As Paul is writing to the people of Thessalonica in this first letter of chapter five, he is continuing his discussion of the Second Coming of Christ, or
"the day of the Lord."
Paul is contrasting believers with unbelievers. He describes unbelievers as persons capable of being surprised as if by a thief at night. I want to focus on the aspect of being surprised, both in a bad way and in a good way.
Has anyone ever surprised you by stealing something from you? My first recollection happened in 1958 when I was in the fifth grade. After our school pictures had been taken, our practice was to exchange the wallet-sized photos with friends, writing something noteworthy on the back. I took great pride in exchanging these special photos with many of my classmates and putting them in my wallet.
To my horror, Pauletta F. stole my wallet with all my photos. At the time I was so mad at her! After a meeting with the principal, my parents tried to explain to me that Pauletta had no friends and no photos. Her parents didn't even have enough money to buy any of her school pictures. She just wanted to feel like she was popular and well-liked. It took me a long time to forgive Pauletta, even after she returned my photos. What I should have done was give Pauletta one of my photos with a nice note on the back for her to keep. That would have been a good surprise for her. But I was ten years old and I didn't do that. I wish I could do that now.
Now for being surprised in a good way. Fast forward to 2019, early in September, at our granddaughter, Emma's soccer game on a Saturday morning in Cincinnati. She, along with other boys and girls, all of them in Kindergarten, play 5-on-5 on a smaller field with smaller goals for eight-minute quarters. The day before Dick had received the results of a medical diagnosis. We contacted both of our children that very day, as they were anxiously awaiting the news. Of course, Emma was not told of this news because her five-year-old mind probably wouldn't comprehend it anyway.
During the game when she wasn't one of the five on the field, I saw her tap her coach on the arm and ask her a question. The coach nodded in the affirmative and Emma promptly ran from her side of the field around the end of the field to the other side where Dick and I were sitting. She threw her arms around each one of us, giving us a big hug, then just as promptly ran back the way she had come. What a good surprise! How did she know what Pa and I really needed that morning?
We know about the birth of the Christ Child and we celebrate it every year. During this Advent season try and put yourself in the place of the different characters in this amazing story and imagine what good surprises were experienced by each of them. Then watch carefully in your own life for the good surprises that God has in store for you.
