One day Zechariah was serving God in the Temple, for his order was on duty that week.

As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense.

While the incense was being burned, a great crowd stood outside, praying.

While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar.

Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. 

Luke 1:8-12 NLT

Zach was going about his normal duties, chosen apparently at random that day to enter the sanctuary. 

An ordinary day. 

And on that ordinary day, the extraordinary happened.

With the noise of the crowd outside praying and the smell of the incense and the smoke swirling, heaven entered earth. 

We don't know if it was the surprise, the form of the angel, but this was not subtle, but an act full of drama. 

And yet it was personal. 

The crowd outside praying had no idea what was going on for Z inside. 

Inside he was face-to-face with heaven's representative. 

God's envoy.

Some days that would be really helpful if God would just send an angel with some instructions. Some ordinary day disrupt it with the extraordinary. 

To fix my stuff, solve my problems.

The angel turned up not for Z, but for all of us, he is part of God's Bigger Story that invites, welcomes, brings in the crowd stuck outside the temple. 

This is extraordinary not just in a human context, but in every way. 

This is the start of The Way. 

#christmas2023

#upsidedownkingdom