Not What I Expected

Submitted by westend_admin on Wed, 2011-11-30 16:06

We create stereotypes about what we expect in people. Doctors should be intelligent, accountants accurate, teachers caring, and so the list goes on. I guess we do this as a way to make us feel we “know” people before we meet them. I wonder how many of us have stereotypes of Jesus but yet know little about him. All during Jesus’ ministry people tried to fit him and his teachings into existing stereotypes, but none seem to fit. This led to frustration for some because he just wasn’t what they expected. It goes to show that often stereotypes hide more from us than they reveal.

This reminds me of the story of the founding of Stanford University. A California couple visited the president of Harvard, and they explained that their son had recently died and his dream was to attend Harvard. They told the president that they would like to build a memorial to their son at the university. The president was quite dismissive of the couple; after all, California wasn’t regarded as much of a state at that time, the same went for its residents. On their way out of the university they asked him how much it would cost to reduplicate Harvard in another part of the United States. The President threw out a large number, and the husband said to his wife, “I suppose we can do that.” And they left. One year later, plans were announced for Leland Stanford Junior University in California, honoring the memory of their son. The president’s stereotypes prevented him from truly knowing and appreciating who he was with.

This Christmas, don’t let stereotypes obscure the message of Jesus. Though something or someone may not be what we expect, it may be exactly what we need. Let this Advent be a time to shed our stereotypes about Jesus, the Christ, so we open ourselves to new dimensions of faith.