Answered Prayer

Imagine being visited by an angel.

Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. Now at the time of the incense-offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’ Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.’ The angel replied, ‘I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.’ - Luke 1:8-20

The Christmas story begins with the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah and Elizabeth in their old age.

In today's reading, Luke paints an interesting picture for us.  Zechariah is selected among the priests to go into the sanctuary by casting lots.  This is a way to give the decision over to God, for it was believed that God was in charge of chance, and selecting lots was a means of getting God's hand in the decision.

So God chooses Zechariah to go alone into the sanctuary in order that the angel Gabriel can come to him in private.

Now Zechariah's wife, Elizabeth lived in shame because she had not born him a son, and even though she was beyond child-bearing years, she still wanted one.  Gabriel tells Zechariah this will happen because God heard their prayers, and because God had a special mission for John.

But Zechariah doesn't believe him.  And that leaves him mute.

You could say this is an example of be careful what you pray for, since Zechariah and Elizabeth got their wish granted in a way that they did not expect.  The lesson for all of us is that we should expect God to answer our prayers in some form, even if it is not the way we hope.

God listens to us, and we have the choice to listen to Him or not, which is what Zechariah had trouble doing.

We never know how God sends us messages.  It may not be from an angel like Gabriel, but from someone we encounter on the street, someone we don't know and wouldn't spend time getting to know.

The question is what will we do with the message?  Will we see it as a gift from God and act on it?  Or will be refuse and find ourselves mute?

If we expect to hear God in the people we meet, we might find there are many more opportunities to enjoy this life than we realize. 

Or we can just go our own way and feel alone.

More to come...