When Plans Change

On December 7th, 1919, at a special business meeting, PMBC voted to hold an extra worship service on Christmas day at 9 a.m. Christmas day was on a Thursday that year, and this would have  taken place of the regular Thursday evening prayer meeting. A week and a half later at the Thursday evening prayer meeting on December 18th, another special business meeting was held at which the church voted to rescind the earlier vote for a Christmas morning service.

I do wonder what happened in those 10 days when the folx here realized that they did not want an early morning service on Christmas. Interesting, they had held an 8 a.m. worship service on Thanksgiving Day that year. 

Although I’ve only read up to 1921 in our record books, I can tell you this: there were a lot of changed plans in those first 21 years. Sometimes detours were taken - such as when they were between pastors or the oil prices got too high. Sometimes they made major changes without any recorded discussion, such as when they joined the Northern Baptist Convention (now ABC-USA). I do so wish that the proverbial fly had left behind their records too so we could hear how people felt about these changes.

As we head through Advent, we are confronted with the stories of the people around the Christ-child whose plans also changed: 

1)    Zechariah had to learn to communicate without speaking after Gabriel visited with the news of John’s coming birth (Luke 1:20);

2)    Elizabeth’s everyday routines changed when her she shut herself away from her neighbors once she got pregnant and then Mary showed up (Luke 1:24);

3)    Mary had to go stay with her relatives once she was pregnant - the biggest change of all being her agreed upon pregnancy! (Luke 1:26-40);

4)    And can we please talk about the poor sheep who were taken off the fields while they were trying to sleep so their humans could go see the Christ child?! (Luke 2:8-20). 

As much as knowing what is going to happen next so we can plot our path, life is always full of unexpected detours. I was in Providence this past week when the 195 was shut down suddenly. While I didn’t get caught in the traffic, plenty of other folx did. And now we Rhode Islanders have to figure out how many extra miles we are willing to drive to get to the other side of the Bay! 

None of the biblical stories I listed above are about things these people planned for themselves. Some are about things that were chosen for them. Some are about things that were laid before them as options they ultimately chose. But, in all of it God was present with comfort and encouragement. 

Sometimes we have to pivot quickly when we suddenly find laid out before us new paths we didn’t expect. That is one of life’s certainties. But always God is present with us, which is the meaning of the name we sing so often this season: “Immanuel” (Matthew 1:23). 

So, as we sing the songs, deck the halls, and gather the energy to make it through, I pray that we are open to God’s presence, no matter how our plans might change. God remains the God who Moses promised he was to the Israelites before they went into the Promised Land: “It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed” (Deut. 31:8). God remains with us, now matter how our paths in lives may change. 

That is Good News indeed! 

Blessings, 

Pastor Amy