How...?
-- Luke 1:18,34
(Some part twos are not dependent on part ones. Jaws 2 for example, stands alone - albeit very poorly. The Godfather Part II or Rocky II, on the other hand, very much rely on their respective One. This Part 2 is like that. Take a look at part one of How...? in the prior post. I'll try to not repeat and rewrite too much.)
HOW...?
In the first chapter of Luke's Gospel we come across two hows...?. Both are asked after an angel's declaration. (I'd like to think the awesome-light-being-appearance-do-not-be-afraid!-thing would be enough for me. I want to believe that how...? would be out of the equation...
I'd like to think BELIEF would be BIGGER than HOW...? But my belief is often (usually?) swallowed by my hows...?
Zechariah asks how...? when Gabriel announces his wife Elizabeth is pregnant. And no, it is not a case of Zechariah being naive. More so, Zechariah is being a realist. He is old. Elizabeth is old.
They are too old.
There is a lot in that last statement. (Maybe for you; I know there is for me. And in writing it, and re-reading it, I just came to realize that HOW...? is not going to wrap up in part two.)
They are too old. A brief four word sentence that carries SO much weight. So much baggage. So much loss. So much dream-death. As I think about it, we bring our dream-death baggage constantly into the present. Our belief is blocked by it. Our vision is skewed.
I am too old... We can replace old with so many other toos:
Before Zechariah's response that he and his wife are too old, he asks a question: "How will I know this?" What we will see in the next post (or the next?), is though Zechariah and Mary ask the same basic question - How...?, their hows...? are fundamentally different. (But we'll save that for later.)
Zechariah's how...? is a statement of disbelief. His how...? is an indication of his heart. Remember, Zechariah is a Temple priest. He is a faithful guy. We never read that he is crooked or that he is stealing doves from the alter to make hat bands for sale. Luke writes that he and Elizabeth were, "... righteous before God, walking blamelessly in the commandments and statutes of the Lord."
And yet Zechariah can't see it. The angel speaks: "Your prayer has been heard..." In essence, Zechariah answers: "There is too much past for that to be my future."
THERE IS TOO MUCH PAST FOR THAT TO BE MY FUTURE...
I'm going to wrap up here for now. This is the how...? with which many of us struggle. How can that promise be for me? How can it be my future? I have too much past for that to be real.
I wish I had the eloquence to state this in a way that could really connect with your heart (and mine). All that I can do is write it and pray God drills it home: Your future is in no way dependent on your past!
I am too __________
However you filled in the blank - No your are not! Nor am I.
God, overcome my I am toos... Overpower my hows...?!
For now...
D
I'd like to think BELIEF would be BIGGER than HOW...? But my belief is often (usually?) swallowed by my hows...?
Zechariah asks how...? when Gabriel announces his wife Elizabeth is pregnant. And no, it is not a case of Zechariah being naive. More so, Zechariah is being a realist. He is old. Elizabeth is old.
They are too old.
There is a lot in that last statement. (Maybe for you; I know there is for me. And in writing it, and re-reading it, I just came to realize that HOW...? is not going to wrap up in part two.)
They are too old. A brief four word sentence that carries SO much weight. So much baggage. So much loss. So much dream-death. As I think about it, we bring our dream-death baggage constantly into the present. Our belief is blocked by it. Our vision is skewed.
I am too old... We can replace old with so many other toos:
I am too young...
I am too poor...
I am too unimportant...
I am too messed up...
I am too _____________
Before Zechariah's response that he and his wife are too old, he asks a question: "How will I know this?" What we will see in the next post (or the next?), is though Zechariah and Mary ask the same basic question - How...?, their hows...? are fundamentally different. (But we'll save that for later.)
Zechariah's how...? is a statement of disbelief. His how...? is an indication of his heart. Remember, Zechariah is a Temple priest. He is a faithful guy. We never read that he is crooked or that he is stealing doves from the alter to make hat bands for sale. Luke writes that he and Elizabeth were, "... righteous before God, walking blamelessly in the commandments and statutes of the Lord."
And yet Zechariah can't see it. The angel speaks: "Your prayer has been heard..." In essence, Zechariah answers: "There is too much past for that to be my future."
THERE IS TOO MUCH PAST FOR THAT TO BE MY FUTURE...
I'm going to wrap up here for now. This is the how...? with which many of us struggle. How can that promise be for me? How can it be my future? I have too much past for that to be real.
I wish I had the eloquence to state this in a way that could really connect with your heart (and mine). All that I can do is write it and pray God drills it home: Your future is in no way dependent on your past!
YOUR FUTURE IS NOT DEPENDENT ON YOUR PAST
I am too __________
However you filled in the blank - No your are not! Nor am I.
God, overcome my I am toos... Overpower my hows...?!
For now...
D
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