Incense

Advent, Day 2

Luke 1:5-25

For so many years they had prayed. And always the answer was no. They kept serving God, faithfully following day after day, carrying the disappointment that grew heavier by the year. Surely, though, they wondered why, took it by turns to rage and weep and beg for the child they longed for. Still, they did not turn from God. I wonder at what point they stopped asking. As their bodies aged, as their friends’ children grew up and had children of their own, they watched and clutched their disappointment.

Now old, Zechariah brings his weariness with him to the temple. He has been chosen by lot to burn incense before God, a rare privilege. He goes alone into the temple to offer the incense, the fragrant cloud representing the prayers of God’s people rising to heaven.

The irony must have hit him hard. Here he stands, burning this offering on behalf of the multitude gathered outside. They are praying, begging God to hear, and Zechariah is their ambassador. What must he be thinking, this man whose own prayers have risen seemingly unheeded for so long?

Four hundred years of silence for a nation crying out to God. A lifetime of silence for this one man.

I wonder if, despite the honor of being chosen for this duty, he is simply going through the motions. I wonder if he has given up trying to understand this silent God, if he is simply serving without hope.

And then, the angel. Zechariah is suddenly wide awake. And terrified.

Gabriel begins with two things: “Don’t be afraid. Your prayer has been heard.”

And not only has your prayer been heard, Zechariah, it has been answered. And not only will you have a son, but he will bring you joy and delight, and many will rejoice at his birth, and he will be great before the Lord.

You see, Zechariah, your God specializes in coming just when disappointment seems unbearable, when you wonder if it is even worth it to hope. Your God specializes in using impossible situations to pour out his impossible love. His coming may take longer than you ever thought you could bear. It may come in ways you never imagined. But he always comes. He always hears your prayer. And your story, Zechariah, is bigger than you ever thought. The small joy you longed for is nothing compared to the scope of God’s plan for you, for the gift he is going to give.

Maybe your unbelief is understandable, this question you ask reasonable. “How shall I know this?” you wonder. This is impossible. You cannot believe. Now, after it seemed God was silent all your life, he is giving you the gift of silence as you watch him work. He is taking your words from you so that as you watch the life growing in Elizabeth, you have only to receive it. You have space to believe it.

Maybe it seems this happy ending is only for Zechariah and Elizabeth. But Jesus comes for everyone. Including you. If you are disappointed, if you have been waiting for so long, don’t stop praying. Don’t stop looking for the miracle. He comes into our disappointment. Our desires are small compared to the things he wants to do. Your story is part of something so much bigger than you. Your prayers are rising like incense, and they are being heard, and Jesus is coming.

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