Today it started snowing. I was surprised! I knew that cold weather was coming in, and maybe a touch of snow in the air, but it really started coming down! It started sticking to the trees, and on the overpasses on the road. I wasn't ready for snow on the ground.
As I was driving, I was listening to a podcast, and they mentioned the old song "Tell Me the Story of Jesus," and talked about the central message of Jesus' love.
The story of Jesus was also a surprise. People weren't ready for the love of Jesus when he showed up. The world tells us to take care of ourselves and our family. The world tells us there isn't enough to go around, so get what you can, when you can, and hoard it for security.
Jesus didn't follow the wisdom of the world. Jesus' surprise was to love everyone - even people outside your blood relations and religion: widows, children, people with illness, people in prison, strangers. Jesus said to store up treasure in heaven, not on earth where it will rot and rust. Jesus said to trust God, not our bank accounts.
Jesus offers a surprise of love. One that still surprises even today. How many of us still think that we should take care of ourselves and our families first? How many think that some people "should go back to where they came from"? Our world is facing many problems that are dislocating people - climate, wars, economic problems, gang violence. People are on the move, looking for security and opportunity. Jesus lived in a time of migration as well, and he had to move to Egypt for a bit for security when Herod was trying to kill him.
What surprise does Jesus have for us today? What surprise are we willing to receive? Jesus wants to change the world - to build God's kingdom. A kingdom of love and grace. A kingdom where each person is welcome and has a place to flourish and thrive. Are we willing to change and be part of God's surprise of love and grace?
My surprise story this week involved getting out a winter coat and driving more carefully. Jesus has a surprise story that can change us from the inside out, and make our community a place of opportunity for all. Are we ready to tell a new story?
Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.
1 John 4:7-11
Pastor Anna-Lisa Hunter
October 31, 2023
