ludicrous

Opening Prayer: O Lord, you don’t typically operate the way we do.  Your imagination is wild and wonderful.  Therefore, help us to look for you in the people and the places and the things—and at the times—we might least expect.  We do not want to miss you!  Come, Lord Jesus!

Scripture: Luke 3:1-3

Journal: How and where and when do you normally expect God to show up?  How will you train your eyes, and your heart, to look for him in the most unexpected people, places, things, and times?

Reflection: Ludicrous: causing laughter because of absurdity; ridiculous; laughable.

It’s impossible to read the story of the nativity without realizing how wonderfully bizarre the whole thing is.  I mean, who in their right mind would do it this way?  The answer?  God would.  Only God would come in such a way that it would leave us laughing in disbelief, just ask Sarah (Gen. 18:12). 

So when God chose to bypass Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Herod, Philip, Lysanias, Anna, and Caiaphas, to send his word to John, son of Zechariah, in the desert (Luke 3:1-3), there’s only one word for it—ludicrous.  God often acts in such a way, it seems, that the only appropriate response is to laugh and shake our heads in awestruck amazement.  God is not like man; he has a wild and wonderful imagination.  He is just as likely to sneak into his world as he is to make a grand entrance.  We just never know how or where or when—or through whom or to whom—he might show up, so we have to pay careful attention.  It certainly keeps us on our toes, if not on the edge of our seats.

So, during this season, we might do well to look for God in the ludicrous.  After all, that seems to be where he shows up more often than not.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: O Lord, help us to look for you in the ludicrous.  For if we do not, we are likely to miss your coming.  Amen.