God Can Act In Unexpected Ways

Rev Philip Gardner Acting General Secretary

‘Unexpected Good News’ – there is a theme. Does it just refer back to that first Easter, when the women arrive to anoint the body and find the stone rolled away and the tomb empty? Is it simply concerned with the news ‘He is Risen’ to crushed and despairing disciples, like Mary in the garden, Cleopas and his companion on the road to Emmaus?

Is it only about that first Easter when the risen Jesus spoke of forgiveness to his fearful disciples and breathed the Holy Spirit upon them, empowering them to continue his mission? The answer is meant to be ‘no’ and yet I remember as a theological student a teacher saying to me, ‘Philip you don’t believe in the resurrection?’ When I looked askance at him, he hurriedly replied, ‘I don’t mean you don’t believe that Jesus rose from the dead, I just don’t think that it makes a difference to how you see the world.’ That led to a concerted effort in reading and reflecting on the question he raised. The question of how we believe in the resurrection in a way that shapes our lives as followers of the crucified, risen and ascended Jesus.

The Church consultant Kennon Callahan who visited our shores frequently from the late 1980s through to the noughties would pepper his workshops with the phrase, ‘We are an Easter people, the people of the resurrection.’ I have found that a helpful phrase in my ministry, it has caused me to ask ‘What difference does believing in the resurrection of Jesus make to our lives as a Christian community?’

It is helpful to ask a similar question for all the festivals of the church – Advent, Christmas, Lent, and Pentecost – you can add your favourites I might have missed. When people lament the loss of the church’s influence in society, our declining numbers, our conflicts and our self-inflicted wounds it is important to remember that our current experience is not the last word. God can act in unexpected ways. God can raise the lifeless body of his Son, defeating the powers of sin and death. God can pour out his Spirit on fearful disciples sending them out in mission to the world. God, through those disciples and their successors, transformed the Roman world. And God can do it again, in our time, in our churches and in our communities. We are an Easter people, the people of the resurrection, a people poised in anticipation of unexpected good news.

Have you ever considered praying that you might be the ‘unexpected’ good news for another person? That you might allow yourself to be surprised by God’s ability to convey good news through you, beginning with your very presence.

Many years ago, I was going about my normal routine of visiting patients. I knocked on the door of a patient who I had not visited before and as I entered, I introduced myself as the hospital chaplain, as I would normally do. I noticed this person was in the process of writing a text message, however they stopped, so they could talk with me.

We talked about themselves, their family, and the reason for being in hospital and their concerns regarding their treatment. During our conversation, I had noticed their Bible on the bedside cabinet, however I did not refer to it until I was about to leave.

I mentioned the Bible as part of asking if it would be okay to pray with them. As my offer of prayer was accepted they said, ‘When you knocked on my door, I was writing a text to my mum asking if it would be alright to ask someone to pray for me.’ In that moment,