A Blessing for Those of us who Want (or Hope) to be Surprised by Jesus

Just when we think we have you figured out, give our certainty a shake and dismantle the boxes we were given for you.

I took this on a walk through my neighbourhood last week. All those leaves are already gone and snow just started to swirl outside my window.

Hi friends,

Thank you so much for journeying through the past few weeks with me as we spent purposeful time with just a couple of the stories of Jesus that have captured my own heart. A most sincere thank you to all of our subscribers who make this kind of intense, deep-dive possible. It means a lot to me that you’re here and I never take this work - or you - for granted.

To wrap up the series, I’ve written and recorded this new blessing for those of us who want (or hope) to be surprised by Jesus again. You’ll find it below. ⬇️

But first, I’m curious if you’d like to see this series continue in the spring as part of our plans around here? (For newer subscribers, I usually write a couple of brand new series here at Field Notes every year but in our latest survey, the majority of subscribers expressed some fatigue with the typical Advent/Lent/Easter/etc. themed series centred on the rhythms of Church calendar that I’ve done in the past, so we’re trying these new topics.)

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In case you missed any, here’s the full The Unexpected Jesus Series:

The Unexpected Jesus

The Unexpected Jesus: Week 1 // The Incarnation

The Unexpected Jesus: Week 2 // The Wedding in Cana

The Unexpected Jesus: Week 3 // The Woman at the Well

The Unexpected Jesus: Week 4 // Mary the Magdalene

The Unexpected Jesus: Your Turn

(And just as a reminder, it’s our joy to give away paid subscriptions to literally everyone who asks. If you can’t swing a subscription right now, please just let us know by emailing assistant@sarahbessey.com and we’ll get you sorted out before too long. Promise. Subscriptions aren’t meant to be a barrier, just a way to create a quieter corner on the Internet for deeper conversations and comments, as well as to support this kind of work. You don’t need to justify or explain, just put your hand up through that email and we’ve got you.)

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🎧 The Secret Field Notes Podcast

For paid subscribers, there is an audio version of this week’s Field Notes over on The Secret Field Notes Podcast, too. Here’s the link to listen to that (and here’s an article explaining how to add this Secret Field Notes Podcast feed to your podcast app, too so that you have it in your preferred app as soon as it’s published).

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A Blessing for Those of us who Want (or Hope) to be Surprised by Jesus

We pray for those of us who are 
  tired, weary, prosaic 
  and chronically dis-enchanted.
The heard-it-all, tried-it-all, 
  witnessed-it-all, and found-it-wanting ones, 
  even with the advertised t-shirt.

We pray for those of us who have given up, 
  given in to the temptations of numbness and
  know-it-all-ness, the cynicism, and
  suspicion because we are the ones
  who learned the hard way.

We didn't get here by accident, we know.
  We look back with compassion
  on the version of us who was still open,
  who believed, who was all-in.

Whatever broke our trust, whatever
  hurt our hopes, whatever abused
  our innocence, we take it seriously
  and we know that you hold that
  tenderly. Teach us to be tender
  with our own stories, too.

We want to bring that younger,
  hopeful, open version along with us,
  even as we leave behind 
  all that needs to be left.

God, you've never been a map to chart, 
  a set of instructions to follow,
  a code to crack,
  a money-back guarantee,
  a formula to copy,
  a rulebook to obey.
What a relief.

You've always been the good shepherd,
  the bread, the wine,
  the gate and the pasture, 
  the light of the world,
  the way, the truth, the life.

God of all unexpected moments and 
  outrageous revelation in ordinary days, 
  surprise us again.
(You're surprising us in mangers and in manna,
  in women and children, in sex workers and tax collectors,
  in the prisoners and the powerful, on water and by land,
  in stories and survivors,
  why not in our lives, too?)

We trust that your Love is the truest 
  truth of the Universe,
  and there is still so much to 
  learn and know and experience in your Love.

You're our unexpected Jesus, who breaks into our lives, 
  who tears curtains from the top to the bottom,
  who rushes out of the Holy of Holies to just be with us again,
  who walks on water and out of graves and through walls,
  who eats with everyone and puts kids at ease.

Just when we think we have you figured out,
  give our certainty a shake and
  dismantle the boxes we were given for you.

Bring new order to our chaos of 
  hubris and expectation.
Tear down the walls we keep building,
  erase the lines we draw between 
  what is secular and what is sacred
  (what a laugh that line is to you).

Help us to stay open to being surprised again. 
  Crack open the hard shell we've built up 
  around our yearning hearts.

Knock on the door of our wonder 
  and ask us to come out to play.

Turn over our expectations and 
  smash our man-made ways-it-has-always-been,
in favour of the new thing you are already doing.

Invite the outsiders to the party and please 
  say our name, so we know that the dancing
  includes us, too.

Disrupt our tidy categories and plans,
  with the fresh wind of your playful Spirit.
Stoke our curiosity about you 
  and the stories we thought we knew.

We won't be content with old wine in old wine-skins,
  not anymore. We are ready for the new wine,
  the new wineskins, even if we aren't sure what to expect.
(This is when it gets fun, we know.)

Unclench our know-it-all jaw. 
  Loosen our grip on expectations.
  Expand our notions of belonging and beauty.
Raise us up to new life, beyond brands and boundaries,
  into the new dawn of your kin-dom reality of love.

Give us opportunities to practice wonder again.
  Re-enchant our spirits with the whispers of what could be.
Don't let us get away with despair, 
  teach us the discipline and practice of hope.

We aren't resigned to the powers and principalities anymore, 
  we aren't content with second-hand stories.
We want to know you for ourselves
  (honestly? maybe for the first time).

May you remind us that you keep watch,
  and in the darkest moments of our lives,
  we may not recognize you but
  there you are.
There you have always been, the Love
  that holds everything,
  even us.

Keep our hearts open to the possibilities
  of love, amazement, truth, and liberation
  hiding in plain sight in our lives
  today, tomorrow, and even yesterday.

Amen.

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Thanks for letting me talk about Jesus,

S.

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