If you are anything like me you may have started this December with carefully crafted plans – lists of gifts to buy, cookies to bake, events to attend. Maybe like last year, we created task lists and calendar items to manage it all. But life has a way of disrupting even our most detailed plans. The shipping delay that threatens a perfect gift. The unexpected guest who needs a place at our table. The family tradition that might need reinvention this year. Sometimes these disruptions feel like failures. But what if they’re actually invitations? What if, like Joseph, our interrupted plans are making space for something extraordinary?

God speaks across centuries in today’s scripture readings, weaving together ancient promises with present hope. The prophet Joel addresses a community facing environmental disaster and spiritual crisis, promising that God will pour out the Holy Spirit on all people. This promise finds fresh meaning in Joseph’s story, where God works through dreams and difficult choices to bring about the long-awaited Messiah.

These texts reflect a consistent truth throughout scripture: God transforms disrupted plans into pathways of grace. As we hear these words, notice what captures your attention. Perhaps jot down phrases that resonate or questions that arise. The same spirit that moved through Joel’s prophecy and guided Joseph’s decision still speaks today, inviting us into God’s unfolding story of redemption.

Over these past weeks, we’ve witnessed God’s persistent work through challenging times. In Jeremiah, we saw God transforming burned scrolls into an expanded message of hope, writing a new covenant on human hearts. Last week, Daniel showed us what unshakeable faith looks like through his daily prayer routine in the face of mortal danger, much like Zechariah and Elizabeth’s patient waiting.

Today, these threads of persistence and transformation weave into Joel’s prophetic voice and Joseph’s story. Like the expanded scroll in Jeremiah, God takes our torn plans and creates something larger. Like Daniel’s steadfast prayers, Joseph must trust God in an impossible situation. The spirit that preserved Daniel and inspired Jeremiah now pours out on all flesh in Joel’s prophecy, finding powerful expression in Joseph’s dream. Each story reveals how God works through disrupted plans and faithful hearts to bring about divine purposes, leading us toward the ultimate fulfillment in Jesus.

Joel prophesied during a devastating locust plague that ravaged ancient Judah, likely in the period after the exile when the community struggled to rebuild. The agricultural disaster threatened not just their food supply but their entire way of life, challenging their understanding of God’s faithfulness. Joel 2:12-13 emerges from this crisis, calling for genuine repentance rather than mere ritual observance, while verses 28-29 look forward to an unprecedented outpouring of God’s spirit across all social boundaries.

This prophetic text bridges the immediate crisis with a broader vision of spiritual renewal. Joel employs vivid agricultural imagery familiar to his audience, but transforms it into a message about divine-human relationship. The Hebrew word that is translated in the phrase “return to me with all your heart” suggests not just emotional response but complete reorientation of life toward God.

Matthew’s narrative, written centuries later, shows this spiritual outpouring taking concrete form. The evangelist carefully positions Joseph’s story within Jewish legal and social customs of first-century Palestine. The text displays Matthew’s characteristic attention to fulfillment of prophecy, though notably through dreams – a literary device connecting Joseph to his namesake in Genesis.

Joel promises divine spirit poured out on all flesh; Matthew shows this spirit guiding Joseph through dreams. Joel calls for whole-hearted return to God; Joseph demonstrates such trust by accepting a path that defied social convention. The texts share a profound theme of God working through disruption to bring renewal.

The broader biblical narrative amplifies these connections. Joel’s promise of spirit outpouring finds fulfillment at Pentecost in Acts 2. Joseph’s dreams echo God’s guidance of the patriarchs while pointing toward Jesus, who will ultimately embody Joel’s promise of God’s spirit dwelling with humanity. Together, these passages reveal how God’s redemptive work often comes through unexpected channels, requiring both corporate and individual response to divine initiative. God can transform crisis into opportunity, doubt into faith, and conventional wisdom into radical trust.

Consider the student facing an unexpected change in major, all their careful college plans suddenly requiring revision. Or the professional whose twenty-year career abruptly ends in corporate downsizing, leaving them questioning their identity and future. Or the grandparent who imagined peaceful retirement years now stepping back into full-time caregiving for grandchildren.

Each of these moments echoes Joseph’s dilemma – when life veers sharply from our carefully plotted course. The career change that feels like failure might be God’s redirect toward deeper purpose. The adjusted retirement plans could be God’s invitation to pour wisdom into a younger generation. The shifted academic path might reveal gifts and passions previously unexplored.

Joel’s promise that God will pour out divine spirit on all people takes on fresh meaning in these transitions. The young adult’s innovative problem-solving at work might be exactly what their team needs. The elder’s life experience could provide crucial perspective in church leadership. The student’s question in class might spark exactly the discussion their peers need to hear.

God still speaks through unexpected channels – through late-night conversations with friends, through mentoring relationships across generations, through moments of insight during ordinary tasks. Like Joseph, we’re invited to trust that our disrupted plans might be making space for God’s larger purposes. When the college student shares doubts with their grandmother, when the laid-off executive volunteers with youth, when the grandparent learns new technology from their grandchild – these are examples of Joel’s vision, where God’s spirit crosses boundaries to bring wisdom, dreams, and fresh starts.

The good news is that God hasn’t stopped pouring out spirit and wisdom on all people. The same God who guided Joseph through his crisis of faith still transforms disrupted plans into pathways of grace. The divine love that reached across social boundaries in Joel’s prophecy continues to break through our carefully constructed walls today.

When Jesus entered our world through the trust of ordinary people like Joseph and Mary, he demonstrated that God works through unexpected channels. This wasn’t just true for the first Christmas – it remains true now. Every time we face shattered plans or uncomfortable transitions, we stand where Joseph stood. Every time God’s spirit prompts us to move beyond our comfort zone, we experience what Joel promised.

God invites us to participate in this ongoing story of transformation. Consider setting aside ten minutes in the chapel this week with our prayer stations. Sit with Joseph and Mary’s story. Consider what plans you might need to entrust to God. Think about three people in your life who might need to experience the wonder of Candlelight Christmas Eve. Extend that invitation – to a neighbor, coworker, family member, or friend. Sometimes the most profound fresh starts begin with a simple invitation.

Pay attention to the disruptions in your week. That canceled appointment might create space for an important conversation. The unexpected detour might lead to a divine encounter. The change in plans might open a door you never thought to knock on.

The God who worked through Joseph’s dreams and Joel’s prophecies hasn’t stopped working. When future generations tell the story of Christ’s birth, they won’t focus on the disrupted engagement or inconvenient census, but how God worked through unexpected circumstances to bring hope into the world.

The same happens in our lives – years from now, we’ll remember not our perfect plans, but the divine encounters that came through disrupted schedules and the relationships that grew through shared challenges. For the Holy Spirit still pours out, and ordinary people like us still find ourselves caught up in God’s extraordinary purposes, as fresh starts often begin with simple invitations.

Will you pray with me?

God of new beginnings, help us trust you when our plans unravel. Transform our disruptions into opportunities for grace. Give us courage to follow where your spirit leads. Amen.