Silence to Singing

December 17th

Silence to Singing

 

The silence in Elizabeth and Zechariah’s house must have felt so loud. But perhaps not as loud as Zechariah’s own thoughts as he processed the Angel Gabriel’s words. Words that left him speechless.

He hadn’t believed in the strange reality this Angel had foretold, but now the evidence of this reality was breaking in all around him, growing cell by cell within Elizabeth’s womb, unfolding in his very mouth with every unspoken word. Nine months of silence. This Angels message replayed again and again, gestating in his mind, this story about to be born.

Faith is won or lost on the battle ground of belief, not cognitive belief in an idea, but lived belief which forms our steps. It’s not what we think or the opinions we spout, but what we do that reveals our beating heart beliefs.  Mary’s husband, Joseph, had no lines in the Christmas story, but his actions articulated a life of deep faith and obedience. Zechariah had momentarily forgotten his lines, the storyline of faith, but it was all coming back to him now with vivid realisation.

The threaded reality that Gabriel’s message had woven that day tangibly unfolded in the fabric of reality all around Zechariah throughout the nine months starting with his own silence, followed soon after by Elizabeth’s swelling belly (Luke 1:13).

Gabriel’s words “He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth,” (Luke 1:14) became fulfilled by…

“Her neighbours and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.’ Luke 1:58

Gabriel’s words “for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born.” (Luke 1:15) became fulfilled by…

“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit…  …“As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.” Luke 1:41 and 44

and

“And the child grew and became strong in spirit ; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.” Luke 1:80

And in the following years the rest of Gabriel’s message will also fulfil itself in time.

We can believe God or not. But our unbelief doesn’t inhibit the unfolding of God’s story. However it may inhibit ours. Zechariah’s speechlessness speaks volumes.

While Zechariah’s words of doubt gave birth to his silence, Gabriel’s pregnant-with promise-word’s from God gave birth to Zechariah and Elizabeth’s answered prayers and fulfilled hopes…

“When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbours and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.” Luke 1:57-58

Elizabeth, unlike Zechariah wasn’t speechless.

“On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said, ‘No! He is to be called John. They said to her, ‘There is no one among your relatives who has that name.’ Luke 1:59-61

The reality of God’s words had grown within her cell by cell, answered-prayer by answered-prayer, and she was determined to live there, despite the surrounding pressure.

And finally, after nine months and eight days of silence, her husband joined her there.

“Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, ‘His name is John.’ Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.” Luke 1:62-64

It is no coincidence that it is the moment Zechariah publicly agrees with the reality God’s message foretold that his mouth is unbound and his tongue set free.

Unbelief knots and binds, but as Paul of Tarsus wrote “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” 2 Corinthians 3:17b. There’s a freedom in comprehending that there is a larger story at work than our eyes can see. There’s a freedom in knowing we can rest in God’s outworking purposes and that we don’t have to strive to forge our own future. There’s a freedom in knowing that God is at work despite our faltering faith.

Faith fuels the deep and releasing freedom that comes when we finally comprehend that it’s not all up to us and we are not all alone in this spinning universe.

And this deep freedom releases depths within us. Zechariah’s very next words are words praising God leading into a prophetic song, poetry emanating from his own heart and echoing all the words the Angel had spoken to him nine months and eight days ago.

“His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to his people and redeemed them.

He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David

(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),

salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us –

to show mercy to our ancestors
and to remember his holy covenant,

    the oath he swore to our father Abraham:

to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear

    in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,

to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,

because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven

to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.’

Luke 1:67-79

What God speaks into being comes into being. Eventually. Faith is living in the tension between what God has spoken and the fulfilment of it all around us.

Our doubt does not diminish God’s action but it can silence our song for a while as we succumb to the stress of thinking we are in this world alone and that outcomes are up to us.

This elderly first-time father finally sang over his newly born son the story of his story because he learned to live in the reality that God breathes into being. A reality full of hope, full of freedom and full of singing.

“where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” 2 Corinthians 3:17b.

 

“All the neighbours were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, ‘What then is this child going to be?’ For the Lord’s hand was with him.” Luke 1:65-66