Luke 1:22 says about Zechariah: “When he did come out, he could not speak to
them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable
to speak.” (NRSV) I wonder when the
last time was that God rendered us speechless.
When was the last time God stirred us so much that people could tell
that we had just experienced God?
This scripture takes me back a few years to when a dear
friend’s precious mother had spent many days in the ICU with her life hanging
in the balance. On this particular day
the doctor had called the family in to make a decision about a potentially life
saving surgery that he feared she would not live through. The family had to make a choice. She was sure to die without the surgery but
was likely not to make it through the surgery.
The family did not feel like they had any choice. They wanted to opt for the best chance of
life no matter how small that chance was.
The scene was quite remarkable. Family members and friends from all walks of
life had gathered. The ICU waiting room
overflowed out into the hall with people who had great love and admiration for
this woman. Her life was in the hands of
this surgeon, and more importantly in the hands of God. My faith was weak, I must admit. Things didn’t look good and I am not one to
want to give people a hope for them only to be devastated and crushed when that
hope is not realized. I had no
words. I knew though. I knew that as a pastor I was expected to say
a prayer. As the doctors wheeled her out
of the ICU I stopped them. I laid my
hands on her, told her in her comatose state who I was and I prayed. I can’t tell you what I prayed. What I can tell you is that the energy that
flowed through my body that night was an energy outside of myself. What I can tell you is that as I said Amen
and turned to look around at the circle of hands joined together, I knew what
faith community looked like. I can tell
you that when I saw that picture I crumbled in thanksgiving to God who holds us
in the midst of the questions. In that
moment I was speechless. In that moment
I had experienced God.
Thanks be to God she survived the surgery. Thanks be to God she was given several more
years to be with her children, her mother and her grandchildren. Thanks be to God today she watches over them
all from her place in heaven. Thanks be
to God for God’s presence in all of it. God breaking into the messiness of life. Come thou Long Expectant Jesus…..In the name
of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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