Doubt

DOUBT Luke 1:5-25 December 6, 2020 The symbol for the second week of Advent is the angel, and the theme is Peace. The angel Gabriel appears again in today's pericope. He's been a busy boy. He is the angel who explained to the prophet Daniel, that God would send a Messiah in the last days. That Messiah would raise up the dead to receive new bodies, and live forever in Heaven with the Father. That's good news. But, Daniel experiences the emotion of absolute terror the first time he meets Gabriel. Last week Mary meets Gabriel, and her response is to be confused and disturbed. Today, we remember the story of Gabriel appearing to the priest Zechariah. And, unfortunately, his response is doubt. Same angel, three very different reactions. Zechariah is a Temple priest. He is a direct descendant of Moses' brother Aaron. That defines him as a Levite, and guarantees him a job as a priest. In fact, his wife Elizabeth is also a descendant of Aaron. So, they are a family with very strong ties to the traditions, rules, and observances of the Hebrew faith. Zechariah and Elizabeth do the best they can to live righteously. Now, you would think that striving for righteousness, and working as a priest, would mean blessings from God just fall out of the sky for them every day. Not true. What they want, more than anything, is a child - a baby. But, it never happened. They have finally reached old age, and Elizabeth never got pregnant; not even once. And, they struggle with that. They worked hard to be righteous. It doesn't seem fair. As I said, every descendant of Aaron, every Levite, was guaranteed a job as a priest. And, at this time, there were over 18,000 qualified and certified priests.1 That's way too many priests to work at the Temple. So, they were divided into 24 crews; 24 teams. Zechariah is on team Abijah. Their colors were purple and gold, and their mascot was a marmot. (No!) Twice a year, six months apart, team Abijah works at the Holy Temple for one week.2 Now, if you do the math, you realize even on team Abijah there are 750 priests. Here's why that number is important. Twice a day, the Holy Temple observes the Tamid service.3 It happens at 9:00 am and 3:00 pm. It's pretty cool. At each service burnt offerings are sacrificed to the glory of God. They sacrifice a lamb, some oil, and flour. Then, 100 priests line the steps going from the courtyard of priests up to the actual Holy Temple. They sing Psalms. The most common were Psalms 24, 48, 81, 82, 92, 93, and 94. Imagine 100 bass, baritone, and tenor voices singing, "Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place?" Which is significant, because at each service one special priest was designated to climb the mountain of the Lord and stand in his Holy Place. It was a huge honor. The priest was chosen by casting lots - something like rolling the dice. Now, if you figure 2 priests a day, for 14 days a year, it takes 54 years for every priest on team Abijah to get a chance. Now, you couldn't serve at the Temple until you were 13. And, the average lifespan for a priest was only 48. That means, most priests never won the lottery and got their time in the Temple, in the Holy Place. If you did win, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. And, on this particular day, Zechariah won the afternoon lottery. Should be the happiest day of his life. The lone priest climbs the steps to the Holy Place. Not the Holy, Holy, Place. Not where the Ark of the Covenant is. The room just before where the Ark of the Covenant is. A curtain separates the Holy Place from the Holy, Holy, Place. A large incense stand is next to the curtain. And, the lucky priest burns a special incense and offers a prayer. Zechariah is burning his incense, and praying. We don't know specifically what he was praying for. The tradition was to pray for the salvation of Israel. But, there was nothing to stop him from praying for a baby. Suddenly, the angel Gabriel appears in the Holy Place. One of the reasons I believe this story is because of a tiny detail. Gabriel appears to the right of the altar. If you were making the story up, why add that detail? Gabriel begins with the traditional greeting - don't be afraid. But, it doesn't work. Zechariah is absolutely terrified. He is knee shaking scared. Gabriel tells Zechariah, Elizabeth is going to become pregnant. I know you're both old, but it's finally going to happen. In fact, this is also a gender reveal! You are having a son. And, you don't get to pick the name. He will be named John the Baptist. Actually, just name him John. We'll work out the last name later. He should never, never drink any kind of alcohol. And, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while still in Elizabeth's womb. You will have great joy and gladness at his birth! Lucky, lucky, you. A couple quick aside's here. Men who wanted to dedicate themselves to God could take a year-long Nazarite vow. No alcohol, don't touch anything dead, and don't