When God Crashed Our Story
Luke 1:26-38
December 7, 2025
When I was a resident chaplain my two year residency was coming to an end. So, I applied for other chaplaincy positions. One of them was at a place that specialized in physical rehab, Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital. I applied even though I didn’t meet their basic qualifications. It was one of those, I’ll apply and see what happens.
I got an interview and then a second interview and eventually was hired. I worked there for 5 years and ...
After a few years, my office got moved and I was now located in the Day Hospital wing. And the social worker in the Day Hospital was this really good looking gal named Debbie. And, well, the rest is history!
I didn’t meet their qualifications on paper. I didn’t think I had a chance, but then again, God had other plans for me. It was the start of a new journey, which ultimately leads to Alexandria, IN.
Have you ever felt like you were the wrong person for what God was asking you to do? Maybe you were too ordinary, too broken, it’s too late in life, or you’re too young?
Maybe you weren’t qualified. You didn’t have the right pedigree. But when God’s calling, He isn’t looking at your resume and your family tree. If that was the case, most of us would be out! We don’t have the right name, the right genes, the right DNA.
That’s not how it works for God. We’re looking at the advent story from the vantage point of God crashing their stories, just as He comes into our stories and crashes them as well.
Most of the time when there’s a crash, we look at it as a bad thing. And at the moment, it might be hurtful and devastating, or even unwanted - - - - we may not, now, or ever understand the plan . . . but we’re ultimately called to trust in God’s plan for us.
Last week we looked at Joseph’s story, and today, it’s Mary’s story. If you have a Bible, turn to Luke 1:26-38. Luke is the 3rd book in the NT. Luke tells us this - - - -
26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”
29 But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was.
30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.
32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
33 And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”
35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you;
therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.
36 Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age;
and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren.
37 For with God nothing will be impossible.”
38 Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.
Mary’s story begins in a nowhere town called Nazareth — the kind of place people joked about. She was a teenage girl with no power, no pedigree, and no plan for greatness. Yet Heaven knew her name.
When God crashed Mary’s story, it didn’t make sense on paper — but grace never does. The Christmas story is proof that God’s greatest work often begins in the most unlikely people, in unlikely places — people and places the world forgets, but God knows and remembers.
Nazareth had a poor reputation in Jesus' time. It was seen as an insignificant and obscure village where "nothing good" came from it.
Think about it ---- ----
• Nazareth was never mentioned in the Old Testament.
• It’s located in Galilee, a region which was viewed as a less than region. It’s the land of the Samaritans, people who were considered half-breeds by the religious elite in Judah.
• It was a town of laborers, including the carpenter named Jesus. And the educated elites looked down on Nazareth. When Jesus began to teach, they saw it as an affront to their social order.
Yet, God called an obscure girl from a worthless, poor town. If He can do that, can God call you as well to do what you never thought you could do?
Notice that when God called Mary, He sent the angel, Gabriel to Nazareth to crash Mary’s story.
Who would have expected a Savior to come from here? God skipped over the palaces and priests and went straight to an ordinary girl.
You see, it’s what I said last week.
God doesn’t ask for permission to enter our stories.
If He did, we’d be saying NO more often than not. God isn’t looking for our position, He’s looking for us to say YES to Him.
Don’t count yourself out because of where you come from. God specializes in Nazareth stories.
It’s really part of the benediction from Paul in Ephesians 3. It’s the middle of the letter, yet Paul states - - - -
20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
Do you see that? We give praise and honor and glory to the God who can do far more abundantly than we ask or even think! WHY? Because of the power of God which is at work within us.
You see, when we say YES to Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit is already there. All we need to do is activate that Spirit. It’s our saying YES! YES! YES!
And that Spirit begins to ignite. God’s already entered our lives and is now leading us to do what we never thought was possible.
God’s not impressed with our platform — He’s not looking at how many followers we have on social media. He’s more concerned with our faith, our integrity, our humility and obedience to Him.
It’s why God ultimately chooses David to be king and the line of Jesus. David’s a man after God’s own heart. Even with his humanity and sinfulness, God saw something in David that David didn’t see in himself.
And when we experience God’s favor, that doesn’t mean an easy life! It may be the most difficult of lives, but we will be filled with more joy and peace, when we’re residing with the Father.
Look again at Luke’s words in verses 28-29 - - - -
28 The angel said, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” 29 But when she saw him, she was troubled . . . .
Do you see the paradox in this? She’s highly favored and blessed among all women - - - which should be great news, yet, Mary is troubled.
