When Life Doesn’t Turn Out the Way You Planned

My name is Mark. I'm also one of the pastors here and I'm so glad that you're part of church today. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. I'm going to ask you to grab those message notes that you received on the way in with your bulletin as we kick off this brand new holiday series, "Fear Not Messages of the Christmas Angels." And today, now we are going to see an amazing, fascinating story of when an angel drops a bombshell of an announcement into the life of a guy named Zechariah.

But first, speaking of bombshells, the total of this year's food drive is going to be revealed later on this morning. What I mean to say is that several years ago, I was invited to attend a wedding up in Felton. And as I drive into the parking lot, I got there like 10, 15 minutes early. So for me, that's like really good. But as I'm driving in, there's all these cars that are driving out. And I'm thinking, "What in the world is going on here? Did I get the time wrong? Is it daylight saving times?" I'm totally confused.

And I see one of the groomsmen there. He's directing traffic in his tuxedo. And while cars are filing by, I say, "Hey, what is going on?" And he drops this bombshell on me. He says, "Well, the wedding has been canceled." And I'm going, "Oh my goodness. You know, I thought this only happened in the movies, like, you know, in the graduate or something like that. This is happening in real life." And so I go, "Man, I gotta go in there and get the scoop. What in the world happened?" Or maybe it was, "I need to go in there and see if I can minister to somebody." You decide which one it was.

But I was actually invited to speak to the bride. And I'll never forget that scene in the back of this church in their choir room. There's stuff littered all over the floor. And sitting on this couch in just a heap of her wedding dress is this beautiful bride with just tears streaming down her cheeks. What in the world happened? Well, it turns out about 45 minutes before she was supposed to walk down the aisle, she was taking some final pictures outside, and her father comes to her and says, "Sweetheart, the best man just came to me and he related some information about the groom that I just really need to make sure you're aware of."

And as he relates the details to her, he can tell by her reaction that she has no idea about these things. And then very wisely, he says, "Honey, only you can decide what you're gonna do next. You gotta own this." And so she goes and she confronts her would-be groom and he says, "Well, yes, that's all true, but I'm gonna change and I love you so much, we can still get married." Now, at this point, it's about 20 minutes before they're supposed to walk down the aisle. There are guests that have come from as far away as Europe. I mean, how in the world do you pull the plug?

And yet, this particular young woman, among all the confusing things going on in her head, she knew one thing: she didn't want to get married in the swirl of the turbulence of all that was happening in those moments. And so she told the groom, "I don't know what's gonna happen here, but I don't wanna get married today." And hearing that, he storms out, angry, embarrassed, gets in a car with his family and they drive away. Many of the guests politely go on to the reception to eat the food that otherwise would have gone to waste. But this young, almost bride retreats back to her parents' house into the bedroom she grew up in as a little girl and cries and cries.

In the weeks that followed, she had many conversations with the groom, but it became apparent after some time that he wasn't quite ready to deal with the issues that she had been informed of. And so she comes to the conclusion, in much pain and grief, that she has to end a five-year relationship. Wow. What do you do when your life doesn't turn out the way you planned? When you thought you knew what you could totally count on and then it just gets ripped right out of your fingers, just like that, in a moment?

For some of you, there's ongoing anxiety over your finances right now or your job. For some of you, it's your health or relationship that's also struggling or it's something going on with your kids. There's some situation and it is not going according to plan. I mean, would you agree there's no shortage of things that can go sideways in life? I mean, perhaps you're thinking of a very specific thing right now. Well, let me ask you this. How do you remain hopeful? How do you live your life with a sense of maybe positive expectation that, "I don't know what's around the next turn. I don't know what the Lord might bring into my life, but I still want to live with a sense of peace. I want to live with confidence instead of this ongoing dread fearing the day that the other shoe might drop in my life."

Because let's face it, life never goes according to plan. Case in point, this fascinating story from Luke 1. You can look that up in your Bible. There are some available right in the seat backs in front of you. Luke 1, or you can just follow along on screen or in your notes. But the story begins today at verse five. "In the time of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah. His wife, Elizabeth, was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all of the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly, but they had no children because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well along in years."

Now, you won't see Zechariah and Elizabeth in any nativity scenes, or you won't find little major figurines for your mantle, but they actually have a very significant place in the Christmas story. The Bible says that they were model believers, and not only that, they had kind of impeccable pedigrees. They were both from a priestly line, and unfortunately though, they were not able to have children, which in those days wasn't just heartbreaking. It was also somewhat of a disgrace. It indicated that perhaps, you know, there were some skeletons in your closet, and God just couldn't bless you. In fact, Elizabeth calls her situation a disgrace later in the same chapter.

