Unexpected: Startled and Silenced--Part 1

Scene 1:  Luke 1: 5-13a

He had waited his whole life for this day and it came a bit unexpectedly. Zechariah was a priest from the lineage of Abijah and his wife was also a descendant of Aaron. For two weeks each year his family line was responsible the incense offering that was to be burned twice a day, in the morning and evening, as prescribed by Levitical law.  The fragrant incense was burned on the altar made of acacia wood, overlaid with pure gold, in the Holy of Holies before the Ark of the Testimony; and it was to burn day and night as a continuous offering before the Lord. Since he was a priest in the line of Abijah, there was a remote possibility that at some point in his life he would be selected to prepare and burn the offering, but it would be a once in a lifetime kind of thing.  Miraculously, on this day, the lot fell to him—today he would serve before the Lord. 

Once his ritual cleansings were complete it was time to enter in to offer prayers and burn incense.  He was overwhelmed with the responsibility—he would be considered “rich” by his relatives hence forth because of this honor. He took a deep breath and entered. It was indescribably beautiful, sacred, mysterious and awe-full. Zechariah reverently lit the incense and the smoke began to rise—a fragrant offering of praise to the Lord; he had never smelled anything so pleasant.

Suddenly aware that he was not alone Zechariah’s entire body convulsed as he was startled by a presence in front of him, to his right. As he raised his head to look at the altar he saw him—bright, shining, massive, strong, not of this earth, but real.  He couldn’t speak (it wouldn’t be the last time) but Gabriel, the angel did with a soothing and commanding voice that sounded like a multitude.

All of the people gathered outside awaiting for Zechariah to emerge but he did not.

What was going on in there? This was unusual—out of the ordinary; he had been in there too long.

Back inside…

“Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard.” 

Which prayer, he thought?  My prayer for our people to be free?  My prayer for the forgiveness of sins of our people?  My prayer for the Messiah?

Unexpected: A Series of Stories

Prologue

The birth of Jesus is surrounded with the supernatural-and rightly so!  It had to be—there was no natural way out of this disastrous situation in which mankind had plummeted.

The stage had finally been set—and history was pregnant with anticipation of the Messiah. The world longed for his birth then, as much as we long for his return today.

Gordon Rupp (Methodist preacher and scholar): in 1951 noting the parallels in biblical culture that anticipated the Messiah and the world today (in 1951)  that looks forward to his return, notes that we live in...

“a world that becomes too complicated too fast; a world in which the “little people” feel like they are the playthings of great historical forces; a failure of nerve, a revival of superstition and religion, on the one hand, and on the other, a growing sense of fatalism and reckless gambling upon wild chance. To these must be added all the strains and stresses of present advances in warfare, the great systems of power, the huge number of people, the immense quantities of material, the catastrophic facts that statesmen, economists, and politicians cannot even understand, much less control, so that things still go “bump in the night at an ever more frightening crescendo.”

Moreover, most of us are consciously aware of our own depravity. We hear the conversations in our head that reveal the true attitude of our hearts; we know the thoughts of murder, adultery, thievery, and falsehood that, though perhaps not acted upon, are at least an option in our minds.

The "fruit" of global technology is that we are increasingly aware of the horrors around the world—prostitution, slavery, oppression, poverty, war, and powerlessness.

We need rescuing. We need hope.

It sounds like a fairy tale but it is not! 

Fairy tales find their story line in reality—but the advent is no fantasy, it is the real thing—the Messiah is coming—the time is now.

It had been 400 years and the Lord had been silent—not a prophet had spoken and not an angel had been sent with a message.  And then…