A Beautiful Day for a Surprise – Br. Jim Woodrum

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I don’t think I’d be too off base if I were to say that generally we Episcopalians don’t care for surprises.  We pride ourselves on the order of our liturgies, can tell you what scripture we’ll read on any particular Sunday (thanks to a well ordered lectionary), and have a committee and/or guild for just about every function of the church.  That being said, today’s gospel reminds me of a story about a particular Sunday surprise in my hometown parish church.

It was one of the most beautiful Mother’s Day Sundays in years and the church was buzzing with activity.  Church school was letting out and the sanctuary was filling up with parishioners who were quietly but quickly getting seated for the festive Mother’s Day Eucharist that was about to take place.  Children dressed in their Sunday’s best were sitting in between their parents in the pews that they traditionally occupied each week.  It was not hard to spot the matriarchs in the congregation as all the Mothers and Grandmothers were sporting their Mother’s Day corsages.  At first glance there was no indication that chaos was about to ensue.  As the choir and sacred ministers lined up for the procession at the rear of the nave, a few noticed that there were two men who looked to be in their early 50’s sitting three quarters of the way back on the left side and who did not quite fit the congregational profile.  They were casually dressed and while one of the men sat quietly listening to the organ prelude, the other was happily chatting away (and not very quietly) with a grandmotherly parishioner, who had a flower on her lapel, sitting next to him.  He complimented her beautiful dress and flower, asked how many children and grandchildren she had, and enthusiastically told her about his mother who happened to be about her age.  The lady graciously smiled and politely nodded as the man’s conversation continued past the closing strains of the prelude into the silence.  There were a few glances over the shoulder at the confusion as the processional hymn began and the congregation stood.  Certainly the visitors would notice the traditional decorum of the service and follow along accordingly.

And that indeed was the case as the processional concluded and the liturgy began with the invitatory sentence, the Collect for Purity, hymn of praise, two lessons with a gradual Psalm and then the Gospel lesson.  The service couldn’t be more perfect and dignified…..that is until two minutes into the homily when the chatty gentleman raised his hand and waved to our priest saying “Excuse me, excuse me…I have a question!!!”  At that moment it was as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the sanctuary.  Every head in the congregation looked down nervously and there were a few whose eyes darted to the person next to them, each with a bewildered look that seemed to express what was on everyone’s mind:  “Doesn’t he know that the Baptist Church is two blocks over?”

I’ve never seen so many uncomfortable Episcopalians in one place and haven’t since!  I was seated in the choir just in front of the chancel and admittedly was so enthralled in the speculation of what would happen next that I don’t even remember what his question was.   What I DO remember was how amazed I was at how our priest paused and without missing a beat answered his question calmly and with great care before returning to the place she had left off.  It was quite extraordinary.  She was also a professor of Philosophy at a local University, and I speculated that she had had many surprising encounters with questioning students to prepare her for such an occasion as this.

The man seemed satisfied with the answer and you could almost hear a sigh of relief as the homily continued.  When the homily was almost finished, just when everyone thought the waters were safe, the man raised and waved his hand a second time, “But, excuse me….,” and he asked another question.  Again his question was answered gracefully and the homily concluded, but the congregation remained on pins and needles.  God only knew if the congregation would make it to the end of the service without someone passing out.  What do you think?

Luckily, there was no fainting, but during the prayers of the people there was some loud whispering in the back and the grandmotherly lady got up and moved to another pew further back.  When the intercession was given to pray for the President of the United States (then George W. Bush) the two men got up abruptly and with much ado left the church.  At that point you knew the dinnertime conversation was going to be centered around the stormy Eucharist on one of the most beautiful Mother’s Day Sundays in years.

Indeed, not just Episcopalians, but I think most people, aside from the occasional receiving of flowers, or an unexpected birthday party, don’t care for surprises.  We want to be ‘in the know,’ because being caught off guard might cause an embarrassing situation and we would not want anyone to see the fissures in our façade.  We keep a constant watch on the stocks on the internet.  We check e-mail several times each day.  Our mobile phones are always in our pocket or on our belt to assure that we don’t miss that important call.  We even have our Facebook and Twitter updates sent to us so that we can also be in the know about the lives of those who are in our circles.  The irony of all this is that surprises are unavoidable.  They are not exceptional but in fact are the norm!  And Jesus makes no illusions about this fact.  He tells his disciples bluntly: KNOW THIS:  if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming (not might come, not thinking about coming, but was coming) he would not have let his house be broken into.

And Jesus practiced what he preached.  He certainly had a way of surprising the people who surrounded him.  Remember the wedding feast at Cana when He changed water into wine?  And not only did he change it to wine, but this wine was the good stuff!!!   When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom ¹⁰and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk.  But you have kept the good wine until now.”  (John 2:9-10)  And then there was the feeding of the five thousand with only five loaves of bread and two fish.  (Luke 9:10-17)  If that wasn’t surprising in itself after the feeding of the five thousand Jesus sends his disciples ahead on a boat to Bethsaida while he dismisses the crowds and goes to pray.  The gospel writer of Mark tells us:  When evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.  ⁴⁸When he saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the sea.  He intended to pass them by.  ⁴⁹But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; ⁵⁰for they all saw him and were terrified.  But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” ⁵¹Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased.  And they were utterly astounded….(Mark 6:45-52).

Jesus himself demonstrated that even He could be surprised.  You may remember in Matthew when the Centurion asks Jesus to heal his servant.  Jesus wants to go but the Centurion tell him that he is not worthy for Jesus to come under his roof, but understanding Jesus’ authority knows that he only has to say the word and his servant will be healed.  When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.  (Matthew 8:5-13)

I think….God is to be found in the surprise.  With Advent approaching in the not so distant future we will again relive the anticipation of God’s best surprise.  God did not come to us as a mighty and royal king equipped to free His chosen from the oppressive power of Rome.  But through the incarnation God entered into our flesh as a baby born to unwed peasants on the “wrong side of the tracks.”  He entered into our condition, grew up and lived among us to show that the Way of God was not one of brute force and might, but one of gentle servitude.  Jesus says:  “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; ³⁶be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.  ³⁷Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them.  ³⁸If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.” 

Jesus is telling us what every Boy Scout takes as his creed, “Be prepared!”  Like my hometown priest who answered the questions in the middle of her homily, we cannot know about the unexpected, but we can be prepared when the unexpected happens; to be dressed for action.  Throughout scripture God has always been at work in and through the most unlikely characters.  Maybe you know something about this.  Are you in touch with how God has been at work in and through your own life?  Have you ever been through an ordeal that at the time seemed impossible, yet somehow you’ve found yourself on the other side?  Chances are you didn’t get through it unchanged, but none the less, here you are.  I would say light your lamps and shed some light on those moments and you might discover that one of God’s biggest surprises….is YOU.  Father Benson, the founder of our Society once said, “We cannot have an abiding faith in the Incarnation unless we recognize consequences in ourselves proportionate, and nothing can be proportionate to God becoming flesh short of the great mystery of ourselves becoming one with God as His children.” [1] How has God surprised you?  If you’re not sure then light your lamp and be ready….it’s a beautiful day for a surprise!