You know, they were good people, but their lives amounted to less than they had hoped for. So years go by, they make the best with the hand that they've been dealt, but then one day God throws them an amazing curve that changes their life forever. And here's the thing about these moments. You never know when they're going to fall into your life. And here's one of the big ideas that I want to convey this morning. If you forget everything else, this is the sermon in a nutshell. With every interruption comes an invitation. Write that down. With every interruption comes an invitation.

In fact, why don't you say that with me? Let's say this together. With every interruption comes an invitation. Your plans get suddenly upended or your routine interrupted. And in that moment, there's actually a fresh invitation to trust God in a new and deeper way. And this is how it happened with Zechariah. Let's pick up his story at verse 8. "Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside."

Now, this is no ordinary moment for Zechariah. The ancient historian Josephus estimates that there were about 18,000 priests serving in and around Jerusalem in the first century. 18,000. That's a big number. And so they divided them into 24 different divisions. And each division had approximately 700 members. So each division, twice a year, could go in for temple service. And of that group of 700, one person would draw a lot that would allow them the privilege to go burn incense in the holy place of the temple. But this was such a high privilege that if you did actually receive this privilege, you could never do it again. You would retire with this amazing thought that you were one of the lucky few.

And so this is no ordinary moment for Zechariah. In fact, for him, this is the highest thing he could ever hope for. Well, on a much more basic level, I actually had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, not too long ago. And again, this is not nearly as lofty as what Zechariah was experiencing. But I was able to go into a temple of sorts in Northern California, you know, as Candlestick Park. True story. I was able through a gentleman in this church to be an assistant for this NFL films cameraman, this guy named Dominic, for a recent football game. And because of that pass you see hanging around my neck, just like his, they call that your credentials, I was free to stroll around anywhere I wanted.

In fact, before the game, you know, I'm out there checking out the players as they warm up for the game. Or then I go up to the press box where the broadcasters are. And in fact, I had my lunch right on that countertop there looking down at the stadium. It was incredible. And then I'm back down on the sidelines, you know, checking out with my buddy, Alex Smith. How's it going today? Alex there. How's the center doing? Giving you some good snaps. And then they were playing Tampa Bay that particular day. And so I had to check out the competition. And there's a former 49er named Michael Spurlock. And so I thought, well, I'll chat him up, see if we're related or something like that.

And I'm telling you, this was it was ridiculous. This will give you a sense of what it was like. Check this out. The music comes in and the crowd's getting already. I mean, it was amazing. And then they go to sing the national anthem. And again, I'm going, I can't believe this as it's coming to its crescendo and the fireworks are going off. I'm filming this. This is from my phone on the field. And the jets, we were tipped off. They would come inside or information, I might add. And they fly overhead. And all the while, I'm thinking to myself, I will never experience this again. I mean, it was like I had won the lottery. Or, you know, like one of those make a wish type of moments. It was just incredible.

And proving the truth that you can never go anywhere without running into someone from Twin Lakes Church. Can you vouch for this? Yeah, well, about the third quarter, we're on about the 15-yard line. And all of a sudden, I hear this, "Mark! Mark! Mark!" And I turn around and I look about five rows up from the field. There's a guy in this church named Ray Spinelli. And he's pointing down at me like going, what are you doing down there? And he's freaking out because it's so out of context. I mean, after all, it was a Sunday morning. And-- but he just-- it's like he had no categories for this. What are you doing down there? And he may as well have been looking at Santa Claus. And I'm flexing like this and just having a great old time with it. But like I said, it was a once-in-a-lifetime moment. Unless I can find my way into doing it again.

But on a much more profound level, this is what it was like for Zechariah to receive this lot and to go into the holy place. It's one of the greatest days of his life. It is surely the pinnacle of his long career. And so I imagine he slowly walks into the room, knowing he'll never be there again. He drinks it all in. And then he lights the incense. And as it wafts up, he bows his head and he prays. Verse 11. "Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayer has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son. And you are to give him the name John. And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.'

