Can you imagine what it must have been like to be the priest Zechariah? He and his wife had dedicated their lives to following Yahweh. Their trust in God wasn’t an optional add-on to their lives; their faith was something they lived out on a daily basis. They were the real deal. And I don’t think they found that easy. Luke tells us that Elizabeth was unable to conceive. That’s hard for lots of couples today, and it was especially hard back in those days. I imagine that there were some people who thought that God must be punishing Elizabeth or Zechariah for some secret sin. Zechariah and Elizabeth surely prayed and prayed for a child – and must have struggled with why God would deny them this.
The years passed; wedding anniversary followed upon wedding anniversary. The couple got older. There must have been a time when they stopped praying to be parents, and accepted their lot in life.
And then Zechariah was chosen by lot to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. We’re talking about going into the part of the temple out of bounds to nearly everyone nearly all the time. It was an honour that you might receive only once in your life.
When Zechariah was in there, he saw something unexpected: an angel standing right next to the alter of incense! A terrified Zechariah was told not to be afraid: his prayer had been heard, and Zechariah and Elizabeth would have a son whom they should call John. The angel went on to describe John’s mission: to be the one to prepare the way for the Lord.
And Zechariah’s response? How can I be sure of this? I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years? That’s nicely couched in polite language, but it comes down to this: But I am too old, and so is my wife.
But I.
All Zechariah could see was the impossibility of his situation. He had long ago come to terms with not being a dad. There was nothing he could do to change that. And Zechariah was right: there was no way that he and Elizabeth could be parents. The facts were clear.
Zechariah had, however, failed to remember one thing: God is bigger than our impossibles! To prove it to Zechariah, something else impossible was done: Zechariah had his ability to speak removed until the day God’s message was finally vindicated.
God is bigger than our impossibles. I find myself, so often, approaching life the way that Zechariah did. I trust God, but struggle to believe that what he says can be true. It seems impossible! But God is bigger than our impossibles; nothing is impossible for God.
For instance, God calls us to be perfect, as He is perfect. But we mess up all the time – and try and figure out reasons why Jesus wasn’t actually saying what he said in the sermon on the mount. It’s clearly impossible, we reason, for us to be holy like God. But God does the impossible: He made Jesus to be our righteousness and holiness.
God says we are forgiven. We believe that, but still beat ourselves up and assume that God is angry at us. It’s impossible for God to love me, we think – and yet He does.
God calls us to go and make apprentices of the world. But we are petrified of speaking, and don’t know what to say. Or we might think our church too small and insignificant for God to use it to change our community. But God is bigger than our impossibles – and He is with us by His Spirit, pointing us to Jesus and guiding our thinking and speaking.
As human beings, we have plenty of limitations. But when God calls us to do something, the equation changes. Too often, when God challenges us, we remind him why it won’t work. But nothing is impossible for God.
This year at Golden Bay Baptist, we’re working through the 12 steps of apprenticeship to Jesus. The first step is realising that we are powerless. The second, which we are exploring in the month of February, is that while we can’t, God can!
To read: Luke 1:1-80
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