The Upload
Posted on Mar 11, 2016 by
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
I pray you have had a blessed week.
Have you been following the presidential races? Last week, Kansas held its primary caucuses and, to the surprise of many, Ed Cruz won the majority of the Republican vote and Bernie Sanders won the majority of the Democratic vote. Now, personally, I don’t know if those wins are good or bad, but they were unexpected.
As I was reading our Gospel text for this Sunday (John 8:1-12), I was struck by how it was filled with the unexpected, also. This is the story of how Mary, one of the sisters of Lazarus, anointed Jesus’ feet during a dinner party with costly perfume and then wiped his feet with her hair. First, Lazarus had died and now he was unexpectedly alive because of Jesus; it was unexpected that someone would use such a costly amount of perfume to clean someone’s feet; it was unexpected (at least to those in attendance) that Jesus would start talking about his own death; it was unexpected that he would engage in an argument over dinner with one of his disciples; and it was unexpected that a woman would be allowed to let her hair down in public as Mary did.
All of which reminds me that God is often up to unexpected things with, for and through unexpected people. In Jesus’ day, the people expected the messiah to be like King David, but instead they got a former carpenter and traveling preacher. The crowds who we will hear welcome Jesus on Palm Sunday unexpectedly deny him and want him crucified just a few days later. Even though Jesus told his disciples that he would die and be raised three days later, his disciples did not expect the resurrection. They expected that his ministry was over, but instead, they discovered that Jesus’ crucifixion was just the beginning.
God regularly loves to do the unexpected with, for and through unexpected people. So I had to ask myself this week, what do I expect of God? Do I expect that God will come in power to answer my prayers as I would like them answered? Do I expect that God will favor my favorite political candidate or sports team? Or, am I prepared to be surprised as God again does the unexpected? Am I prepared to see and feel God’s presence in the most unexpected of places?
God is active in this world, and all too often we think we know best what God ought to be doing. But during this season of Lent, we are challenged to remember that God is the one who knows us best and knows best what we need.
May you come to expect the unexpected and may you always be looking for
the predictably unexpected God, the One who shows up where we least expect God to be, and always for good.
Have a blessed week!
Shalom,
Pr. Dave