Advent Silence

Story

It couldn’t have happened to a better guy. The chance to offer the evening incense inside the temple building was close to a once in a lifetime honor for a Jewish priest, and no one could have been more ready than Zechariah. Luke tells us that he had lived a long life of faithfulness to God and to his commandments. He had married not merely a good Jewish girl, but one from the priestly line of Aaron (one with the same name as Aaron’s wife no less!). He was a priest par excellence, a true Israelite, and a faithful and righteous man. He had been waiting for this moment his whole life. But he still wasn’t ready for what happened.

Zechariah entered the Holy Place to burn incense and offer prayer. He almost certainly would have prayed for the Lord to remember his people Israel and show them mercy. The name “Zechariah” means, “Yahweh has remembered.” What could be more appropriate? But nothing could have prepared him to get an immediate answer. Can you blame him? How often have you been saying your bedtime prayers, only to open your eyes to find an archangel sitting on your bed to say, “congratulations, your prayer has been answered!”

Yet that is just what Gabriel told Zechariah,

Luke 1:13 (ESV)

“Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.

Zechariah’s prayer for God to remember Israel had been heard, and so had Zechariah’s private prayers for his barren wife. They would have a son! And that son would be a prophet who would prepare the way for God’s redemption. God had remembered his people. And when God remembers, mercy and grace always follow, so the priest named Zechariah “Yahweh has remembered” would have a son named John, or Yohanan, “Yahweh has given grace.”

But poor Zechariah wasn’t quite ready to believe this. Even after a life of faith in God’s promises and faithfulness to God’s laws, he just couldn’t wrap his mind around this new act of salvation that God is performing. He wasn’t capable of absorbing this promise addressed to him. So he asked for proof. Like Abraham before him, another old man with a barren wife who was promised a son by God, he asks, “how will I know?” And Gabriel gave him the sign he needed: Silence.

“I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.” That is to say, I know what I’m talking about. I am one of the angels who stands in the council of God and is privy to his plans. I was sent to reveal his plan of salvation to you.

“And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place,” that is, until your son is born and has received the name John, “because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.”

Zechariah was not ready to listen with faith, so he must be quiet and witness God’s salvation. He must watch God fulfill his promises before he is ready to speak again.

[Application]

This is often the way of it. No matter how long we have walked with the Lord, no matter how faithful and how righteous we have been, every one of us can stumble into doubt and disbelief from time to time. No amount of “practice” will ever make it natural for us sinful humans to believe in God’s promises. This is especially true when those promises address us in a new and shocking way, or address us very personally, like they did Zechariah. I’m sure that Zechariah believed firmly in God’s promises from the OT. He believed God would send a Messiah, that he would rescue his people Israel from exile, and that he would bless all nations. Yet he still wasn’t able to believe that it was happening right now, and that he was going to be a part of it.

This is very often true in our own lives as modern people. I’ve heard this phenomenon among modern Christians called something like “functional atheism.” It refers to the reality that we Christians believe in God or believe in the doctrines of the Christian faith in theory or on paper, but we don’t tend to think or talk or act as if God or the spiritual world were an active reality in the nitty gritty of our lives. In the day to day we function more like atheists. It doesn’t mean we don’t believe God’s promises at all. But often we think of them as abstract or distant ideas, not a reality that shapes our lives. You might believe that God wants to save people in general, or in theory, but it’s harder to believe that his salvation is for you specifically. You’re aware of the fact that Christ’s death and resurrection has freed you from sin, death, and the powers of Satan, and given you victory. It’s easy to see that as something that will become relevant someday, when you’re on your deathbed and you need to make sure you go to the right place when you die. It’s harder to see how Christ is working through his Word and Sacraments to keep you in the faith everyday. It’s harder to see how he is using every circumstance of your life to draw you closer to him, and to shape you into a new creation. We often don’t notice God’s saving work. We’re too busy talking, and worrying, and reasoning, and wondering. We need to be quiet and listen again to God’s promises. We must be quiet so that we can see God’s salvation.

Silence Before God in the Bible

The Bible is full of examples of doubting people who are silenced by the revelation of God.

One really important one is the Israelites at the Red Sea. When the Israelites were fleeing the Egyptians and it looked like they were caught between the water and an army, their faith evaporated. Despite all that they had seen God do, they began to complain and gave in to unbelief. Yet God still showed them his salvation. Ex 14:13-14 “And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” God did not need their complaints, their excuses, or even the power of their faith to work his great act of salvation. He only needed them to be quiet and watch.

In Psalm 46, when the psalmist praises God’s power to save and be a fortress for his people, He depicts God saying the famous words, “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Be still. That’s a nice King James way of saying “shut up!” Be quiet, and let me show you who I am.

Job had more reason to doubt than anyone. He spent chapter after chapter of the book of Job refusing to be silent, protesting his innocence, demanding that God give him an answer. But when God deigned to appear to Job in a whirlwind and question him, all Job could say was, “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth. I have spoken once, and I will not answer; twice, but I will proceed no further.” He was silent before the power of God.

The Signs God Graciously Gives

Sometimes God needs to shut us up so that we can listen and see the magnificent signs he has given us.

The clearest signs are the Sacraments. When the water of Baptism splashes over us, or we eat and drink the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, or listen to the words of Absolution, “I forgive you your sins,” we hear the Word of God, but we also see God’s salvation. Christ is truly present there. The Sacraments are tangible signs through which we receive God’s forgiveness, life, and salvation. They strengthen faith and empower us to think, speak, and live as people who have seen God’s salvation.

God may also be gracious enough to let you see the ways he has worked in your life. Often this happens only in hindsight, but sometimes you can look back at your life and see how God put particular people in your life at the right time. You might see how he protected you from a situation of temptation or or harm to you. Perhaps you can see how some adversity you faced strengthened your faith. These can also be ways that God shows us his salvation.

But of course the greatest sign we have received is Jesus himself. We have heard and witnessed his salvation in the word of Scripture and the preaching of the Gospel. The life and ministry of Jesus, his death and resurrection is the ultimate sign for our faith to trust in. As Zechariah saw the birth of his son John and believed, we have witnessed the baby born in the manger, we know his story, and we place our hope and trust in him. Through the testimony of the apostles in Scripture, we have received an even greater sign than Zechariah had. We have only to be silent, to listen to God’s Word, and to witness his salvation once again.

Once We Hear, We Speak

After Zechariah’s encounter with Gabriel, he was unable to speak the priestly blessing over the people waiting outside the temple. They were waiting for it, but it wouldn’t come. Because he had failed to listen with faith to God’s promise, he was not equipped to speak God’s gracious words of life and blessing to others.

But once he had been silent, once he had learned to listen to God’s Word, once God had shown him the promised sign of salvation, Zechariah opened his mouth, blessed God, and prophesied. One who has listened in faith and seen God’s salvation is empowered to speak of God’s salvation. So Zechariah proclaimed the beautiful words of his song of praise, the Benedictus. We sang a version of it as our hymn for this evening. In this song verse 72 especially stands out. Zechariah sings that God has established salvation for us, “to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant.” Remember his covenant and show grace and mercy. Zechariah. Yahweh has remembered. John. Yahweh has given grace. That is the message Zechariah proclaimed.

And that is the message we have to proclaim as well. God has remembered us, and he has given us grace and mercy in Jesus. Be silent this Advent and hear it again. Witness God’s salvation. But once you do, then open your mouth and speak. Sing praise to the God of Israel! And tell others what he has done for you.

Amen.