Expect the Unexpected

I was never prepared for the arrival of any one of my kids.  I like to tell people I should have known that when my mother-in-law had seven kids that this might not take all that long.  I don’t want to go into too many details that make people uncomfortable, which it shouldn’t since it is God’s process of procreating, not mine. But this is neither here nor there, and we move on.  I remember the conversation with my mother-in-law after every birth, “I am not sure I am ready for another kid.”  She would say, “Well you know how this happens.”  The phone would grow silent and I would sit there in my sullen state.  It is not that I would give back any of my kids, it just didn’t fit the plan—well, my human plan.  I mean there I was as youth pastor constantly busy with youth and then occupied with three little kids as well.  The first time I was caught off guard because I expected that Mindy and I would have more time together.  The second time we were moving into our new home, and back to St. Louis.  And the third time, it just seemed too soon.  I have all my reasons, but they are all human reasons.  As the months got closer my fatherly worry turned to joy.  I was beginning to prepare for three little people that mean the world to me.  I can’t imagine my life without any of them, but in the beginning I was scared, and had all my practical earthly ways of wanting to tell God that this train was moving too fast.

            In both our Matthew readings this week, we certainly see how God was preparing the world for its unexpected child.  Honestly, in our sinful state we are never ready for this baby, this Savior, our Jesus.  In our sinful state, and with our mortal minds, we have designed our own plans to make our lives better.  We have ideas of what should transpire, and when it should happen.  Honestly, there is not anything wrong with this thought process until we contradict God.  The reality is that God designed us with minds to make sense of the things in our lives.  He provided us with common sense and the ability to think things through.  So let’s just take a look at our stories.

            Here is Joseph, this dude who is going to get married to his love.  And then she turns up pregnant, and he knows he is not the guy.  This is the perfect script for one of our reality TV shows.  You can imagine the dialogue playing out. “Um, Mary, you are pregnant?  That’s not really cool.”  Mary responds, “Well, Joseph the Holy Spirit put this baby in me.”  Joseph responds, “Ok, so now, not only are you lying, but you think I am dumb or you’re delusional.” Because we hear this story so many times, it eventually sinks in, but stepping back we see that this was the preparation it took for the Son of God to come as the unexpected Savior of the world.

            In Story Two, we find a dude who is eating bugs and walking around in a woolly robe.  He is telling everyone that Jesus is coming.  He is going outside of the church, baptizing people, and telling everyone that Jesus is his cousin.  Not too long before we go, “Well, when you put it that way.”

            See, human logic would involve advising Joseph to follow the law, divorce her quietly, and get out of Dodge.  Human logic would tell us not to believe the bug-eating robed dude.  But if God’s plan came as an expected event, it wouldn’t be any fun.  No, just kidding!  The fact is that we can’t even figure out what we really need, or the way God can save us.  Seminarian Professor Jeff Gibbs puts it this way:  “It contrasts the ways that human beings think and behave with the unexpected way in which God puts His plan to save into action.”  Again I say, “Well, when you put it that way.”  If God’s plan and His miracles operated outside of the natural means where He sets things up, it probably means that we, as humans, don’t understand what He is doing until His Holy Spirit is inside of us, helping us to understand.  And even then we have moments like I shared at the beginning of my blog where we wonder how God is going to get us through certain situations.

            My prayer for you this Advent season is that you prepare to expect the unexpected.  We believe in God’s saving plan; that is why we go to church.  That is why we strive to be extraordinary servants.  That is why we seek to follow the B1 discipleship model, and grow closer to Jesus.  That means that if what we said in these stories is true about Jesus, God will shock our human thinking like He shocked Joseph, and bring us to be prepared for the unexpected.  So are you ready for an unexpected Advent?  Be prepared!