WEBVTT 00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:08.960 This podcast is a ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God. 00:00:09.279 --> 00:00:14.000 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org. 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:32.159 Father, as we stand here together as your sons and daughters, we submit ourselves once again to your word and to this season where we prepare our hearts once again for your arrival. 00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:36.159 Not just as a babe, but as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. 00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:45.359 And we ask God that you would do the work in us that you want to do today, that you would strip away those things that are keeping us from the life that you have for us. 00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:56.640 And we just invite you by your spirit to do a deep work in us today, that you would bring healing and hope, and that you would spark joy in us in ways we never dreamed before. 00:00:56.960 --> 00:01:06.959 We thank you again for being a part of a church family, for these families, these kids who are up here, just learning about who you are and the life you have for them. 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:14.560 We just ask, God, that your spirit would rest in them and they would just experience your presence in a way they they never even thought about. 00:01:15.519 --> 00:01:18.319 So come and have your way here among us today. 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:19.920 We pray in your name, Jesus. 00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:20.799 Amen. 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:21.519 Amen. 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:22.959 Y'all can have a seat. 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:28.319 Well, welcome to Grand Park Way. 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:29.200 I'm Rick. 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:30.799 I'm one of the pastors here. 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:36.400 And uh how many's ever been to a wedding? 00:01:37.599 --> 00:01:38.879 A few, yeah. 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:41.680 I've officiated dozens of weddings. 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:44.480 Um, I've been in about a dozen weddings. 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:54.879 And uh I got married once myself, and one of the common threads that I have discovered about weddings along the way is there always seemed to be one kind of memorable mishap that happens in a wedding. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:01:56.000 You guys notice that? 00:01:56.239 --> 00:02:00.000 Something always kind of goes wrong, and the more noticeable the better sometimes. 00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:06.079 Um, like when my daughter got married, it was this outdoor wedding all elaborate and this gazebo and all these things. 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:10.800 And then um that morning when we woke up, it was a torrential downpour. 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:16.639 So we spent two hours in the rain pulling everything set up outside, inside to a barn. 00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:25.680 And um, by the time I actually got to officiate the ceremony, I had it was it was so crazy that I didn't even know, wasn't even thinking about what this day was. 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:36.240 And then I walk her down the aisle and then and then I get up to talk and I can't, which if you those of you who know me, that's a miracle in and of itself, is that I can't talk. 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:41.039 For like three minutes, my glasses fog up, and it was just kind of like one of those meltdowns. 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:44.479 But sometimes it gets more more than emotional. 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:55.840 I I remember one of Michelle's friends in college, Michelle was in her wedding, and when they went to go blow out the Unity candle, her veil was still over her face, and she blew it straight into the candle and her veil caught on fire. 00:02:56.080 --> 00:03:01.039 And her husband is going trying to blow out her veil right in front of her face. 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:14.000 Um on our wedding, I remember the the candle obras were right below the air conditioning vents, so they had flowers wrapped around all the candles, so they burned down really fast, and all the flowers around the candles caught on fire. 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:26.879 Um so when it came time for us to do our unity candle, um also we we tried it and it was near the vent, so we did it, and when we went to go light it, the the the candle completely blew out, and so there was no unity. 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:29.360 Um, the unity candle at our wedding. 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:39.840 Um, I I remember in fishing in officiating weddings, I I've forgotten to have readers read, I've called people the wrong names, I've seen attendants faint, I've seen mothers forget to stand. 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:43.840 Most of the time, it's fathers of the bride who have no idea what they're doing there. 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:52.159 Um I've I've heard good music, I've heard not so good music, and then of course you throw in all the ring bearers and flower girls, and it gets to be quite an adventure, right? 00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:59.360 Um, but of all the wedding mishaps that I've ever heard of, there's one that Robert Fuljum wrote about that I think takes the cake. 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:00.319 Listen to this. 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:01.759 This is how he described it. 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:03.439 He says, Ah, the bride. 