Behind Day 6 of my Advent Calendar is:
BASIL BRUSH
(wait for it! wait for it!)
Back when I did my O’Levels, exam questions often began with a request that the candidate compared and contrasted one thing with another. To the examiners, it seemed, to do so had some merit. And I suppose they were probably right, as by analysing, for example, differing responses to seemingly similar events, we may be helped to see the important ways those two events differed.
So let me give you an example. Not so long ago, when I was still a frontline healthcare worker, I had a Covid booster. But it wasn’t just me who was jabbed that morning. Hector, my recently acquired Black Labrador puppy, was due a vaccination too.
But whereas the vet plied her patient with tasty liver paste and various other canine treats, all I got from the person sticking a needle in me was her tacit acknowledgment that I didn’t yet look 65, something which, given that I’m still a good few years off that particular landmark, I considered was obvious and not something that required her to comment upon.
I wondered why a dog should be shown such favouritism but, sure enough, comparing and contrasting the way in which Hector and I were treated, highlighted differences between us which might not otherwise have been obvious. One of us you see, was handsome, cute and simply adorable…and the other was a Black Labrador puppy!
Boom, boom! (Thank you, Basil!)
But there is another, more interesting, comparison to be made between the two individuals who, in Luke Chapter 1, are told by God’s angel that they are going to have a child in unlikely circumstances.
The first is Zechariah. He is the man who is told by an angel that his elderly, and seemingly barren wife, will have a son – one who will one day come to be known as John the Baptist. After receiving the news, Zechariah asks the angel how he can know that this will actually happen, and is rendered mute as a result of his lack of faith.
The second individual is Mary. She is a young woman who, despite being a virgin, is told she will have a son – Jesus. On hearing this she not unreasonably responds by asking how this will come about but, in sharp contrast to how Zechariah was treated, far from being reprimanded, she is commended for her faith.
So what is so different in the way that these two individuals responded to the news of their imminent parenthood?
Well I think it’s this. Whilst Zechariah isn’t convinced that what he has been told will actually come about, and seeks further confirmation that the word spoken by the angel is trustworthy, Mary, despite finding it difficult to comprehend how her pregnancy will come about, none the less believes what the angel tells her is true.
Whereas Zechariah doesn’t believe the authoritative word spoken to him by God’s messenger, Mary does believe what the self same angel tells her. Zechariah lacks what Mary doesn’t – faith. Sure she has questions but as has been suggested, Mary’s is a faith in search of understanding.
And I suppose there is a lesson for us all in this. If God says something, then we can be sure that it is true, irrespective of how much we might not want it to be. We might be confused by it and appropriately seek help to understand it better, but we should never question what God declares to be the truth.
Because it is God, not us, who determines what is true and false – just as it is he who determines what is right and wrong. And so the truth is the truth – irrespective of what we might think. Which is what Zechariah discovered. He may have doubted what God said was true, but reality didn’t change as a result, and Elizabeth had a baby boy whilst he looked on speechless.
Zechariah learnt the hard way. We on the other hand, if we are wise, will, on hearing God speak, humbly believe what he says. And respond as Mary did, with these words:
‘Behold I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’ [Luke 1:38]
All of which is something we would do well to remember…well.
*****
Which is a particularly clumsy segue into today’s song which isn’t remotely Christmasy but is, instead, one from none other than Basil Brush himself – in his original 1970’s incarnation. Here he is duetting with Petula Clark.
Previously from ‘A Christmas Countdown’:
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Day 5’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Day 4’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Day 3’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Day 2’, click here
To read ‘A Christmas Countdown – Day 1’, click here
Other related posts:
To read “Hope comes from believing the promises of God”, click here
To read ‘Looking back to move confidently forward’, click here
Some musings 