Don’t Just Do Something

At our last worship planning party, it was suggested that during the Sundays of Advent we spend time with some of the main characters in the Christmas story. So that’s exactly what we’re going to do! We’ll dip into the Gospel of Matthew but primarily walk around in the first chapter of Luke. There’s a lot there, and much that we usually gloss over and don’t really pay attention to . . .

Take Zechariah for instance. There are about 30 men named Zechariah in the Old and New Testaments – kings, prophets and priests. Our Zechariah was the father of John the Baptizer – but when we find him here John is not even the proverbial “twinkle in his daddy’s eye” yet. . . in fact the possibility of a child was no longer anywhere on Z or his wife Elizabeth’s radar screen.

They were good people, godly people, faithful people. They had suffered because they had not been able to have children. Some of you may know what that’s like. In those days infertility – or “barrenness” – always reflected badly on the woman in particular. Still the loss of that dream had not embittered them – and maybe especially because of the social stigma they had endured, Luke takes pains to make clear that we should not stand in moral judgment of this childless couple. They were, both of them, righteous and blameless before God.

Z was a Jewish priest, from a long line of Jewish priests stretching all the way back – generations and centuries – to Aaron, the brother of Moses. There was no shortage of priests in those days – Z was one of about 20,000 – and like all priests of the Temple he worked as part of a division or section, which rotated responsibilities with all of the other divisions and sections.

That particular week it was his Z’s division’s turn – and within the ranks of those in his group, lots were cast to see who would do the four most special jobs within the inner sanctuary of the Temple in Jerusalem. He drew the most esteemed job: the job of burning incense, morning and evening, before and after the burnt sacrifice of lamb and the offering of the grain.

This was a once in a lifetime opportunity. No priest, having offered incense once, could do it again – until the rest of the priests had each had his chance as well. And Z was very old. He wasn’t ever going to get another chance.

It was an awesome honor and responsibility. But never, never in his wildest dreams did he ever imagine what would happen next. Z was a righteous man, a “God-fearing” man – and he thought of this as a service he was performing for the Almighty. . . and he would do his very best – his utmost for the Highest.

Instead he is confronted by an announcement that God is going to do something for HIM – and for all the people. A baby would be born to Z and E in their old age – a baby who would carry the name “John” – and who would grow up to be a great prophet.

John will bring people back to God, the angel said – he will restore the broken connection between the generations – he will lead the disobedient to right living – and “make ready a people prepared for the Lord” – which was important, because the Lord was coming right behind him!

It was all too much for Z. He couldn’t wrap his head around it.

“He’s got his head stuck in this created world,” writes Walter Wangerin Jr. :

“Can’t be,” Z is thinking. . .

The old realist can’t see beyond creation to the Creator. . .

“What you say is wonderful and all,” he says to the Messenger of Heaven, “but I’m too old for dreaming, too old for raising children. And even if I could, I’m married to a woman too old to bear them.”

Z asked for some sign to demonstrate that this could really be true – and the sign he got was that he lost his voice for the next 9 months. The angelic messenger wasn’t going to take this insult to God lightly. He made Z mute.

“I am Gabriel and I have been in God’s presence. I was sent here with good news, but since you don’t believe me – don’t trust the promise I have brought you – you’ll just have to wait and see.”

WAIT AND SEE.

There are a lot of lessons in this story – a lot of learnings. But that is the one that grabs my attention today.

What conclusions would YOU draw from Z’s experience?

Don’t ask an angel for his ID or resume? 🙂

If you have doubts, keep them to yourself?

– God doesn’t forget your prayers (Zechariah = “God remembers”)

– God’s purposes take time to unfold (like the birthing of a baby, you can’t rush it)

– Just when you thought you were all done in life, God may have something more in mind for you

WAIT AND SEE.

– Faith is the ability to be open to surprises (character in Andrew Greeley novel)

Sometimes we just need to shut up and listen.

(my dad) : “don’t just do something, stand there”

Ann Weems: “Is it all sewn up – my life?

Is it at this point so predictable, so orderly, so neat, so arranged, so right, that I don’t have time or space for listening for the rustle of angels’ wings. . .?”

Henri Nouwen:

The culture we live in values DOING – The message of our society is “Get going – Show you are able to make a difference – you shouldn’t wait, it’s a waste of time.”

Be always multitasking. Don’t ever stop texting or talking on the phone.

If you’re not productive, you’re not really valuable. if you’re not getting a text, it means nobody loves you. Your status is measured by how busy you are and how much you can complain about it – it proves to everyone how indispensable you really are.

WAIT AND SEE. That’s downright countercultural, and maybe we would be doing each other a real service not to sympathize – isn’t it terrible how busy you are – but rather to tell each other to stop.

Be quiet. Don’t just do something – stand there. Wait and see. Observe what God is doing all around you and in you.

In an article for Advent entitled “Waiting For God” Nouwen identifies how much we want to make a difference. He claims that our waiting is filled with wishes – rather than hope – and how we work to try and make those wishes come true.

“We want the future to go in a very specific direction, and if this does not happen we are disappointed and can even slip into despair. That is why we have such a hard time waiting: we want to do the things that will make the desired events take place.”

Rather, Fr. Nouwen counsels, our waiting for God must be “open-ended” –

“I have found it very important in my own life to let go of my wishes and start hoping. It was only when I was willing to let go of wishes that something really new, something beyond my own expectations could happen. . .”

Maybe that’s why Gabriel’s very first words to Z are “Don’t be afraid.” Those are words we will hear again and again throughout the gospel. “Fear not.”

Z teaches us, among other things, that sometime you just have to watch as the plans of God unfold around you – God involves you, needs you even, but you are not in charge. I am not in charge. We are not in control, any of us. And that’s a hard lesson to learn – that requires a strong and hopeful spirit – and openness to God’s surprises.

As he stopped trying to be in charge of his life and destiny, as he waited for God – silenced for a season – and compelled to watch and listen, Z’s hope grew. He began to be filled with new joy – discovering that the angel’s promise would be fulfilled not because Z wished it and would make it happen, but because it was God’s promise and God would make it unfold.

This Advent, I pray that you and I may learn that lesson too.

Let us pray:

O Lord, catch us up, like Zechariah, in the whirl of your holy history. We seem to be but particles in the wind; but you declare each one of us to be a particular person, spokes in the great wheel of your covenant-loving of the world.

Let us be yours in love and willingness, and then our smallness shall be your greatness indeed. Amen.