There’s an old Monty Python skit where a couple who appear to be lovers or perhaps newlyweds are seated at an outdoor restaurant and an odd-looking reverend with a suitcase walks up to them and asks, “Excuse me, do you mind if I join you?”
You can tell by their expressions that they would really rather be alone, but because they don’t want to be rude, they invite him to sit down.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” He asks. “Are you sure I won’t be disturbing you?”
The couple, again being very polite, invites him to sit down.
He asks them three times if he will be disturbing them.
You can tell they are disturbed just by the frequency of his use of the word “disturbing.” Still, they insist that he join them.
The reverend sits down and immediately begins waving his hands around and says, “A lot of people are far less understanding than you are. A lot of people take offense when I even talk to them, let alone when I specifically tell them about my being disturbing.”
The couple squirms in their seats.
He then begins doing some very disturbing things like pinching them on the cheeks, pulling dishes out of a suitcase and breaking them on the table, and waving odd things around—all while singing, “DOO DOO DO DOO” in a very loud voice.
Lately, I kind of feel like that reverend.
I think I have a condition called “Jesus” and some people find it a bit disturbing.
Honestly, I’m not trying to make people squirm. I’m really trying very hard not to pinch people on the cheek and say, “God loves you!”
I want to talk to people about Jesus. I want to discuss the Bible and all the little nuances and details of how amazing the LORD is and the incredible richness, height, depth, breadth, and lengths of His love.
I want to break some plates and wake people up and sing praise songs really loud and just be obnoxiously zealous for the LORD!
See?
I’m doing it now. Did you feel yourself squirm just a bit?
Most people are polite and just put up with me, hoping I’ll move on to something else. And, I usually do– when I can eventually tell I’m disturbing them.
It even happens in church when I say, “Hallelujah!”
And nobody else does.
Maybe, eventually, I will settle back down into my polite, Midwestern self that avoids any public display of emotion (especially about religion!) and stop making people feel so uncomfortable.
But I hope not.
Today’s Praise
Come! Let us sing joyfully to the LORD!
Let us shout for joy to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us shout with songs of praise to him.
For the LORD is an awesome God;
a great king above all divine beings.
He holds in his hand the lowest parts of the earth
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea that he made belongs to him,
along with the dry land that his hands formed.
Come! Let us worship and bow down;
(Psalm 95: 1-6 ISV)