Welcome to this week’s episode, a special rerun from our Speaking of Life archive. We hope you find its timeless message as meaningful today as it was when it was first shared.
Watch video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec9A0jQ4YWo
Program Transcript
Speaking Of Life 5005 │ Best-Laid Plans
Michelle Fleming
Those who know me know that planning is one of my love languages. I love the feeling when a perfectly laid plan comes together. And my love tank is filled when someone considers what I like when planning a night out. But life experience has taught me that plan A is not always guaranteed to turn out. This might remind you of the common saying, “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”
This saying was adapted from the poem “To A Mouse” written in 1785 by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. In the poem, Burns apologizes to a mouse whose nest was destroyed when Burns plowed the field the nest was in. The poem makes the point that regardless how well human beings plan, those plans can be overturned in an instant.
We often base our plans on expectations we have for how things are usually done. If we’re planning a trip, we expect the airline to leave at the specified time, and when it doesn’t, our plans are upended. We’re left unsettled and sometimes frustrated.
In ancient times, the Jewish people expected God to provide a Messiah who would deliver them from their Assyrian oppressors and usher in a time of peace and plenty. They yearned for deliverance and had expectations for the way that deliverance would take shape. The prophet Isaiah spoke to their concerns and assured them that God saw their suffering. But the scripture verses from Isaiah 9 talk about a Messiah who would be much more than they expected or planned for:
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
For to us a child is born,to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
Isaiah 9:2, 6-7 (NRSV)
Isaiah’s audience expected a political and military leader to rescue them. But the prophecy pointed to more than just a military leader, or to Israel’s rescue – it pointed to the Messiah and the rescue for all of humanity. The Israelites didn’t know this, neither did the Jews in Jesus’ day. They had plans for their rescuer – their Messiah, but God had different (bigger) plans.
In similar ways, we make plans and expect God to operate in our lives in a particular way, and sometimes nothing turns out. When our plans are upended and our expectations overturned, we can feel unanchored or adrift. How can we trust that things will be OK?
Isaiah’s prophecy helps us remember that God plays a long game. He has a bigger plan and our sign for that plan is Jesus. Consider all the ways that Jesus’ birth, life, and death overturned human expectations. Here are a few.
- People expected the Son of God to be born in royal conditions; Jesus was born to a poor Jewish couple in a barn.
- People expected the Son of God to behave according to the cultural norms of the time; Jesus often defied cultural norms, choosing to eat with tax collectors and women and healing those considered unclean.
- People expected the Son of God to be above suffering; Jesus experienced suffering and grief to the point of death on a cross.
The “best-laid” plans we have will never be better than God’s plans, and though we don’t understand all of life’s twists and turns, we can trust that “a child has been born for us,” and the Prince of Peace will always be by our side.
As we celebrate his birth, may all who live in deep darkness see the great light of Jesus, and may your “best-laid” plans always be trumped by the love of God.
I’m Michelle Fleming, Speaking of Life.
Program Transcript
Speaking Of Life 5005 │ Best-Laid Plans
Michelle Fleming
Those who know me know that planning is one of my love languages. I love the feeling when a perfectly laid plan comes together. And my love tank is filled when someone considers what I like when planning a night out. But life experience has taught me that plan A is not always guaranteed to turn out. This might remind you of the common saying, “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”
This saying was adapted from the poem “To A Mouse” written in 1785 by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. In the poem, Burns apologizes to a mouse whose nest was destroyed when Burns plowed the field the nest was in. The poem makes the point that regardless how well human beings plan, those plans can be overturned in an instant.
We often base our plans on expectations we have for how things are usually done. If we’re planning a trip, we expect the airline to leave at the specified time, and when it doesn’t, our plans are upended. We’re left unsettled and sometimes frustrated.
In ancient times, the Jewish people expected God to provide a Messiah who would deliver them from their Assyrian oppressors and usher in a time of peace and plenty. They yearned for deliverance and had expectations for the way that deliverance would take shape. The prophet Isaiah spoke to their concerns and assured them that God saw their suffering. But the scripture verses from Isaiah 9 talk about a Messiah who would be much more than they expected or planned for:
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
For to us a child is born,to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
Isaiah 9:2, 6-7 (NRSV)
Isaiah’s audience expected a political and military leader to rescue them. But the prophecy pointed to more than just a military leader, or to Israel’s rescue – it pointed to the Messiah and the rescue for all of humanity. The Israelites didn’t know this, neither did the Jews in Jesus’ day. They had plans for their rescuer – their Messiah, but God had different (bigger) plans.
In similar ways, we make plans and expect God to operate in our lives in a particular way, and sometimes nothing turns out. When our plans are upended and our expectations overturned, we can feel unanchored or adrift. How can we trust that things will be OK?
