Speechless

Luke 1:18-25 (The Message)

Zachariah said to the angel, "Do you expect me to believe this? I'm an old man and my wife is an old woman."

But the angel said, "I am Gabriel, the sentinel of God, sent especially to bring you this glad news. But because you won't believe me, you'll be unable to say a word until the day of your son's birth. Every word I've spoken to you will come true on time—God's time."

Meanwhile, the congregation waiting for Zachariah was getting restless, wondering what was keeping him so long in the sanctuary. When he came out and couldn't speak, they knew he had seen a vision. He continued speechless and had to use sign language with the people.

When the course of his priestly assignment was completed, he went back home. It wasn't long before his wife, Elizabeth, conceived. She went off by herself for five months, relishing her pregnancy. "So, this is how God acts to remedy my unfortunate condition!" she said.

Please don't tell me that God has no sense of humor.

One look at old Zachariah emerging from the angel/altar encounter should tell us otherwise.

There he is...full priestly regalia, all dignity and polish on one hand...and all pale-faced, big-eyed, speechless stupor on the other.

He's reduced to a game of charades for communication.

Truly...speechless.

Too bad that didn't happen to him just a little earlier. He'd been scared to death when the angel appeared. But once he gets his feet underneath him, his choice of words just isn't too helpful.

Imagine Zachariah speaking to Gabriel..."Do you expect me to believe this?"

I mean, come on giant-angel-man-who-appeared-at-the-altar. Why should I believe you?

The whole scene is just a wonderful example of how ridiculous we can be. Sometimes, even in the presence of the miraculous, we can still just say to God..."I don't buy it."

And the result?

Speechless-ness.

A man who almost died in an accident later told me about the experience.

"Adam," he said, "as I made it through my recovery, I found that I couldn't pray for weeks. It wasn't that I stopped believing. It was that I had come face to face with the Alpha and Omega. I'd seen the beginning and end. I was spiritually speechless."

Maybe that's what it takes to really wake us up sometimes.

To be speechless means that we're much more inclined to listen. Being awed by God's power and presence in our lives should change us. And that change should be obvious to those who know us.

The great good news for us is that Zechariah's disbelief didn't stop God's plan. Gabriel said that it would be completed, "in God's time."

And so it was. May it be so for us as well...and may we know the occasional bout of God-induced speechlessness.

Prayer: Almighty God, may we sit quietly in your presence and listen. Teach us to be slow to speak, and quick to believe.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. World without end. Amen.

Worship with us this Sunday at SOTH! 9 & 11 AM with Sunday School for all ages at 10:15.