BBC
Radio
©
John Denney 6 October 2005
Sermon on the
Hill(man Minx)[1]
My
friend – let’s call him Paul – is a vicar.
A couple of years ago, he was driving to conduct the funeral of a former
member of his church in a town he’d not visited before. He missed the turn from the motorway, and
started to panic. He turned round and
made his way back to the right turn, but was in danger of being late for the
funeral. So he drove a bit too fast and
then noticed the blue flashing light and – oh dear! – a police car stopped
him. The traffic constable looked at his
licence and said, “Reverend, eh?” “Yes,”
said Paul, hoping to persuade the policeman to be lenient, “I’m on my way to
conduct a funeral. Could you let me
off? After all, Blessèd are the merciful, for they shall
obtain mercy[2]”. Still writing out the form, the policeman
replied, “Sorry, Reverend, but your speedometer runneth over.”
It’s
one of the hazards of driving that if you drive too fast, you’re likely to get
caught. I was fined £60 with three
points a couple of years ago for driving at 38 miles an hour along
The
annoying thing, though, is that I didn’t get any credit for the hundreds of
hours of driving when I didn’t drive
too fast. Because, as a Christian, I try
to follow the teachings of Jesus. “Now
then, John,” you’re thinking, “Jesus didn’t say anything about motoring
behaviour.” No, but I was thinking of what
we know as the Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus said Blessèd are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth[3]. So driving meekly means not speeding, not
driving aggressively, letting people in at junctions, giving way to others.
How
about giving it a try, driving meekly.
Maybe that’ll stop your loved ones finding out the truth of something
else Jesus said: Blessèd
are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted[4].
[1] The Hillman Minx was a small car made by the English Rootes Group in the 1950s and 1960s. The DeLuxe saloon cost around £773, so the buyers were a little more affluent than people like my father, who ran a Morris Minor (with the split windscreen), that cost £358. I learned to drive in OKD301, which was traded in for £25 in 1963 for a Morris 1100. OKD301 had done over 250,000 miles in the 13 years she lived with us on her 900cc sidevalve engine.
[2] Matthew
5:7 KJV
[3] Matthew
5:5 KJV
[4] Matthew
5:4 NIV