Isaiah’s prophecy helps us remember that God plays a long game. He has a bigger plan and our sign for that plan is Jesus. Consider all the ways that Jesus’ birth, life, and death overturned human expectations. Here are a few.
- People expected the Son of God to be born in royal conditions; Jesus was born to a poor Jewish couple in a barn.
- People expected the Son of God to behave according to the cultural norms of the time; Jesus often defied cultural norms, choosing to eat with tax collectors and women and healing those considered unclean.
- People expected the Son of God to be above suffering; Jesus experienced suffering and grief to the point of death on a cross.
The “best-laid” plans we have will never be better than God’s plans, and though we don’t understand all of life’s twists and turns, we can trust that “a child has been born for us,” and the Prince of Peace will always be by our side.
As we celebrate his birth, may all who live in deep darkness see the great light of Jesus, and may your “best-laid” plans always be trumped by the love of God.
I’m Michelle Fleming, Speaking of Life.
Isaiah 63:7–9 • Psalm 148:1–14 • Hebrews 2:10–18 • Matthew 2:13–23
On this first Sunday of the Christmas season, we focus on how God enters human history with compassion and solidarity. Isaiah 63:7–9 is a reflection on God’s faithful compassion and saving presence in Israel’s history. Our call to worship psalm is a call to all creation to praise the Lord. Our Gospel passage describes Mary and Joseph’s flight to Egypt and return to Nazareth: God’s providence amid suffering and violence. In Hebrews 2, we learn that Christ shares fully in our humanity to bring many children to glory and to break the power of death.
Never Alone
Hebrews 2:10–18 NRSVUE
Author Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” Nowhere is this truer than in leadership. Whether in business, the military, or any other organization, good leaders understand that to be respected, they must be willing to share space, tasks, and hardships with those they are leading. We also can see this understanding in the pages of the Bible where it describes how the One who became human in part to understand human suffering and be our comfort.
Let’s look at Hebrews 2:10–18.
It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.” And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Here am I and the children whom God has given me.” Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. Therefore, he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.
If we consider Hebrews 2:10–18, we see that Jesus is considered the “pioneer” or leader of our salvation who was made “perfect” through suffering. This wording doesn’t mean that Jesus lacked moral perfection or that he wasn’t fully divine. Maclaren’s Expositions has this to say:
Christ’s perfecting is not the perfecting of His moral character, but the completion of His equipment for His work of being the Captain of our salvation … He was not ready for His function of Leader and Originator of our salvation until He had passed through the sufferings of life and the agonies of death.
Let’s consider these ideas from the passage:
- Jesus’s humanity means he understands the joys and sufferings of human beings. And because Jesus understands, we know he stands in solidarity with us as we rejoice and as we weep. We are never alone in our human experience. We have each other and Jesus, and when we show compassion to each other, we are the hands and feet of Jesus.
- Jesus breaks the power of death by succumbing to it, taking it to the grave, and allowing God to transform it. At first, the disciples thought Jesus was dead for good. They didn’t understand that sometimes winning means giving in and letting God redeem and resurrect. This way of breaking death’s power over us is completely contradictory to our human nature. Our survivor instinct tells us to fight, but if we’re quiet and listening, we will figure out that resting in God and letting God transform a situation might be the best course of action.
Application:
- When you suffer, know that you are never alone. Jesus knows exactly what you’re going through, and he is as close as your next breath. Know that your experience of suffering isn’t wasted because you will be able to comfort someone else as Jesus (and other people) have comforted you.
- Following Jesus’s example, the best leaders are those who aren’t afraid to be on the same level as those they’re leading. This might mean taking the initiative to serve and work alongside others rather than delegating. It definitely means exercising kindness and compassion, and it means encouraging those you are leading. Francis of Assisi said, “The deeds you do may be the only sermon some persons will hear today.”
- When faced with a challenging situation, consider accepting it rather than fighting against it, and give God space to transform it. While this certainly doesn’t apply to situations of abuse, many times we are faced with a reality that is different than what we think we want. We often resist and fight against this reality, either consciously or unconsciously, by complaining or making sarcastic jokes. Think about Jesus’s example of giving in to death in order to break its power and allowing God to transform it. By waiting on God to resolve the situation when we cannot do it ourselves, we make space for transformation to happen, both in us and in our circumstances.
Not only is Jesus the “pioneer” or leader of our salvation, but he is our comfort in the midst of suffering and loss because he has been there. It was God’s intent to lift us up, to bring us into a relationship with the Triune God, but to do that, God’s Son had to become one of us. And by becoming one of us, Jesus also was equipped to break the power of death and our fear of death by giving into it and making space for God to transform it.
God is not distant, but actively entering history — our lives, our struggles, and even our pain — bringing restoration. Jesus doesn’t rescue from afar — he becomes human, suffers, and dies. He suffered, and he redeems those who suffer. Jesus’ way is incarnational — so our mission must be rooted in proximity, humility, and real presence.
