Matthew 25:31-46 Dear Partner in Preaching, What surprises me about this familiar and daunting passage is, well, the surprise. The surprise of both groups alike. Think about it: “when did we…” and “when didn’t we…” are only a sliver apart. Neither group denies its behavior. One group did indeed feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, visit the imprisoned and more. But they didn’t think much of it. And the other group did not do these things…and did not think much of it either. So they’re not surprised by the report of their actions. Rather, they are surprised that the Son of Man was present, which I find incredibly...

Dear Partner in Preaching, There is so much we don’t know about the story told in this week’s passage: We don’t know how this Roman centurion heard about Jesus. We don’t know anything about his military career, what wars he had perhaps waged, what battles fought. We don’t know why he changed his mind after first asking Jesus to come to him and then sending servants telling Jesus he didn’t need to come but only to speak the word of healing. We don’t know why he cared so deeply about this slave. We don’t know if the slave was Jewish and that perhaps played upon the sympathy of the Jewish elders or Jesus. We don’t know what...

Dear Partner in Preaching, Do you like surprises? I’ll be honest, I’m a little conflicted about them. Actually not all that conflicted, as I really like surprising others – with an unexpected visit or gift, for instance – but I really don’t like being surprised myself. A bit hypocritical, perhaps, but there you go. I think it’s that I like being prepared, feeling more or less ready for what’s coming, and surprises undermine that kind of confidence. I ask this question because I think this passage turns on the matter of surprises. Notice that both those identified as sheep and those named goats are surprised by what Jesus says....

One of the attributes that I think is woefully undervalued in leadership is the capacity to be surprised. That may, I know, sound like an odd capacity to lift up and perhaps seems like a rather mundane thing on which to focus. After all, aren’t all of us regularly surprised by all kinds of things all of the time? Yes…and no. Do things regularly happen that we didn’t expect? Sure. And do we venture into experiences that we’d not had before and are therefore surprised. Absolutely. But that’s not quite the kind of surprise I’m talking about. What I really mean is the willingness to have our expectations defied, even overturned. To...