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DO NOT BE SURPRISED!
This may come as a surprise to you but the Bible
warns us not to be taken by surprise. Surprised? Quite frankly,
it surprises me. I mean when I think of all that the Bible warns us against, "not
being surprised" is not on my list.
Think about it for a moment. How would you
complete the following sentence. The Bible warns us against . . .
Well, I would say that the Bible warns us against
pride, the love of money, being wise in our own eyes, adultery, sloth, idols,
chasing after fantasies, running with scoundrels, quenching the Spirit, grieving
the Spirit, ignoring our conscience, giving false testimony, coveting anything
that belongs to our neighbor, forgetting the Sabbath, fits of rage, dissensions,
and the deceitfulness of our own heart.
My list, I suspect, is about like your list. And
my guess is that neither one us thought to put "do not be surprised" on
our list. Nevertheless, the Bible does warn us against being taken by surprise. Consider
the following verses:
If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and
justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official
is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. Ecclesiastes
5:8
Jesus answered (Nicodemus), "I tell you the
truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the
Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7
You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' John
3:5 - 7
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful
trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. I
Peter 4:17
Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world
hates you. I John 3:13
And in the following verses we see examples of
those, other than Nicodemus, who were taken by surprise. We read:
Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already
dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. Mark
15:44
When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited
him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. 38 But the
Pharisee, noticing that Jesus did not first wash before the meal, was surprised. Luke
11:37 - 38
Just then his disciples returned and were surprised
to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why
are you talking with her?" John 4:27
Surprise is normally expressed for only a fraction
of a second. Then, it's followed by the emotion of fear, joy or confusion. For
example, in the above verses what we see is confusion.
The intensity of being surprised is associated
with how much the jaw drops, but the mouth may not open at all in some cases.
The raising of the eyebrows, however, at least momentarily, is the most distinctive
and predictable sign of being surprised.
Okay, but what is the problem with being taken
by surprise? Other than momentary confusion. Well, consider
what the following paragraphs have to say about a rule I have never heard of
until I stumbled upon it as I prepared for today's lesson. We read:
The Rule of Least Surprise is a general principle
in the design of all kinds of interfaces, not just software: "Do the least
surprising thing". It's a consequence of the fact that human beings can
only pay attention to one thing at one time. Surprises in the interface
focus that single locus of attention on the interface, rather than on the task
where it belongs.
Thus, to design usable interfaces, it's best when
possible not to design an entire new interface model. Novelty is a barrier to
entry; it puts a learning burden on the user, so minimize it. Instead, think
carefully about the experience and knowledge of your user base. Try to find functional
similarities between your program and programs they are likely to already know
about. Then mimic the relevant parts of the existing interfaces.
The Rule of Least Surprise should not be interpreted
as a call for mechanical conservatism in design. Novelty raises the cost of a
user's first few interactions with an interface, but poor design will make the
interface needlessly painful forever. As in other sorts of design, rules are
not a substitute for good taste and engineering judgment. Consider your tradeoffs
carefully - and consider them from the user's point of view. The bias implied
by the Rule of Least Surprise is a good one to hold consciously, mainly because
interface designers have an unconscious tendency to be too clever for the user's
good.
It seems to me that this is saying that when we're
surprised we tend to focus on the wrong thing. Pilate was surprised
that Jesus was dead and that became the issue for him. The Pharisee was
surprised that Jesus didn't wash his hands and that became the issue. The
disciples were surprised that Jesus was talking to a woman and that became the
issue. And Nicodemus was surprised that he had to be born again and the "how" of
being born again became the issue. In all four cases those involved,
at that particular juncture in time, missed seeing what they really needed to
see.
Pilate needed to see that Jesus was indeed a king, a
king who willingly died so that someone like Pilate could live. The Pharisee
needed to get past the religious rules of his life and see Jesus as the promised
Messiah. The disciples needed to see beyond the stereotypes of their culture
and see the Samaritan woman as someone in need of living water. And Nicodemus
needed to stop making things so hard and simply believe in the one standing before
him.
But at each juncture in their history they were
all caught off guard. They were surprised and Satan took advantage of their confusion. In
Pilate's case, and perhaps the Pharisee's also, the momentary confusion was enough
to keep them in the dark forever. The disciples, of course, eventually
learned that the gospel was for everyone. And it's believed that Nicodemus
eventually placed his trust in Jesus.
It's for this reason, the simple fact that the
element of surprise can send us down a rabbit trail that leads nowhere, that
Peter warns us against being surprised as he turns his attention to the saints
actually being persecuted. In I Peter 4:12 - 19 we read:
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful
trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. 13
But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may
be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because
of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests
on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any
other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer
as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17
For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins
with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18
And, "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the
ungodly and the sinner?"
