Last Sunday I was in a bit of a grumpy mood. Nothing major had caused my grumpiness, it was just one of those mornings. It wasn't an all out bad mood, just a little bit of annoying grumpy. Hannah was at her dad's and maybe missing her contributed to my mood. My spring allergies are in full bloom so maybe a head full of sinus pressure had something to do with it. But whatever it was, it was a tiny case of grumpy!
As soon as I got to church I discovered there were no aisle seats available in my usual section of seating. GRUMPY! I went around to the other side and found an aisle seat; it was not on the side I wanted, but it would have to do. It is amazing how we are such creatures of habit! As I sat in my seat wondering why I was in such a mood, a man came down and asked if the seats next to me were taken. "No, have a seat," I said. He and his wife sat down in the seats next to me.
No sooner had the man sat down before he declared he needed to get up and go talk to someone. Our pew aisles are fairly narrow, so in order for him to get passed me, I had to completely move my legs around to the side of the chair. I smiled at him, but in my head I was having a conversation about how if he wanted to sit by me, he should sit! As soon as these thoughts swirled in my head, he was back. Once again I had to move my legs to the side to let him in. I smiled, but on the inside I was GRUMPY!
This particular Sunday was the dedication service for our new sanctuary. Several guests were joining us and would be recognized during the service. I was reading through my church bulletin when the man leaned over and said "it's a beautiful sanctuary, don't you think?" Oh, great, I thought, now he's a talker. Now don't get me wrong, I am usually a very friendly person but I was having one of those airplane moments. You know, where you just want to sit and enjoy the ride, but sure enough you get seated next to someone that wants to divulge their life story to a complete stranger.
Please understand I was not unfriendly, I just was a bit grumpy....and the grumpy was only evident on the inside (where of course God can see, but man can not!). I agreed that yes, our new sanctuary is beautiful. A couple of people came by and shook this man's hand and told him how glad they were to see him. I didn't really think much of it. He continued his conversation with me and said he was glad to see the stage had plenty of room for the choir and orchestra. He had seen the stage before the sanctuary was finished and wondered if it would be big enough. He went on to talk about our worship leader and how he needs room to jump around (we have an excited and somewhat charismatic worship leader).
I was starting to wonder about who this man was. Clearly he was familiar with our church, the building and the worship leader. But yet it was becoming clear he was not a regular attender. Aha! I leaned over to the man and said "you must be one of our special guests here for the dedication today." He nodded but let me know that he wouldn't call himself special. Hmm, he's humble. Here I was cranky as could be and he's humble! Nothing like a little humility to expose the ugly in the grumpy! Turns out he is the president of the denomination's missions board for our city. And, a very nice man. We had a wonderful conversation despite my moody state of mind.
As the service began, I sent up some emergency forgiveness prayers! "Forgive me Father for letting my mood interfere with my worship and the fellowship with other believers!" It was bad enough that I had not been at my friendliest while sitting next to one of our special guests, but what if a first time visitor and unbeliever had been seated next to me? This got me to thinking about how careful we always need to be with how we interact with others. We should constantly ask ourselves if people can truly see Jesus in us. Sometimes we will be grumpy, but even in the midst of a bad mood, we need to let the light of Jesus shine through!
Father,
I pray today that you will fill me completely with your Spirit. I pray that your love will shine through me and that other's might see your Son in everything I do. Thank you for your forgiveness and for your love.
In the name of your Son,
Amen
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