Live-Near Part II
Is the "unexpected" the expected we just haven't identified yet?
There are no coincidences. I love it when the finger of God moves and you can see it. In class on Sunday we talked about salvation, the sacrifice of Jesus being the free gift offered to all mankind. We are a free-will denomination meaning people have the ability to choose between right and wrong rather than everything happening on rails according to the Will of God. That’s a very dumbed down version of the debate between free-will and predestination. If you want to research more you can look up TULIP and PREDESTINATION. You will find a wealth of information. I’m not going to link to any of it here because I don’t want to filter it. You can find the one you like and read that.
The point is that in the children’s moment in church, Pastor Laurie held a present. She proceeded to tell the kids all about the free gift God offered every person, but they had to open it to see what was inside. That children’s moment mirrored somewhat the discussion in class. I have said repeatedly I have no connection with the sermon preparations or service preparations. I don’t know a thing about what they plan to do in the sanctuary on any given Sunday. Yet, we continue to get connections to the Sunday material like this. I reitereate once again that I am not the author, merly the instrument and it fascinates me to watch Him move.
Pastor Kristen Lee opened with the scripture, which you can read in Part I HERE. My duties took me from the sanctuary for a brief time but I was back before she concluded her reading. She opened the sermon by offering us a peek behind the curtain of how she prepares a sermon.
She is far more organized than I am, or at least her organization is different from mine. She does spreadsheets. I struggle with them. I use OneNote and let that application and its fantastic search function organize for me. Regardless, she related how a single passage continued to float around drawing attention for two years, waiting.
28for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’
Acts 17:28 (NASB95)
She focused on the live, move, and exist portion of that scripture. Specifically, Pastor Lee wondered what it meant that, “In God we live?” Her next peek behind the curtain was her step in preparing a sermon once the scripture is selected. She “goes to the experts” meaning she begins to read commentary on the passage she’s selected.
Commentaries are essentially the thoughts theologians of the past have written down on any particular passage. Lots of people write and have written what they think scripture means. Some of those people, like John Wesley, Spurgen, or Henry to name a few, have risen to the top as deep thinkers or profound. It is helpful to see what the giants of the church have to say but it isn’t always complete concerning where the Holy Spirit is sending any given message, in my opinion. It is a valuable resource but it should not be held as the end of the study. What those men wrote about scripture, indeed what any man or woman writes about scripture is not holy in and of itself. Scripture is holy. The words of flawed human beings, including mine, about scripture are not holy. That isn’t to say that what people have to say isn’t worth reading. It is, so long as we do it with the Holy Spirit in our heart so we connect with the parts God has for us that move us along His path.
In this case, the Giants of the Church seemed to only want to relate to the location, the Areopagus or Mars Hill and how important that spot was, that it was the trial of Socrates there, or that Paul chose it for a reason. She then turned and headed into what she called “something unexpected.” Here, she connected with the words of Paul calling out the UNKNOWN GOD (it was written in all caps in my posted scripture so I’ll do that here too.)
At this moment, it is either the third or fourth attempt to complete Monday Morning. It is now Sunday morning. This week slipped away from me and I’m not exactly sure how.
Regardless, Pastor Lee in the Sermon a week ago was talking about how the disciples were “living the unexpected.” Paul, in our Acts passage, gave the Athenians the unexpected when he proclaimed that he knew who their UNKNOWN GOD was. Pastor Lee declared that Easter is one of the most unexpected things in history. I disagree with that given we have quite a bit of biblical prophecy devoted to foretelling the coming of Messiah.
10Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying,
11“Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
12But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”
13Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?
14“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:10–14 (NASB95)
That is but one passage. There are many. To the diligent study of scripture in that day, the coming of Jesus and the Easter resurrection was not unexpected. However, to the doubter and those Jews who did not see Jesus as who He claimed to be, it was also not unexpected because they would have explained it away so as to not believe. It was unexpected only to those who believed purely because when we are in the moment with the hand of God moving on the face of the earth we rarely see it for what it is. It is only in hindsight that we recognize the hand of God moving in our lives.
Pastor Lee led into a question with the discussion. She asked, “Have we been lost, usually not knowing what comes next? Or are we living a life with the God of the Unexpected?” I took that as a reference to the UNKNOWN GOD hinting at the idea that not knowing God is to be surprised by the unexpected all the time.
The sermon shifted as Pastor Lee began discussing one of their children being an April 1st baby, trying to decide what to get the child for his birthday. The term comes from a 2021 Netflix movie of the same name staring Jennifer Garner, Edgar Ramirez, and Jenna Ortega. You can find the IMDB link HERE. For a Yes Day the parents agree to say yes to every request of the child, with some ground rules obviously such as too expensive or too far away. For their Yes Day they thought they were going to end up with wild and pricey shopping sprees, events, and purchases. What they ended up with as a child making “Mystery Breakfast” for them (barely cooked scrambled eggs) a water balloon fight, and dinner at a local restaurant with a movie after (Beetlejuice.) The day turned out to be a day together having fun doing unexpected things that brought life and joy to their family.
What that Yes Day also did was bring verse 28 from the sermon passage to mind for Pastor Lee.
28for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’
Acts 17:28 (NASB95)
Pastor Lee asked, “What does it mean to be near to God?” She brought it together with this idea. She and her husband had expectations of what the Yes Day would be like. What the day turned out to be was completely unexpected. We should try very hard to set aside our expectations of what God should or should not be and live life with God in love and grace. We are His children and in Him we live the most beautiful life. Being near to God means we should try to demonstrate His Yes Day to those we encounter, with some ground rules, when it is in our power to do so.
25Do not be afraid of sudden fear Nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes;
26For the Lord will be your confidence And will keep your foot from being caught.
27Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, When it is in your power to do it.
28Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come back, And tomorrow I will give it,” When you have it with you.
29Do not devise harm against your neighbor, While he lives securely beside you.
30Do not contend with a man without cause, If he has done you no harm.
31Do not envy a man of violence And do not choose any of his ways.
32For the devious are an abomination to the Lord; But He is intimate with the upright.
33The curse of the Lord is on the house of the wicked, But He blesses the dwelling of the righteous.
34Though He scoffs at the scoffers, Yet He gives grace to the afflicted.
35The wise will inherit honor, But fools display dishonor.
Proverbs 3:25–35 (NASB95)