Running in Faith September 23, 2007

When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a miracle. (Luke 23:8) NRSV

I can identify with Herod in this sequence. I too have come to Jesus expecting "show time." I have asked Jesus to perform a miracle. And of course, when I asked, I wanted my miracle to change things to just the way I wanted them done - and of course, following my schedule and my predetermined idea for just what the miracle I wanted would do to change the way things were. Like Herod, neither my self-defined schedule nor the self-defined miracle was met. My anticipated scenario was not followed.

Reading scripture, one can share the experiences of many others whose anticipated scenarios were also different than what they expected. A couple examples follow.

How about those parishioners from the churches of Judea? St. Paul relates that they heard a report, "The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy." (Galatians 1:23) NRSV The Galatians certainly didn't anticipate that scenario.

Coming from a small town in Appalachia, I have witnessed the likes of Nathaniel who said, "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Residents from my hometown were never expected to be of value and often told so when we were brave enough to go beyond the defined limits of the outsiders. Those from the "outside world" built their own scenario for what life was like within the city limits. An example I personally experienced was when a college professor, in front of a class in which I was enrolled, asked in a derogatory way what the hillbillies in my home town did on a Saturday night. He also quickly injected, "No, I guess it is best that you don't tell us." The scenario that professor, and others like him, envisioned a place from which nothing good could possibly originate.

Where was God in times such as these? Was he not there? For me, an unknown poet voices the answer. This poem was quoted during a sermon delivered by Elder Wesley H. Allen recently in the Fort Meeting House of Plimouth Plantation, at Plymouth, Massachusetts:

My Butterfly
The man whispered, "God speak to me."
And a meadowlark sang.
         But the man did not hear.

So the man yelled, "God speak to me."
And the thunder rolled across the sky.
         But the man did not listen.

The man looked around and said, "God, let me see you."
And a star shone brightly.
         But the man did not notice.

And the man shouted, "God, show me a miracle!"
And a life was born.
         But the man did not know.

So the man cried out in despair,
    "Touch me, God, let me know You are here!"
Whereupon God reached down and touched the man.
         But the man brushed the butterfly away
         and walked on.

Lord, help us not to miss out on your blessings simply because they are not packaged the way we expect them to be. Amen