Do you have any pet peeves? You know, those things that people do that get under your skin and annoy you. I believe I hear or experience pet peeves every day.
If I say the words telemarketers, texting drivers, or fingernails on chalk boards – how do you feel about those? My pet peeve is sailing down the highway – no traffic in front, no traffic behind – and having a person pull in front of you, making you break hard and slow to a crawl. What possesses people to do that, when they could have waited five seconds and let me past?
The real problem is relationships – people not thinking of those around them and the consequences of their actions. Families’ relations can be a hot bed for revealing pet peeves. I often find an empty recycle jug on the counter in the morning that a family member has left behind. Argh!
I now have a new pet peeve moved to the top of my list: people asking “Did you have a good Christmas?” It seems innocent enough – “Did you have family time?” “Were you able to attend church and experience the truth of the birth of Jesus?” I always teased my wife that every day with me is Christmas, but Christmas is so much more. I would suggest you think about this statement in a different way. It suggests that the Christmas spirit and the reality of Jesus, God himself, entering the world is in the past. We set Jesus aside and wait for the next time that Dec. 25 rolls around.
Something powerful happens at Christmas, the generosity of people, the cheer, the smiling faces… why can this spirit of hope and joy not be year-round? God’s work is never done in this world. Jesus knew there were the seedy parts of town and he went there. He watched Jewish tax collectors steal money from their fellow citizens, and spoke against it. He observed the way the Romans abused their power to subdue the people around them. But the people that Jesus got the angriest with were the authoritarians and religious people. Maybe Jesus has a pet peeve as well – the people that could keep you from a close relationship with God.
In fact, the Bible mentions several pet peeves in Proverbs 6:16-19: “There are six things the Lord hates – no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord in a family.”
I would suggest each has a foundation of a broken relationship, with one another and with God. I would suggest that we need to change “Did you have a good Christmas?” to something different. Perhaps “How did you witness Christ this year? I wonder what God is going to do this year?”
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Ernie Naylor serves as minister at Atwood Presbyterian Church.
