A United Methodist Pastor's Theological Reflections

"But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory (nikos) through our Lord Jesus Christ." - I Corinthians 15:57


Thursday, March 8, 2012

Grumpy Meets Happy - Dave's Deep Thoughts

 
Here's Pastor Dave McDowell's weekly devotional that he sends out to members of his church. Dave is my brother and serves as the Music Minister at Stewartstown UMC in PA.
I understand the old adage,
you attract more flies with honey
than with vinegar......

and I am all for politeness and kindness,
don't get me wrong.

But just how many flies does one need to catch in one day?

I was in the middle of one of those days.
You know what I mean.......
one of those days that you would rather forget.

It was a day filled with meetings, deadlines, errands,
and yes, a late winter bout with a miserable cold.

Now, I have been known to not have
the greatest disposition when I am sick.

That's when I crossed paths with Sally Sunshine.

I needed to stop by a local store to return an item
and there she was......
stationed at the service desk.
Her mission......
to brighten everyone's day
Sally Sunshine.
 
Oh, that's not her name,
but her positive spirit & smile radiates from far off,
much like an nuclear explosion viewed on the horizon.

Knowing that colds tend to make me a bit grumpy,
I knew that this was a going to be a collision
of two opposite but equal forces.

If we were two of the seven dwarfs,
then Grumpy was about to meet Happy.

I walked up reluctantly to Miss Sunshine.

And how are we today? she said with an excitement
reserved for someone who had been to Starbucks
once too often that day.

Just fine, I mumbled.

I am so glad to hear that,
she said ignoring the fact that my voice
sounded like death warmed over.

Every day is a super day here at (name of store), she chirped.
I knew that I was walking into the jaws of kindness,
and that I was about to be devoured.

This lady had obviously taken then store's workshop in customer service
and had graduated magna cumlaude.

How may I help you today? she asked as somehow
her smile got even bigger.

Unless she could clean out my sinuses, the only thing I could say was,
I need to return this item.

Okie dokie,
now was there anything wrong with the quality of this product?
she asked making full eye contact to promote her caring spirit.

Nope, I just need to return it,
I responded fighting off her eye contact with a sneeze.

Well, I would be most happy to help you today.
May I have your receipt please? she asked in song like fashion.

I gave her the receipt ALMOST wishing
that she would catch this beast of a cold
and thus replace her cheerfulness with congestion.
I think it was the genesis of that horrible ALMOST thought of mine,
that came from the depth of my miserableness,
that caused the Divine to punish me in the moment with IT.
You know about IT, don't you??
Most men over the age of 40 know about IT,
that urgent need to find a men's rest room.

Now it's not just an IT thing with me.
Let's just say if my bladder had been named as an eighth dwarf,
it would have been named, Tiny.

Unaware of my now second helping of discomfort,
Sally Sunshine continued to spew out kindness upon kindness,
thus prolonging my agony.

Would you like to join our rewards program?
You would receive lots of discounts on many of our products.

As IT continued to torment me,
the only reward program I could imagine
involved an immediate trip to the men's room.

No thank you, I stammered.

A spoonful of sugar might help the medicine go down,
but Sally Sunshine's prescription of sweetness was doing
nothing to heal my bladder nor my cold.

Fine and dandy Sir, she quipped. But keep that in mind.
It's a great program that will offer you some great products at great prices.
Unless one of those products was a great catheter,
I wasn't interested.

By the time the refund receipt printed out,
I was closing in on a health & hygiene crisis of major proportions.

As I signed the receipt,
I could sense the lure of the men's room
moments away from me.

Is there any other way I can be of service to you today?
Sally Sunshine said as she tossed another smile my way.

No, just need to visit the men's room and I'll be on my way.
Where is it located, I stammered.

Oh it's just around the corner,
but it is closed,
Evidently, there's a plumbing problem.

Now I hope that I have helped to
make it a great day for you sir!
Come back soon!

Sally Sunshine re-loaded the smile on her face for the next customer
as I crawled out of the store.

Nice is nice,
but it doesn't always fill the need.

I know many Christians
who believe that living out their faith
means primarily being nice to others.

I have nothing against niceness,
but the gospel that I read
doesn't make "nice" the central component
of Christian discipleship.

There were many accounts where Jesus wouldn't and couldn't be described as nice...
lambasting the Pharisees for their hypocrisy,
chasing the traders out of the Temple for their robbery,
delaying his trip to visit Lazarus until after he had died.

Jesus knew niceness wouldn't teach the Pharisees how lost they were,
nor would it legitimize what the robbers were doing in the House of Prayer.
And niceness wouldn't have revealed His resurrection power to Lazarus' sister, Mary and Martha.

No, sometimes we water down the power of the gospel
exchanging compassion for niceness,
trading truth spoken in love for niceness,
substituting God's mercy for niceness.

Niceness is fleeting,
it usually comes and goes with each customer.

But mercy, compassion, and love.....
they aren't business strategies,
but are hallmarks of the saints of God.

Mercy doesn't refuse forgiveness
to the one who has offended.

Compassion doesn't move to the other side of the street,
bypassing the one in need.

Love doesn't think of itself as more important than the other,
bypassing the journey to the cross.

Nice doesn't come close to these.

So while you are making it a super day,
go the extra mile and make it a saintly day.

You can start by telling me where the nearest restroom is.
I would consider that an act of mercy.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self control;
against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23
.

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