevator is around here somewhere right?”  he said with a nervous laugh. 

With a smile I slowly pointed my finger to the elevator doors that were directly in front of me.  He shrugged his shoulders and came to stand beside me and offered another nervous giggle.  I looked carefully into his eyes not quite sure what was going on with him.  He made an odd picture.  In one arm he was cradling a bottle of drink mix and in the other?  A very large brown stuffed puppy.  Yes, I said he was about 20 or so and yes, he was holding a large stuffed puppy, around the neck.  He chattered incessantly, talking about the various towns that he needed to go to that day.  He tried using his hands to talk, but his arms were occupied with holding onto the bottle so it wouldn’t drop and he did swing the dog back and forth a very little bit, but in a very controlled way so that he could still keep both arms cradling the bottle.  It was a bit of a juggling act.  He had no other luggage.  It was a bit weird.

When he stopped to take a breath I asked if his travelling had to do with work.  He looked confused for a moment and then quickly answered ‘um no’.  Okay, now I was confused and a bit relieved when the elevator doors opened and the three of us stepped inside the elevator.  I heard him take a deep breath and then he looked at me again, this time with a guilty expression.  I was about to ask him if he was ok when he started talking again.

“I hope I don’t lose my damage deposit” he said as he shifted from one foot to the other “I really don’t want to lose my damage deposit.  I left some damage in my room and I hope I don’t lose my damage deposit.”  He shifted the bottle again in his arm and held a bit tighter to the puppy.

There was no time to respond to his comment because the doors had opened and he nearly ran out into the foyer to talk to the clerk behind the desk.  I went to grab a coffee and heard him ask the hotel clerk to get a maid to run up and check his room to find out if he would owe them money for any damage.  His bottle of mix was beside him on the desk, his hand still holding the neck of the bottle, but, the dog had been thrown at his feet.  I put the lid on my coffee and we walked out the doors just as the clerk informed him that the room was alright and that he wouldn’t be charged.  As the doors closed behind us I could hear his frantic ‘thank you’s’ to the clerk. 

I couldn’t stop thinking about this young man and the strange picture he made holding his bottle of mix and his puppy dog.   It was an odd encounter, but then the more I thought about it the more I wondered if God was giving me a little glimpse of who we sometimes are as Christians . How desperately don’t we want to cling to the things this world has to offer, we carefully cradle the promises that the world has to offer us, like this young man cradled his bottle.  But, in the other hand we hold onto our faith, we cling to God like that stuffed puppy, we want both, we want the promises of happiness while we're here and the security of eternity with God, but eventually we have to make a decision and too often our faith is thrown to the floor like that puppy dog, only to be picked up when we need the reassurance that God is still there.  We want it both ways.  We hold onto this world with a death grip and still, just like this young man, we are petrified of the consequences of what our commitment to this world will cost us.  What kind of damage deposit on our lives will God demand of us? Will he look into our hearts and say, “You messed up big time again and this time it’s going to cost you!”?  But, that's not who God is.

We always seem to need reminders about God's grace and goodness, His unconditional love and forgiveness.  We forget that even as imperfect as we are, as often as we are fooled into believing the lies of this world, we are never out of God's embrace.  Even when we make completely ignorant decisions, even for all the times we as Christians have chosen the things of this world and tossed God to the wayside, even for the wreckage we’ve left behind in our ‘rooms’, the charge is the same.  Paid in full.  No charge.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

                                                                                                Romans 6:23