Thursday 19 December 2019
- Bible Book:
- Luke
Zechariah 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.’ The 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. (vs. 18-19)
Psalm: Psalm 76
Background
A knock at the door. How do you respond? Once, when I was clinically depressed after the death of my son, I was at home upstairs. There was a knock. I leapt into bed and pulled the duvet over my head. I waited, so still, until I was pretty sure my wife's aunt had gone. No offence to her. She was kind, and on a kind errand. I just couldn't face anyone. What if I'd answered the door? What would have happened? I’ll never know.
What if Zechariah had stepped aside? Not me? Another time perhaps? Maybe that wasn't an option, but just for a moment, imagine ...
Someone else is there making the offering of incense. Gabriel arrives. Looks around. Wrong guy. That’s not the one I’ve got to give the message to ... and the whole history of Christianity is turned upside down.
Totally implausible ? Irreverent? Sorry.
But the point is this – God picks out the unexpected people. That was certainly true of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Gabriel, an angel, came to them. In faith language an angel is a messenger. And we can, as scripture says, entertain angels unawares.
So who is coming with a message from God to you and me today? Better not be under the duvet! And I give thanks that at an earlier time a Methodist minister who I didn’t then know knocked on the door and, out of the blue, said to me "You’re going to be a Sunday School Teacher." Thank you, John. Strange angel pointing me to ministry!
To Ponder:
- Have we ever felt that God has spoken to us through a person or an event?
- How can we be sure that it is God speaking to us through another person?