Advent 1. Hope.
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense…. “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth.” ~ Luke 1:11-14
This Advent series will follow the course of four mystical appearings. Angels. Messengers. Divine encounters with normal people who responded in hope…and changed the story. Where does your story need an encounter with hope? I know mine does.
The dilemma. An elderly priest is defined by duty. His lifelong desire for a child thwarted by circumstances beyond his control. So he keeps on keeping on, doing what he knows to do…yet without hope. Without joy. Without much in the way of meaning. His boss rolls the dice to see whose turn it is to go into the temple and light the incense. The lot falls to Zachariah, and he enters the temple to do his job without expecting anything out of the ordinary. Boy is he surprised!
The angel. Zachariah is on autopilot, picking a stick of incense out of the box, placing it in its holder before the altar, lighting it, speaking the scripted prayers…only to be floored by the stunning appearance of a figure clothed in light. He staggers back, both afraid and curious. How could this be happening? What does it mean? Why him?
The coming. The message is simple, but unbelievable. A child, a son. After all these years. After he and his wife are far beyond capacity. Why is his deepest desire being mocked? And yet… the desire is not dead yet. A subterranean stirring. The promise of “joy and delight.” Dare he hope again?
What desire has succumbed in you, sinking down toward the grave but not yet dead? What is God’s redemptive heart for you? What is the angel’s message right now in your journey? What is being prepared? What is being reconciled?
Listen. Promise speaks. Hope rises.
Receive it. Write it. Share it.
Next week, the angel appears to a young teenager with hope…but without purpose.