In Silent Witness

Devotion by: Emma Miller-Cvilikas

Luke 1:5-25

⁵ In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth<. ⁶Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. ⁷But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years. ⁸ Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty, ⁹he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. ¹⁰Now at the time of the incense-offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. ¹¹Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. ¹²When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. ¹³But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. ¹⁴You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’ ¹⁸Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.’ ¹⁹The angel replied, ‘I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.’ ²¹ Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah, and wondered at his delay in the sanctuary. ²²When he did come out, he could not speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable to speak. ²³When his time of service was ended, he went to his home. ²⁴After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she remained in seclusion. She said, ²⁵‘This is what the Lord has done for me when he looked favourably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.’

I can be very inpatient; the whole “your prayers will be answered in time” doesn’t go down well in my book. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in God, I am just not good at waiting for his answers. In this reading I am reminded of myself. Zechariah goes into the sanctuary to give his offering of incense when he receives a visit. The visitor goes by the name Gabriel (sound familiar?). Zechariah is delivered AMAZING news that his wife will give birth to a son and Zechariah will name him John. Instead of receiving this information and moving on he begins to question Gabriel. Gabriel becomes angry and starts to say things like, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.” If only Zechariah had known that his wife Elizabeth would give birth to John the Baptist? What if he knew that Elizabeth’s Cousin Mary would give birth to our savior? But Zechariah let his logic get in the way and kept questioning Gabriel, (it happens to the best of us),and then Gabriel silenced him by turning him into a mute. If only we could know our plan, our future, our destiny? We do not want to be mute, but by not trusting that’s what we become. I have never felt comfortable putting my life in someone else’s hands but I also know I’ve never had my life in my hands. I don’t think I will ever stop wondering and I am happy that God is guiding me. God is watching over me and that’s all that really matters.

Prayer: Dear God, Please help us to remain calm in our daily lives so we can hear your voice and our future can be more enjoyable. Amen.