When God Isn’t What You Expect
God usually doesn’t fit in our box
Mistaken identity: Setting out from Hamburg, Germany, one day to
give a concert in London, violinist Fritz Kreisler had an hour before his
boat sailed. He wandered into a music shop, where the proprietor asked if
he might look at the violin Kreisler was carrying. He then vanished and
returned with two policemen. One officer told the violinist, “You are
under arrest.” Incredulous, Kreisler asked, “What for?” The officer
answered, “You have Fritz Kreisler’s violin.”
“I am Fritz Kreisler,” protested the musician. Said the officer, “You can’t
put that on us. Come along to the station.,”
As Kreisler’s boat was sailing soon, there was no time for prolonged
explanations. Kreisler asked for his violin and played a piece he was well
known for. “Now are you satisfied? he asked. The policemen let the
musician go because he had done what only Fritz Kreisler could do. Today
in the Word, July 1995
What God looks like: A kindergarten teacher was observing her
classroom of children while they drew. She would occasionally walk
around to see each child's artwork. As she came to one little girl who was
working diligently, she asked what the drawing was. The girl replied,
“I'm drawing God.” The teacher paused and said, “But no one knows
what God looks like.” Without missing a beat, or looking up from her
drawing the girl replied, “They will in a minute.”
God appearing to Israel
• Exodus 19:16-20; Exodus 20:18-19; Deuteronomy 18:16
• Smoke, voice like thunder, “we will die”
God appearing in the Temple
• Solomon – 1 Kings 8:10, 2 Chronicles 5:13-14
• Isaiah – Isaiah 6:1-5
• Glory, smoke, overwhelming, “Woe is me … I’m unclean.”
God appearing in Bethlehem
• Luke 2:1-20; Matthew 2
• Homeless, poor, rejected, unknown; unwelcome, hated, feared,
attacked
1.
A. The Pharisees thought they knew what God would look like
when He arrived. They were wrong – and so they rejected Him!
B. When God doesn’t do what we expect, we can get really upset
C. This can be quite frustrating!
D. Ill> It’s occurred to me that when I suggest how God should do
something, He probably won’t do it that way!
E. We want God in a box because then He’ll do what we want and
in the way we want it. But He doesn’t operate that way!
F. Ill> Bruce Almighty – the point is that God doesn’t do things our
way because He knows better! (Bruce says yes to everyone’s
prayers and causes mayhem.)
2. People don’t reject Christ because of presentation; they do so
because of their heart
A. Israel didn’t want to hear from the Lord when He was thundering
from the mountain, and they didn’t want to hear from Him when
He spoke to them in person in humility.
B. Basically it didn’t matter how he presented Himself; they
rejected Him regardless!
C. People do this today – reject Jesus because He’s not what they
expect (i.e., they don’t understand Who He is):
1) He’s a harsh and stern tyrant Who wants to ruin their fun
instead of the Savior Who died to pay for their sins.
2) He’s a weak and kindly grandfather figure Who would never
send anyone to hell instead of that He’s just and holy and
must deal with man’s sin.
D. Those with a mind to hear the truth will respond (even if we
blow the presentation!)

3. People who accept Christ are willing to identify with His
humility
A. Those that accepted Christ weren’t put off by His appearance
B. The shepherds, the Magi, Mary and Joseph
C. 1 Corinthians 4:10-13 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are
wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are
honourable, but we are despised. 11 Even unto this present hour
we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted,
and have no certain dwellingplace; 12 And labour, working
with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted,
we suffer it: 13 Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the
filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this
day.
D. Don’t feel bad about not being in the upper echelon of society.
That’s the way it’s always been, and Jesus wasn’t part of the “in
crowd” either!
Concl: There was once a man who didn't believe in God, and he didn't
hesitate to let others know how he felt about religion and religious
holidays. His wife, however, did believe, and she raised their children to
also have faith in God and Jesus, despite his disparaging comments.
One snowy eve, his wife was taking their children to a service in the
farm community in which they lived. They were to talk about Jesus'
birth. She asked him to come, but he refused. “That story is nonsense!”
he said. “Why would God lower Himself to come to Earth as a man?
That's ridiculous!”
So she and the children left, and he stayed home. A while later, the winds
grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. As the man looked out
the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm. He sat down to relax
before the fire for the evening. Then he heard a loud thump. Something
had hit the window. He looked out, but couldn't see more than a few feet.
When the snow let up a little, he ventured outside to see what could have
been beating on his window. In the field near his house he saw a flock of
wild geese. Apparently they had been flying south for the winter when
they got caught in the snowstorm and couldn't go on. They were lost and
stranded on his farm, with no food or shelter. They just flapped their
wings and flew around the field in low circles, blindly and aimlessly. A
couple of them had flown into his window, it seemed.
The man felt sorry for the geese and wanted to help them. The barn
would be a great place for them to stay, he thought. It's warm and safe;
surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm.
So he walked over to the barn and opened the doors wide, then watched
and waited, hoping they would notice the open barn and go inside. But
the geese just fluttered around aimlessly and didn't seem to notice the
barn or realize what it could mean for them. The man tried to get their
attention, but that just seemed to scare them, and they moved further
away. He went into the house and came with some bread, broke it up,
and made a bread crumb trail leading to the barn. They still didn't catch
on.
Now he was getting frustrated. He got behind them and tried to shoo
them toward the barn, but they only got more scared and scattered in
every direction except toward the barn. Nothing he did could get them to
go into the barn where they would be warm and safe. “Why don't they
follow me?!” he exclaimed. “Can't they see this is the only place where
they can survive the storm?”
He thought for a moment and realized that they just wouldn't follow a
human. “If only I were a goose, then I could save them,” he said out
loud. Then he had an idea. He went into barn, got one of his own geese,
and carried it in his arms as he circled around behind the flock of wild
geese. He then released it. His goose flew through the flock and straight
into the barn--and one-by-one, the other geese followed it to safety.
He stood silently for a moment as the words he had spoken a few
minutes earlier replayed in his mind: “If only I were a goose, then I could
save them!” Then he thought about what he had said to his wife earlier.
“Why would God want to be like us? That's ridiculous!” Suddenly it all
made sense. That is what God had done. We were like the geese--blind,
lost, perishing. God had His Son become like us so He could show us the
way and save us.
As the winds and blinding snow died down, his soul became quiet and
pondered this wonderful thought. Suddenly he understood why Christ
had come. Years of doubt and disbelief vanished with the passing storm.
He fell to his knees in the snow, and prayed his first prayer: “Thank You,
God, for coming in human form to get me out of the storm.”