00:04:03.599 --> 00:04:06.159 She had been dressed for hours, if not days. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:08.560 No adrenaline was left in her body. 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:14.240 Left alone with her father in the reception hall while the march of the maidens went on and on. 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:21.199 She walked along the tables laden with gourmet goodies and absent-mindedly sampled first the little pink and yellow and green mints. 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:34.560 Then she picked through the silver bowls of mixed nuts and ate the pecans, followed by a cheese ball, a deuce of olives, a handful of glazed almonds, a little sausage with a frilly toothpick stuck in it, a couple shrimps, blanketed and bacon, and a crackler piled with liver pate. 00:04:34.879 --> 00:04:37.519 And to wash this all down, a glass of pink champagne. 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:39.839 Her father gave it to her to calm her nerves. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:45.680 And so what you noticed as the do as the bride stood in the doorway was not her dress, but her face. 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:47.439 It was white. 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:51.759 For what was coming down the aisle was a living grenade with the pin pulled. 00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:59.120 Then he says, the bride threw up just as she walked by her mother. 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:04.240 And by threw up, I don't mean a polite little lady-like herp into her handkerchief. 00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:05.279 She puked. 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:07.360 There's no nice word for it. 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:13.920 She hosed the front of the chancel, hitting two bridesmaids, the groom, a ring bearer, and me. 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:16.079 He says, I'm quite sure of the details. 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:19.199 We have it all on video, three cameras worth. 00:05:19.600 --> 00:05:21.759 And the mother of the bride had thought of everything. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:33.519 So the bride, having disgorged her hors d'oeuvres, champagne to the last of her dignity, went limp in her father's arms while the groom sat down on the floor where he had been standing too stunned to function. 00:05:34.720 --> 00:05:38.720 And the mother of the bride faded, slumping over in a ragdoll disarray. 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:44.560 And then we had a fire drill, then we then had a fire drill, and there at the front of the church that only the Marx brothers could have topped. 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:52.480 Groomsmen rushed heroically, many princess flower girls squalled, bridesmaids sobbed, and people with weak stomachs headed for the exits. 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:56.000 All the while, unaware, the orchestra played on. 00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:03.279 The bride had not only come, she was gone into some other state of consciousness, and only two people were seen smiling. 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:09.920 One was the mother of the groom, and the other was the father of the bride. 00:06:12.079 --> 00:06:15.759 I mean, yeah, that's a story that you'll never forget, right? 00:06:15.839 --> 00:06:23.040 Especially if they actually, if you I re if you read the rest of this chapter, um, every year on their anniversary, they actually watch the video together. 00:06:25.199 --> 00:06:36.720 See, the point is this you can plan all you want, but inevitably, something beyond our control always seems to interrupt regularly scheduled programming, doesn't it? 00:06:37.279 --> 00:06:38.160 Always. 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:39.360 And then what? 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:41.040 Then what? 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:51.519 Well, today on this third Sunday of Advent, I think we're going to see this supernatural reality of joy that actually can transcend our circumstances. 00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:54.240 That's not dependent upon our circumstances. 00:06:54.399 --> 00:07:06.879 It's a joy that's only possible because God is with us, and not only is he with us, he is at work in and around us, especially in life's inevitable detours, interruptions, and problems. 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:09.199 So if you have your Bible, turn to Luke chapter 1. 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:12.000 This is where we're gonna see this, and it's a very familiar story. 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:14.399 It's a big part of the Christmas story. 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:17.199 So Luke chapter 1, verse 20. 00:07:18.560 --> 00:07:20.079 We're gonna go for a few verses here. 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:30.639 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. 00:07:30.879 --> 00:07:32.800 And the virgin's name was Mary. 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:36.879 And he came to her and said, Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you. 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:42.399 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:51.839 And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God, and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:55.279 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. 00:07:55.519 --> 00:08:03.360 And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:06.879 And Mary said to the angel, How will this be since I am a virgin? 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:13.439 And the angel said to her, answered her, The Lord's spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:17.279 Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. 