Homily, A Spirituality of Surprise
The Sixteenth Sunday after the Pentecost, Proper 18B, 2024
St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
Plant City, FL
The Rev. Derek M Larson, TSSF
Today’s Lectionary Readings:
Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
Psalm 125
James 2:1-10, [11-13], 14-17
Mark 7:24-37
In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Can you remember a time when you were surprised by something? When your expectation was suddenly interrupted by another reality?
This may surprise you. Everyday I am surprised by how much I enjoy being a priest. I imagine that’s an odd thing to hear from the pulpit, but its true. Everyday I am surprised by how much I enjoy being a priest. In the visits I share with people. In the ways I get to pray with others. Even in the mundane administrative aspects to maintain the church, I enjoy it. That’s not to say that I don’t have difficult or overwhelming days, and it’s not to say that I’m always good at what I do, but even when it feels hard, there is still some part of me that enjoys it.
And the reason I’m surprised by that is for years I told myself that I didn’t want to be or couldn’t be a pastor. For years I told myself that I was too introverted and too shy. I told myself that I didn’t have the skills necessary to be a good pastor. I wasn’t charismatic enough. I wasn’t professional enough. I had this story playing in my head about who I am, and what I am called and not called to be.
But the reason I’m a priest today, is because that story was interrupted by another story, a story that God was telling. And my small role in God’s story doesn’t always line up with the story I tell about myself. Perhaps you can relate to that.
And so I wake up surprised.
In our gospel passage this morning it appears that Jesus himself experienced such a moment of surprise.
Jesus was traveling through the region of Tyre and Sidon—outside of the borders of Israel—when he came across a Syro-Phoenician woman. Today we’re in the Gospel of Mark, but the Gospel of Matthew, when it tells this story, calls her a Canaanite woman. And immediately, we can sense that there is some tension in the moment. Without going into all the political and social dynamics that are at play here, essentially this woman is from a region and is of an ethnicity that for centuries has been in conflict with the Jewish people of Israel.
And Jesus had grown up and been shaped by the stories his community told about these people. And so when the woman speaks to him, you can imagine what was going through his head. Stories. The stories he had grown up hearing. Stories of how Abraham and Isaac refused to allow their sons to marry Canaanite women (Genesis 24 and 28). Stories of how the Israelites warred against the Canaanites as they entered the promised land (Deuteronomy 20). Stories of victory and how when the Israelites defeated the Canaanites they put them into forced labor (Joshua 17). He remembered the stories of the prophets who spoke over and over again against the cities of Tyre and Sidon (Jeremiah 47, Joel 3, Ezekiel 26, etc.). Centuries and centuries, generations and generations of stories handed down to him.
And so when she spoke to him, “Lord, heal my daughter” his first reaction was, “No, it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But when she spoke a second time, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs” he found himself surprised. The stories inside his head were suddenly interrupted by another story. And he heard on the lips of this Syro-Phoenician woman, the voice of his Father in heaven. And so he looked at her again, and this time responded, “Your daughter is healed.”
Now this is an interesting story because we don’t typically think of Jesus in this way. We don’t typically think of Jesus as someone that can be surprised. In fact, there are other places in Scripture that go out of their way to show that Jesus cannot be surprised, the Gospel of John being one of them. Jesus is fully Divine, after all. But he is also fully human. And so here in the Gospel of Mark, we see a fully human, surprised Jesus. And in seeing a surprised Jesus, he models for us the importance of being willing to be surprised.
Many of us prefer not to be surprised. We like to know what is coming long before it greets us. We like to be in control of the story of our lives. And, sometimes, we willingly ignore reality so that we don’t have to give up those stories that we tell ourselves. And yet in this passage, Jesus shows us what it is to allow our view of the world to be interrupted by how God sees the world, and to realign ourselves accordingly. This is, what I call, a spirituality of surprise.
A spirituality of surprise is a spirituality that recognizes that we never have the full picture of what God is doing in the world and in our lives, and so it is important to cultivate a readiness to find God working in surprising places and in surprising ways. A spirituality of surprise is a spirituality of humility. That prioritizes the story of God over the stories that play in our minds.
In this passage the point is not that Jesus seems to have got it wrong, but that In being willing to be surprised by where God was working in the world and to reorient himself according to it, Jesus got it right. To follow God inevitably means to be surprised. And if we’re never surprised, then maybe we’re not fully following God. Jesus shows us how to be surprised.
St. Peter’s is called to be a community of surprise. We are called to be a community that is ready and open to finding God in surprising places. We are called to be a community that is ready and open to do ministry in surprising ways. In our mission statement, we use this phrase, “spiritual curiosity”. We invite ourselves and others into “a spiritual curiosity.” A curiosity that recognizes that we don’t see the full picture, and if we pay attention we might be surprised by where God is showing up. Have you ever been surprised by what God has done in this community?
“St. Peter’s Episcopal Church is a welcoming Christian community of all ages that embodies God’s word and sacraments, invites spiritual curiosity, celebrates children and youth, and embraces the world with God’s love.”
Mission Statement from St. Peter’s Episcopal Church
And so I wonder. I wonder what God is doing among us, even now, that we can’t see because of the stories in our heads. I wonder whose lips God is speaking through that we haven’t yet noticed. I wonder how God is waiting to surprise us with grace and goodness in unexpected places. I wonder in what surprising way God is telling the story of St. Peter’s.
You know, perhaps, if we wake up everyday, like Jesus, with a readiness to be surprised then we’ll find out. Amen.
Questions for Reflection
- When have you been surprised by how God has shown up in your life?
- What stories do you tell yourself or have you been told that may prevent you from hearing God’s stories?
- What do you think about the idea that Jesus may be someone who could be surprised?
- In what ways can our community embody a “spiritual curiosity” as mentioned in the mission statement, and how can this openness to surprise deepen our connection with God and our expression of love to others?
Resources for Further Reflection
Article: “Why Humans Need Surprise” by Jill Suttie
In this article, the author reviews the book, Surprise: Embrace the Unpredictable and Engineer the Unexpected by Tania Luna and Leeann Renninger which argues that surprise is good for human health. The article also identifies important aspects to the process of surprise: (1) Freeze, (2) Find, (3) Shift, (4) Share, and ways to cultivate an ability to be more surprised in life. Reflecting on the implications of the article for a spirituality of surprise would be an interesting reflection.
Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis
The great and imaginative Anglican theologian, C.S. Lewis entitled his own autobiography “Surprised by Joy” and shows how both joy and surprise have been gifts from God throughout his early life, even in the midst of very difficult situations.
Thoughts on Faith 