Day 4 of the Christmas Story, Surrounded by Awe

Good morning. Christmas is only three weeks away, and we have a lot of ground to cover in the story before that time. Yesterday, Zechariah was struck dumb/mute and deaf by the angel, Gabriel, because of his unbelief. And Zechariah would remain this way until his son was born. It’s a good thing for Zechariah that it wasn’t going to be years down the road until John was born! He would be silent for the better part of a year, however.

21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah to come out of the sanctuary, wondering why he was taking so long.

So, the people outside the temple that had been praying were still waiting for him to come out. They were, at this point, likely becoming impatient. It was Zechariah’s job that day after the burning of the incense, to come out and bless the people, as a sign that God had heard their prayers. This blessing is found in Numbers 6:24-26 and reads, “May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.” So, the people were outside that day, waiting for the customary blessing, so they could leave and go back to their business for the day. It was a ritual they were familiar with, probably so familiar that it could have lacked meaning for them a lot of days, as rituals can tend to do. (Sort of like the bulletin you’re given before the church service. It is in ink, on paper, how the service is supposed to progress, song by song, offering, sermon, and benediction, and we get impatient and uneasy when God decides to show up, break out of the box we placed him in, and nullify our plans and our programs.)

22 When he finally did come out, he couldn’t speak to them. Then they realized from his gestures and his silence that he must have seen a vision in the sanctuary.

So Zechariah finally comes out, probably pale and disheveled. I wonder if he had tried to make sure he couldn’t talk before he came out. If he did, and realized that the angel actually had struck him mute, and that not even a whisper could come from his mouth, the next thing to strike him was “I’m supposed to go out and bless these people – verbally”. What am I going to do now? But, again, that was the way God wanted it. God wanted him speechless. God wanted the people to see that this day was not the ordinary burn-the-incense, go pray at the Temple, get blessed and go back to work day. Just a few feet away from them God was intersecting time to bring to pass the prayers of these people and their ancestors before them. Today was the day when God himself would bless the people, saying “May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace!” Today, God burned the bulletin! This day, the blessing quoted from ages past had actually come to pass, pronounced by the very One who had given it to Aaron so many years ago. When Zechariah walked out, there was obviously something wrong. He looked like he had seen a ghost! His eyes were wide! His mouth was moving but nothing was coming out. He was making wild gestures. Something happened in there! What happened? Human words would not have been enough for this day. God took his doubting words from him and instead gave the people a glimpse that something fantastic, unusual, and obviously overwhelming had taken place while Zechariah was in the Holy Place by himself, burning the incense. God that day, in intersecting time and tradition, silenced the ancient Priesthood of Aaron, silenced the customary blessing, silenced the voice of doubt, the voice of the frail human in us all, set aside ritual and tradition, because there was something He wanted to say, and human words had to be silenced before him. It was a rift in the timeline of our universe. In the presence of God, we become silent, undone, unable to speak. There is an awe that attends his presence. And I believe that awe came to surround Zechariah as he walked outside to the people. There was something visible through the eyes of the spirit that words did not have to convey that day.

23 When Zechariah’s week of service in the Temple was over, he returned home.

Zechariah returned home and what a time he must have had trying to explain the events of his week at the Temple to his wife, Elizabeth. It would have been more than enough for him to get to run home to tell her of his being chosen to burn the incense in the Holy Place, to represent the people and pray for them, and to bless the people. But there was more, so much more, and he couldn’t even talk to tell it to her. He couldn’t hear her questions. He was in total silence. Lucky for him, he did know how to write, and thus began a time of quietness and solitude in their personal lives and in their marriage. God was providing a way and a time for them to pour into Him more, to reflect on the things that were coming to pass, the significance of them, to prepare them to be John’s parents, the parents of a child set apart for service to God from before his birth.

Have you ever been so immersed in God himself that the presence of God overwhelms you and there is a sense of awe that overtakes you? You don’t want to speak. You don’t want to rush home to your favorite TV show. You sit silent because the moment is too precious to interrupt with the slightest movement, much less words. There is an awe almost tangible around you. There is something going on outside the realm of the mind and the eyes, something deeper and bigger. And to interrupt it with words would be unthinkable.

In these passages, the awe of God touched many lives that day and those following weeks. How much would we say for Christ if we said nothing at all? If just our actions showed we had been in his presence, our lives were lived in awe, and all we could do was quietly ponder him over and over in our hearts? When we, like Elizabeth and Zechariah, are barren and empty, at the end of any hope for new life within us, at the end of our physical selves and abilities, that is when the presence of God comes in and the awe takes over and we are speechless in his presence. And this is how it should be...and this is how it will be for you when that time comes.

I pray his awe surrounds you today.

Teresa