The words caught my eye this morning like a glint in the grass on a sunny day. "It so happened..." Flippant, really. Casual. Like the person telling the story was holding a cup of coffee and looking over his shoulder at the action in the street. Nothing remarkable here.
And that's what made it remarkable to me.
I was reading this passage from Luke 1:8-12 in the Message:
"It so happened that as Zachariah was carrying out his priestly duties before God, working the shift assigned to his regiment, it came his one turn in life to enter the sanctuary of God and burn incense. The congregation was gathered and praying outside the Temple at the hour of the incense offering. Unannounced, an angel of God appeared just to the right of the altar of incense."
"It so happened" started the rhythm as I read. "It so happened...carrying out his duties...working the shift assigned..."
If this were a movie, there would be no blockbuster beginning. When an angel of God appears and tells Zachariah that he will be a part of heralding the in-breaking of God's kingdom on earth, what is he doing?
His job. The duties given to him. The shift assigned to him. It just so happened...
At the precipice of the Messiah exploding into the human experience, Elizabeth and Zachariah are living their lives together, honorably, carefully, obediently, and NORMALLY.
I had just read of Zachariah and his wife, Elizabeth, in the paragraph above it: " Together they lived honorably before God, careful in keeping to the ways of the commandments and enjoying a clear conscience before God" (Luke 1:5-7, MSG).
That gives hope to us mamas who's floors look like this:
Those of us with bruised knees and babies with fevers and oatmeal on the floor...again. Those of us working behind computers or behind fast-food counters or behind pulpits. Those of us bending over student's shoulders, or lawnmowers, or elderly loved ones.
The beauty of the stage being set for Jesus to arrive on earth is that the kingdom of God can break in when we are doing the duties, assignments, and daily life given to us, whether it be mundane or headline-making. God, it seems, is oblivious to counters that look like this:
and prone to start his greatest stories in the hearts of those living quiet, faithful lives and enjoying a clear conscience before Him.
The second thing that caught my heart's attention was Zachariah's job on the day he found out he'd be padre to THE Prophet. He was burning incense.
The New Testament has wisps of this incense wafting through its pages:
"Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God." (Ephesians 5:1-2, NIV)
"...The gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God." (Philippians 4:18, NIV)
"For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing" (2 Corinthians 2:15).
Our lives, our quiet lives of obedience to Jesus, service to those around us, faithfulness in sacrifice and in love, are our incense offering to God.
If we keep offering our ordinary selves, we might find ourselves like Zachariah, with a message from Heaven in the midst of our mundane, glory right beside us where we never expected it to appear.
May more whispers of a coming kingdom come where we find ourselves, "it so happens," to be. May we be faithful, ordinary "wide-eyed in wonder and belief" (Luke 11:33, MSG).
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