John 1:43-51 (The Message)
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. When he got there, he ran across Philip and said, "Come, follow me." … 45 Philip went and found Nathanael and told him, "We've found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets. It's Jesus, Joseph's son, the one from Nazareth!" 46 Nathanael said, "Nazareth? You've got to be kidding." But Philip said, "Come, see for yourself." 47 When Jesus saw him coming he said, "There's a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body." 48 Nathanael said, "Where did you get that idea? You don't know me." Jesus answered, "One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree." 49 Nathanael exclaimed, "Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!" 50 Jesus said, "You've become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven't seen anything yet! 51 Before this is over you're going to see heaven open and God's angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again.”
Nathanael asks, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” implying that his expectations were blocked by his preconceived thinking. Had he stopped with these words and not continued on with Jesus until he heard and came to believe more then he ever expected he would never have said, “Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!”
He discovered more then he expected, because he was open to more then he dreamed possible. He was open to God’s surprises!
In my years of ministry I have had many surprises which have opened my eyes, my head, and my heart to believe more then I thought possible when I graduated from the Seminary.
Three surprises which have caused me to “see great things” i never expected are:
1. Alan Jones in his book “Soul Making, saying in the light of God’s grace, “Christian orthodoxy requires that I believe in the logical possibility of hell (or utter lostness or damnation). It does not require that I believe that anyone is there. There is nothing to prevent my hoping that hell is empty.”
God’s love is that powerful and God’s grace goes that far! Omnipotent love!
2. Wm Johnston, in “Inner Eye Of Love”, after clearly identifying his faith in “one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all...(I Tim. 2:5,6).” Ends up saying “that the Risen Jesus who sits at the right hand of the Father belongs to all (people) and to all religions. No one religion, even Christianity, can claim to understand ‘the unsearchable riches of Christ.’ (Eph. 3:8)
The Risen Christ belongs to all people and all religions! Inclusive love!
3. Mother Teresa, in “Words to Love By”, says of God’s love, “The same loving hand that has created you has created me.,..We all belong to the same family. Hindus, Muslims and all peoples are our brothers and sisters. They too are the children of God.”
Our calling is to Love them all; let God sort them out! If there is any sorting to be done.
Expect the unexpected indeed! Live open to surprise, until that day when God meets us “with just one more surprise.” For God is full of surprise!
“If we don’t expect the unexpected
we will not see it.” Jurgen Moltman
Prayer thought for the week: “Lord, help me to be open to surprise. For you are a God of surprises which go beyond our understanding. Help me to believe that you are a God of limitless grace and in the end, there is “one more surprise”!
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