At the start of this story we are introduced to the priest Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth. They are old and they have no children.
Zechariah is on the worship rota; it’s his turn to be in the temple, and an angel appears. The angel tells him that his old and barren wife is about to conceive and bear a son, ‘Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.’ Zechariah asks a reasonable question: ‘How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well on in years.’ But this is not a reasonable angel. He replies: ‘I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you.’
Don’t miss this. That little statement tucked away at the start of Luke is the pattern for all ministry. All ministry flows from the presence of God. If we haven’t been in the presence of God, we have nothing to bring. This particular angel spends a lot of time in the presence of God: we only read of three accounts of him in the whole Bible and two of them are Luke chapters one and two (the other visit was hundreds of years earlier in Daniel). Gabriel is created, he stands in the presence of the Lord and from this position he steps out and changes the course of human history. Having done that, he returns to the presence of the Lord.
As I mentioned earlier, this is not a reasonable angel; because Zechariah didn’t believe, he will not be able to speak until John is born. What follows is this delightful verse: ‘When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realised he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.’ There it is ladies and gentlemen - the first ever recorded game of charades! Nine months pass, John is born, and Zechariah gets to speak again. Let’s fast forward three decades or so. No words of scripture have been written for 400 years. There have been no prophetic voices in that period either. The land of Palestine has gone from being controlled by Persia, to being controlled by Alexandria and now the Romans are the ruling power. The emperor Augustus has died and Tiberius, a debauched and brutish individual, climbs to the throne of the empire.
All ministry flows from the presence of God. If we haven’t been in the presence of God, we have nothing to bring
So what’s God going to do? If you’re asking that question, you’ve still not understood. He’s already done it. The miracle happened three decades earlier, and this is just the outworking. Darkness dominates, but onto history’s stage strides John. This man is not the light; he is called to point to the light. He is the man who must blow the trumpet to proclaim the king, the man who must ring the bell to proclaim a change of government. The darkest night precedes the most glorious dawn. God has saved his best preacher for the darkest time.
But where’s he been for 30 years? In the presence of the Lord.
The end of the story is shocking. John is beheaded at the request of a spoilt girl and her immoral mother. Yet he did what he came to do. God’s will is done, but it doesn’t always end well.
Let’s go back a few chapters. The Pharisees come and find John, and they say to him: ‘Who are you? Are you the Christ? Are you the Elijah? Are you the prophet?’ And John replies ‘no’. And so they press him. ‘Who are you?’ ‘I am the voice in the wilderness proclaiming the way for the Lord.’
After John’s death a similar conversation takes place. Jesus asks them about John and when they cannot answer, Jesus tells them that John was the prophet who was to come; he was the one who came in the spirit of Elijah. Oh! That’s awkward. A contradiction in scripture. John says he wasn’t, Jesus says he was. That will cause some theological angst in New Testament studies. How do we reconcile that? Are you ready? Don’t miss this: John was the most significant man ever to be born of a woman (Jesus’ words). The one who came in the spirit of Elijah. The prophet. And yet he didn’t know it! He had no idea of his significance. There was no false humility on the part of John. He simply didn’t know. And yet he did it anyway. He stood and he spoke and he proclaimed truth and he baptised. I think this still happens today.
Where’s my proof? Every time I address a room full of children’s workers. Every time I speak at a children’s ministry conference. Every time I stand on a stage and stare out at hundreds of men and women who change the lives of boys and girls, who truly transform communities, who were building the ‘big society’ before it became a soundbite. Who enable and empower children to be everything God created them to be. A room full of significant people. And they never know. They don’t realise their significance, yet they still do what they do. They speak words of truth and life, they show the love of Jesus, they speak of a God who forgives, the God of compassion, the God of love. And all the time God is using them, using you, to usher in his ever increasing kingdom. And you didn’t even know it. But you do it anyway. Rain or shine. You make a difference. You really are that significant. Thank you.
