They say the only things that are certain in life are death and taxes. But for people of faith, I think we need to add another certainty: Doubt. No matter how in love with God we may be, we will have times of doubt.

• Doubting if God is even with us.
• Wondering if God is too small to deal with the size of my particular problem, doubting if he is as good as scripture says.

Some of us carry a good deal of guilt about even thinking these questions. But as I pondered it this week, I was struck by the fact that rather than doubt being the absence of faith…it is an important part of it.

I was sort of proud of that thought, thinking myself pretty original until I ran across a quote from the theologian Paul Tillich that says “doubt isn’t the opposite of faith, but rather an element of faith.” So much for my original thought…I hate it when that happens!

This morning as we read essentially the introduction to the Christmas story, we get to hear about the Bible’s poster child for doubting faith.

You know, the names of people in the Bible are very significant. The names you and I carry around tend to just be names, that fit us or not, depending on the circumstances. Oh, we may do a little research and find out what our name once meant, but it’s not really the case anymore.

But the Bible names really mean something. Take this guy Zechariah, for example. His name literally means “The Lord Remembers.” Hold onto that for a few minutes.

Zechariah was a priest, born into a priestly family. Because the worship activity at the temple in Jerusalem–sacrifices, offerings, prayers-went on 24/7, there were a lot of priestly functions to be carried out. But there also were many, many priests in Palestine, perhaps as many as 18,000. It was a big deal when someone’s turn to serve in the temple came. Literally, priests were chosen by lottery to serve in Jerusalem. So when Zechariah’s number came up, it was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity. He and his family would have been very, very excited.

Zechariah’s role was to be in the “sanctuary of the Lord” in the temple in Jerusalem, and to offer incense. Now the sacred Jewish temple was spiritual architecture. The further in you went, the more spiritual the space.

The most sacred place was called the Holy of Holies, where it was believed God’s presence actually resided. This was the place only entered once a year, and that only by the high priest of Jerusalem.

But just outside of the Holy of Holies was the Holy Place, the Sanctuary. This is where Zechariah will burn incense on an altar at the far end of the room, right next to the Holy of Holies. Zechariah, in other words, would be as close as he could ever get to the temple’s dwelling place for God.

So it is that Zechariah is here in this very sacred place, for probably the only time in his life, lighting incense that represents the prayers and longings of his people going up to God.

Those who have assisted him have left, and Zechariah is alone for a few moments. It is quiet. He is in a holy place. He will finish his duties, then walk out of the sanctuary to the porch that separates the holy places from the men’s and women’s courts, and he will announce the benediction. It is a big moment.

And it is at this moment, perhaps the high point of Zechariah’s life…that God actually visits him. And though Zechariah may have longed for it all his life, when it happens it is very confusing. God’s presence comes through an angel, Gabriel, the same one who would later visit the cousin of Joseph’s wife named Mary…standing right there, right at the altar where Zechariah burns incense. Right there!

In scripture angels most often function as God’s presence. The word “angel” in fact, is connected to the word for “messenger” or “evangelist,” the “messenger of good news.” And it is good news indeed that comes.

The angel’s words are the first spoken words in all of the Gospel of Luke. He says: “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah – (notice the name, “God remembers!”) – for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.” He will, in fact, be John the Baptist.

But Zechariah has one big problem. He knows it can’t happen. He has waited his whole adult life for a child, his wife Elizabeth waited her whole adult life for a child, prayed, pleaded with God and it never happened, and now they are too old.

“But…but…I’m an old man and my wife is -” and here is evidence Zechariah is still thinking clearly: “…and, and my wife is…(He’s about to take the all-tim “ things you don’t say” award)…getting on in years!” See the distinction?! He’s an “old man,” but his wife is merely “getting on in years!”

We’ve heard this story before. It sounds like the story in Genesis, when the senior citizens Abraham and Sarah, who had no children, are visited by an angel who tells them they will produce a son, and they bust up laughing. Impossible! And that angel wasn’t too happy with them either!

It also sounds like the stories of people’s lives you know, and in fact no small number of you have lived parts of this story, finding yourselves unable to have children. The waiting. The trying. The frustration. The doubts. “Where is God? Doesn’t he hear me?” There is pain. It’s hard to be around families having babies, hard to be around pregnant women, to see rosebuds on the lectern…but it doesn’t happen for you.

Elizabeth will later say when she indeed finds herself impossibly pregnant “…the Lord took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.”

Friends of mine struggling with infertility have told me they have felt some of that…though, as one scholar notes, “it’s important to read the scripture carefully here and note that the sense of disgrace is from people…not from God.” Sometimes we have a hard time distinguishing between the how people look at something and how the Lord does. The two are often different.

Anyway, the angel tells Zechariah that, despite their old age they will bear a child. At least Zechariah doesn’t laugh. But boy does he doubt. “How will I know?”

To me, that seemed like a stupid question. “Well, Zechariah, it starts with Elizabeth not feeling good, morning sickness, then eventually her belly begins to grow!”

No, he can’t wait for that. This is too unbelievable. “Give me a sign, don’t make me wait!” Zechariah wants a sign, proof that God will be true to his word. A little demanding, maybe? Even a little arrogant?

“Okay,” God says, “here’s your sign.You won’t be able to talk, (or hear, apparently)…until this happens.”

It seems like a kind of punishment for doubting, doesn’t it? But maybe the forced quiet is actually a gift to help overcome his doubt. Or maybe it is just a waiting period until the time is right. Or maybe, as Kathleen Norris writes, Zechariah isn’t so much being punished as he is being protected from saying anything else so stupid…err, arrogant.

One way or the other, as a result of his doubt Zechariah is forced into a waiting that is every bit as long as his wife Elizabeth’s.

