Hello,
Surprise!
Friday evening I
had settled down to watch a news program when my wife called down to me that
her brother, who we were expecting for a late dinner, had arrived, and I should
come up to greet him. The request seemed
a bit odd, because he lives near us and often comes over for dinner, but it
didn’t seem too odd to follow through on her request. So, I climbed out of the couch and made my
way up the stairs and to the front door.
When I opened the door, I discovered that my wife had lied to me. It was not her brother. It was my eldest son, my middle son, his wife
(all from Denver), my youngest son, and his fiancée (both from NYC)! Waving at me from their cars, the University
of Illinois fight song blaring from a car radio, and in unison saying, “Happy
Birthday!”
Surprise!
I was…….shocked,
astounded, amazed, awash in joy…..surprised!
It was beyond my wildest dreams that my wife and my kids should pull off
such a stunt of a cascade of love. It
meant the world to me, that my kids would so care to bring joy to my life that
they would carve out time in their busy lives filled with their own personal
interests to come and mark with me my 60th birthday. In a day and age when the ease of texts,
skype, and phone calls bring people together, the fact that they came to be with
me made a statement to me of their love for me that made an impression that delivered
a dent of grace to my heart that can never be pounded out. Humbled.
Blessed. En-couraged. En-livened.
Delighted.
The three of them
bookending 30 years old…well aware of my weaknesses and frailties, my failings
and faults, my myopic vision …. still came to be with me at this milestone of
my life. Their visit ignited a vitality
that will pulse for the rest of my life.
Coming to be with
someone carries a message that nothing else can match in clarity and in power,
especially when that visit happens with no strings attached, attached from the
past, the present, or the future. When
it is a complete surprise!
That is the
message of the Christian faith. That the
one who is fully aware of my weaknesses and frailties, failings and faults, my
myopic vision…..my sins….would not just tell me that he loves me nonetheless,
but would actually come to abide with me.
No strings attached from the past, the present, or the future.
John 1:14 ff., “And the Word
became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a
father’s only son, full of grace and truth. From his fullness we have all
received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace
and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God
the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him
known. “
Surprise!
Maybe surprise is the spark that ignites the life changing grace and
mercy of God our lives. Maybe surprise
is the spark that sets off the explosion of God’s love in our lives that leaves
a dent that nothing….nothing….will ever be able to pound out. Maybe surprise is what causes us to remember
that God’s love for us is not extended because of who we are….it is extended in
spite of who we are.
The Christian message is this: Jesus has come, does come and will come into
your life to share it with you.
Surprise!
Have a great day.
God’s grace and peace,
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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