12-16-16 - Change of Plans

Those who have grown up with the Christian tradition have long since accepted the implausible impossibles at the heart of our Christmas story. We either accept them as “gospel truth,” or as privileged narratives given authority by centuries of holy use, or at least as a great story. Do we even blink anymore at hearing that a young girl might become pregnant “by the Holy Spirit,” and be supported by a man who had every reason to be quit of her but stayed because an angel told him to?

It has become so ingrained as “that’s how the story goes,” it can be hard to experience the wonder and fear such events might evoke. A few weeks ago I was inspired by a crazy “What if….” What if God had decided that Joseph would bear the son of God? I mean, if we’re talking about the God for whom nothing is impossible, why not go there? I wrote this up as a somewhat playful short sermon drama (let me know if you want to read it…); I wanted to ratchet up the sense of dislocation this story should elicit in us.

Joseph and Mary experienced a radical change of plans. Their future looked all set – they were engaged, would soon be married; Joseph had a good living as a carpenter, Mary was young and healthy. The plan looked good.

Except God had a different plan – a way, way bigger plan. A plan that required an unbelievable amount of faith, to believe in something that could not possibly be proven in any empirical way. A plan that demanded an inconceivable amount of courage, to defend a “conceiving” that looked an awful lot like sin and betrayal. A plan that would bring some joy, yes, and also a great deal of heartache and uncertainty.

What plans of yours have been disrupted – by God, or by the choices of others, or by circumstances beyond your control?
Have you grieved those lost plans?  It’s worth naming them, if only to better let them go.
How creative and resilient were you in adapting to the new circumstances? Have you adjusted yet?
What is your prayer in response to your plan changes? Where do you sense the Holy Spirit’s involvement in your life? Can you glimpse a bigger plan in what has happened? Name it.

Looking back, sometimes we can see blessing in what came about instead of our plans. We see this in It’s a Wonderful Life, as George Bailey discovers that his continually laying aside his life plans made him not a failure, but a blessing to countless people, including himself. It is considered a holiday film because of its Christmas climax – but it also echoes the challenges facing Mary and Joseph in our nativity story.

I surely hope they were blessed by the new trajectory of their lives as they embraced God’s plan. I firmly believe that the world has been blessed by them. I have been.

Here's how their conversation with the angel might have gone...

GABRIEL

Look, I know this is not what you were expecting. And I can’t promise that it’s all going to be easy from here on out. This plan of God’s – it’s complicated, and it’s not all happy endings along the way… though hang on for the real ending. That’s a doozy. You’re going to face adversity and hardship and challenge—

JOSEPH

Keep going, pal – you’re really selling it!

GABRIEL

But I think you’re also going to find you’re right at the heart of God’s greatest gift to the world. God is all-powerful, yet God cannot set this story in motion without both of you. It’s going to take tremendous faith, but I assure you, it’s a heck of a story.

MARY

Do we have a choice? Looks like this pregnancy is already well underway.

GABRIEL

You have a choice in how you respond… Will you walk into the story? Will you exercise your faith? Will you hold each other when one of you starts to doubt? Will you let love be your answer?