Now talk about holy smoke. Lights the incense and poof! There's an angel. And the first thing this angel says is, "Do not be afraid." That's something that angels have to say a lot in the Bible. Have you ever read descriptions of them in Scripture? Because these angels, you know, they live in realms that are beyond our imagination. They are otherworldly, radiant, incredibly powerful creatures. Now, unfortunately, over the years, we've come up with some of the lamest images of angels. It's like, they're like teenage girls, right? I mean, this next one is like the Barbie angel. You know, she's like, "Fear not, bringing you a message from God." I mean, or even worse, angels are portrayed as chubby little kids. You know, more apt to ask you for a cookie than evoke major fear. I'm thinking.

But when angels appear to people in the Bible, the typical human response is to just fall on your face. In fact, in Revelation 22, John describes an experience where an angel appears to him. And if you've read the book, he's already seen some pretty trippy things. And yet he falls on his face and he begins to worship. And the angel has to say, "Don't do that! I'm not God. I'm just a fellow servant like you." But it's understandable that John would be confused because this angel is just so awesome. And so to Zechariah, the angel says, "It's okay. Don't be afraid. Your prayer has been heard." And Zechariah's like, "Prayer? Oh, yeah. I guess I was praying. Didn't exactly expect an audience."

Now, what prayer do you think the angel is referring to? Because at first glance, you might think, "Well, he was praying for his son." But I seriously doubt that. I'm sure he prayed many, many times, years earlier for his son. But now he's an old man. So is his wife. They've moved on. That ship has sailed. What Zechariah most likely prayed is what everyone expected him to pray. For the coming of the Messiah, to pray for the nation. That was his job. But here's the amazing thing. Zechariah gets kind of a two for one answer. The Messiah is coming, but Zechariah's own son will prepare the way. Two prayers are being answered at the same time.

And so the angel continues, "Your wife is going to bear you a son. Name him John." And he's not just any child. He's special. He's going to be a joy and a delight to you and Elizabeth. He's going to be filled with the Holy Spirit from birth. In fact, Zechariah, this is the one that you've read prophecy about. This is the one that God will send, who will preach in the spirit and power of Elijah. Now, notice I put a reference to Malachi 4:5-6 in your Bible. So those are the last verses in your Old Testament. And the reason for that is that Malachi is considered to be one of the last, if not the last of the prophets. And so this is kind of the final word. And if you read these, you'll notice that the angel is essentially quoting Malachi 4:5-6 in his announcement, written about 400 years prior to the birth of Christ.

And the angel is essentially saying, "Zechariah, remember that prophecy that you know only so well? Those words are about to be fulfilled right before your eyes." And Zechariah, I just have to think, his brain is about to explode. All those years of waiting, years of disappointment and unfulfilled longing, wondering if God had ever really heard him. Now he's standing face to face with an angel telling him he is on the cusp of a miracle, one that's not only going to be a blessing to him, but this miraculous birth will actually signal that the birth of the Messiah is at hand. This has implications for the entire world.

Now, how do you think you'd respond to that bit of news? What would you do? Well, like I said, with every interruption comes an invitation, an invitation to trust God on a new level. So Zechariah looks up into the face of that radiant being and says, "How can I be sure of this? I mean, I'm an old man and my wife is well along in years." You know, to paraphrase, you think I'm old? You should see my wife. Maybe not the best thing that Zechariah could have said. I've got kind of a warped mind, so I think of the angel going, "Well, you know, thanks for including that little bit of info about your age and all, but I'm thinking God's not too worried about all that. I'm thinking, in fact, that God might have actually dealt with this problem before, way back when. Any other couple come to mind for you, Zechariah? Shall I give you a little hint? Father, had many sons and many sons had father. Remember Abraham and Sarah? Yes! Ding, ding.

I mean, Zechariah, you know your history. You know that God almost always works through the most unlikely people in the most unexpected ways. And all these amazing events are cascading into this moment, but all Zechariah can see are the obstacles. How can I be sure of this? What would he have the angel do? You don't perform a magic trick? If you shoot lightning, I have no idea. But you got to love Zechariah because, you know what? Let's be honest. He's just like you. He's just like me. My plans get interrupted most of the time. Do I see that as an invitation to trust God? No, it's like, I'm too busy with my religious duties, you know, doing the pastor thing. It's like, Lord, I don't have time for this interruption.

Or maybe it's my own doubts. Lord, why did you allow this interruption into my life in the first place or into the life of that person? Or maybe if you're like me, it's a keen sense of your own deficiencies. You ever do this? You see an opportunity that God's inviting you to step into. Maybe you have a neighbor that has questions about faith and you think to yourself, "Man, sure, it would be nice if someone talked to that person." Or there's a need in your community and you see how, wow, it'd be really cool if people could rally together around that need and, "Oh, I sure hope God, you know, provides some people to do that." I don't know about you, but sometimes I come up with this long list of people who I think could do the job better than me.

