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Sep 09, 2025 18:00pm

Walking Through Luke: A Day Like Any Other

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How easy is it to fall into a routine when it comes to worship? Certainly, we like to have order in the structure of a church service. We don’t want things to be chaotic, after all. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 14:40 that all things should be done “decently and in order,” and he was referring specifically to the gathering of a church family. It’s not a bad thing to have a prepared idea of how a worship service is going to go.

But when it comes to doing the same thing week in and week out, sometimes the simple predictability of it can lead to too much routine, and not enough wonder. We prepare for Sunday with the same expectations every week: we’ll hear some good singing, be challenged by the preaching, have a few minutes of fellowship with our friends whom we haven’t seen since last Sunday, and head to Cracker Barrel for lunch.

If you’re active in the ministry of your church, you might arrive early. Maybe you bring the donuts or start the coffee pot brewing. Maybe you make sure the lights and speakers are on. Maybe you make copies of your Sunday school handouts so that all the kids have something to color during class. Every volunteer plays a part in the structure that makes the worship service possible. And don’t misunderstand—all those things are necessary. Everyone who contributes to an orderly service is a blessing to their church.

But sometimes, God steps into the midst of routine to shake it up.

The Jewish priests had a similar structure to their worship routine. The temple priesthood had 24 divisions from the Levite tribe, each serving twice a year for one week. In our modern church culture, we might call this a rotation. Your church might have a rotation of worship singers or children’s church teachers. For the priests, they were on rotation for the time of year they were to serve. And even then, the divisions were large enough that not everyone within the division served every time it was their turn.

Among the division of Abijah, there was a particular man named Zechariah. He was a faithful, godly servant, and his wife, Elizabeth, was also from the Levite tribe. She, too, is described as righteous and blameless (Luke 1:6). Elizabeth was childless, even though both she and Zechariah were old. In those days, being childless was considered a sign of disfavor with God, but maybe two people as godly as Zechariah and Elizabeth had come to terms with her barrenness. Even if they had, Elizabeth still recognized how her peers looked at her (v. 25).

As Zechariah was serving on his rotation, burning incense, he received a visit from Gabriel (v. 19), an angel of God. This angel brought incredible news: Elizabeth was going to have a son! He gave Zechariah instructions to name the child John and ensure he did not drink wine. He revealed that John would be filled with the Holy Spirit and would become a powerful messenger of God to the people of Israel. It was Zechariah and Elizabeth’s duty to raise him.

Zechariah naturally doubted this, due to his and his wife’s old age. Gabriel told him that as a sign of the truthfulness of his message, Zechariah would be unable to speak until the baby was born.

When Zechariah went into the temple to burn incense, he had no idea how his world was about to change. He was dutiful and attentive to his responsibilities. However, when God intervened, Zechariah realized that something greater awaited him. He was not condemned for routine, nor was his time of service cut short even when he became mute. He continued to faithfully serve.

Although he doubted the angel’s words, he still obeyed after the sign of his muteness (vs. 63–80). Zechariah was not so busy with the routine that he let it interfere with the way God wanted to shake things up.

As we serve God today, we should keep an eye out for the ways He could be shaking up our routine. It might be easy to grow irritated by interruptions or hiccups in the normal ebb and flow of our lives, whether in a worship service or as part of our daily schedule. Don’t brush off change as an inconvenience; instead, look closely and consider whether it might be God nudging us toward something new.

Are you comfortable with structure? Or are you trapped by it? As we serve God, having a road map for regular Bible study, prayer, and worship isn’t a bad thing, but sometimes we might need to crumple up the map and see that God has a plan for us that goes beyond our simple understanding and need for routine. Our greatest connection with Him and our best opportunities to serve Him might come when we step outside the boundaries of routine and allow Him to guide us on an uncharted path.