“Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous,” mused Albert Einstein.
But actually, what are coincidences and how does God use them?
Last Friday we went to a funeral at my son-in-law’s church in the heart of rural Cheshire, St Boniface Bunbury. We knew the church was going to be packed and so we arrived early. And so, for an hour or so, waiting for the service to begin, I gazed around this remarkable medieval church, reflecting on how many had worshipped there over some seven centuries.
Returning home that evening I picked up my Kindle to start a new book and chose "The Restless Republic" which I had bought for 99p last year in a daily deal. No special reason, just interested about the era of Cromwell when England was a republic.
One of the key players then was Cheshire lawyer John Bradshaw, who presided at the trial of King Charles I. I had only been reading a few paragraphs when Bunbury came up, how Bradshaw attended the grammar school in Bunbury. And then: “On Sundays pupils were sent to St Boniface’s church, furnished with pencil and paper to take notes.”
As far as I can recall I have never come across St Boniface church, Bunbury, in print. And yet within a couple of hours of being there, here it was. Amazing.
I emailed my daughters and son-in-law with the heading: Another amazing coincidence - without any obvious significance. And that’s the point, an amazing coincidence yes, but no more.
There are some Christians, of course, who would build a huge edifice on this coincidence. So remarkable that God must be involved – and if so, why? But coincidences do happen, some astonishing. But that’s life in a universe where billions of things happen every day.
That being the case, what is the role of coincidence as we would follow Jesus? After all, William Temple – arguably the greatest of all Archbishops of Canterbury – once commented: “When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don't, they don't.”
Certainly, Jesus has a very high view of the providence of God, the way things happen. ‘Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.” (Matthew 10:29). Nothing is too small or insignificant for his attention. After all, he knows the number of hairs on my head, much easier nowadays.
However, that being the case, coincidence does not feature large in scripture. Of course, there are many examples of the right person being at the right place at the right time. Moses for example, but his rescue by the Pharoah’s daughter was contrived by his mother and not just a random event. Similarly, the person of Esther, who we looked at the other week, she needed to work out her strategy. It just didn’t happen so to speak by chance.
But there again it all fell into place. So, she approached the emperor just when he was in the right mood, he just happened to read about Esther’s guardian at the right time. And so on. It seems that God’s providence is a fusion of human purpose and random events coming together. It is, to use a word I’ve been longing to use for years, serendipitous.
In the New Testament the Holy Spirit directs Philip the Evangelist away from where it is all happening in Samaria to a desert road towards Gaza. There he just happens to meet the Ethiopian eunuch who just happens to be reading the passage in Isaiah on the suffering servant.
What counts here, of course, is Philip’s obedience and his willingness to seize the moment. God has lined it up for him but even then he has to take the risk of speaking to this high official.
I recall one event in my own ministry, when one day rather than take my usual route, I walked down Rosehill Drive. I don’t know why, I just did. There I could see a bloke standing at his gate looking away from me. I recognised him from a funeral I had taken and called out hello. He turned and quite strangely laughed out loud, a distinctive laugh which I have come to recognise.
It seems that at that moment he was puzzled by something and thought to himself: “I must ask Ross when I next see him.” And at that very moment he heard my voice.
Over the years such an event has happened fairly regularly, and each time I reflect on how that particular coincidence happened, and each time it was simply the result of some ordinary, everyday decision. Just my mind working normally and certainly no overt sense of being guided by the Holy Spirit.
In other words, coincidences just do happen. It’s for us to respond appropriately, like the Good Samaritan, as Jesus tells the story.
We read in some translations: “Now by coincidence a certain priest was going down on that road.” (Luke 10:31). Other translations use ‘And by chance;’ others ‘the priest happened to be going.’
The original Greek word is synkyrian: syn meaning together with, while kyrian means supreme in authority. That is what occurs when God is in control of events.
That may be the case, but the Samaritan still had to decide how to respond when he came across this man lying injured and bloody in the road. It’s his call.
Coincidences do happen. However, what counts is our response.
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