Out of left field

“Out of left field.” “That came out of nowhere.” “I never would have predicted that!” These are just a small sampling of phrases that we can use when something catches us off guard or something doesn’t do what we are expecting. Sometimes a catastrophe comes out of nowhere, sometimes a delightful surprise comes our way, sometimes it is just a thing that happens that we weren’t expecting.

There are all sorts of stories in the Bible of people being surprised and especially being surprised by God turning bad to good. The Old Testament lesson for the Sunday is the section of Joseph’s story where he reveals his identity to his brothers and tells them that what they had intended for ill, namely throwing him into a dry well and then selling him into slavery, God had turned into a saving act.

One of the things I talked about today is how this sort of thing is not limited to the Patriarchs or to Bible characters or even to the great heroes of the faith we encounter in church history; this is something that can be for any and all of us.

These sermons turned into some very personal reflections on how God has taken some of the unequivocally bad things that happened in my life and has transformed them into blessings.

Knox Presbyterian Well, that was unexpected!

St. Mark’s Presbyterian Well, that was unexpected!

I sometimes wonder if there is “too much” of me in a sermon but I tend to come back to the general notion that if you want me to preach you probably want me to show up, even if sometimes there is a bit more than you were expecting.*

Blessings,

*Did you see what I did there 🙂