Christ in the Small Stuff

As I was listening to the radio, the other day, I heard this little story.  A man was traveling with a friend to a Christian conference, along the way they stopped for gas and a bathroom break.  The gentleman telling the tale relates that as he was washing his hands, eager to leave the cramped, foul-smelling environment, he noticed his friend’s unusual behavior.  He moistened and soaped up some paper towels and returned to the stall he had just finished using.  In amazement, the story teller watched as his pal carefully wiped clean the toilet, and then with another clean towel did the same to the sink. He couldn’t help but think that a case of momentary OCD had overcome his friend, so he asked;  “Why are you doing that, this is a gas station bathroom, they have people hired to do this odious job.”  As his companion dried his hands, he responded; “I don’t know who the next person will be, or how they will be feeling emotionally, or physically, but I want to leave the space, better than how I found it.”

 He went on to say that as a Christian, aren’t we supposed to do just that?  Whether it’s washing the pile of accumulated mugs in the sink at the office; putting back the cart at Wal-Mart or any number of small tasks, it matters not job, but the fact that we want to make a difference, the same way Christ did.  No matter where he went, or who he was involved with, he always left the place or person in a better condition.  Think about it; the wedding at Cana; the woman caught in adultery; the hungry people on the Mount of Olives; Lazarus and his sisters; blind men; demon-possessed people, well, you get the idea.  “After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, ‘Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.’”

As his followers, can we say we are doing the same?  Are you hanging your head right now, like I am?  Sure, I do some nice stuff now and then, but does that same spirit, of making things better than they were, flow freely, or is it forced.  In addition, are we looking for some kind of compensation for doing what should be natural?  As we grow in Him, let’s pray that the Holy Spirit nudge and encourage us to be more loving and Christ-like, leaving that sweet, lingering fragrance of him in even the smelliest places. “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”  Mother Teresa