Bursting With Joy

By Randy Knapp

I remember going to youth conferences when I was a kid and jumping in alarm when the pastor pounded his fist on the podium in evangelistic fervor, fiercely proclaiming that we were going to “take this town for Jesus.” I don’t remember seeing the residents of the town flocking to our meeting place with tears in their eyes and repentant hearts. I remember a vague sense of guilt, that by failing to take the town, we had somehow let Jesus down.

Later, I remembered hearing pastors say that if each church member were to bring just one new believer to Jesus in a year, the congregation would double in size. I’ve never belonged to a church where that happened, but that youthful guilt admonishes me that I should be doing more for the kingdom.

A few years ago I finally understood the scope of my responsibilities in my kingdom job. It happened in the normal course of my workweek.

I started a new stair job in Ashland and cheerily greeted the elderly homeowner as I entered the house. My greeting was returned with a scowl. Things weren’t going well. The contractor was taking too long. The job was too expensive. The subs weren’t doing good work. He stood in front of me cussing in frustration.

In a pouch hooked to a waist belt he carried a small green bottle with a clear plastic tube snaking its way up behind his ears and around to his nostrils where every ten seconds a puff of oxygen aided his labored breathing.

I listened attentively until his vindective had run its course. I knew it wasn’t just the construction process that had upset him. Life had dealt a hard blow to his health and he was fighting mad. A voice as small as conscience spoke to me. “Find a way to bring him joy,” it commanded.

I expressed my regrets at his frustration, then I countered with a compliment on his beautiful home. His countenance brightened fractionally. I encouraged him with the elegance of his stair design and assured him that he would be very pleased with the final result.

Each day I greeted him with a positive observation and I paid full attention when he countered with another story, replete with expletives, of his difficult life. As the days progressed, however, the tenor of his stories took an upturn.

By the last day of the job, the old man greeted me with a smile. He told me stories of more pleasant times and his expletives had diminished markedly.

I met him a year later in Costco and he remembered me fondly, assuring me that his stairs were still beautiful.

I learned from my encounter with the angry old man that my job in the kingdom is to bring a little joy into the lives of the people God loves. It seems like a tiny job, but it keeps me busy.

I think that may be what God wants from all of us. He wants his people to be kind. It doesn’t seem like a great calling, in fact, it seems rather small. In time, though, it will be like a penny compounded. If God’s people simply strive to be nice to every person we encounter, soon the kingdom will be bursting with joy.

Randy writes from Medford, Oregon where he builds some of the most stunning stairs you’ll ever find. You can correspond with him at knappsnest@msn.com