cut your hair. There has been a tendency to say John the Baptist was raised his entire life as a Nazarite. Except, Gabriel doesn't say anything about touching dead things, or cutting his hair.4 I believe John is denied alcohol so his prophecies cannot be blamed on drunkenness. And, we know when John is 10 or 11 he is left at the Qumran monastery, and raised as an Essene. We always wonder how Zechariah and Elizabeth could do that? Gabriel didn't say to do that. I think it's because they were so old. I believe both Zechariah and Elizabeth died, and rather than let John roam the streets as an orphan, he was sent to the monastery. Gabriel continues; John's ministry will be highly, highly confrontational.5 First off, just the fact he calls himself a prophet will be confrontational. The last prophet was Malachi, and that was 400 years ago. Four hundred years no prophets at all. Suddenly, John shows up with prophecy? That will cause problems. Secondly, he will turn the hearts of men and women back to God. Which means, they are not turned to God right now. Which means, the Church is not doing its job. The official Church is not helping people live rewarding, valuable, faith filled lives. When John does what the Church cannot, it will cause problems. Gabriel says, in many ways John will be just like the prophet Elijah. Elijah is most famous for taking on the government and chastising their corruption and idolatry. And, that is exactly what John will do. He will offensively castigate the government for corruption and idolatry. It will eventually cost him his life. That's confrontational. Now, we would expect Zechariah to start jumping up and down and shouting. Best. Day. Ever. I won the lottery, and I get a son! Does he? No! Instead he says, I just don't see how this is going to happen. I'm old. Elizabeth is old. This doesn't seem reasonable. Zechariah responds to a message about a miracle from a divine messenger with - doubt. Not gratitude, not joy, doubt. Gabriel, who terrifies Zechariah, swells up and says - I am Gabriel! I stand in the presence of God Almighty! If you can't say anything nice, then you will say nothing at all. And, he curses Zechariah with muteness. Until John is born, you will not say another word. And, with that, Gabriel disappears. Zechariah walks out of the Holy Place, back onto the steps. And, huge crowds are waiting for a blessing. Twice a day the priest goes into the Holy Place, prays, exits, and pronounces a blessing on the pilgrims. Usually, it was the priestly blessing, "The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace." Which is what Zechariah should have - peace. His quest for a child is finally over. But, because of doubt, Zechariah is denied his once in a lifetime moment - the blessing of the crowds. He will never be here again. And, because he couldn't be joyful, or grateful, or thankful - this moment is lost to him. He launches into charades, and the crowd finally decides he's had a vision, he isn't going to talk about it - they might as well go home. Zechariah returns to Elizabeth, and they travel back to their home in the hills south of Jerusalem.6 Again, he goes through charades. Elizabeth gets the message and understands exactly what happened, and what was said. And, her response is joy! Thank heavens someone got it. When she becomes pregnant, she is over-joyed. She knows this is her once in a lifetime moment. And, unlike her husband, she isn't going to waste it. Elizabeth knows peace. I tell people all day long, every week, miracles are real. Providence is real. God still blesses the faithful. It doesn't mean your life will be perfect and problem free. Zechariah and Elizabeth still had to raise a strong-willed child. But, there are joyful blessings all around us, if we will only acknowledge them. I'm willing to bet each of you has experienced some kind of a God-thing, in your life. A moment that goes so far beyond coincidence or chance, that God must be the only explanation. Hear me when I say, how you respond to those moments - matters. Doubt can be the end of your God-things. Peace and acceptance can put you on the road to more. To a very great degree, it's all up to you. 1 R. C. Sproul, general editor. New Geneva Study Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1601. 2 Joel B. Green, New Interpreter's Study Bible (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003), 1852. 3 Dennis Hamm, "The Tamid Service in Luke-Acts: The Cultic Background behind Luke's Theology of Worship," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 65 no. 2 (April 20030, 215-231. 4 NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), 212. 5 Roger Stronstad, "The Rebirth of Prophecy: Trajectories from Moses to Jesus and his Followers," Journal of Biblical and Pneumatological Research, 5 (Fall 2013), 3-28. 6 Darrell L. Bock, Luke 1:1-9:50 (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), 96. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 2