How God Reaches Us: Luke 7:33-35

[Jesus said to the Pharisees,] "John the Baptist came, and he fasted and drank no wine, and you said, ‘He has a demon in him!’ The Son of Man came, and he ate and drank, and you said, ‘Look at this man! He is a glutton and wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and other outcasts!’ God's wisdom, however, is shown to be true by all who accept it.” ~ Luke 7:33-35

In analyzing this passage, Frank Doyle writes that:

God speaks to us in so many ways and through so many people and situations. It is very easy to find ourselves excluding . . . the people or situations by which God is trying to reach us.

We cannot expect God to speak to us in ways which we find congenial. He may speak to us through a saint or a sinner. Through a conservative or a liberal. Through a man or a woman – or a young child. Through an old person or a young person. Through an educated or an illiterate person . . . . We have, at all times, to be ready to listen with an unprejudiced mind and heart.

Jesus' words, "God's wisdom, however, is shown to be true by all who accept it," have always puzzled me. But when we think about it, God speaks to us in some very unorthodox ways. Here is a case in point:

One of my son's friends texted me an incomprehensible, vulgar message regarding my behavior. In translation, he said that I was driving my son away by my overreacting, stubborn, closed-minded way of handling a conflict. And as much as I was irritated by this text (it was poorly written and full of expletives), I realized this kid was right. How did this child, one of my son's friends who I least trusted, posses such a clear understanding of the situation and put a finger on the core of the issue, my poor behavior and blindness? The only answer I could muster was that God's wisdom is boundless and comes to us in unpredictable ways. I was given the grace to listen and start the repair work for the damage I had done to our relationship. 

God speaks to us in unorthodox ways. But it is through Christ and his Spirit, that we are given ears to hear and eyes to see. Jesus points out that, instead of listening, the Pharisees chose to close their ears and stay rooted in their egos. What do we choose?