So then, those who suffer according to God's will
should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
As already noted, Peter tells us not to
be taken by surprise or caught off guard by persecution. If the world hated
Jesus, and it did, it will also hate us. However, to know this intellectually
and to know it deeply is two different things. For in the midst of painful
suffering the most natural thing in the world is to be surprised that God, who
is good, would allow unspeakable things to happen to his children.
For, in the midst of real suffering, when we are
the most vulnerable, the world will assault our teetering faith. The
world will mock us. It will whisper to us that we are being unfairly treated
by God. And in doing so we could find ourselves going down some philosophical
rabbit trail.1
Second, as we participate in the sufferings of
Christ we are to rejoice. We rejoice because it clarifies our true loyalties. We
rejoice because it reveals to us the value of our faith, the genuineness of it. Plus,
it serves to reminds us that just as we participate in the sufferings of Christ,
we will one day full participate in the glory of Christ.
Third, it gives us the opportunity to reveal to
the world the glory of the God within us and in doing so we too are blessed. Desmond
Tutu in his book No Future Without Forgiveness tells the story of a woman by
the name of Beth Savage who was seriously injured by a grenade at King William's
Town golf club in South Africa. Four years later she testified at a hearing
carried out by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. She said:
"All in all, what I must say is, through
the trauma of it all, I honestly feel richer. I think it's been a really
enriching experience for me and a growing curve, and I think it's given me the
ability to relate to other people who may be going through trauma."
She then went on to say, when asked how she felt
about amnesty for the perpetrator:
"It's not important to me, but, and I've
said this to many people, what I would really, really like is, I would like to
meet that man that threw that grenade in an attitude of forgiveness and hope
that he could forgive me too for whatever reason. But I would very much
like to meet him."
Desmond Tutu then wrote:
"That ought to leave people quite speechless
with the wonder of it all and make you want to be still in the presence of something
so sublime, filled to overflowing with a sense of deep thankfulness that nearly
all the victims, black and white, possessed this marvelous magnanimity. It
did seem to augur well for our country."2
Fourth, if we are to suffer persecution, and we
are, it is important that we suffer for the right reasons. If we
suffer, it is not to be because we have broken the law, nor because we
have made ourselves odious to those around us.
What is interesting to note in this passage is
that when Peter gives us wrong reasons for being persecuted, he gives us a word
that he may have coined himself. The NIV translates this word as "meddler." The
actual Greek word is allotriepiskopos. It is a compound word. It
comes from two words, allotrios meaning belonging to another and episkopos meaning
looking upon or looking into. Therefore, it literally means looking upon
or into that which belongs to another.
Calvin takes it to mean to cast covetous eyes
upon that which belongs to another. The NIV, of course, takes it to means
looking upon or being too interested in other people's affairs. The Scottish
theologian William Barclay, however, thinks it ought to be translated as looking
upon that which is foreign to oneself. This would mean that a Christian
should never look upon or take an interest in that which is alien to his nature
and, as a result, suffer for it.
Fifth, when we participate in the sufferings of
Christ we need to realize that while the world means it for harm, God uses it
to purify his church. Like it or not, judgment begins with God's
people.
Job, of course, is an excellent example of this
purification. While he was upright and blameless he had some rough edges
that needed to be sanded. Most of us within the visible church don't need
to be expunged, we simply need to be sanded. Some of us, of course, with
rougher sandpaper than others!
Now if the holiness of God demands that those
who belong to him be judged, and it does, how much more will it demand that those
who don't belong to him be judged? Or, to put it another way, if
sin within a believer needs to be dealt with, and it does, how much more so does
sin need to be dealt with in a diehard rebel?
Proverbs 11:31 reads:
If the righteous receive their due on earth, how much more the ungodly and the
sinner!
Obviously, you and I can find some reassurance
in this verse only by putting it in the context of our relationship with God. As
a loving Father who cares about his children, God judges sin and allows suffering
to do a good work within us. To those, however, who don't know God
as their Savior, the threatening nature of this verse remains steadfast and unbending.3
As in last week's lesson, the bottom line remains
the same. In the midst of persecution, mild or otherwise, we are
to continue to bless others. That's our job - to do good!
1 Sonya Weitz, in one of her poems, addressed the question
of God's presence in the suffering and tragedy of the Holocaust by writing: "You
ask me, 'Where was God?' I ask you, 'Where was man?'"
2 Desmond M. Tutu, No Future Without Forgiveness,
Published by Doubleday a division of Random House, Inc. 1540 Broadway, New
York, NY 10036, 1999, pp. 146 - 147.
3 Also, we need to remember that there is no condemnation
for those in Christ Jesus! Or as Soren Kierkegaard put it, "We
suffer only once, but we triumph eternally."
PETER: THE MAN AND HIS LETTERS 4/13/08 1
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