#radiators

My old house still has its original cast iron radiators. Which are wonderfully efficient when it comes to heating the house – when you take care of them.

Last September, I was getting the radiators ready for winter. It’s a once-a-year job that takes less than a minute. But it requires a special tool, called a radiator key. And I couldn’t find mine anywhere.

After a few days of fruitless looking, I gave up, went online, and bought one. Only it was backordered. They said it wouldn’t be available until sometime in late October.

So, I was really surprised when it was delivered 3 days later.

That didn’t match up with what I was expecting. But it was exactly what I needed. And I was happy to have it.

Today’s Gospel is all about expectations. And how easy it is for you and me to become lost in our expectations. To become fixed in our expectations.

This is what Jesus is hearing from his critics. They have become set in their preconceived notions about how things have to work. They know how it has to happen. That’s the only way that it can happen. End of discussion.

And doing that is having the same effect on them that it has on you and me 2,000 years later when we do it.

When you and I become fixed in our expectations, we close ourselves off to other possibilities. Making us miss what God is doing in our lives.

Keeping us from the joy that comes from receiving God’s grace.

Because it doesn’t match up to what we were expecting.

Even though it’s exactly what we need.