{"id":7290,"date":"2023-09-01T08:00:12","date_gmt":"2023-09-01T00:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=7290"},"modified":"2023-09-04T05:45:46","modified_gmt":"2023-09-03T21:45:46","slug":"317-barrenness-as-a-limitless-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=7290","title":{"rendered":"317. \u201cBarrenness\u201d as a Limitless Opportunity"},"content":{"rendered":"

5\u00a0In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.\u00a06\u00a0Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord.\u00a07\u00a0But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.<\/strong><\/span> [Luke 1:5-7<\/span>, NRSV<\/em>]<\/span><\/p>\n

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In angel Gabriel\u2019s Annunciation to Zechariah on the gift of a son, there is a delightful element of surprise which eventually culminated in immense \u201cjoy and gladness\u201d. This is narrated in the Gospel of Luke, a Gospel replete with joy, rejoicing and celebrations. It is after all a Gospel of Joy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Zachariah was on duty at the hour of the burning of incense inside the Holy Place of the Temple when the angel Gabriel appeared announcing that Elizabeth would bear a son who would \u201cturn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God.\u201d When Zachariah expressed doubt at this because of Elizabeth\u2019s age, he was struck mute, and upon exiting the Temple it was clear to the people there that he had seen a vision (Luke 1:22). He remained mute for nine months until the son’s birth, when he wrote out the newborn’s name. The name is John, whom later generation would refer to as John the Baptist. He would go before the Lord, \u201cto make ready for the Lord a people prepared\u201d (Luke 1:17).<\/span><\/p>\n

In the text, John\u2019s parents were a pious, law-abiding couple, steeped in righteousness (Luke 1:6). Yet they had been barren all those years and now \u201cadvanced in years\u201d, the time for childbearing was well past.\u00a0It is understandable that Zechariah could not but respond to the angel\u2019s promise with incredulity.<\/span><\/p>\n

Luke offers glimpses of great sadness and disappointment in their story. Life breaks us all. Zechariah and Elizabeth\u2019s life hasn\u2019t worked out as they had planned when they were young and just getting started on their life together – big family, son to carry on Zechariah\u2019s name and his priestly vocation, daughters to help Elizabeth around the house.\u00a0Now, all they have was just a mixture of honour and shame and a degree of sorrow. For many years, this barrenness had caused Elizabeth to be troubled by her imagination of the whispers of \u201creproach among men\u201d (Luke 1:25). For a Jew, and a priest at that, to fail to fulfill God\u2019s first commandment to man – be fruitful and multiply – was a tragedy for Zechariah bordering on a curse.<\/span><\/p>\n

And yet, Luke also says, \u201cthey were righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.\u201d\u00a0That is quite remarkable, for it is not easy to walk steadfastly in righteousness when you are disappointed in the Lord.\u00a0Holding on can be hard when things are not going to happen like you thought they would happen, and when all signs point to the inevitability that nothing positive is going to happen anymore. There just simply isn\u2019t time left for that. All realistic hopes have been consigned to the unfulfilled past. And yet, Zechariah and Elizabeth are patron saints for all of us who are, from time to time, tempted to give up.\u00a0They are there beckoning to us to walk on the ways of righteousness, regardless. They remind us that God is always faithful, but not necessarily as we expect or on our time schedule.\u00a0They open our eyes to examples of patient faith and holiness, not burning like a flash pan, but staying warm in the embers of the fire of God\u2019s love.<\/span><\/p>\n

All that having been said, we ought to add further that barrenness is neither the presence of sin nor of condemnation. Rather, it is an opportunity for blessing. For example, as in this case, God may give a child late. Besides, the truth is real that God may intend a childless couple to pursue other opportunities of service. Furthermore, adoption is a clear alternative, and it happens regularly across the globe. Other avenues are always open for any childless couple or any single person to pursue their mission in life and find fulfillment. Neither is fruitfulness in life measured by the number of children one has, nor is one\u2019s wealth pegged on the size of one\u2019s bank account. Indeed, Luke\u2019s Zechariah-Elizabeth story suggests that God may very well have something \u201cspecial\u201d for you.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the point really is that reflections on \u201cbarrenness\u201d do not have to be confined to childbearing at all. In modern living, it is a growing phenomenon that multitudes of men and women do not get married, either by choice or due to opportunity-escapes. Avenues for service or fulfillment in life are simply not grounded on having children or not.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once the concept of \u201cbarrenness\u201d is expanded to include all \u201chopeless\u201d situations, then the Christian category of surrendering our trust to the Almighty becomes fecund. In modern living, \u201cfreedom\u201d is touted in a way which is not always healthy. Responsible adults like to take things into their own hands, to know that decisions count, and to carefully weigh what we do. In fact to control the future through planning is a large part of responsible adult waking life. So much so, in fact, that to simply say that we \u201ctrust things will come out alright,\u201d may well sound like an abdication of duty to make things come out alright. A firm emphasis on human freedom and decision making has become an indispensable requirement and a sought-after character-trait in business management. That said, however, from the spiritual point of view, something \u201cmore\u201d that is precious ought to be added to the equation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Christian wisdom proposes that we see life, at its deepest level, not only as a conscious project to be accomplished by dint of sheer hard work, aided by careful execution of well-planned strategies. Even more, we are called to see life as an unsolicited gift, to be enjoyed with immense gratitude. If all that we are aware of is the demands of life, the inevitable hardship of life will soon break us all. The mind needs to rest from its \u201cwise and learned status\u201d like a child who instinctively knows its relationship to a higher reality whose wisdom it can rely. We need to learn to give over our \u201ccontrol\u201d, and \u201ctrust\u201d that higher wisdom. \u201cThe mind can rest in the soul and the soul can rest in God.\u201d The Matthean Jesus has explained all this, as he invites all who feel labored and burdened with an excessive sense of responsibility and control, to partner him and carry his yoke together \u2013 so the yoke will be easy and the burden light (Matt 11:28-30),<\/span><\/p>\n

To be sure, in any \u201chopeless\u201d situation, it is not easy for humans to reach a level of trust<\/em> where we can say with confidence that while for humans it is impossible, nothing is impossible for God. But Luke, in resonance with other Scripture writers, would emphatically repeat that infinite divine capability (Luke 1:37; 18:27). The call from Luke is strong: trust God, and get on with what you have set your heart to achieve for His kingdom. You can always hope, and hope again, together with God. Remember that when all hopes were practically gone for Zechariah and Elizabeth, suddenly, \u201cthere appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing to the right of the altar of incense<\/em>\u201d (Luke 1:11).<\/span><\/p>\n