Where are You, God?

Have you ever had to deal with a major disappointment in life… you prayed to God to relieve your suffering… but He just doesn’t seem to move? One such married couple had this same experience.

We’re told that Zachariah is a priest and Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron – which is really just a fancy was of saying that she too came from a family of priests. In other words this couple has the office of priesthood in their blood. But, to be honest, it wasn’t the fact that Zachariah and Elizabeth had this priestly lineage that was so important to St. Luke. Rather it was the fact that they were both righteous people. I mean we’re all familiar with or at least we’ve all heard about priests and pastors that aren’t very righteous people. In fact, at that time, Zachariah was just one of about 18,000 priests that served in the temple. It is likely that there were some that were very righteous and others that were much less righteous. But Luke wants us to know that Zachariah and Elizabeth were righteous.

Now, this isn’t to say that they had no sin. The Bible clearly teaches that everyone, short of Jesus, is sinful. But rather, what’s going on here is Luke is trying to counter act the fact, that most people in his time and culture would have assumed that the reason Zachariah and Elizabeth were unable to have any children was because they had some kind of hidden sin in their life. In other words, they would have automatically assume that Elizabeth’s barrenness was the result of God was punishing them.

But Luke wants us to know, in this case, that’s not what’s going on. You see, it is true that sin sometimes has consequences that are both horrible and humiliating; but it’s also true that sometimes horrible and humiliating things happen to really good/godly people. And that’s what’s going on here. Despite the lineage from priests, Luke lets us know that Zechariah and Elizabeth had lived a lifetime of disappointment and shame. They weren’t able have a child and yet they desperately wanted one; only now, it’s too late because they’re just too old.

This would be one of those disappointments that last a lifetime. And as if that disappointment weren’t enough, let’s not forget that they were also considered a public disgrace, because it was simply assumed that the reason they couldn’t have kids, was because God was punishing them! You can also bet that they had been praying, but God just didn’t answer.

Are you experiencing one of those disappointments? I can’t say for sure, but if that's the case, I would guess that you’ve prayed. In fact, maybe you’ve prayed, and you’ve prayed, and you’ve prayed but God just doesn’t answer. One of the things the story reveals to us is that this life is a life of disappointment and that sometimes bad things happen to good people and yet God remains silent! Let’s continue with the story.

Zachariah was one of about 18,000 priests that served the temple. These priests were divided into 24 different divisions and each of these divisions would serve in the temple for a 1 week stint 2 times a year. Now, inside the temple, there was a room called the Holy Place – and not just anybody could go in there. For this was the place that God would meet his people. And inside the Holy Place was an altar – and on that altar twice a day, a special incense was burned that represented the prayers of the people going up to God – as a fragrant offering. Now, with so many priests, what they would do is they would cast lots to determine who would get to go in and actually burn this incense. You see, before the coming of the Holy Spirit, they believed that God would reveal his choice for this sacred duty through the process of casting of lots. So if you think about it, this is a maybe once-in-a-lifetime experience, and if you’re chosen it means that God has personally chosen you to come into his presence and represent his people to burn this incense that represents your prayers going up to him.

Well, Zechariah had a prayer - an unanswered prayer. Only now he’s been chosen by God to go into the place where God meets his people. What do you think is gonna happen? Zechariah has this startling experience with an angel. And the first thing the angel says is "Your prayer has been heard!" That alone ought to provide some comfort. Because, at least we know that God hears our prayers. Even though he doesn’t always respond at least we know he’s listening.

But more than that think of this: The angel reveals that God is going to use Zechariah and Elizabeth’s life long disappointment to reveal Himself in a new way! You see, every baby born is a miracle of life but it’s not like the world sits up and takes notice. And if a couple in old age has a child, but they’ve already had children... well, that’s just weird! But if a baby is born to a couple that’s too old to have a baby and to woman that has never had a baby before... that’s definitely a miracle! And it’s a miracle along the lines of something God has done before (Isaac & Samuel).

God has done these kinds of things before. It’s kind of like a calling card and it seems to represent the fact that this baby is going to have a special relationship with God and a very specific purpose in life! Well, here’s the interesting sidebar, reader: the last book of the Old Testament, is a book called Malachi. Malachi was also a prophet who, in addition to calling people back to God, spoke of a day when the Lord would come. But read the closing remarks in Malachi - the very last words recorded in the Old Testament.

After these words, God became silent. And for four hundred years, there were no prophets, no messages... nothing but silence... until that day when the angel appeared to Zachariah – there in the Holy Place – the place where God meets people – and he said "You will have a son. You will name him John and he will be a prophet in the spirit of Elijah. He’ll bring people back to God and prepare them for the coming of the Lord." You see, God used Zechariah and Elizabeth’s life long disappointment to not only reveal himself, but to call people back to him!

Maybe there’s a lesson we need to learn here. Maybe we need to recognize that God
often uses our lifelong disappointments to reveal himself to us... to call us back to him and to keep us looking forward! I don’t know about you, but for me it’s those lifelong disappointments that keep me dependant on God. They keep me calling on God. And they keep me looking forward to his coming!

If you keep reading on, God sends Gabriel (a great name for an angel by the way) to meet Zechariah in this Holy Place. The place where God speaks to his people and the whole experience is so extra-worldly that it scares Zechariah. But even with all of that, he doubts that God’s word will come true. Skip nine months ahead, and John the Baptist is born.

What then is this child going to be? After four hundred years of silence, God has once again broken into human history with a miraculous baby!

What then is this child going to be? That’s the question. Sure, we know that he’s to be a prophet in the spirit of Elijah But for now, he’s just a baby and they would have to wait to find out...

So what's the point of all this? The point is, what is it exactly you are praying for?

Are you praying for something against God? Are you praying that God would remove some disappointment that maybe he has there for a reason? I’m sure that Elizabeth and Zechariah prayed for a baby in their 20’s and probably became frustrated. They likely prayed even harder in their 30’s. They might’ve even become angry, but God had a purpose behind their disappointment. And I think realizing that sort of changes things because when we realize that maybe there’s a purpose behind our disappointment it just somehow becomes less disappointing.

I think the big point behind the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth is that while it may appear God is silent, he is moving! Reading this passage, you almost get the sense that it sounds like a fairy tail because this kind of stuff doesn’t happen every day. But that’s part of the beauty of it! When God broke into human history on that day with Zechariah, He had been previously silent for 400 years. Oh, He’d made a promise that He’d send a savior/messiah. But He had been silent so long it just didn’t seem like it would ever really happen! But it did.

After Jesus resurrected, as he went up into heaven, he promised that he would return for his faithful. Sometimes I think because it’s been so long we just don’t think it’s ever going to happen. Is this just a fairy tail? Zachariah had to listen to God and trust that He would do what He had promised. We need to trust God will do as He has promised: The day is coming that He is going to break into human history again! When He does, as we see with Zechariah and Elizabeth, the disappointments of the faithful pass away. I can't wait for that day to come...


- Adapted from and inspired by Eric Bain's sermon.