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Introduction
Faith can be such a fragile thing.
I remember my dad telling a story of Charles Blondin and how he had crossed Niagara Falls on a tight rope—over 160 feet in the air.
To fall would be certain death.
The first time he did it, nearly 100,000 people showed up to watch.
It wasn’t long before he added different elements to his trick.
He would cross the falls blindfolded.
He would do it on stilts!
He rode a bike across.
And he went back and forth with a wheelbarrow.
Each time the people were amazed and would clap and cheer.
The story goes that after walking across with the wheelbarrow, he asked his audience, “Do you believe I could carry a person across in this wheelbarrow?”
And the crowd roared back a resounding “Yes!”
And so he asked, “Who will get in the wheelbarrow?”
To which no one would.
It is easy to believe; It’s easy to have faith when faced with the theoretical.
But when laws of nature are against you—like gravity with Charles Blondin and his lack of volunteer—suddenly there is more trust in the law than in the person.
This morning we are reading a passage in which fragile faith failed.
And as Luke recounted the story for Theophilus, we are able to pull out two sets of contrasting segments.
In other words, we see a contrast between Zechariah and God in the first segment and a contrast between Zechariah and Elizabeth in the second segment.
Segment 1 - Contrast between Zechariah and God
Segment 2 - Contrast between Zechariah and Elizabeth
Segment 1 - Zechariah and God
The first segment that we come to takes place in the temple.
Remember Zechariah was chosen by lot, by the will of God, to enter into the temple to make intercession on behalf of the people as they prayed outside.
While in there, an angel appeared to him and told him that God has heard and is answering his prayer—which I take as the prayer for grace upon Israel by means of granting Zechariah and Elizabeth a son.
And Zechariah is incredulous.
Zechariah’s faith is fragile.
It’s failing to believe God’s word.
Now, lest we forget what Luke already wrote, let’s review what he said just a few sentences earlier.
Zechariah was righteous before God.
He walked blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.
This wasn’t simply a public faith that Zechariah displayed.
It was a private faith.
Zechariah’s character, not just his reputation was righteous.
And here he stands in the temple, the holy place, offering up a prayer on behalf of Israel—all alone when this angel shows up.
And when push comes to shove, Zechariah’s faith fails.
Zechariah is told that something will happen that goes against the laws of nature.
He and his wife are well-advanced in years.
Gabriel would later tell Mary that her “geras” (where we get the word geriatric) relative Elizabeth was pregnant.
It was not simply (1) that Zechariah was too old to have a baby.
It wasn’t just (2) that Elizabeth was too old to have a baby.
But (3) there is also the fact that Elizabeth had been barren her entire life.
Three strikes, you’re out!
Those are hard facts to overcome.
What are we supposed to do with this information?
I have two recommendations:
Take comfort.
That might sound a little weird, but I would recommend you taking a little comfort in that Zechariah, who was considered to be righteous before God, had a failure of faith.
He’s not the only one, you know.
Adam did.
Noah did.
Abraham certainly did.
Moses did.
Joshua did.
David did.
Peter did.
Paul did.
There are no Super-Christians in God’s Word.
We elevate men and women of the faith as to super-status and we want to be like them.
We want to pray three hours a day like Luther.
We want to have the intelligence of Calvin.
We want the faith of Mueller.
There are no Super-Faithful people.
Every single saint—Old Testament, New Testament, famous, and unknown—have all had moments of fragile faith that failed to believe.
Take counsel.
Learn from Zechariah’s failure.
God is above the laws of nature.
While he usually works within the laws of nature, there is nothing that says he must.
He who parted the Red Sea, raised the dead, cured leprosy, killed 185,000 Assyrian troops in one night, can do miracles in our lives as well.
The issue is that we often see what we can’t do and project that onto God as well.
Zechariah was too old to have a baby.
It just can’t happen.
Elizabeth was too old and had been barren her entire life.
It just can’t happen.
Not humanly speaking.
And therefore, the inability was projected onto God himself.
Take counsel, brothers and sisters, your inabilities are not God’s inabilities.
I love what Thabiti Anyabwile wrote about this passage.
When our eyes are on our problems--in Zechariah’s case, his age,--we will not receive God’s word or trust God’s power.
We can’t think our problems are great and God’s power is great at the same time.
We will exalt one a little bit more than the other.
Trying to exalt our problems and God’s power is like attempting to serve money and God at the same time.
We cannot do it.
We can be so focused on our problems we can’t hear God’s promises and we fail to believe God’s power.
Here was Zechariah, being visited by an angel who appeared out of no where at the right side of the altar of incense, telling him that he would have a baby, and Zechariah unable to see past his inabilities, asked for a sign.
“How shall I know this?”
I can’t help but think that Gabriel is now a bit incredulous at Zechariah’s incredulity.
“Really!?
You want a sign other than me!? I’m Gabriel.
I stand in the presence of God.
I’m an angel!
God sent me to tell you the gospel personally and you want a sign?
Now here is the contrast in this segment: Zechariah’s failure in faith does not equate to God’s failure to use him.
Or another way to say it: Zechariah’s faithlessness does not make God faithless.
God, through Gabriel, promised grace to Israel by means of a promised son to Zechariah and when Zechariah failed to believe it, God didn’t wash his hands of the whole thing.
He didn’t say, “You blew it, Zechariah.
You had your chance and your royally messed up.
I’m done with you.
You lost your one chance at having a child.”
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