Paul Young—Year A Advent 4
Listen to audio: https://cloud.gci.org/dl/GReverb/GR070-Young-YearC-Advent4.mp3
Sunday, December 21, 2025 — Fourth Sunday of Advent
Matthew 1:18-25 NRSVUE
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Program Transcript
Paul Young—Year C Advent 4
Anthony: Alright, let’s transition to the third passage of the month. It is Matthew 1:18–25. It is the Revised Common Lectionary passage for the fourth Sunday of Advent, December 21.
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 “Look, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had given birth to a son, and he named him Jesus.
So, Paul, the incarnation of our Lord is staggering. Which is an understatement. And so, I just wanted to give you some time to just riff on the Word becoming flesh and if you can, make it personal, how has the incarnation of Jesus impacted your worldview, your life, your living?
Paul: I’m going to do you one better. I’m going to read a poem by my friend David Tensen out of Australia. And it’s called The Incarnation. And I think it says it in a way that you and I cannot. We can’t find the words for it.
Anthony: Yeah.
Paul: Because we, apart from the Incarnation, there is no hope. There’s absolutely no hope. And here’s how I like to put it. Unless we see an incarnation of something, we won’t believe that it’s possible. Unless we see somebody who lives an abundant life, we won’t believe it’s possible. We will wait, hoping that when we die, we will experience it.
This is the whole Hebrew scriptures coming up to the Incarnation — they were looking. Read Hebrews 11. They were seeking. They were looking for something that they couldn’t grasp. And this is why Jesus says, among all men born, John is the greatest, but the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
That’s because Hebrews 11 says, we got it. We got to see the revelation of God in Jesus. If you want to have a clear view of the nature of the Father, it’s Jesus, and I cannot, and you cannot. I know you, and Anthony, you talk about this all the time. You have to put on the lenses to look at the nature of God, the lenses being Jesus. That’s when everything came together.
And those who are inside of that, in that sense, are greater because they have now been embraced in the reality of the Incarnation — God, fully becoming human, being fully God. So here is David’s poem, David Tensen.
The Incarnation by David Tensen
Take all your hope and longing;
cover it in blood, urine, faeces, straw.
Cut the chord to your dreams
with a field knife or clenched jaw.
Here lays the King of the Jews.
Crowned between thighs,
Held in arms of exhaustion.
Bathed with tears, sweat
and the soft tones
of a mother
singing songs
of deliverance
between breaths
as the King of Glory
feeds folded at her breast.
What newborn would you not
bend a knee for? What labouring mother
would not make room for? Here’s how God
chose to be with His beloved;
in a state of utter surrender
and dependence;
making His way into the world
through a uterus. Trading a heavenly crown
for one of mucus. Later, finding
woven thorns pushed in its place as,
once again, God surrenders
to the fulness of humanity’s mess –
reconciling it all
to Himself;
counting no soul’s sin
against them.
Anthony: Trading the crown for one of mucus. Wow. Hallelujah. And you had said earlier, Paul, where is Jesus? Where is he? Where’s the kingdom? And this text tells us that he is Emmanuel, he is God with us. We see it in Jesus. And we know it’s present by the Spirit, that God is here, he’s there. And the church has this doctrine of omnipresence, which makes separation by the way illogical. It makes no sense. Right? He’s here. Hallelujah. And I guess you’ve been talking about this all along, but what else would you say about how this reveals the Father’s heart, that God is here?
Paul: I just got back from Switzerland and a year ago, I baptized a 13-year-old, part of a family that has adopted me as sort of a grandfather. I was involved in a documentary about sexual abuse with the mom, and this year I got to baptize the oldest of the three daughters. When I left, the young, the middle daughter hugged me and she said, I’m next. And so, they’re trying to make me come back — which I will — but when I was baptizing both those girls, a thought that had never occurred to me, occurred to me.
And that, say, in the 13-year-old, who dwells in that 13-year-old? It’s the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; it’s Jesus who dwells within her. And what is in Jesus? Not anything that has come into being has come into being apart from him. So, the entire cosmos is in him and he is in her, this 13-year-old. And as I laid her down into the water, waters of death, and up into the true life of resurrection, in that symbol, I am again reenacting the baptizing of all creation in Christ in this 13-year-old girl. What does that tell me about the Father? It tells me that the Father is all in. All in!
Anthony: Yes.
Paul: And that there is no separation between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And when people look at the symbol of the trinity and you ask them where are we? Where are we in that design? And some people might say, we are in the middle, but guess what? There’s nothing in the middle, nothing. Where are we? We are in Christ. That’s how our participation is sealed — in him. And all of creation was created in him. And the Father loves the Son, loves the Son, and therefore loves us in that one picture. All in.
