Well. This is Awkward.

Awkward moments. Everyone has them. Sometimes, they’re mild, like when you wave at someone you thought was waving at you. Except they weren’t. Or you and Celine Deon are just killin’ it. Until you notice the guy in the car next to you at the traffic light is staring. And of course there’s the left-hanging high five. But sometimes, those awkward moments are mortifying. Like when you hit “Reply All,” and “All” did not need to see that reply. It occurred to me that the Bible has a lot of moments like that.

In Genesis 18, Sarah overhears a mysterious stranger predict that she will bear a son in the coming year. Abraham is pushing the century mark and she’s at the point where there are just some things a woman her age should not wear. So she laughs. The stranger, who turns out to be none other than the Lord himself, asks Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh?”

Sarah sticks her head out of the tent and says, “I did not laugh.”

The Lord says, “Yeah – you did.”

Awkward.

Then there is the Bethlehem Caucus (1 Samuel 16) where Samuel is ordered by God to select Israel’s next king. One by one, the sons of Jesse pass by in review. One by one, Samuel rather unceremoniously announces, “You’re not the one.”

Finally, the old prophet turns to Jesse and asks, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“Well,” Jesse answers, “there is still the youngest. But he’s tending the sheep.”

“Send for him,” says Samuel. “We’ll all just stand here (basking in the warm glow of rejection) until he arrives.”

Awkward.

The New Testament has its share of incommodious moments, too. When a group of Jerusalem bigshots show up in Antioch, Peter greets them with a Bar B Que stain on his tunic.

That’s a little awkward.

Then Paul confronts Peter with his hypocrisy. Publically.

That’s really awkward.

Finally, Paul uses Peter as a sermon illustration to the Galatians (chapter 2).

That’s eternally awkward.

How about that moment when Jesus introduced Matthew (I ♡ Romans), to his new Kingdom colleague, Simon, the Zealot (Kill ‘em all & let God sort ‘em out)?

Or that time Jesus invited himself to the home of Jericho’s least tall and most corrupt official, Zacchaeus?

Jesus silently writing in the sand while a half-dressed woman burns under the shaming stares of her accusers. Then hearing stones drop with a thud onto the ground after his terse, withering challenge.

Washing the feet of a man you know is about to betray you.

Having your feet washed by a man you know you are about to betray.

Awkward.

We work hard to avoid awkward moments, people and situations. They make us feel clumsy, self-conscious and conspicuous. But if the Bible is any guide, socially uncomfortable conditions could indicate the nearness of God. Perhaps the line between embarrassed and enchanted, awkward and awesome is thinner than we think.