Dressed Dummies

I don’t usually find fraud very funny, but on this occasion I laughed. A Brighton taxi driver was tricked out of £140 after three passengers agreed in advance their long-distance fare. Having dropped off the first two men at separate addresses, he was given the address of the third man who was asleep in the back. On arrival, he tried to wake him only to discover he was a mannequin wearing a hat, dark glasses and men's clothes. Having previously been told by the second man that their 'friend' was asleep, the driver simply drove to the third address. The mannequin was unable to settle its own or its two friends’ fares. Thankfully, the taxi company saw the funny side, remarking on the ‘stick’ the driver received from his colleagues.

The dummy looked like a human but it could not speak or think, much less settle a taxi bill. It’s a wonder the driver wasn’t talking at the dummy; in my experience, bored drivers require little encouragement as they chatter away.

To the Ephesians, Paul writes: And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins (2:1). He declares the unregenerate state as one of death. Unbelievers are physically and mentally alive; they, like us, move and think and speak. We pay our taxi bills and nod politely as the driver drones on. Spiritually, however, they are as lively as Monty Python’s parrot or the dressed dummy. Only the quickening words of Christ can bring our Lazarus from the tomb. Evangelism is not so much a first aid exercise, but a defibrillation of the heart. 

Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”


Image by PIRO4D from Pixabay