Scripture: Luke 1:18-20
Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.” The angel replied, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.”
Thought for the Day: Last night, the Cypress Creek Christian Church Chancel Choir presented another magnificent Christmas Concert. During the concert, I was given a few minutes to speak (hopefully it didn’t feel like a second sermon). I spoke about the silence Zechariah experienced after he heard from the messenger of God. So often people have thought this inability to speak was God’s punishment for his skepticism, but Barbara Brown Taylor suggests that it was a gift. In this time of the year when we sing about a Silent Night, we really don’t experience much silence. Yet when those moments come, we should allow God to use the silence to awaken within us a sense of appreciation for all that God is doing. Even a moment of silence – that lasts no more than the length of a single breath – can provide God the needed time to awaken us to the beauty and grace that is all around us. Zechariah’s period of silence lasted the length of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, and though most of us won’t have such an experience, we need to be very mindful of the opportunities that come our way.
Prayer: Take whatever moment you can, O God of Grace, and use it as a doorway through which I can enter into a space of appreciation and thanksgiving. Amen.
A PICTURE FROM LAST NIGHT’S CONCERT