00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:26.560 And behold, your relative Elizabeth, in her old age, has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her, who is called Baron. 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:29.600 For nothing will be impossible with God. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:32.879 And Mary said, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:34.879 Let it be to me according to your word. 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:37.039 And the angel departed from her. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:46.320 Then in those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country to the town in Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:58.559 And when the Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit fruit of your womb. 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:03.440 And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:08.480 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my loom leaped for joy. 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:13.840 And blessed is she who believes that there would be a fulfill fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord. 00:09:14.000 --> 00:09:19.759 And then Mary said, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:22.000 This was the song the kids just sang for us. 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:28.960 For he has looked on the humble state estate of your his servant, for behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed. 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:36.639 For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name, and his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:46.080 He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in thoughts of their hearts, and has he has brought down the mighty from the thrones and exalted those of humble estate. 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:49.679 He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:59.679 He has helped his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his offspring forever. 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:10.480 We're going to talk about this passage because I think we get a really good insight into what it looks like to experience joy when things don't go as planned. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:10.960 Alright? 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:14.320 So let's just think about this encounter Mary has with the angel Gabriel. 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:15.600 And it's really familiar to most of us. 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:18.559 I mean, we see it on Charlie Brown Christmas every year, right? 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:22.159 So it's one of those, you don't even have to be in church to have heard this story. 00:10:22.399 --> 00:10:25.519 So it's really easy to hydroplane over it. 00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:28.799 But let's think about Mary for a moment. 00:10:29.120 --> 00:10:30.799 What do we know about Mary? 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:35.200 Well, for starters, Mary is a teenager who's engaged to be married. 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:36.000 All right? 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:42.559 But for Mary, there was no cake tasting, there were no wedding planners, there wasn't a whole line of hors d'oeuvres being prepared. 00:10:42.799 --> 00:10:52.080 Most New Testament scholars believe that Mary was one of a group of people called the Anawim, A-N-A-A-W-I-M, which simply means the poor ones. 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:55.759 The poor ones, or the pious poor, or the faithful poor. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:11:03.519 They were poor because they were orphaned or they were sick or they were disabled or for some reason they couldn't provide for themselves. 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:06.480 So they had to depend on God, period. 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:13.440 And many scholars think that Mary was from this group in part because there is no mention of her parents anywhere in the Gospels. 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:20.720 Some believe they may have died, and she couldn't afford a lamb for Jesus' dedication, for the baby's dedication. 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:28.399 And in her prayers, she prays in verse 48, for he, for God, has looked upon the humble estate of his servant. 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:30.960 So that's code language for the Anawim. 00:11:31.120 --> 00:11:34.399 So, in other words, Mary really knows about humble state. 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:36.480 She knows about depending on God. 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:37.360 That was her life. 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:40.000 She couldn't survive any other way up to this point. 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:44.080 But finally, something good happens to Mary. 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:45.759 She gets engaged. 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:50.399 Now, for a young Anoim girl, this can mean a brand new life. 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:55.039 Now, now, Joseph isn't like the most eligible bachelor in Israel or anything like that. 00:11:55.200 --> 00:11:57.200 He isn't rich, but he's respectable, right? 00:11:57.279 --> 00:11:59.200 He has a steady job as a carpenter. 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:05.039 But all this means that for the first time in Mary's life, her circumstances are looking up. 00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:07.120 Maybe for the first time in a long time. 00:12:07.360 --> 00:12:09.039 She's getting married, right? 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:15.519 And then this huge curveball, her plan, her life gets interrupted. 