And I'm pretty sure that's what was going on with Zechariah. I mean, I'm sure he expected that someone had to be the father of John who would come to be called John the Baptist, but not him. Surely God had a long list of younger, more qualified candidates. Not only does he not want to believe the angel, I have to think that even if he allowed himself to believe it, it really wouldn't be welcome news, not at this stage of the game. I mean, he's in kind of the geriatric phase of things and it's like, you know, sleepless nights and change in diapers. I mean, come on, there's a reason that babies are born to the young, right?

But if you forget everything else, remember this: with every interruption comes an invitation. And God loves to break all the little boxes that we try to put them in. And that has to do with this second point, which is we cling to certainty, but we are called to mystery. We cling to certainty, but the life of faith is one where we step into mystery. And when I say mystery, I mean the mystery of God's daily presence and power. Colossians 1:27 says that God will to make known to us, to you and to me, the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

But when our lives don't turn out the way that we expected, what do we want? Man, we want something we can count on, something we can take to the bank. I want concrete certainty. And so Zechariah utters the words that I know have been on my lips and perhaps yours, which is, "How can I be sure of this?" You know, maybe there's something in your life right now, a dilemma, a situation, a decision, and there's a big question mark hanging over that. And I don't mean to make light of that. That can be agonizing.

But you know that old expression, "Be careful what you ask for?" This is one of those moments right here, picking up at verse 19. The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God and I have been sent to speak to you and tell you this good news." And I imagine the hair is just starting to stand up on the back of Zechariah's neck when he hears, "I am Gabriel." Do you know of the thousands of angels that Scripture describes as existing? It only gives names to two, only identifies two of them, Michael and Gabriel. Just those two, they're so prominent. This is not Clarence from "It's a Wonderful Life," okay? This is Gabriel who says, "I stand in the presence of God." How many beings in the universe do you think can say that? Yeah, that's not my job description. I stand in the presence of God.

And again, because, you know, maybe I got a couple screws loose, but if I was Gabriel, it'd be like, maybe I just take like an angelic finger and just kind of go, "Bing!" And, you know, Zechariah lands in Spain or something like that. But God is gracious and merciful. And knowing this, Gabriel actually gives Zechariah a sign. Verse 20, "And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time." And I love this because it's like Gabriel saying, you know, maybe the most merciful, gracious thing that I can do for you right now, Zechariah, is just to keep you from saying anything else, you know? You're not helping yourself here, so let's just kind of put a little temporary muzzle on you and we'll all be better off.

But again, you might be thinking to yourself, "Well, come on, Mark. Don't we all have doubts?" Well, of course we do. But there's a difference between doubts and outright disbelief. And that's how Gabriel frames Zechariah's response. He says, "You did not believe my words." And here's the incredible irony for me, because Zechariah, again, he's kind of a professional, you know, believer. He's surrounded by all the trappings of religion. He's there at the temple. He's familiar with this scripture that talks about the reality of God and the promises of God. He's even, you know, just lit up this incense, which is like a tangible symbol of the prayers that, you know, theoretically are actually heard.

And yet, I almost think that he's come to a point where he has more faith in these tangible symbols than in the greater reality that they represent. And I don't think he woke up some morning and said to himself, "I wonder how I can kind of tamp down my expectations of God." I think it happens slowly, gradually, after years of living with disappointment or years of just kind of going through the religious routine. But at some point, I think he came to a point in his life where he decided he had a pretty good idea about what God does and does not do. You ever find yourself doing that? You wouldn't maybe say that, but our expectations of God betray us.

In just a few moments, we're going to share in communion together the Lord's Supper. And if you've placed your faith in Jesus Christ, I invite you to partake in the bread and the cup. But as you hold those tangible, concrete elements, you're really taking part in a much greater mystery because together we're remembering and proclaiming the very real death of Jesus Christ, who freely gave his body and blood for our real sins that really did alienate us from God. And because of this greater reality, all of our foiled plans, our shipwrecked lives, our unwelcome invitations, and yes, our sins, they get absorbed into the reality of Jesus Christ, whose plans will never fail.

