Silence
Read Luke 1:5-25.
Was Gabriel just having a bad day? I mean, seriously: what did Zechariah do that Mary didn't? Was Zechariah supposed to have deeper or more automatic faith because he was a priest? What is going on here?
Zechariah is a priest; that's the only life he's ever known. And he has been, by Luke's account, absolutely faithful to God. Blameless. Observant. He and Elizabeth both. Luke is quite clear on this point: Elizabeth's barrenness is not any sort of punishment from God. It's just the way life had happened for them both. They've found contentment in serving God, but deep down, there was still a longing, an ache, an absence that longed to be filled with a child of their own. However, by the time we join their story, the days are long past when babies normally came along.
So you have a broken-hearted couple who have learned to find joy in simple things, and who have been absolutely blameless before God. Not perfect, but they have followed the Law as best they can.
Then, Gabriel shows up and throws everything up in the air. He makes an announcement of a forthcoming child for this elderly couple, and Zechariah does what we would do. He asks questions. "How?" How is this going to happen? Elizabeth and I are well past child-bearing years. I don't see a provision for labor and delivery costs in my Medicare policy! How is this going to happen?
Mary does the same thing. Read on down in Luke, and you'll find that, about three months later, when Gabriel shows up to her, she too asks, "How?" And the sign Gabriel gives that the promise to Mary will be fulfilled is the evidence God has already fulfilled a promise to Zechariah and Elizabeth: Elizabeth is pregnant in her old age. Mary is given a promise. Zechariah is given silence.
Zechariah is struck mute for the next nine months. Imagine him, not being able to talk, trying to explain to Elizabeth that she's going to be a mother. Because of his doubt, he will not be able to talk until John is born. He is given silence—time to pray, time to contemplate, time to prepare. Honestly, it's a gift we all need more of. We spend Advent busily celebrating Christmas so that by the time we actually get to Christmas we have nothing left. Our Advent days are filled with noise, loud music, angry shoppers and the ring of the check-out counter scanner. We could well use the gift of silence to truly prepare for the big event that is about to happen.
And I wonder if that's, perhaps, the difference. Zechariah was an adult who had already learned to fill his days with busy-ness. He could talk, question, doubt, and keep busy with the best of them. Mary was much younger and, by most accounts (see Luke 2:19), had already learned the quiet art of contemplation. Perhaps that's the way she was wired. She didn't need the silence. She needed a sign; she needed to "get out of her shell" and be with others. Zechariah needed silence, a time of "Advent" to prepare for his own son's birth as well as for the first Christmas.
As we approach this final week leading into Christmas—what do you need to be ready?
Was Gabriel just having a bad day? I mean, seriously: what did Zechariah do that Mary didn't? Was Zechariah supposed to have deeper or more automatic faith because he was a priest? What is going on here?
Zechariah is a priest; that's the only life he's ever known. And he has been, by Luke's account, absolutely faithful to God. Blameless. Observant. He and Elizabeth both. Luke is quite clear on this point: Elizabeth's barrenness is not any sort of punishment from God. It's just the way life had happened for them both. They've found contentment in serving God, but deep down, there was still a longing, an ache, an absence that longed to be filled with a child of their own. However, by the time we join their story, the days are long past when babies normally came along.
So you have a broken-hearted couple who have learned to find joy in simple things, and who have been absolutely blameless before God. Not perfect, but they have followed the Law as best they can.
Then, Gabriel shows up and throws everything up in the air. He makes an announcement of a forthcoming child for this elderly couple, and Zechariah does what we would do. He asks questions. "How?" How is this going to happen? Elizabeth and I are well past child-bearing years. I don't see a provision for labor and delivery costs in my Medicare policy! How is this going to happen?
Mary does the same thing. Read on down in Luke, and you'll find that, about three months later, when Gabriel shows up to her, she too asks, "How?" And the sign Gabriel gives that the promise to Mary will be fulfilled is the evidence God has already fulfilled a promise to Zechariah and Elizabeth: Elizabeth is pregnant in her old age. Mary is given a promise. Zechariah is given silence.
Zechariah is struck mute for the next nine months. Imagine him, not being able to talk, trying to explain to Elizabeth that she's going to be a mother. Because of his doubt, he will not be able to talk until John is born. He is given silence—time to pray, time to contemplate, time to prepare. Honestly, it's a gift we all need more of. We spend Advent busily celebrating Christmas so that by the time we actually get to Christmas we have nothing left. Our Advent days are filled with noise, loud music, angry shoppers and the ring of the check-out counter scanner. We could well use the gift of silence to truly prepare for the big event that is about to happen.
And I wonder if that's, perhaps, the difference. Zechariah was an adult who had already learned to fill his days with busy-ness. He could talk, question, doubt, and keep busy with the best of them. Mary was much younger and, by most accounts (see Luke 2:19), had already learned the quiet art of contemplation. Perhaps that's the way she was wired. She didn't need the silence. She needed a sign; she needed to "get out of her shell" and be with others. Zechariah needed silence, a time of "Advent" to prepare for his own son's birth as well as for the first Christmas.
As we approach this final week leading into Christmas—what do you need to be ready?
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