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:20.559 The angel Gabriel appears before Mary and says, Greetings, oh favored one. 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:22.559 He's buttering her up already, right? 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:24.080 The Lord is with you. 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:26.879 Now notice what Mary's response is, the very next verse. 00:12:27.039 --> 00:12:29.360 What does Mary say Mary is? 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:32.159 She's greatly troubled. 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:34.000 Greatly troubled. 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:36.559 Not just troubled, she's greatly troubled. 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:37.360 Why is that? 00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:46.799 Well, if you read through scripture, this is precisely the sort of greeting an angel would bring to someone who's going to be given a very difficult assignment. 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:53.279 The angel never shows up to people in the Bible and interrupts them and says, The Lord is with you. 00:12:53.360 --> 00:12:58.240 I'm just here to tell you your life is going to get a whole lot easier and much more comfortable than it's been. 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:00.799 That never happens. 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:06.320 See, there was going to be a challenge that comes with this greeting. 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:11.759 The angel is saying, Mary, you're not going to have the safe, secure, quiet little life you've been dreaming of. 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:14.559 Now the Lord is with you. 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:19.360 You're going to go on an adventure beyond what any Annoine girl would ever dare dream. 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:25.919 In fact, you're going to experience an adventure with God that no one's ever experienced to this point in human history. 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:28.000 You're going to be the first. 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:39.440 Yet, as we see, Mary experienced supernatural joy in the midst of this, despite things completely going off the rails according to her plans. 00:13:40.399 --> 00:13:43.919 So what happens to your joy level when things don't go as planned? 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:46.559 Think about that for a moment. 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:50.159 Christmas always brings this out in me. 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:52.879 It didn't happen this year, but it's just a normal occurrence. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:54.399 In fact, it happened last year. 00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:58.320 This year, as a family, we always go out and pick out a Christmas tree and we cut it down. 00:13:58.399 --> 00:13:59.759 We don't know really now where to do that here. 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:02.559 We just went to a lot this year, so it solved this problem. 00:14:02.879 --> 00:14:09.200 But our family, we'd always go to this place in Michigan and we'd buy, pick out the perfect tree and cut it down and bring it home. 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:17.120 And so we got it home and everything was set up and we go to put the tree in the stand and it doesn't fit. 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:28.480 And all of a sudden you're like, uh-oh, this is a problem because it's not like just a little bit of a trimming, it's like major sawing off branches and trimming down the whole trunk. 00:14:28.559 --> 00:14:30.399 We just got this too big of a tree. 00:14:30.559 --> 00:14:32.799 And or you go get a different kind of stand. 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:36.399 So immediately in that moment, what I do is I go into general mode. 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:40.080 I just kind of kick in and start giving directions one way or another. 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:44.240 Um, I tell my one son, you go get the saws, you go get the pruning shears. 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:47.679 Now you get down here and they're just doing exactly what I tell them to do. 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:54.320 And because they did it exactly as I told them to do, everything looked beautiful in the end, which is like a metaphor. 00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:59.679 If they would just do things exactly as I tell them how to do it, their lives would be perfect, right? 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:02.080 Right? 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:04.000 It fit beautifully. 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:11.759 Now the problem is I've often made the mistake, however, of treating people and their struggles like they were that Christmas tree. 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:13.600 Right? 00:15:13.759 --> 00:15:20.399 You come to me with a problem, and especially it's with my kids, I've learned over the years, and instead of just kind of listening to a man, what is God doing? 00:15:20.559 --> 00:15:22.879 My immediate response is, well, you know what you need to do. 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:26.960 You need to do this, you need to trim this, you need to turn this screw, and your problem will be solved. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:29.200 Detour over, back on path. 00:15:29.360 --> 00:15:31.519 Aren't you so glad I'm in your life? 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:43.120 Their problem is simply an obstacle to overcome so that I can resume regularly scheduled programming because your problem is interrupting my life. 00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:48.639 So, my response when things don't go as planned is I'm just gonna take control. 