Long-Standing Faithfulness

When showing up time after time matters.

Welcome to our new subscribers! Usually these posts do out between 5:00-6:00 AM each day. I try to write them each day to keep things fresh. Alas…my whole household is sick right now, including me. So I decided sleep was the more important thing for the moment. So here is today’s post, much later than I prefer.

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One day, Zechariah was serving…

For many, the Christmas season always seems to come and go pretty quickly. One minute it’s Thanksgiving and the next…it’s New Year’s! This is part of why many church leaders want to reclaim the season of Advent as one of waiting. It’s an inherent aspect of the season because it’s an inherent part of the biblical story. The child messiah only came once, despite our annual celebration.

The characters of the biblical story, be they Mary, the shepherds, Anna & Simeon, or Elizabeth and Zechariah - they all share in demonstrating a particular faithfulness over the course of time. It wasn’t like Zechariah decided once to go and serve in the Temple and BOOM - there was the miracle. It seems he did his duty session after session, year after year.

The time is coming…

Okay, but how long, oh Lord?

Would it be a fair assessment to say that those of us who live in the US are in the midst of a particularly inpatient generation? Impatience is nothing new in the course of humanity. But this generation has been formed and shaped through a number of means - but perhaps most notably, the advancement of all forms of technology - to expect things here and now.

Zechariah (and others in the biblical story) are examples to us of a steady faithfulness, plodding along in a patient hope. It’s not likely that Zechariah always felt hope, but he did show up.

Luke 1:8-10

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.

Jeremiah 23:5-6

The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up a righteous descendant from David’s line, and he will rule as a wise king. He will do what is just and right in the land. During his lifetime, Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And his name will be The Lord Is Our Righteousness.

Prayer

God,

Keep me from impatience. Give my vision the long-range view.
Keep me from wanton desire. Shape my desires to be satisfied with less.
Keep me from frenetic anxiety. Calm my soul to the degree of Jesus’ coolness.
Keep me from misplaced hope. Remind me that you’ve got this and can see well beyond what I can.

And for today, help me to be faithful in all things, big and little (but let’s be honest - mostly little).

By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.