When Heaven and Earth Collide

We are so used to keeping heaven and earth blissfully separate, comfortably apart.  Heaven minds its heavenly business.  Earth the business of the earthlings.  Unless there is some emergency, as long as they keep safe distance, we all manage just fine.

But, when the distance is bridged, when there is a breach in the invisible wall… well, there are surprises. And emotional upheavals.  On both sides.

When angel Gabriel shows up to the right of the altar, Zacharias is gripped with fear. This is the most common emotion that is aroused in the earthlings when they are faced with the heaven-lings.  Over and over again throughout the Scriptures angels uniformly induce terror in those who saw them.

And over and over again, angels do their heavenly best to assuage those fears and assure their earthly audience of God’s unconditional favor.

They’ve been sent by none other than the Lord Himself – the Creator of both realms - to deliver a special message. In Zacharias’ case, it’s a quite detailed message about the birth of the Messiah’s forerunner – the little baby boy John.

I wonder if Gabriel was still reeling from the shocking news which reverberated throughout the heavenly realm when he was summoned for the special messenger task on hand. His angelic brain struggling to wrap his mind around what he just heard:

                                                                                           

Did you hear that Michael?!!! The Lord becoming a baby?!!! God  in… in… human flesh…?!!! A cosmic scandal!

But, Zacharias isn't privy either on the latest heavenly news or his own earthly role in the unfolding of God's plan.  In fact, all his hopes for a tangible, skin-clothed promise from God have gone by the wayside. With hope gone, all Zacharias has left… all Zacharias has learned to settle for is faithfully, dutifully wearing his religion like a garment, all on the outside of his old, drying up body…

But, God never intended for us to wear our religion all on the outside... like a garment, like a business suit... like a dead bark on a sycamore  tree...