Early in the 17th Century, the word ‘outlier’ was coined to describe a stone left over in a quarry after a building project. And like many terms, it has morphed in usage to now describe someone who thinks and acts differently from the mainstream, a person who doesn’t fit comfortably with the status quo, may even rebel against it. Other descriptive terms used by those within the mainstream might be: eccentric, kook, oddball, weirdo, etc. What is confounding to some is that these unique and creative individuals sometimes rise to the top of their field and gain great success, even greater name recognition. We might think: Beethoven, Marie Curie, Einstein, Bill Gates, Yo-Yo Ma.
An outlier may need to persevere against criticism, mockery, and negative press in the pursuit of beliefs and dreams. They may, especially initially, garner little support and a great deal of naysayer input. They seem to choose facing obstacles as necessary to achieve their ultimate goals. They see the status quo as a confining box, requiring small dreams, little ambition, and stifled creativity.
God the Father, according to those descriptions, is most definitely an Outlier. Throughout the record of His love story with mankind, His actions have been consistently ‘other,’ regularly the reversal of what one would think. The New Testament with His Magnum Opus, the inbreaking of His Kingdom in the birth of the man-child, Jesus, shattered Jewish propriety, scandalizing their carved-in-stone beliefs about Yahweh’s behavior. Holy God becoming lowly human, Incarnate – why, totally unthinkable, unacceptable! Shock turned to fury as Jesus, a carpenter’s son from Galilee, gathered crowds in the thousands, challenged the sacrosanct status quo, assumed a supremely authoritative stance, produced a string of miracles, and boldly dared rebuke Jewish leadership! This backwoods upstart had to be silenced by hook or by crook.
Today, we rejoice in the outlier aspects of the Gospel. We are included because of it being unsuspected in its choosing, its generous invitation to those who were ‘without hope and without God in this world.’ The unanswerable question ‘How can this be?’ leads us to wonderment, to worship, to God’s heart. Looking forward to seeing you chosen and surprised and grateful-to-be-included followers of Jesus, tomorrow, 10 AM, 3 PM, UK. PD