MOOD WORTH MATCHING

I’m the oldest of five kids and my youngest brother, James, has Down Syndrome. James is AMAZING! He’s been in our family for 21 years now and we still can’t get over him! James if full of life and celebrates just about everything! His level of enthusiasm over ordinary…everyday kind of things is…well…I would guess it’s more than the rest of us would have. 

Every Thursday night, James asks my dad. “Dad, guess what?” To this, my dad says “What James?” With great gusto and enthusiasm James says “Tomorrow is….TRASH DAY!”

I know what you are thinking…Does trash day mean something different in Missouri? Nope…it’s the same deal as all over the country. We roll out the trash…the trash truck picks it up…the end. But James celebrates trash day! 

When James opens his presents on Christmas day he shouts for joy and shrieks with delight when he opens the nerf gun he has been asking for over the last six months. When he opens his next gift he does the same thing. He shouts for joy and shrieks with delight as he opens…wait for it…a can of green Pringles.

This boy knows how to celebrate! Another thing James does almost involuntarily is match the mood of the room. Sometimes he walks in a room where we are all celebrating. He has no idea why or what we are celebrating, but he jumps right in the celebration. Most of the time with a dance move or two. (music welcomed, but not necessary) There are other times he walks into the room as we are processing some tough circumstances. If someone is crying, James feels it. It’s like he can feel the shift in the atmosphere. He may not know what is going on, but his demeanor becomes more somber. Then, with sympathy, he tries to show some comfort to anyone who seems like they could use it. 

James isn’t the only one who matches the mood of a room. I do this and you do this. In fact, we all do this, don’t we? When I am at Disney Land and I see the princes, princesses and Mickey Mouse smiling at me…I can’t help but smile back. It’s the happiest place on earth and 9 times out of 10 when I’m there my mood is matching! Just like I so easily match the mood when I walk into Disney Land, when I walk into the DMV I match the mood. It doesn’t take much imagination to guess what kind of mood that is. I scan the room and it is full of people who don’t want to be there. They are irritated, a permanent frown is on their face. And just like that…I match the mood. I get irritated. I settle into the mood that is in the room. 

You know, the same way that James can feel the emotion in the room is the same way we can match the mood of the room. The people who walk through the doors of our churches look to you and I and they are matching our moods. The greeter at the door, the volunteer in the nursery and the singer on the stage...they are all affected by our mood.  

Every week we have people who are walking through the doors of our church who are not even sure what they think of Jesus yet. They just know that they are desperate for something and they thought they would give church a try. The mood they feel when they walk in can absolutely change the trajectory of their eternity. If they walk in and the joy they see in our faces is real and the love that we have for each other is visible, they just might match the mood. They may begin to smile. They may begin to be open to this idea of Jesus even before they ever hear the message. 

Mood is no small thing. We have to have a mood worth matching. This seems like a great concept, but what do we do when we are having a bad day? Do we paint a smile on our face and fake it? No way! People can spot fake fast. 

So what do we do then? I’m glad you asked!

Romans 15:13 says “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

You see, we have to intentionally shift our eyes from our circumstances to the God that we say we serve. I’m not telling you to pretend the things in our lives that hurt are not there. In fact, I think it’s good to tell God how bad it can hurt...how difficult your situation is. But the key is this: Just like our circumstances are real, our God is real. He is a God of HOPE and His desires is to fill us with joy and peace as we trust Him. If at our core we believe that God is good, that God does good, and that God works all things together for good – Then we can have a joy that is so much bigger than our circumstances. We can have a hope that absolutely carries us. 

You see our goal is not to paste a smile on our face, but to allow the God of hope to fill us with joy and peace…so that we will overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. When we allow our hope to overflow….people are going to walk into church. They may not know what is going on…but they will feel this joy around them. I believe that God can use a mood worth matching to draw people to Him.