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:57.440 Now, sometimes others of us in this room, maybe you go to the opposite end, instead of being control freaks when the plans break down, what they do is go into escape mode. 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:00.159 That means just give me the remote control, right? 00:16:01.600 --> 00:16:10.080 Or let's binge watch this, or or I'm gonna lose myself in another book, or some other form of escape, which probably does a lot more destruction in our lives. 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:15.600 And we hope that by ignoring the problem, trying to escape from the problem, it will self-correct. 00:16:16.559 --> 00:16:19.519 And when I come re-engage, everything will be fine. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:24.240 When actually what we've done is just kind of swept it under the rug, and then we just keep tripping over it. 00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:32.240 And I think we all would agree, neither escape nor control really solves anything when things don't go as planned, does it? 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:41.600 Maybe we should consider that things not going as planned is actually a way to be a part of God's plan. 00:16:43.519 --> 00:16:44.960 Let me say that again. 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:50.879 Maybe we should consider that things not going as planned is a way to actually be a part of God's plan. 00:16:51.759 --> 00:17:07.519 Maybe God is using our detours and interruptions and problems to get our attention, to draw us to himself, where he can then infuse us with the joy that evades us when we're trying to control our life or escape from our life. 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:13.599 Now I'm not suggesting that God is sending trouble your way, but scripture is really clear. 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:17.920 God can use trouble for our good and for his glory. 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:21.519 See, God's agenda is not for you and me to be happy. 00:17:21.680 --> 00:17:24.000 That might burst someone's bubble today. 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:29.200 But his agenda is for us to be holy, to be more like Jesus. 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:38.400 And it's when our agenda is just our own personal happiness that I believe joy always remains elusive, just beyond our reach. 00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:45.599 See, God wants us to be more like Jesus because he knows the more we become like Jesus, the more we're filled with his joy. 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:48.720 If we seek joy, it's crazy, we don't really find it. 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:51.839 But if we seek Jesus, we always find joy. 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:56.640 That's why joy is a fruit of the Spirit. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:02.880 If you look at the nine fruit of the Spirit, these are clearly, by definition, not things we can make happen on our own. 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:13.440 These are byproducts of us be immersed in our lives in life with the Spirit and letting the Spirit work in us, and as we do, these things are produced. 00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:14.559 That's what the fruit is. 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:16.799 And one of those is joy. 00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:29.839 See, if we can see life's detours, interruptions, and problems as actually God's, as opportunities to be with God, then we have the opportunity to become more like his son Jesus. 00:18:29.920 --> 00:18:37.440 And the more we live in proximity to Jesus, we have access to joy no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in. 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:56.480 Now I get for some of us this is a major paradigm shift because most of us, starting with me, have been raised to see detours and problems and interruptions as just an obstacle to overcome or to fix or to be dealt with quickly and decisively so we can get on with the real part of life. 00:18:58.160 --> 00:19:03.359 But what if the real part of life is actually found in the detours, interruptions, and problems? 00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:06.799 Now, not perfectly smooth life, which I think is the problem. 00:19:06.880 --> 00:19:08.079 That's what we want. 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:11.599 But rich, deep, meaningful life. 00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:17.680 I mean, I experienced that this week, just visiting someone in the hospital who had cancer surgery. 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:27.279 Nobody probab promises that, but I can tell you that the depth of relationship that was happening in that room was much greater than it was before there was a cancer diagnosis. 00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:30.319 You don't wish that on anyone. 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:35.440 But when you meet God in the middle of it, something magic happens. 00:19:37.599 --> 00:19:50.880 What if the detours and interruptions and problems of life are actually God's invitation to join him in what he's doing so that we can experience the abundant life that comes the more that we become like Jesus by hanging out with Jesus? 00:19:51.839 --> 00:20:00.079 What if the detours and interruptions and problems of our lives are actually a gateway to joy that can transcend our circumstances? 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:05.680 Let's go back to Mary here for a moment and her response. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:09.519 What if Mary had said, you know what? 00:20:09.680 --> 00:20:10.960 I'm not up for this. 00:20:11.759 --> 00:20:15.680 I'm finally getting married, and this is going to completely blow that up. 00:20:15.920 --> 00:20:17.599 Find someone else. 00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:22.160 I'm assuming she could have said no, right? 