"What’s It Like Under My Tree?"

As a young pastor my saintly mom gave me this advice: “Be to others in such a way that you wouldn't be ashamed to invite them to church next week.” On more than one occasion her advice has haunted me. I remember during the early 1970s, a gas shortage was declared. Lines formed at gas stations as people in panic wanted to be sure their tank was full. Upon receiving an emergency phone call, I was summoned to the hospital where one of my parishioners was said to be dying. As I backed out of the garage, I realized my gas gauge indicated I was low on gas and would need to get some. As I approached the community's only open gas station, I found the lines of cars looking very long. I re-examined the gas gauge and it hadn't changed. I needed gas to make the 30 mile trip. At the sight of the long lines my attitude was immediately under attack. “Oh man!” To make things worse, a fellow in a Volkswagen Beetle came out of nowhere and turned into my path, cutting in line in front of me. I guess he was in a hurry, too. I am ashamed to tell you that I laid on the horn, and with arm gestures and red face I told him a thing or two. I doubt he heard me, but I can still see his response. He yelled back at me, using his own gestures. I was extremely impatient with that man, as well as being embarrassed at the same time. As he pulled away from the pump, an elderly lady was struggling to pull up to one of the other gas pumps. She was six ways to one, and one of those “six ways” was in my way! She ended up blocking my approach to the pump I was going to use. I immediately got out of my vehicle, went to her window and asked her if I could assist her in getting closer to the pump. She was in tears and embarrassed over her lack of driving skills. The left-over feelings of my own embarrassment, coupled with the feeling that everyone was looking at me, wondering what I might do next, hung over me like a lead weight. Regardless of my need to hurry-up, the Spirit's prompting caused me to recognize immediately I must do better than before. I could not have been nicer in the face of this delay. I helped the elderly lady go back and forth until she was in position at her gas pump and offered to pump her gas for her. She smiled at me and thanked me for my patience. Imagine that! I finally got to pump the gas I needed and headed for the hospital. As I left town, my mother's advice haunted me. Which one of these people, if I invited them to come to the church where I pastor, would be more likely to attend? Endurance and tolerance of others has to be one of the most difficult lessons we have to learn. We cannot cop out with statements like “It's just me and people have to take me the way I am.” No! No! No! Not being perfect is not an excuse for not trying and giving effort to allowing God's patience to be at work through you. We will not likely do this in our own power, but I remind you this is the productivity of the Holy Spirit in and through us. I recall the words of Uncle Bud Robinson who said, “It is better to shoot at the moon and miss than shoot at a skunk and hit.”