Inconvenient Grace
Numbers 22:22-31 Proverbs 19:21 Luke 10:38-42
That’s a funny clip about the foolishness of or the delusion of each of us being in control of our lives and of the plans we’ve made for them. But the truth is, very few things in life go exactly as planned, and even when they do, the results are often not what we had hoped for. Let me ask you, are you financially, relationally, geographically, or spiritually where you planned to be at this point in your life? In other words, has life gone according to your plan?
I know that I never planned to marry someone from another country. I never planned to have five children or serve as a missionary. I never planned to live in North Carolina or co-own an Irish Pub. I never imagined I would retire from preaching one month and begin pastoring a non-denominational church a month or two later. My planned life has been beautifully riddled with interruptions. And I’m not alone.
Most of us have lived our lives with one interruption after another, all the time thinking how inconvenient and inconsiderate these interruptions are. And I don’t know about you, but my first reaction when my life is interrupted or my plan is knocked off track is irritation. I can really get annoyed at interruptions and I get stressed out when things don’t go according to plan. Lazarus’ sister Martha did too. And so did Balaam. And maybe you do too. After all, when we make a plan, we like to stick to it. In fact, we often feel that if everything is going according to our plan, then we consider that a sign of God’s favor and blessings and His grace will flow in that. But the truth is our very best plan is overrated if it doesn’t line up with God’s plan because our plans for our lives, however good they may be, are too small, too safe, too bland when compared with the plans God has for each one of us. And because of Hiss great love for us, God graciously interrupts our life plans when they lead us towards anything less than God’s BEST for us. God graciously interrupts our plans when they lead us away from Him.
Our Scriptures this morning are about interruptions and being inconvenienced. The account in Numbers is an unusual story about a man and a jackass who switch roles. You see, Balaam is a man who has all the potential to be a hero, but the hero of this story ends up being his donkey when the donkey saves her master’s life. And Balaam, well, he winds up being a jackass in the story. Balaam is a pretty good guy; a man of God who really wants to do the right thing. But as it turns out, he makes a plan and jumps the gun and runs ahead of God. Have you ever done that? Get so wrapped up in your own plans…become laser focused on your great plan, that you leave God out of the plan all together or end up running way ahead of the Lord? If so, my guess is that the results were probably as good for you as they were for Balaam.
Balaam gets up early in the morning, mounts his donkey and heads out to meet the King of Moab. We don’t know why Balaam is in such a hurry but I suspect he knew His plan was not compatible with God’s plan. We don’t know if he is trying to play both sides of the fence, that is, work for the Lord AND claim some money on the side, or if he’s just so focused on his own plan that he fails to check with the Lord about the details of his plan. Either way, it is a recipe for disaster. What happens next is both comedy and tragedy. On the way to meet the king of Moab, Balaam’s donkey runs off the road, she goes up against a rock wall and crushes Balaam’s foot and finally the donkey just lies down in the middle of the road! So Balaam beats the daylights out of her and the donkey speaks to complain about the ill treatment and Balaam carries on a conversation with his donkey trying to justify his actions! Balaam is so intent on carrying out his plan to go down the road toward Moab and keep his appointment with the king that it never occurs to him that something may be out of place. It never occurs to him that something supernatural is taking place or that God may be trying to say something. It never occurs to him that donkeys aren’t supposed to talk! Balaam is just too upset that his plan is interrupted and he has been inconvenienced that he almost completely misses the gift and the grace God is trying to give him. He doesn’t even realize that this divine interruption is saving his life!
Do you suppose that if we paid a little more attention to life’s interruptions and detours, we might discover that we’re headed down the wrong road, like Balaam? Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Christian priest who was martyred during WWII. He once wrote, we must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly crossing our paths and canceling our plans…sending us people with claims and petitions. It is a strange fact that Christians and even ministers frequently consider their work so important and urgent that they will allow nothing to disturb them. They think they are doing God a service in this, but actually they are disdaining God’s crooked yet straight path.”
We may be annoyed when something or someone interrupts our plans and we are inconvenienced, but there is grace in life’s interruptions. Sometimes, in fact, maybe MOST of the time, the greatest outpouring of God’s grace comes in the midst of our inconvenience. LISTEN: Interruptions may well be the door that opens the windows of heaven to God’s blessings. That is not to say that all interruptions are of God; they are not all divine diversions. But we know from Romans 8:28 that God is actively working in all circumstances, all interruptions all inconveniences to bring about good things for us and for the kingdom of God. But the truth is, God will interrupt us for our own good. The question is whether or not we are sensitive to God’s hand in, and on our lives. Let me give you an example.