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:27.519 We never really consider that, but I think she probably could have said no, and God would have found some other girl to use. 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:31.440 What kind of life with God would Mary had missed? 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:33.759 I mean, imagine the regret. 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:35.039 But she didn't. 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:36.319 She didn't say no. 00:20:36.480 --> 00:20:49.039 Instead, she chose the detour, she chose the interruption, she chose a very big problem for a single teenage girl that produced joy in her that transcend her circumstances. 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:54.799 Because in a girl in that day, if you got pregnant as a teenage girl, that was a death sentence. 00:20:55.839 --> 00:20:59.519 That wasn't like a slight embarrassment to the family. 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:06.799 You were, if you, if you weren't stoned to death, you were at very at the very least ostracized and excommunicated from the community. 00:21:09.039 --> 00:21:10.400 But listen to her response. 00:21:10.640 --> 00:21:12.640 In chapter 1, verse 37. 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:18.640 Um now, for some of us, I think this is what God wants to imprint on our hearts and minds today. 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:21.039 She says this this is a response. 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:23.519 For nothing will be impossible with God. 00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:31.440 In other words, God, whatever you ask me to do, I trust that you're going to empower me to do it. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:32.960 I trust you. 00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:35.839 Whatever you ask me to do, I trust you. 00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:37.920 Nothing is impossible for God. 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:43.920 And then she says, But for me, and then I would say for me, the next verse is even more powerful in verse 38. 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:46.559 And then she says, I am the servant of the Lord, of the Lord. 00:21:46.640 --> 00:21:48.880 Let it be to me according to your word. 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:53.200 So she expresses this deep trust, and then she says, And I surrender. 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:55.279 You can have your way. 00:21:56.799 --> 00:22:06.720 See, there's something in us that we Which I can't fully explain that happens when we come to a place of total trust and surrender in God. 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:11.680 There's a freedom and there's a joy and there's a power in trust and surrender. 00:22:11.839 --> 00:22:16.160 Nothing is impossible with you, God, and I am your servant. 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:21.759 The word that Mary uses for servant literally means slave here. 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:23.759 I'm the Lord's slave. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:25.519 May it be to me as you have said. 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:26.880 I'm not in control, God. 00:22:27.039 --> 00:22:28.640 You're the one that's in control. 00:22:28.799 --> 00:22:30.319 But I don't want to be passive either. 00:22:30.400 --> 00:22:35.759 I don't want, I choose to want what you want, to join you in what you're already doing. 00:22:35.920 --> 00:22:37.200 To me, that's a huge yes. 00:22:37.279 --> 00:22:39.680 That's not like, well, whatever, we'll see how this goes. 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:41.119 It's like, I'm in. 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:42.960 What do you need me to do? 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:51.599 And then from this posture of surrender and trust, Mary launches into this beautiful prayer that the kids sang for us this morning. 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:56.240 A prayer of wonder and joy and adoration. 00:22:56.319 --> 00:22:58.079 And we know it as the magnificat. 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:04.079 And it begins with, My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior. 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:10.000 So the angel Gabriel interrupts Mary to lead her on the detour of a lifetime. 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:13.680 And after initial fear, understandably, she was greatly troubled. 00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:19.039 Mary's response is to express total trust and complete surrender to God. 00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:28.240 And when she does, what that leads to her happening to her is this thing that percolates up in her is wonder and joy and adoration. 00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:33.279 I think the same can happen in you and me. 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:38.079 Trusting and surrendering to God, I get it. 00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:40.640 It can be really scary at times. 00:23:41.759 --> 00:23:45.440 But in my experience, it never leads to misery. 00:23:46.240 --> 00:23:53.599 I think sometimes we get, we have that kind of something in our brains like, man, if I trust God, it's gonna make my life miserable. 00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:58.160 It might make it harder, but it doesn't always make it miserable. 00:23:58.400 --> 00:24:03.759 See, anytime God interrupts and someone says yes, sooner or later, it leads to joy. 00:24:03.920 --> 00:24:05.680 That's the story of Scripture. 00:24:05.920 --> 00:24:14.720 And what's so striking to me about Mary's response to this divine interruption is her expression of wonder and joy and adoration. 00:24:14.880 --> 00:24:20.000 It comes before, before she knows how any of this is gonna play out. 00:24:20.880 --> 00:24:21.359 Right? 