Missional Spirituality (1) - Luke 1. 5-25: Meeting God and engaging in his mission

Zechariah wasn't expecting an angel (v. 12). Why should he after several hundred years of silence. People were used to faithfully carrying on the rituals and drilling into the Book.  The priestly duties were a family thing.  You didn't go to theological college to become a priest.  You were born into a priestly family, that could trace its roots all the way back to Aaron.  Zechariah was  a member of the priestly family, performing his duty.  Twice a year he and his section of the priesthood would have a week “on duty.”  As there were  about 18,000 priests, they would draw lots to decide who got to burn incense, and no-one got to do it more than once in a lifetime. Zechariah happened, also, to be a man of the Bible, “walking blamelessly in all the commandments ” (v 6). He wasn't just into the ritual  as some in the Priestly class were, without keeping the law. 

Picture by Olive Utney, in Public Domain

Zechariah had taken his turn to burn incense on the altar in the temple.  He was on the rota, his week came to be on duty and there he was.  That was enough.  He wasn't expecting an angel because he was just like us.  “Lord, isn't that enough for us, today?  We'll keep coming along: 11 a.m. Every Sunday...  We'll sing the songs, do the offering, have communion, listen to a sermon.  We'll read the bible, have our quiet time, go to Bible Study.”   We are so used to precisely that mix of routine ritual, and academic study.  But what if the angel Gabriel were to turn up today? What if he were to say, “Move over Gil; I have a message for Rosyth Baptist Church”? We would be surprised.  Because we think ritual and Bible study are enough. 

So the angel came with a  message of hope.  “Your prayers have been answered.  You are going to have a child, and he will be great, and will be the one who will prepare the way for the coming of the Lord.

Arguing with angels.
Not only was he surprised to see the angel, but Zechariah argued with the angel. Promise and hope were too much for him.  Because he as just like us.

He and his missus, Elisabeth, were getting on in years.  When they were young and got married,  the possibility that they wouldn’t have kids didn't even enter their heads.  But a year, two years, five years had passed, and Elisabeth hadn't become pregnant. They prayed about it.  The consulted the doctor; they tried various remedies... they got their friends to pray.  Ten years passed, then twenty, and eventually Elizabeth went through the menopause.   They had hoped and prayed; but God didn't seem to answer.

And Zechariah had watched the life of the nation.  There were promises of a new age, of Messiah coming... People had gone out into the desert, become hermits, too make themselves pure ready for Messiah coming. But the Messiah hadn’t come. The Romans had come instead... still people hoped and prayed.  As he burned the evening offering, he had prayed for the salvation of Israel as every priest who offered the evening incense offering did; but God didn't seem to answer.

"How am I supposed to believe this stuff?" are the words not only of a sceptic but of a cynic. How am I to believe a message of personal hope, or for that matter one of hope for the nation? We have personal disappointments and pains: hopes and dreams that have not been fulfilled. We have been part of a community that has had vision words from God and maybe we haven’t seen these words come to pass.

A Model for mission
 “I am Gabriel.”  The angel says.   “OK Zechariah, so this is your big moment; so you get to spend a few minutes in the temple, burning incense.... you think you know the truth because of your status, your background, your age, your experience... But I am Gabriel... my name means “God is my strength”.  I stand in the presence of God, beyond time, through eternal ages, that is my role. And here I am, sent to you, on a mission. I have authority from God to speak his word, and to execute his will.  The word I have spoken is God's word.  It will come to pass. But because you have spoken out in unbelief, it would be better if you didn't speak at all – so you will be unable to say a word until after this baby is born."  Because Zechariah was just like us, Gabriel models the missionary authority that should be present in Zechariah's life and I ours.

We need to stand in God's presence, and we need to go with a sense of authority to speak God's word and to execute God's will. It isn’t enough to have an education, to have a past, to observe the rituals and study the word.  We need to enter into that supernatural place where God is our strength, where we stand in his presence, receive his authority, and are sent to speak his word and execute his will.  Mission, God's call,  isn't just a matter of a bit of extra effort; it isn't just a matter of faithfulness to a tradition.  It isn't just the application of some new techniques (nothing wrong with being up to date but that is not what mission is about...) it is the outflow of the energy, the power of God, through us as he sends us to take part in his purposes for his world.  We are not just learning to tell people the message, or to show people love.  We are learning to show the Father's love.  Unless it's Father's love, from the Father, inspired and empowered by the Holy Spirit, bringing bit of heaven, the rule of God on earth, it's not really mission.

God is at work.
Eventually, white with shock, trembling, Zechariah stumbles out of the Sanctuary.  “What took you so long?  What happened?  Are you all right?” But Zechariah, literally dumbstruck, can't answer.  All he can do is gesture:  a kind of game of “give us a clue” and it becomes obvious that God is on the move...  “What, Zechariah? You saw an angel? You – and Elisabeth – a baby – at your age?  And he's going to be the one who prepares the way for the Lord?”  And all Zechariah can do is nod his head.  They could see that God is at work.  And they could see even more clearly that God is at work when the wrinkled old Elizabeth started to get morning sickness, stayed in for five months – but friends who visited could see that she was getting bigger week by week.  God is at work.

But it wasn't all God.
Zechariah had to do his part too!   Zechariah has to learn obedience. Active, counter-intuitive faith-filled obedience.  This new stage in history, this intervention of God, this fulfilment of promise, that God  is doing, involves you,  Zechariah. It's not just a spiritual experience but one with practical consequences.  Not just something to talk about and theorise about or argue about.  The angel certainly saw to it that Zechariah wouldn't waste time talking, discussing what had happened, arguing about whether God would keep his promises.  Zechariah had something to do. He has to father this child and in due course to name him “John”.

I wonder if some of us need to take control of our speech because the way we talk prevents our engaging with the Kingdom.   Job was a good man who had a string of terrible, devastating things happen to him.   Then three friends turned up to give him a bit of moral support.  Or so they thought.  The trouble was, all they could do was trot out the same old platitudes.  “We get what we deserve from God.  Suffering is a punishment and prosperity is a reward from God – always!  Job, brother, God is good and orders everything so  good people get blessings and bad people suffer.  Why don't you confess your sins to God and he will put everything right in your life.”  They were sincere enough – just sincerely wrong.

Our versions might be,  “These things are sent to try us;  what doesn't kill us makes us stronger.; God is teaching you something really special through this; we're all sinners – nobody deserves anything good from God; .”  But instead of murmuring platitudes and clichés that can undermine faith, let’s engage with what God wants to do in our world, through us. "Set a watch over my lips, Lord..."

God is at work.  He wants to break into our world.  He wants to bring his Kingdom, his reign.  And he wants you to be involved, to stand in his presence, to go where he sends you, to speak his word and execute his will.  He wants you to take responsibility for your part...

© Gilmour Lilly December 2012