COME TO THE MANGER -- JOSEPH
Matthew 1:18-25
Last week, every day was Monday. Every day, something unexpected happened to interfere with my to-do list, my plans and my routines. What can I say? The best laid plans of mice and men and pastors often go awry.
When Joseph heard that Mary was pregnant, before he understood the circumstances, he made a decision on what he was going to do. Being a faithful Jew, Joseph was going to follow the religious tradition and end their engagement. But being a man of faith, Joseph chose to be merciful and planned to do it quietly so not to cause any trouble for Mary.
He had committed himself to a plan of action, and then he had a dream.
If Mary's story asks the question "how?", Joseph's story asks the question, "What? What happens when God changes our nicely laid plans?"
Human beings are such creatures of habits, routines and plans. In the TV show, "The Big Bang Theory," the character, Sheldon, is an extreme example of this.
He stubbornly sticks to his routines. He will only sit on the right-hand end of the couch because that spot, winter and summer, is the right temperature for him, and it puts him at the b est angle for watching TV. No one is allowed to sit there, except him.
For each night of the week, Sheldon has a specific routine which includes what he eats and what he does. For example, Wednesday nights, he always goes to the comic book store, and on Thursdays, he has pizza. When his friends decide to declare the third Thursday of each month, "Anything Can Happen Night," the change to his usual plans upsets Sheldon so much that he can't enjoy himself.
So looking at the past week, I wonder how much joy I missed out because I was so narrowly focused on my own plans and my own schedule. How many unexpected God moments did I miss?
There was nothing wrong with Joseph's plan, but God had a better plan, an unexpected plan. That's part of the mystery of God and God's ways. God imagines what we think is unimaginable and makes it possible.
Joseph never imagined that Mary's pregnancy was a result of G od's miraculous power -- he assumed it was the result of adultery. Never in his wildest imagination did he think that the baby Mary was carrying was the promised Messiah from David's line, and that he would be asked to raise the Son of God as his own.
What happens when God changes our nicley laid plans? Well, if we're open to the impossible, the unimaginable ways God moves in our lives, we may find, like Joseph, that through obedience, we may be transformed as God leads us in unexpected ways we never imagined.
Last week, every day was Monday. Every day, something unexpected happened to interfere with my to-do list, my plans and my routines. What can I say? The best laid plans of mice and men and pastors often go awry.
When Joseph heard that Mary was pregnant, before he understood the circumstances, he made a decision on what he was going to do. Being a faithful Jew, Joseph was going to follow the religious tradition and end their engagement. But being a man of faith, Joseph chose to be merciful and planned to do it quietly so not to cause any trouble for Mary.
He had committed himself to a plan of action, and then he had a dream.
If Mary's story asks the question "how?", Joseph's story asks the question, "What? What happens when God changes our nicely laid plans?"
Human beings are such creatures of habits, routines and plans. In the TV show, "The Big Bang Theory," the character, Sheldon, is an extreme example of this.
He stubbornly sticks to his routines. He will only sit on the right-hand end of the couch because that spot, winter and summer, is the right temperature for him, and it puts him at the b est angle for watching TV. No one is allowed to sit there, except him.
For each night of the week, Sheldon has a specific routine which includes what he eats and what he does. For example, Wednesday nights, he always goes to the comic book store, and on Thursdays, he has pizza. When his friends decide to declare the third Thursday of each month, "Anything Can Happen Night," the change to his usual plans upsets Sheldon so much that he can't enjoy himself.
So looking at the past week, I wonder how much joy I missed out because I was so narrowly focused on my own plans and my own schedule. How many unexpected God moments did I miss?
There was nothing wrong with Joseph's plan, but God had a better plan, an unexpected plan. That's part of the mystery of God and God's ways. God imagines what we think is unimaginable and makes it possible.
Joseph never imagined that Mary's pregnancy was a result of G od's miraculous power -- he assumed it was the result of adultery. Never in his wildest imagination did he think that the baby Mary was carrying was the promised Messiah from David's line, and that he would be asked to raise the Son of God as his own.
What happens when God changes our nicley laid plans? Well, if we're open to the impossible, the unimaginable ways God moves in our lives, we may find, like Joseph, that through obedience, we may be transformed as God leads us in unexpected ways we never imagined.
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