00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:28.480 She faces again being a single unwed teenage mother in a culture who stones to death single unwed teenage mothers. 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:34.160 She doesn't know how her fiancé is going to respond to this. 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:37.119 She doesn't know that an angel's talk to Joseph, too. 00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:41.599 She doesn't know what kind of scandal this will cause in her village. 00:24:42.079 --> 00:24:49.119 She doesn't realize yet that Herod's going to get wind of this and he's going to kill every child under the age of two that was born in and around that area. 00:24:50.799 --> 00:24:55.440 She doesn't know that she and her little family are going to have to flee to Egypt as exiles. 00:24:56.400 --> 00:25:01.039 She doesn't know that she's headed for some of the steepest challenges anyone could ever imagine. 00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:03.920 She has no idea how this is going to turn out. 00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:09.839 Yet she's rejoicing because she trusts God and she surrenders to God. 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:15.680 See, Mary learned to count it all joy before her son James ever pinned those words. 00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:21.279 I think not only did James pick that up from his brother Jesus, but he got that from his mom. 00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:25.920 So how is this response even possible? 00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:30.240 Because that's what the question I was asking is as I looked at this text. 00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:32.000 I'm like, yeah, she's Mary. 00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:33.599 An angel had to talk to her. 00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:40.480 I mean, that might push me in that direction too, but I mean, seriously, how how do we do this? 00:25:42.880 --> 00:25:52.880 Well, I believe wonder and joy and awe where Mary's response is because she believed in two things. 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:58.720 And when the Bible uses the word believe, it literally believe literally means live like it was true. 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:00.640 It wasn't just an intellectual thing. 00:26:00.720 --> 00:26:01.759 She lived like this is true. 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:05.039 The first one is this she believed that God was with her. 00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:07.200 I mean, she really believed that. 00:26:07.440 --> 00:26:10.720 And secondly, she believed that nothing is impossible with God. 00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:14.240 God is with her and nothing is impossible with God. 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:19.920 Now, I get that's not brand, that's not breaking news to a lot of us in this room. 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:29.039 These are things that we have heard a lot, but hearing them and actually living like they're true are completely different things. 00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:34.720 And the difference in her was she actually lived like that was true. 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:38.400 It wasn't just something reserved to check a box on Sunday. 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:42.480 It wasn't just kind of this ethereal kind of idea that's out there somewhere. 00:26:42.640 --> 00:26:44.880 It was her bedrock reality. 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:48.960 If God is with me, she thought, she said, then he can do anything. 00:26:49.119 --> 00:26:53.200 And at the very least, he can keep me in the middle of this mess. 00:26:53.680 --> 00:26:55.440 Because it was a mess. 00:26:56.240 --> 00:27:01.200 Mary really believed that God was with her and that he really could do the impossible. 00:27:01.359 --> 00:27:06.160 Otherwise, this circumstance would have just ratcheted up her fear and anxiety. 00:27:06.319 --> 00:27:08.480 It would never have produced joy. 00:27:09.359 --> 00:27:12.240 See, joy is not happiness about my circumstances. 00:27:12.400 --> 00:27:14.079 Let's be really clear about this. 00:27:14.400 --> 00:27:16.799 It's not happiness about my circumstances. 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:23.359 Joy is the sense that it is well with my soul, regardless of the circumstance I find myself in. 00:27:24.319 --> 00:27:32.400 Joy is only possible as we truly believe that God is with us, and with him nothing is impossible. 00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:38.480 I've seen this throughout my life in many people, but the one that I think embodied this the most was my dad. 00:27:40.319 --> 00:27:52.799 I've not been here yet a year, so you guys don't know my entire story, but the one that was my dad right after he got out of the Navy in the mid-60s, and then this was him about two years before he died. 00:27:54.880 --> 00:28:00.160 My dad, when he was 22 years old, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. 00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:02.559 Um, he had a young wife. 00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:11.920 I was on the way, he'd just been discharged from the Navy, and for the first 10 years of his this disease, his life was absolute misery. 00:28:12.160 --> 00:28:16.079 He was miserable, he was making everybody around him miserable. 00:28:16.319 --> 00:28:21.359 Um, you know, he was he didn't really know what it was or how to deal with it, so he was drinking to deal with it. 00:28:21.519 --> 00:28:25.119 So drinking too much with MS is a bad combination. 00:28:25.680 --> 00:28:28.799 Um, there was lots of money difficulties for them. 00:28:28.960 --> 00:28:32.799 My dad was going to night school to try and get a college degree on top of everything. 00:28:32.960 --> 00:28:35.279 Their marriage was hanging on by a thread. 