Mary isn’t just troubled, that’s too mild . . . literally in Greek, Mary’s greatly agitated, acutely distressed. It’s not a simple annoyance. There’s deep inner turmoil going on for Mary.
Mary’s “favor” didn’t lead to comfort; it led to complication. She’s a single woman, who’s about to start showing that she’s pregnant and her excuse is pretty far fetched!
There would be judgment from her community, disbelief from Joseph and danger from Herod and others.
Have you been there?! You seek God’s favor and His favor doesn’t feel like a blessing. It feels more like a burden.
God’s favor isn’t about everything going right — it’s about knowing and trusting and believing that God is with you, even, when everything goes wrong.
It’s knowing that when things don’t go the way we think they should, God is still there. God will not abandon us. If He has called you to do something, He will not forget or abandon you!
Yet, more often than not . . . when we’re in the midst of the storm, we can only see the storm!! We can’t see the beauty and power and hope we have in God. We struggle to see how anything good can come out of what we’re going through.
I get it. Believe me!! I get it! I’ve been there too many times. I’ve allowed circumstances to define my God. You know what I mean? When times are tough, I can cry out to God, but still wonder “God, you’re not answering me.”
So, the fact that there’s not a quick and easy solution to my problem causes physical, mental, emotional and spiritual distress. Yet, God has never left me. And then we question His faithfulness.
We want an easy answer, an easy solution, something that’s not going to stress us too much. Give me a little bit, God, but don’t overdo it.
You know what I mean? Anyone want to say AMEN!? I hope I’m not the only slug who has struggled with this. If I am, then we’re in real trouble.
I believe that’s why we have so many stories of victory in the Bible. We see people going through what they might call personal hell’s, and stories of persecution, which lead to redemption. Not only for them, but for the nation and even redemption which comes to us today!
Take the book of Ruth. Ruth was from Moab and married into a family. She was the daughter in law of Naomi. Because of a famine, Naomi, her husband and 2 sons left Israel.
Then her husband died in Moab, and her sons married Moabite women. And then her 2 sons died.
Now, she’s not only a widow, she’s a beggar, since both of her boys died. She and her daughter in laws are alone.
She’s bitter and angry and changes her name to Mara, in Hebrew it means bitter. That’s how she feels in life. This wasn’t supposed to be my life! Maybe she’s raising her fist and shouting “God where are you?!”
All seems lost, and then the famine ends, so she heads back to Israel. She tells her daughter in laws to go home and find a man to marry. But, Ruth, one of her daughters in law, clings to her and goes with her.
Ultimately, Ruth, marries a man names Boaz. And they have a son. And we read - - - -
17 They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. - Ruth 4:17
Say what? Do you see that!?!? Their little boy became the grandfather of King David. WOW! God had this amazing plan. Obed, through this foreign woman, Ruth, is part of the lineage in which we see the Messiah coming. In fact, in Matthew 1 in the listing of genealogies, Ruth is listed as part of it.
How cool that this foreign woman, a Moabite woman, is part of the lineage of Jesus. That’s part of the nature of God.
Disaster, turned into blessing. Who would have thought it? Certainly Naomi didn’t see it coming. I wonder if she changed her name back to Naomi and laughed about her hastiness to change her name to Mara. And friends, that’s how God works.
And we end Mary’s story by remembering the words of Mary - - - -
38 Let it be to me according to your word.
I love that before Mary could discuss this with anyone. Before she could ask 101 questions, before she had a conversation with Joseph and her parents and her best friends, she said YES! YES! YES!
Not an easy thing to do, but she did.
Mary didn’t argue, she didn’t come up with a strategic plan or even negotiate — she surrendered. She didn’t understand how, but here’s the point - - - - she trusted who.
The truth is this . . . God doesn’t need our lofty resumes; He needs our availability.
The call for you and I is to stop waiting to be ready. God’s not waiting for perfection. If He is, He’s in trouble, because that’s not happening. Instead He’s waiting for our resounding YES! The miracle follows the “yes.”
As we end, let me ask you this - - - - -
What excuses have kept you from saying “yes” to God’s call?
Where is God asking you to surrender, not
negotiate or justify? Simply to say YES God, I’m
let’s go!
Maybe you’ve been saying, ‘I’m not ready, not worthy, I’m not enough.’ But neither was Mary — and that’s the point.
God chooses ordinary people to do extraordinary work!
I see a room and an online room filled with people who are ordinary people, who can do more than they ever imagined. Say YES to God!
