Readings:
Galatians 4:4 (NKJV)
4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
Luke 1:5-25 (NKJV)
5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.
6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.
8 So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division,
9 according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.
10 And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
13 But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.
15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb.
16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.
17 He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
18 And Zacharias said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years."
19 And the angel answered and said to him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings.
20 But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time."
21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he lingered so long in the temple.
22 But when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned to them and remained speechless.
23 And so it was, as soon as the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his own house.
24 Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying,
25 "Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people."
A Meditation on God's Choices:
The cast of characters in the Advent drama are few: An aged priest and his can’t-bear-children wife, a virgin teenager and her confused, but obedient soon-to-be husband, some shepherds on a hillside who were unlucky enough to do “night” duty, one didn’t-have-a-clue-what-was-about-to-happen innkeeper, and some astrologer scientists who went exploring a celestial anomaly. THESE were the people God chose to introduce his Son into the world.
Nothing to me could be more clear about the way God thinks and the way I do, and, I might add, nothing so clearly shows that God has a sense of humor.
It is truly a humbling experience to read back through the Old Testament and see how frail and imperfect all the "heroes" actually are.
• Abraham, the coward who cannot believe the promise.
• Jacob, the cheat who struggles with everybody.
• Joseph, the immature and arrogant teen who grows up in a prison.
• Moses, the impatient murderer who discovers God well into his 40's.
• Gideon, the cowardly Baal-worshipper.
• Samson, the womanizing powerful one.
• David, the power-abusing adulterer.
• Solomon, the unwise wise man.
• Hezekiah, the reforming king who stopped the reform.
On and on it goes, until finally, a cast of not-very-amazing- people living in Israel “in the fullness of time”.
For a few days, I want to take some time to look at these characters and let their faith journey encourage our own during this Advent season.
Look again at Zechariah…meditate on this passage.
• There were 18,000 priests and all had a chance to get selected, but the odds of one out of 18,000 is still pretty large…and yet, on that night he pulled the lot and the duty to enter the holy place to burn the incense. Oh yeah, that is possible for a priest only once in their lifetime.
• There are 30 Zechariah’s in scripture, but this one…this one is specific…the Zechariah that God knows – a child of Aaron’s line, and a man who tried to order his life around God, a man whose name means "Yahweh Remembers".
• “Yahweh remembers” was something he had to exercise as faith…because his country was occupied by a foreign power – a mark of shame…and he was childless – a mark of personal shame.
• Angels aren’t on every page, so when they appear something usually quite amazing is being announced – and in this case, it’s Gabriel, the one angel closest to God the Father who appears.
• The announcement seems improbable to Zechariah… “You kidding me?” After years of trying to have a child, an angel of God comes into the Holy Place to tell him it's going to happen..."You kidding me?" Personal disappointments can weigh anyone to lose sight of God and faith.
• Gabriel says, “Be Silent”, not as an act of judgment for unbelief, although he does not believe at first; but rather, it is a sign of the “awe” events that are about to take place in the next few months.
So…what do we do with Zechariah? An author I read said:
“It never ceases to amaze me why God could not have chosen "better" people to do His work in the world. Yet if God can use them, and reveal Himself through them in such marvelous ways, it means that He might be able to use me, inadequate, and unwise, and too often lacking in faith that I am. And it means that I need to be careful that I do not in my own self-righteousness put limits on what God can do with the most unlikely of people in the most unlikely of circumstances. I think that is part of the wonder of the Advent Season.”
AND so here we are…in a season where we are challenged to ask in prayer:
My Prayer:
“Lord, I struggle many times to feel significant to your purposes. I am hidden in a mass of people …to hidden to feel noticed, or needed. Do you want to use me? I know this, I need you.”
Did you think you are little in the universe? Ah, look…for here God shows that he is more than capable of bringing the universe to each of us…to you! Believe this:
YOU WERE NURTURED IN LOVE THROUGH ALL OF THE AGES FOR THIS TIME…
BREATHE THIS IN AND RECEIVE HIS HEART,
HIS THOUGHTS TOWARDS YOU,
HIS PASSION FOR YOU,
RIGHT NOW!
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