Sometimes God Interrupts Our Work

Scripture — Luke 1:8-11

Once when [Zechariah] was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.

Devotion

If you have been reading Life for Leaders for a while, you know that I often highlight the biblically-based truth that our daily work matters greatly to God. This perspective is revealed, first of all, in the opening chapters of Genesis. It is reaffirmed time and again throughout Scripture. Work matters to God, not just because we can share our faith with our colleagues or earn money to support worthy Christian endeavors. Rather, our daily work matters to God because God made us to be workers and instructed us to work each day, except for the seventh day, which God set apart as a day of rest. We can glorify God through our daily work when we offer ourselves as servants for God’s purposes and glory. Our work can even be an invaluable expression of worship.

Yet, there are times when God does special things in the context of our work and we would be wise to pay attention to these. As the Theology of Work commentary on Luke 1 observes, “Luke’s Gospel begins in a workplace. This continues Yahweh’s long history of appearing in workplaces (e.g., Genesis 2:19-20; Exodus 3:1-5). Zechariah is visited by the angel Gabriel on the most important workday of his life — the day he was chosen to minister in the holy place of the Jerusalem temple (Luke 1:8).”

Now, you and I may not think of the temple in Jerusalem as a workplace, but rather as some kind of unusually sacred site. To be sure, the temple was uniquely blessed by God and his presence. Yet, for the priests who served in the temple, it was clearly a place of hard work. Again, I quote from the Theology of Work commentary on Luke 1: “While we may not be accustomed to thinking of the temple as a place of labor, the priests and Levites there were engaged in butchery (the sacrificial animals did not kill themselves), cooking, janitorial work, accounting, and a wide variety of other activities. The temple was not simply a religious center, but the center of Jewish economic and social life.”

We should understand that Zechariah did not always work in the temple. No doubt he earned a living through his ordinary work in the Judean hill country where he lived. Yet, as a member of a priestly family, when it was time for Zechariah’s division to serve in the temple, he worked hard in this aspect of his life’s work.

Of course, what happened to Zechariah as he was burning incense in the temple was not typical. In fact, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. An angel appeared to him, revealing that his wife, who was “getting on in years” (Luke 1:18), would give birth to a son. When Zechariah disbelieved the angel’s promise, the priest became unable to speak until the day of his son’s birth. Nevertheless, God did as the angel had foretold, and Zechariah’s wife Elizabeth did give birth to a son, the person we know as John the Baptist.

Probably the main reason that Zechariah doubted the angel’s revelation was Zechariah’s knowledge of basic human physiology. Older women like Elizabeth do not usually give birth. But I wonder if Zechariah responded as he did to the angel, in part, because he was so focused on his work that he was not prepared to be interrupted by God. Maybe I’m reading too much of myself into this story. Maybe not. But the truth is that I can concentrate so completely on my work that I can easily miss God’s interruptions. Perhaps you can relate.

This story from Luke 1 reminds me that God can and will interrupt your ordinary lives, including your work, whether paid or unpaid, when God wants to do something special with you. Therefore, even as you give your work to God as worship, may you be ready for the unexpected. May you be attentive to God’s surprises, whether they come in the form of an angel, a whisper from the Holy Spirit, or an occasion to encourage an exhausted colleague with a kind word.

Banner image by Maria Lysenko on Unsplash.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Advent Reflection: Zechariah.

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