We may cling to certainty, but there's a much greater reality unfolding all around us. And that's because one of the most delightful things about the mystery of God's ways has to do with this final point. And it's this: God specializes in unlikely beginnings and surprise endings. God's just a specialist in this. And so to fast forward in Zechariah's story, after his encounter with Gabriel, Zechariah exits the temple. He's unable to speak. The people, they figure out something's gone on. There's been some sort of vision or encounter. But when the week's over, he goes home to his wife, Elizabeth. And I don't know, maybe Elizabeth kind of likes her new silent type husband. If nothing else, he's become a much better listener. And guess what happens next? She gets pregnant.

Now talk about an unlikely beginning. And don't let, if you're familiar with the story, don't miss just almost the comedy in this. Because can you imagine walking down the street in their town and there goes, you think it's somebody's grandmother, and all of a sudden you go, oh my goodness, she's got like a baby bump. I mean, this is crazy. And yet this is the unlikely beginning for these two. And picking up the story in verse 57, "When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy and they shared her joy. On the eighth day, when they came to circumcise the child and they were going to name him after his father, Zechariah."

Now you got to love how the relatives kind of horn in on the whole naming thing. I love this. "But his mother spoke up and said, 'No, he is to be called John.' And they said, 'There is no one among your relatives who has that name.' I mean, that's not how we do things around here. Then they made sign to his father to find out what he would like to name the child." And I kind of love this because they just kind of kick her to the curb, right? Let's see what your husband has to say about this. And I'm thinking to myself when I read this, you know, the term passive aggressiveness probably didn't exist way back then, but certainly the phenomena did. You know what I'm talking about?

And maybe you can identify this having just spent time with your relatives during this holiday weekend. But they go to Zechariah and it says he asked for a writing tablet. "And to everyone's astonishment, he wrote, 'His name is John.' Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed and he began to speak praising God. Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied. And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High. For you will go before the Lord to prepare the way for him to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins." And finally, here he is some nine months later after Gabriel told him what was going to happen now. Man, he's fully on board now, isn't he? He's affirming the very thing that he refused to believe when he first heard it.

What an unlikely beginning for John the Baptist. And what a surprise ending for Zechariah and Elizabeth. But again, that's God's specialty. Now, to be clear, we don't always get in on the surprise ending in this life. Although I'll remind you, we have a surprise ending at the end of the service. A lot of times though, we don't get to see the surprise ending in this life, but it's held in heaven for us and it is just as sure. In fact, as a Christian, that unlikely beginning has already begun in you because you are a new creation in Christ and we all anticipate, look forward to an amazing surprise ending someday.

But every once in a while, we actually do get to see how this interruption somehow trumps our plans and we find that, well, wow, God's plan was actually better than the plan that I had envisioned. And I would venture to say there's probably a few of you that could vouch for that. Am I right about that? I would tell you this much. Remember that brokenhearted bride that I talked to you about at the beginning? She would affirm this very reality in her life, even though her wedding ended 20 minutes before it was supposed to begin. Because you know what? She never married that guy. Sometime later, she actually ended up marrying this guy.

Yeah, that's the way it went down 15 years ago. Who were those kids? Man, holy moly. But now I want you to think about this. Laura and I were 20 minutes away from never being married. Our children, 20 minutes away from never existing. But God had a plan that Laura and I never envisioned, a plan that he ratcheted up on the day she came this close to marrying someone else. A street poet named Lemon Brooklyn put it this way. "God may not always come exactly when you call Him." At least that's our perspective. "But He is always on time."

So when your life doesn't go the way you planned, and it won't, don't be afraid. Allow that interruption to invite you by God's grace into the mystery of God's plans that are working both in you and through you. Because remember the God that turned the death of His own Son into the promise of life for you and for me? That God may just have a few more surprise endings in store for all of us. Amen? Amen.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your love, for Your grace. And Father, I want to pray specifically for anyone who's here in this room, who may be over in venue or listening in some other way. I want to pray that if they are in the midst of one of those interruptions of life, and it is difficult, and we don't mean to make light of that at all. Terrifying, painful. But Father, I pray that they would hear Your invitation to trust You in a new and deeper way, and that You would meet them in that place of struggle, that place of uncertainty, and You would give them hope and encouragement and strength.

Lord, I thank You for Your Spirit that Your Word says even intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Wow, God, thank You that You are with us in every moment. Thank You for what Your Son, Jesus, reminded us when He said, "I will never leave You nor forsake You." And so come alongside us all, fill us with strength and hope. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.