to us the path of wisdom show

and cause us in her ways to go

Luke 1:5-13, 14-25, 57-80:

\It was Zechariah’s shift, again…

Zechariah could remember the first time he served as priest at the altar of the Lord. He’d been anxious. Worried he’d mess up. But, that was long time ago. 

Over the course of the years, though, Zechariah had served as priest plenty of times. And in that time, life, as it is wont to do, had gone by…

Zechariah got married. He and Elizabeth built a life together. 

And while it wasn’t the most glamorous life, it was a good one. They were happy enough with it. They couldn’t ask for more…

Except…

Except one thing; they hadn’t had a child.

…And while it may not be our child situation, we all have barren places in our lives. Don’t we?
Places where things haven’t gone the way we expected. Places where, despite all our efforts, we haven’t been able to make them come out a’right…

That was Zechariah and Elizabeth’s lot. 

They hadn’t had a child, and the were “getting on it years.” The chance to have a child had come, and gone. That was their life now; childless. And they had, more or less, made their peace with it… 

And so, on that day, when it was Zechariah’s turn to serve as priest again, a child was the last thing on his mind…

He was busy making sure everything was in order. Saying all the old lines of the liturgy, nearly by heart now. 

Everything was going the way it always did.

Until…

Until it was time for the incense offering. And then, right there, on the right side of the altar, stood an angel of the Lord!

Nothing could have prepared poor old Zechariah for that!

He was terrified. Fear overwhelmed him. He sputtered and stammered, but nothing came out!

“Fear not,” the angel told Zechariah.

As incredible of a thing that was to say, what the angel said next was even more incredible!

The angel told Zechariah, God had heard his an Elizabeth’s prayers for a child all those years. And, what’s more, GOD was going to do something about it! God was give them a child!

A son. And they were to name him John.

John would be filled with the Holy Spirit. John was going to turn the people back. John was going to prepare the people for the LORD!

At that, Zechariah suddenly found his voice. “How can I be sure,” he asked.

It sounded well and good. But Zechariah wasn’t sure. He didn’t have time left to hope and dream anymore. Life had gone on, and so had he…

And so have we.

We’ve all come to church after a week we’d just as well forget, only to hear the pastor say, God has promised to be God, and that we can live our lives in the simple trust God that God will do just that.

Only, we too wonder, “how can we be sure!”
Like Zechariah, we want to trust. But, at the same time, we feel the need to be realistic, too.

“Life goes and, and so must we,” we tell ourselves…

“How can I be sure," Zechariah asked. At that, Gabriel bristled. Stiffening his back, he looked down on poor ‘ol Zechariah and said, “I, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, you half-pint!

I’ve been sent here to deliver this Good News to you! BUT now, because you wanted to look a gift horse in mouth, because you wanted assurances, you will be unable to speak!”

…Of all the relatable stories in the Bible, and they are all reliable, this has to be one of, if not the most relatable.

We too have been chosen. Haven’t we? And sometimes it seems as it we’ve been chosen by lot, randomly. We have no great faith, skills or life experience to explain why we’ve been chosen.

And, we’ve all served at the altar of the Lord, too! 

That’s what the liturgy is, you know. That’s why it’s participatory, because we all have our part to play in it. 

Like Zechariah, we’ve done it many time before, too! So many, in fact, it can get easy for us too, to pass over the incredible promises without so much as a second thought.

And then, when those promises do take our breath away, we like Zechariah, want to know how we can be sure. 

And there are still more similarities, you know!

While an angel of the Lord may not have struck us mute, the spirit of the times sure have seemed to, haven’t they?

The word of the church doesn’t matter the way it used to. And it’s hard to share our faith, isn’t it? Church has a bad reputation these days.

The circumstances of our day and age seem to have colluded against us, to rob US of our voices, too!

Which is what Zechariah’s problem really was…

It’s not just us Zechariah shares similarities with, is it? There’s also certain similarities between him and Mary. Isn’t there?

They both have pretty serious reasons to doubt the angel’s word. And they both wonder aloud about those reasons. 

But only Zechariah is struck mute. In fact, Mary goes away blessed!

Upon closer reading you’ll notice Mary only asks how, whereas Zechariah asks how he can be sure.

And the irony is, Zechariah already OUGHT to know how he can be sure!

Zechariah is a priest. It was his job to talk about God’s promises. God’s faithfulness.

Presumably he had taught a confirmation class or two. And surely he had covered the old Bible story of another couple that had a child in their old age; Sarah and Abraham! 

But now, when that very promise comes to him, Zechariah wants to know how he can be sure!

Zechariah’s problem wasn’t that he didn’t know the story of Sarah and Abraham. It wasn’t even that he didn’t believe it.

Zechariah’s problem was that he wasn’t sure the promise could prove true to him. In his life. While he serve in the temple!

We know the stories don’t we? In our better moments we believe them wholeheartedly. What we’re not sure about is whether they can happen to us!

…Outside the folks were getting impatient. It wasn’t supposed to take as long as it was taking Zechariah.

When Zechariah finally did come out, unable to speak, the people knew something had happened.

…In the New Testament, the word for spirit is “pneuma.” Which can also be translated as “breath.” And in the Old Testament, the word for spirit is “ruach.” Which can also mean breath or wind.

The point being, if we’re talking, that means we’re breathing.

We’re full of our own life. Our own spirit.

But, when the wind is knocked from us. When we lose our voice, we lose our lives, too! And when that happens, we become like Zechariah; vessels God can fill to overflowing!

God spoke more through Zechariah’s silence, than all his hemming and hawing!

When Zechariah’s speech returned, the first thing he did was praise God for God’s faithfulness throughout the ages! 

But before all that happened, Zechariah’s shift ended. Like it has so many other times. And he went back home to his wife, Elizabeth, like he had so many other times. 

Only this time, everything was different. 

Life didn’t go on the way it always had. And, in due time, just like the angel Gabriel had said, Elizabeth conceived…

Which is the most important similarity you share with Zechariah!

Everything is different for you now, too. When you go home, nothing will be the same. Whether you realize it, or not…

Right now, the Holy Spirit is blowing into these words. Insinuating themselves into you. Into your Spirit. 

The spirit will bear fruit in you, too. In your words and in your deeds. When you praise the Lord, and when your voice is lost, too. 

The Spirit will bear fruit in you; in your life, and even in your death. 

So, like Zechariah, may God’s faithfulness break your silence as we praise the Lord!