Luke 1.18 Zechariah
said to the angel, “How can I be sure this will happen? I’m an old man now, and
my wife is also well along in years.” – St. Luke
How is a big
question; I’d say it’s only dwarfed by why.
(Just listen to a 3-year old…) But in the story told by Luke about Zechariah
the priest, ‘how’ is the question; how can what you are saying to me be true!?
I’m an old man! Zech, we got it, you’re an old man, but you’re also a
priest, and you’ve just been visited by an angel.
You’re supposed to believe because,
as a leader, you’ve just heard from God’s emissary…)
Mary, some eight verses later, was approached by the same
angel. Mary, you’re going to have a baby!
“How can this be, I’m a virgin!?” God’s
spirit is going to overshadow you and you will become pregnant by the Author of
life! Whatever…
The difference in how,
is Mary was just a peasant girl. Mary was not faithless, but she was just a
peasant, girl, an unknown: faceless in the crowd. Peasants aren’t unimportant
to God, it’s just that they’re culturally less believable than God’s chosen
leaders – priests, like Zechariah. It’s not supposed to work that way, but in
society, peasants don’t hold as much verbal clout as priests. Mary believed;
Zechariah didn’t.
Zechariah got what was promised (and I think it was more because of his wife than him) despite his reluctance to accept his angelic visit. How does one get messages from God anyway? Is there a special way God is supposed to show up? You’d think an angel showing up in church would get some attention. And you would think an angel showing up in church and talking to the pastor would get some more attention – it’s the way we think: the leaders always get the good stuff…
God isn’t intimidated by pastors, priests, politicians,
or the popular. Those who come to God must believe that He is and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11). But God will also do
what He says He will do. God is not a
man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: [has]
he said, and shall he not do it? or [has] he spoken, and shall he not make it
good? (Numbers 23.19 KJV)
Zechariah, perhaps, had become cynical. Ministry can do
that. Mary on the other hand, minding her own business, had found grace. And in
that grace, she later found her espoused, Joseph, was looking into divorce. God
calls us to believe whether anyone else does or not…
And what am I supposed to believe God for? His presence,
His power, His passion, and patience for me as His creature. When God speaks, I
am to listen, and obey; no matter. That’s what I am trying to do…
Father, in all that
I am asking you for, may I listen for the answer like an old man wishing for a
son, or the young peasant-girl who found out she garnered Your favor. May I be
quick to listen, quick to believe, and quick to obey the things You say to me,
and the things You tell me to do. It’s not the how, it’s not the why; it’s I
need You God! Amen
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