“[The gospel] is not a question to be answered or a puzzle to be solved. It is a paradox to be relished, a wild, outrageous secret to be astonished at and then snitched to the world as the greatest joke ever told… The Mystery of Christ is a festival of weakness and foolishness on the part of God… something that makes no more sense than the square root of minus one — something that is deaf to our cries for intelligible explanations but that works when it is put into the equation of the world — something that can only be marveled at because it is such preposterously Good News. The Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, has one Word for us: God has upped and done the damnedest thing. Or to get the direction and adjectives right, God has downed and done the blessedest thing we could ever not have thought of.” – Robert Farrar Capon
We celebrate a Gospel of Astonishment. No one enters the kingdom of God on the basis of what they deserve, thus making the overwhelming attitude one of complete and utter astonishment. Based on a true and personal understanding of sin and Grace, nothing else seems appropriate.
It’s the astonishment of the vagabonds and street people who were ushered into the lavish wedding banquet at the last minute because the invited guests had “better things to do.” It’s the astonishment of the workers who got paid a full day’s wage for an hour of work. It’s the astonishment of the Prodigal Son welcomed home with a robe, a ring, and a party when all he hoped for was to simply eat with the servants. It’s the astonishment of Sarah, who laughed a real laugh, no longer cynical, as the baby Isaac was placed in her old wrinkled arms, chalky white and screaming from birth. It’s the thing that will cause all of us to proclaim, when we reach our final destination and first lay eyes on the glories of heaven, “What could I possibly have done to deserve this?”
Here’s what will kill astonishment: The slightest shred of entitlement. Astonishment is like the pregnancy test for grace and mercy. The absence of it is an indication that people have reached spiritual maturation through some other means.
John Fischer The Catch 
I love this! “Astonishment is like the pregnancy test for grace and mercy. The absence of it is an indication that people have reached spiritual maturation through some other means.” I have come to realize lately that I am not as astonished at my own salvation as I ought to be. I am grateful to you for this. I’ve been reading your 12 Steps book – a must read for every long time believer. I appreciate the opportunity to look inward. What a faithful and gracious God we serve that he will still move to teach and grow even those that seem so underwhelmed with his great salvation. Today I will practice astonishment, I need to have more grace and mercy in my interactions with others, focusing on the unmerited gift of my own salvation ought to do it!
As you know from 12-steps, astonishment is a factor of how undeserving I am of God’s grace and mercy which is a factor of how I see myself as a sinner of which there is no equal.
John, Thanks so much for sharing this stunning quote. I translated it into German and will be sharing it tomorrow with the little flock, in hopes that we will be united in amazement. After 1/2 hour of searching, I cannot locate the source of this quote from Robert Farrar Capon. Would you be so kind as to credit it fully? Thanks!
Actually, I picked up this quote from a xerox copy of an address he gave at some national event I don’t even recall now. The actual word-for-word quote is probably not published anywhere. It would take me more time than I have right now to locate that original copy so just credit him from an address.