Our Actions Share the Good News
Scripture: Luke 1:5-25 (CEB) During the rule of King Herod of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron. They were both righteous before God, blameless in their observance of all the Lord’s commandments and regulations. They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to become pregnant and they both were very old. One day Zechariah was serving as a priest before God because his priestly division was on duty.Following the customs of priestly service, he was chosen by lottery to go into the Lord’s sanctuary and burn incense. All the people who gathered to worship were praying outside during this hour of incense offering. An angel from the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw the angel, he was startled and overcome with fear.
The angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayers have been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to your son and you must name him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many people will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the Lord’s eyes. He must not drink wine and liquor. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth. He will bring many Israelites back to the Lord their God. He will go forth before the Lord, equipped with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will turn the hearts of fathers[a] back to their children, and he will turn the disobedient to righteous patterns of thinking. He will make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? My wife and I are very old.”
The angel replied, “I am Gabriel. I stand in God’s presence. I was sent to speak to you and to bring this good news to you. Know this: What I have spoken will come true at the proper time. But because you didn’t believe, you will remain silent, unable to speak until the day when these things happen.”
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they wondered why he was in the sanctuary for such a long time. When he came out, he was unable to speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he gestured to them and couldn’t speak. When he completed the days of his priestly service, he returned home. Afterward, his wife Elizabeth became pregnant. She kept to herself for five months, saying, “This is the Lord’s doing. He has shown his favor to me by removing my disgrace among other people.”
In this story of the announcement of the upcoming birth of John the Baptist, the Angel Gabriel points us to the one who will come to prepare the way for the Savior. The one who tells us the people they need to get ready.
Gabriel said to Zechariah, “Don’t be afraid. Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.” Then the angel Gabriel went on to say that John would be a great man, full of the Holy Spirit from the day of his birth. “He will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God,” said the angel.
The Angel Gabriel, a holy messenger from God, came to share Good News with Zechariah and Elizabeth, and they responded with doubt and questioning. This was hardly the actions one would expect of a man of God like Zechariah! The people of Israel were watching and waiting for Zechariah to come out of the temple after he offered up the prayers of the nation, and when he came out, he was unable to speak. He should have been running out praising God, but instead, since he had doubted God, He was unable to verbally share his good news with the people. They now had to wait and watch to see how God would act and reveal His news to the people.
Here we see that our actions matter. As the old adage goes, “Actions speak louder than words.” We share good news every time we live out our faith in the world around us.
Think of all the times Jesus shared good news without even saying a word – when he touched the lepers – when he healed the sick, the blind, and the lame – when he fed the hungry – Each action was God’s love conveyed in ways of mercy and hope.
Sometimes angels appear in such a way that it is hard to determine if it from human origin or divine. But we must remember as those who follow Jesus Christ–the divine is always at work in and through us—giving us the opportunity to be messengers of hope, peace, love and joy.