05-18-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
May 18, 2024
I returned from Nebraska late Thursday night, and though we had a very good experience in Alliance, Nebraska, with my siblings as we did the interment of my mother’s ashes, I returned with The Crud. I got some rest yesterday, and I am looking forward to moving to the other side of this head fog. So yesterday, as I rested on the couch, I turned to a series I had been watching. I was a number of episodes behind, but I was ready for number six. In both movies and TV series, I have been surprised by a sudden turn in the storyline, or maybe a character who I thought was evil was in fact good. But in this series (I’m not going to mention it in case you are watching it), I was absolutely blown away by a dramatic piece of information that changed everything. So often, we have an inkling, or at least the possibility has gone through our minds, but not in this case. Bruce was left flabbergasted, or, as some say, gobsmacked. That little piece of information has, in fact, changed the genre of the series.

So I am thinking about how we read the scriptures. For most of us, there is not a lot of surprise. We do not get to the end of the Gospel and find ourselves flabbergasted by the resurrection. Most of us are not stunned by the words of the messengers at the tomb: “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” On Easter, we tend to offer a sort of lackluster, “Hallelujah!” I know we can’t erase what we already know, but I believe it is important for us to imagine what it was like for those who first heard this story shared, with very little expectation of where the storyline was going. Equally important were the people from whom they were hearing the story. I imagine those ancient storytellers had lives that suggested how the unexpected has profoundly changed them.

So I guess my question is a simple one: How do we create a wow-factor for a story we know a little too well? Maybe a follow-up question might be: Are we ever caught off guard, not by the story but by the people we meet who have chosen to live their lives differently? In response to that second question, I see it all the time.

Loving God, where I have become a bit complacent with the story entrusted to me, I pray for a little unexpected shock to my soul. Awaken me to the way your love is inspiring and changing lives all around me. Amen.