Anthony: All in. All in. Everything hinges on the love of the Father to the Son, and we get to receive that. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Program Transcript
Paul Young—Year C Advent 4
Anthony: Alright, let’s transition to the third passage of the month. It is Matthew 1:18–25. It is the Revised Common Lectionary passage for the fourth Sunday of Advent, December 21.
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be pregnant from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to divorce her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 “Look, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had given birth to a son, and he named him Jesus.
So, Paul, the incarnation of our Lord is staggering. Which is an understatement. And so, I just wanted to give you some time to just riff on the Word becoming flesh and if you can, make it personal, how has the incarnation of Jesus impacted your worldview, your life, your living?
Paul: I’m going to do you one better. I’m going to read a poem by my friend David Tensen out of Australia. And it’s called The Incarnation. And I think it says it in a way that you and I cannot. We can’t find the words for it.
Anthony: Yeah.
Paul: Because we, apart from the Incarnation, there is no hope. There’s absolutely no hope. And here’s how I like to put it. Unless we see an incarnation of something, we won’t believe that it’s possible. Unless we see somebody who lives an abundant life, we won’t believe it’s possible. We will wait, hoping that when we die, we will experience it.
This is the whole Hebrew scriptures coming up to the Incarnation — they were looking. Read Hebrews 11. They were seeking. They were looking for something that they couldn’t grasp. And this is why Jesus says, among all men born, John is the greatest, but the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
That’s because Hebrews 11 says, we got it. We got to see the revelation of God in Jesus. If you want to have a clear view of the nature of the Father, it’s Jesus, and I cannot, and you cannot. I know you, and Anthony, you talk about this all the time. You have to put on the lenses to look at the nature of God, the lenses being Jesus. That’s when everything came together.
And those who are inside of that, in that sense, are greater because they have now been embraced in the reality of the Incarnation — God, fully becoming human, being fully God. So here is David’s poem, David Tensen.
The Incarnation by David Tensen
Take all your hope and longing;
cover it in blood, urine, faeces, straw.
Cut the chord to your dreams
with a field knife or clenched jaw.
Here lays the King of the Jews.
Crowned between thighs,
Held in arms of exhaustion.
Bathed with tears, sweat
and the soft tones
of a mother
singing songs
of deliverance
between breaths
as the King of Glory
feeds folded at her breast.
What newborn would you not
bend a knee for? What labouring mother
would not make room for? Here’s how God
chose to be with His beloved;
in a state of utter surrender
and dependence;
making His way into the world
through a uterus. Trading a heavenly crown
for one of mucus. Later, finding
woven thorns pushed in its place as,
once again, God surrenders
to the fulness of humanity’s mess –
reconciling it all
to Himself;
counting no soul’s sin
against them.
Anthony: Trading the crown for one of mucus. Wow. Hallelujah. And you had said earlier, Paul, where is Jesus? Where is he? Where’s the kingdom? And this text tells us that he is Emmanuel, he is God with us. We see it in Jesus. And we know it’s present by the Spirit, that God is here, he’s there. And the church has this doctrine of omnipresence, which makes separation by the way illogical. It makes no sense. Right? He’s here. Hallelujah. And I guess you’ve been talking about this all along, but what else would you say about how this reveals the Father’s heart, that God is here?
Paul: I just got back from Switzerland and a year ago, I baptized a 13-year-old, part of a family that has adopted me as sort of a grandfather. I was involved in a documentary about sexual abuse with the mom, and this year I got to baptize the oldest of the three daughters. When I left, the young, the middle daughter hugged me and she said, I’m next. And so, they’re trying to make me come back — which I will — but when I was baptizing both those girls, a thought that had never occurred to me, occurred to me.
And that, say, in the 13-year-old, who dwells in that 13-year-old? It’s the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; it’s Jesus who dwells within her. And what is in Jesus? Not anything that has come into being has come into being apart from him. So, the entire cosmos is in him and he is in her, this 13-year-old. And as I laid her down into the water, waters of death, and up into the true life of resurrection, in that symbol, I am again reenacting the baptizing of all creation in Christ in this 13-year-old girl. What does that tell me about the Father? It tells me that the Father is all in. All in!
Anthony: Yes.
Paul: And that there is no separation between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And when people look at the symbol of the trinity and you ask them where are we? Where are we in that design? And some people might say, we are in the middle, but guess what? There’s nothing in the middle, nothing. Where are we? We are in Christ. That’s how our participation is sealed — in him. And all of creation was created in him. And the Father loves the Son, loves the Son, and therefore loves us in that one picture. All in.
Anthony: All in. All in. Everything hinges on the love of the Father to the Son, and we get to receive that. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Small Group Discussion Questions
- What does it mean to you that Jesus is the pioneer of your salvation?
- How are you experiencing becoming free?
- How would you explain this good news to a neighbor?
- How can your missional life be rooted in proximity, humility, and real presence?
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