00:28:35.440 --> 00:28:41.359 And I know we've been to weddings where we always say in sickness and in health, but we don't plan on this three years out. 00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:43.920 And this is what happened. 00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:47.440 Top it all off. 00:28:48.079 --> 00:28:55.759 Um when I was 10 years old, my youngest brother um fell out of a moving car. 00:28:56.079 --> 00:28:57.279 My mom was driving. 00:28:57.440 --> 00:28:59.759 My dad was in another hospital having brain surgery. 00:28:59.839 --> 00:29:03.119 They're doing experimental brain surgery that they thought they could fix his MS. 00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:04.000 It didn't work. 00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:05.599 And so we had a loner car. 00:29:05.680 --> 00:29:08.079 This is before car sheets and seatbelt laws and all that stuff. 00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:12.640 And my youngest brother was three, he's sitting in the front seat, and my mom's pulling out of our neighborhood. 00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:16.400 He thinks he's rolling down the window, he opens the car door and falls out. 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:21.039 And she drags him down the street in the gutter until she can get the car stopped. 00:29:21.599 --> 00:29:22.960 Rushes him to the hospital. 00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:34.799 Turns out he's got three multiple compound fractures, half of his leg's just been scraped off, staph infection sets in, and um, it's really he's in ICU for six weeks, it's touch and go. 00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:35.920 Is he going to live? 00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:38.640 His fever is like at 106 for three days. 00:29:38.720 --> 00:29:40.480 I mean, it's really, really bad. 00:29:41.759 --> 00:29:46.799 So finally they decide the only way that they're gonna save this little boy's life is they're gonna have to amputate his leg. 00:29:48.160 --> 00:29:52.400 So uh we had a babysitter, her name was Linda, she was a 16-year-old girl. 00:29:52.640 --> 00:29:56.240 Um, she was faithful to visit every day with her mom. 00:29:56.640 --> 00:29:57.680 She loved Jesus. 00:29:57.920 --> 00:30:02.400 My parents, we were nominal Catholics at best at that time. 00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:10.319 And um, she asked if when she came to visit and found out about the amputation, if she and her friends could come back later that night and pray for him before he went to surgery. 00:30:10.400 --> 00:30:12.319 And my mom's like, sure, whatever. 00:30:12.720 --> 00:30:13.759 So they did. 00:30:14.480 --> 00:30:18.960 16-year-old girl and a couple of her friends came and prayed for my little brother. 00:30:19.200 --> 00:30:27.359 And that next morning, when they went to go take off the dressing to begin the procedure to take his leg, his leg was completely healed. 00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:30.559 Not like a little bit healed, completely healed. 00:30:30.799 --> 00:30:34.480 Staph infection gone, fracture is fixed. 00:30:35.599 --> 00:30:39.200 And to prove to you that it was actually healed, is the doctor took no credit for it. 00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:44.000 He actually didn't charge my parents for any of the six surgeries because he's like, I didn't do anything to fix this. 00:30:44.160 --> 00:30:45.359 Somebody up there must like you. 00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:47.680 I've never seen anything like this ever in my life. 00:30:47.920 --> 00:30:52.079 So, Linda, she leads my mom to Jesus right there in the hospital room. 00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:53.039 Right? 00:30:53.200 --> 00:31:04.000 And then a few months later, my dad comes along and kind of goes, God gets a hold of his life and he begins to trust and surrender his life to King Jesus. 00:31:04.319 --> 00:31:17.920 And I say that because from that point forward, what I saw was not a perfect father, but a father who lived with the deepest conviction that no matter what he faced, and by the way, he was never cured of MS. 00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:21.759 He died of MS 11 years ago, and it got really ugly toward the end. 00:31:22.400 --> 00:31:26.720 But he really lived like God was with him, and nothing was impossible with God. 00:31:26.880 --> 00:31:27.680 Nothing. 00:31:28.480 --> 00:31:31.519 That didn't mean the detours and interruptions and problems stopped coming. 00:31:31.680 --> 00:31:33.839 In fact, they came by the truckloads of times. 00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:37.359 But what I learned from my dad more than anything was it didn't matter what happened. 00:31:37.440 --> 00:31:40.880 He's like, that's okay, God's with us, God can fix this, God can do this. 00:31:41.119 --> 00:31:43.039 That's what he said all the time. 00:31:43.599 --> 00:31:48.640 And one of the things I'll always remember about him, even to the day that he died, was his joy. 00:31:49.359 --> 00:31:53.279 He was the guy in the nursing home that every nurse came by to see. 00:31:54.079 --> 00:31:58.400 Because as everyone else would drive him crazy, he'd be the guy that would brighten their day. 00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:00.799 And he was really sick. 00:32:03.359 --> 00:32:13.519 So whether it be in hospitals or nursing homes or ambulances or on hold with the VA or Social Security or long-term disability claims people, my dad seemed to have this joy that transcended those circumstances. 00:32:13.599 --> 00:32:17.519 And he lived each day knowing that God was with him and God could still do the impossible. 00:32:17.599 --> 00:32:19.279 He could heal him if he wanted to. 00:32:19.599 --> 00:32:22.880 He believed that God was at work all the time, even in his messes. 00:32:23.039 --> 00:32:27.680 In fact, messes he discovered, and what he taught me is where God does his best work. 00:32:28.160 --> 00:32:29.519 You ever notice that? 00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:32.720