How often does God surprise
you? Or, how open are you to being surprised by God?
It had been a tough week. I don’t
remember the details now, but I was tired, a little down, and low on energy
as I started out on my communion calls. You know, the communion calls where
I was the minister, I was the one bringing the good news. The ones where I was
supposed to be the one to cheer up the home bound, and bed ridden, where I was
the anointed messenger of God’s love. And I was tired and out of gas.
So I came to Robert’s room, and knocked on the partially open door. Silence.
I quietly entered the room. There he was, sound asleep, covers pulled up so
that all you saw was his face. Then, the pastoral quandary: do you wake him
up or let him sleep. I was just about to leave when his eyes popped open, and
he took a moment to realize who I was, standing next to his bed. And then he
began: “I sing a song of Jesus, my love and my true friend, for in my
time of troubles, he is with me to the end…” “I sing a song
of Jesus,” he continued for about three more stanzas. A little poem he
had written in days gone by and committed to memory and to his heart. And by
the time I left the room, I realized that it was not Robert who received God’s
blessing that day, but me…
How often are you surprised by the way that God comes into your world? In the first reading from Isaiah today, we hear the prophet reflecting on a very surprising way God acted on behalf of the people Israel. Through a pagan king. Through someone who feared neither God nor neighbor. Through someone who “knew God not” as Isaiah says. Looking back over the sweep of history, the prophet sees the hand of God working in surprising ways through the hand of a conqueror. Had Isaiah limited himself to the ‘official channels’ by which God had acted in Israel’s history, he would have missed it. Cyrus was no king, no prophet, neither judge nor priest – just a pagan who had a knack for being in the right place at the right time and for governing fairly. Yet, through him, God brought salvation to his people. Through his anointed – though he knew it not – God moved powerfully on behalf of his people.
And that day in the nursing home, God moved powerfully through Robert who was
God’s anointed as surely as Cyrus was…
And for you and I this day, how open are we to God’s action outside the
expected channels? In prayer, I invite you to reflect on the ways that God has
used the unexpected to minister to you – to remember the surprising ways
that God has been a blessing to you. And then, to not be surprised when God
chooses to use You in the same way.
Let me end with a story that came my way. Scholars in New York are collecting
the stories and memories of the brave men and women who worked at ground zero
to rescue and recover the victims. One such man was Joseph Bradley. Joe is a
crane operator who in his youth had helped to build the world trade center.
When he heard of the disaster, he went to his union and volunteered. They sent
him to the site with a crane. No one in particular was in charge, but then in
his own words: “A fire chief said he’d like to clear a debris field
three feet deep with heavy iron on top…four of five ironworkers showed
up and we went to work. Like a miracle, 25 firefighters showed up. And so they
worked through the long and difficult day. “I prayed for darkness because
I couldn’t handle what I was seeing. After a long time of working, I was
sitting on the curb with my head in my hands. It was the middle of the night.
That’s when the salvation army kids and the covenant house kids appeared
in their sneakers with their pink hair and belly buttons showing and bandanas
tied around their faces. One little girl was pushing a shopping cart full of
eyewash through the muck. They came with water and cold towels and took my boots
off and put dry socks on my feet. And then, as I was walking back home, a bunch
more of these kids, all pierced and with multicolored hair had made a little
makeshift stage. And they started to cheer as we came out, and suddenly, I realized
it was for me.
I have been a construction worker all my life… I never knew anything about
Episcopalians or Presbyterians or gays or people with nuts and bolts through
their cheeks or pink hair, but now I know them all. We’re not the heroes
- they are the heroes.”
When was the last time the Lord surprised you?