Outside at the edge of the courts, Zechariah’s family and friends wait for him to come out. They know what will happen. He will emerge from the temple, come to the sanctuary railing and pronounce Aaron’s benediction from Numbers 6: “The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance and give you peace.” And they’ll all say Amen, and then they’ll head out to dinner to celebrate Zechariah’s big moment.

Except. He doesn’t come. And he doesn’t come. And they wait and they wait. Where could he be? They wait some more, and wait some more. And finally, far later than he should, Zechariah staggers out of the temple. His eyes are wide, he face covered with sweat, his arms swinging wildly. They figure out that he has received a strange touch from God and cannot speak. And they silently take him home. To wait.

Zechariah doubted. We all doubt. We wonder if God can really do something. Or if he wants to. We doubt if he’s even there. Does it mean we quit believing? No. Part of believing is doubting. Doubting means there’s a conversation in process. “God, are you there? Are you enough for me? Are you good?” And when there’s a conversation going on, it means that there’s a relationship. A faith relationship. Doubting just means it’s an authentic one. Doubting means there’s some trust that will have to happen when we don’t know everything, and can’t control everything.

The writer Frederick Buechner, puts it this way: “…if you don’t have any doubts, you are either kidding yourself or asleep.” Then in typical Buechner fashion, he continues “Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep us awake and moving.”

So what can we do, what should we think about when we hit those times of doubt? There are four things that come quickly to mind for me, and they’re all in this story. When we encounter doubt, we:

a) hang around people who believe.

Zechariah went home, deaf and mute. But he went home with Elizabeth – whose name, by the way, means "My God is Faithful!" Elizabeth, who was filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth, who would be the first witness to the baby that her cousin Mary carried. And a community full of people.

It is one of the most beautiful things about being in Christian community. Because of the kind of work I do, I get to be part of a number of extraordinary smaller communities: men’s groups, session, spiritual formation team, our staff, a home group, a study group. In every group, at any given time there are some people, myself included, who doubt, or are discouraged or can’t see what God is doing. But there are always others who can say “I’m so excited! Let me tell you how God met me this week!” And even in the hearing of other people’s stories, it reminds us that God is at work. So who are you hanging around?

When we doubts threaten to overpower us, we need to:

b) look around us.

If you are doubting God’s presence or character in one area or over one question, are there evidences that God is at work doing other things?

I have a close family member I have prayed for for most of my life, that he will come to know Christ, and it hasn’t happened yet. Some days I doubt it ever will. And then I’ll be with someone who tells me their own story, how they came to know Jesus much later in life…and though it doesn’t explain why not here, it reminds me that God is at work.

Zechariah couldn’t figure everything out. But God had clearly shown up, he’d seen an angel, for heaven’s sake!

c) sit with God’s Word.

Zechariah received God’s Word, the good news that they would bear a son, and even more, that this son would be a great and godly man. It was the last word he heard for a long time. I wonder if it rang in his ears? I imagine that Word churned inside of him, stirring up new things, challenging, comforting.

How do we sit with God’s Word, the scriptures? There are different ways and different times and seasons in our lives that the scriptures impact us. We study, read historical context, do word studies, compare passages, think deeply about immediate application points for our lives. All very good and important.

But other ways are also important. To just allow God’s Word to roll around inside of us. In November, we had an Alpha leaders training time. John Chase led a Lectio Divina time and brought us to a passage from the gospel of John chapter 20, the story, in fact of, Jesus meeting “Doubting Thomas.” It was a very familiar passage to all of us, how many times had we read it? But as we sat quietly for 20 minutes, reading and listening and re-reading, the most amazing things come out. Different things for different people.

What would happen if you just sat by a window each morning, read or sang a Psalm through several times. And just sat with it? I think it would change you. That’s what scripture does. I think it’s what happened to Zechariah. God’s Word was working on him from the inside out.

• wait. 9 months is a long time to wait. To wait without talking. To wait

without hearing. 9 months. Sometimes we just have to wait, like Zechariah did. He didn’t know what the outcome would be. He had to figure out how to live his life, how to go about routines, to live even as he waited.

Waiting on God doesn’t mean “wishing.” “I wish that I could switch jobs. I wish my spouse was a better listener. I wish there was more excitement.” Wishing, Henry Nouwen would say, is more a desire to control the future. If we wait only for our desired outcome to happen, we are often disappointed and even in despair. Waiting on God sounds more like this: “I don’t know what this all means, but I trust that God will be with me in what happens.” We can wait because God is in the waiting.

So in the midst of his doubts, Zechariah was around other people of faith. He had evidence that God was at work, even when he couldn’t see everything. He sat with God’s Word and let it slowly shape him. He waited.

And what happens? Elizabeth’s boy is born. Eight days later, they take him (according to tradition) to be circumcised, and they need to name him.

People said “Name him Zechariah…after his pour deaf, mute dad.”

But Elizabeth said “No, name him John.”

When they made sign language to put the question to Zechariah, he asked for a clipboard and wrote the name. He was very straight forward. He didn’t give his top 3 picks, he just wrote “His name is John” (which means, by the way, God-Has-Given-Grace).

As soon as the words were written down, Zechariah’s tongue loosened and he could speak. And the first words out of Zechariah’s mouth? Words of praise to God. Something has been going on in that waiting time.

I couldn’t help but wonder about the name. On the one hand, the angel had said that’s what his name should be, and so Zechariah and Elizabeth were just being obedient. But…did Zechariah write down "John, God-has-given-grace," because the baby was God’s grace to them? Or because God’s presence in an angel was grace to them? Or because all he had learned in a mandatory 9 month quiet time was grace to him?

I don’t know. I only know that the story starts with a lot of doubt and ends with a lot of faith. Not surprising, because the two belong together.