Zechariah, A Case Study in the Importance of Silence

Luke 1:5-25 – Part Two

 

The angel proceeds to tell Zechariah that a miracle will unfold in his life. His elderly wife, Elizabeth, will give birth to a son whom they are to name John. The angel’s next comments serve as a model for pastor’s when they perform infant dedications to the Lord. He prophesies that John will be a delight and joy to the priestly couple. Many people will rejoice when learning of his birth. He will be great in the sight of the Lord. The angel cautions that John is to abstain from wine and other fermented beverages. God will fill John with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. In addition, John will lead countless people through repentance and return to the God of their forebears. In the tradition of the prophet, Elijah, John will guide disobedient people toward divine wisdom and a new way of life. His call to collective repentance and return to a right relationship with God was necessary to prepare for the coming of Christ.

 

This exchange depicts John’s destiny and further shows that children are a gift of God to their parents and to the human family. God gives them to their parents as a delight and joy to them. Accordingly, there is never a case in which an “illegitimate” child is born. Each birth, whether within or without of marriage, gives a child who arrives with a unique character and destiny. The angel’s instructions represent divine guidance and provision in childrearing. God imparts grace, wisdom and resources to parents to enable them to rear their children to know and serve Him.

 

Reflecting the incomplete faith each disciple possesses despite faithful adherence to spiritual disciplines and religious rites, Zechariah questions the angel’s magnanimous and majestic declaration. He resorts to basic biology. He and his wife’s ages and physical bodies cannot accomplish this feat. Given the angelic visit, incredulous grace of officiating in the temple and incredible divine message, Zechariah should have been struck completely silent. He surmounts his fear and astonishment and questions everything the angel says. Zechariah questions God’s ability to perform this miracle. This priest, descendant of priests and husband to the daughter and descendant of priests challenges the trustworthiness and power of Almighty God to whom Zechariah perseveringly prays. I imagine he struggles mentally, emotionally and spiritually with the intermixture of the angel’s visit, God’s promise and his faith. This immeasurable tension yielded momentary doubt. Should Zechariah simply have been silent?

 

Gabriel, one of the four arch angels (Raphael, Michael and Sariel), who stands in God’s direct presence, was sent to relay this divine message. He introduces himself to Zechariah to relay the seriousness of his mission and God’s will. To defend God’s sovereign prerogative, Gabriel strikes Zechariah with silence. This action is not punitive but instructive. Discipline educates which practically means to lead out of the darkness of ignorance and lack of experience into the light of knowledge and favorable experience. Discipline allows its recipients to analyze choices, evaluate beliefs, dissect assumptions, question motives and consider alternatives. His period of silence allows this faithful priest to examine his reaction to Gabriel’s announcement. What led Zechariah to question anything Gabriel says? The questioning seems incongruent with everything else that the text reveals about Zechariah. What can he learn from this experience? Silence is a method of answering these questions.

 

Silence is a form of prayer. Among other personal and existential benefits, it yields four Christlike attributes. First, silence fosters discernment which is acquisition of God’s will. In solitude and silence, disciples listen attentively to the Holy Spirit who reveals God’s will within their circumstances. He reminds them of relevant spiritual and biblical principles and reiterates Christ’s teachings. Discernment imparts spiritual guidance and furthers a main objective of prayer which is aligning a disciple’s will with God’s purposes. In his version of the Lord’s Passion Narrative, Luke specifies the ultimate objective of Christian prayer, principles and practice. These components of discipleship seek the Lord’s honor, expansion of His kingdom on Earth and fulfillment of the Heavenly Father’s will.

 

Second, meditation and silence summon necessary periods of withdrawal to seek self-mastery. Howard Thurman, premiere Black Baptist mystic theologian of the twentieth century, writes eloquently and enduringly about the necessity of retreating into silence to listen to God as He speaks through individual intuition.

 

Third, silence permits consideration of latent ideas, concepts and creativity. The noise, pace and force of normal routines often do not allow introspection and reflection. Daily functioning absorbs every second of time and ounce of energy. It is rare that you can gain any perspective on the purpose of daily activities. What do you accomplish on any given day? Does any of your activities contribute to the cause of Christ? Are you merely subsisting or are you living a meaningful and fulfilling life that fosters self-realization and greater progress toward your destiny? Do you need to change anything? Are you utilizing your time, treasure, talent and temperament in the best possible ways? Silence affords you the necessary time and space to ask these questions.

 

Finally, silence creates conditions for character transformation, personal empowerment, inner and holistic healing and developing self-acceptance. Meditation and silence open the door to an internal tool shed. There, you can discard any dross within your character that impedes your spiritual growth and personal development. The prophet, Isaiah, uses the images of the refiner’s furnace. The goldsmith puts silver, gold and other precious metals into ovens with volcanic temperatures that burn away impurities that lessen the worth of the metals. When he opens the oven and sees his reflection in the gold, he knows the impurities have been burned sufficiently. Likewise, as disciples reflect Christ’s character, they relinquish behavioral patterns that undermine their potential. In this spiritual workshop, silence endows disciples with desire and tools to clarify and achieve their destiny.  Fear is one of the main contaminants of any disciple’s character. It viciously and severely undermines a disciple’s pursuit of goals and aspirations. Furthermore, fear impedes growth in ministry and spiritual maturity. Paralysis seems preferable to failure. You recall the third servant in “The Parable of the Talents” whose paralyzing fear compels him to bury his talent and return it to his master rather than risk an investment and loss. He misguidedly reasons it is better to do nothing than to try and fail. In times of silence, meditation and prayer, disciples can ask humbly for empowerment of the Holy Spirit to surmount deep-seated fears and internal impediments to self-realization.