the silence of zechariah

How Can This Be? Part 1
The silence of Zechariah—

“How can this be? How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”---Zechariah (Luke 1)

“I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.”

If I came home from church or prayer and was silent and did not speak, my wife would hit me with a pan. She’d never believe me and would think it was a ridiculous joke. More than likely I’d lose my job. My “job” is ministry and it requires much talk and interaction. Too much talk, I think. It seems to me that there is too much talk in Christianity and ministry; not enough listening—not enough silence.

It would be extremely difficult to do ministry if I could not talk--or would it? Perhaps I would be more effective at ministry. Perhaps, because I could not talk, it would lead me to pray more, to remain silent more, to be in a better place to listen both to God and to others. God would have my attention. Perhaps with Zechariah, silence was the best place he could be. Maybe God was pushing him to a place where he could be silent and reflect on what was taking place. After all, Zechariah had been invited to sit on the front row and witness God’s plan to save the world.

“Zechariah returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.”