Joyce Jones is a renowned concert organist who was also a professor at Baylor University. Several years ago she played the first full concert on, what was then, the new, $1 million dollar pipe organ at the Crystal Cathedral in California. But at the age of sixteen she was a piano major at the University of Texas. A sprained wrist interrupted her promising career as a pianist. And for six weeks she was not allowed to touch a keyboard. So, not wanting to waste time, she decided to learn to play organ pedals with her feet, and a new career was born. In telling her story, Joyce says this, “God has a way to get your attention and say, ‘Hey! I have something better for you to do.”
There is a very real danger that we can become so blind that we cut ourselves off from God’s plan for His best when we become prisoners to I Phones, daily planners, calendars, watches, or just plain hardheadedness when it comes to OUR PLAN. You see, every interruption in life presents us with two distinct opportunities: to get irritated and try to force our plans, regardless of the consequences, or we can yield to the possibility that God Himself may be graciously interrupting us in order to bring about a blessing.
In a real way, that’s where we are at Shepherd Church. Since God planted the vision for Shepherd Church in the hearts of a handful of Believers, God’s plans for us have consistently been so much bigger, so much better and so much more amazing than anything any of us ever imagined. From a handful of folks meeting together in a living room, to a mattress outlet, to adding modular classrooms at a fraction of the going cost of construction, to a full time worship pastor and a full time Family pastor, and now to the place we desperately need additional space. We have been dreaming and visioning and planning for that additional space and we have a fine plan. Two, in fact. Plan A and plan B, both of which involve adding about 4,300 square feet to our existing facility. And your leaders have prayed fervently and planned carefully and we were just days from signing a contract, when all of a sudden, our plans got interrupted! And now we have a possibility that is far greater than we imagined. The question is; do we prayerfully discern and patiently wait to see if this interruption is God’s plan or not. And I am confident we will. Because, from our infancy, this church has seen itself, many of us have seen ourselves and viewed our lives and our faith walk differently than ever before. We have learned to look for and listen for God’s plan because God has constantly surprised us with greater blessings than we expected or hope or asked or planned for. So I know that we as a church will not be anxious or annoyed by this interruption. We will embrace the possibilities and opportunities it brings.
If you’ve been a Christian for very long, you know that Divine interruptions are an integral part of the Biblical story and of the fabric of our faith. Sometimes the interruptions are corporate but more often, they are very personal. As we follow Jesus through the gospels, we see interruption after interruption…sort of like what we see in your life and mine. And the interruptions are always moments of possibility and occasions of grace. By the way, have you noticed that Matthew never has Jesus checking his watch, and Mark never writes about Jesus consulting his daily planner, and Luke never tells about Jesus looking at his calendar, and John never speaks of the Master as being irritated by or too busy to be interrupted? For Jesus, every interruption is an occasion to teach, or heal, or to bless. That was the case when Jesus drops in on his friends Mary & Martha in the town of Bethany. And I want to point out two things in the story.
The first is that Luke gives no indication that Jesus and the disciples were expected; they just dropped by. They were on their way somewhere, Luke says. And ladies, you can perhaps identify more closely with the magnitude of the interruption here…13 unexpected guests for dinner. So it was a BIG interruption. The other thing to note is that nowhere in the Bible is Martha’s sister Mary ever painted as lazy. It was a big interruption for her too. But how the two women dealt with the inconvenient interruption is what we remember about this story. Martha had a hard time setting her plan aside. Mary however was a bit more open to being interrupted by Jesus. Mary & Martha both love their dear friend Jesus. Jesus is important to Martha, to be sure. But so is her plan. So is her list of things to do. Jesus is important to Mary too. Mary has a list and plans too. The difference is that Jesus is more important.
We don’t know how the rest of the evening went for Martha, but John tells us that after her brother Lazarus died and the neighborhood was there and the wake was in progress and there was much for the family to tend to, it was Martha that put everything else aside at the news that Jesus was coming. She put Jesus first and welcomed his interruption.
And once Balaam began to see things, at least as clearly as his donkey, life took a dramatic turn for the good. He began to pay close attention to God’s direction and he ended up being used by God in a mighty way. He became a man of great blessings and he pronounced great blessings on God’s people. I guess we all have the same choice as Balaam: to be a jackass or to look for God’s fingerprints when life interrupts our well laid plans.
Bottom line; Life can become so routine and predictable. There’s a Raymond James commercial that talks about “A life well planned”. But too often that looks like: You get up in the morning—go to work—do your job—come home and do a few chores—get some rest—and go to work the next morning. But just about the time you think nothing will ever change, or that everything is going according to plan…YOUR plan, God interrupts the routine and gives you a fresh assignment.
That new chapter in your life may or may not involve a geographic move. It may or may not mean a job change. It may or may not bring new relationships into your life. All those are possibilities. But when God comes on the scene in that way something marvelous always happens in our lives. Opportunity knocks when God shows up. So….Is He knocking on your door this morning? Is God trying to interrupt your life to show you something a whole lot better that He plans for you? Open your heart to the possibilities and see what He can do. Remember, your very best plan will always be too safe, too small, and too bland when compared to God’s plan for your life.
