Luke 1:67-79 (NRSV)
Then (John the Baptist's) father
Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy:
“Blessed be the Lord God of
Israel,
for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up a mighty savior
for us
in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke through the mouth of
his holy prophets from of old,
that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who
hate us.
Thus he has shown the mercy
promised to our ancestors,
and has remembered his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our
ancestor Abraham,
to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear, in
holiness and righteousness
before him all our days.
And you, child, will be called the
prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to
his people
by the forgiveness of their sins.
By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to give light to those who sit in
darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”
Today marks the beginning of a new Christian year --- as we
move into the season of Advent
The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus,
meaning “coming,” which is a translation of the Greek word parousia.
Many believe that during the 4th and 5th centuries Advent
was a season of preparation for the baptism of new Christians at the January
feast of Epiphany.
During this season of preparation, Christians would spend 40
days in penance, prayer, and fasting to prepare for this celebration;
originally, there was little connection between Advent and Christmas.
By the 6th century Advent became tied to the coming of
Christ.
The “coming” they had in mind was
not Christ’s first coming in the manger in Bethlehem, but his second coming ---
the parosia --- in the clouds as the judge of the world.
It was not until the Middle Ages that the Advent season was
explicitly linked to Jesus’ birth at Christmas.
So this advent season we watch and wait
·
Watching and waiting to see what might happen in
our lives when we encounter Jesus in the manger
·
Watching and waiting for the return of the
Christ in the world
To help us as we watch and wait --- we are going to look at
four of the songs that are found in the Bible --- songs that are sung by
various people at the time of Jesus birth.
This morning we are going to focus on Zachariah's song ---
often called the Benedictus
This is our only story about Zachariah found in the bible
--- but it is an important one.
But before we can talk about Zachariah and his song --- we
need to go back a bit.
The Christian Old Testament ends with the book of Malachi
--- and this is its rather cryptic final verses:
Malachi 4:5-6 (CEB)
Look, I am sending Elijah the
prophet to you,
before the great and terrifying day of
the Lord arrives.
Turn the hearts of the parents to
the children
and the hearts of the children to their parents.
Otherwise, I will come and strike
the land with a curse.
Kind of confusing isn't it.
But like so
many movies today ---
it
leaves you hanging ---
knowing
there must be more coming ---
some
type of sequel . . .
We all know who Elijah was --- don't we?
Elijah, the Tishbite from Gilead was --- according to the
Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible, a prophet and a miracle worker who lived in
the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab.
He is known
for taking on Jezebel and the prophets of Baal.
But he is also unique in that he does not die in the bible
--- instead he is taken up to God in a whirlwind by a chariot of horses and
fire.
Elijah --- since he did not die --- is seen --- according to
Malachi --- as returning to usher in the day of the lord.
But after Malachi wrote those words --- there was a period
of 400 years of silence.
There was not any revelation from God.
And the
people waited and watched in silence
Silence
That is not something most of us like very much.
Friday morning, I had the opportunity to spend some time
with our grand-daughter Hattie
She was not feeling good, and after having a little bit to
eat I took her into her room to try to get her to sleep.
We sat in the rocking chair --- and as I rocked her in silence,
I just listened
That kind of silence most of us like --- but other silence tends
to make us uncomfortable
Most of you tell me that the hardest part of prayer is
sitting in silence --- trying to clear the mind and just listen to God.
It takes practice to get good at sitting in silence
Maybe it needed to take the Israelites 400 years to be able
to be prepared for the Messiah
Regardless --- our story that is found in Luke's gospel
tells us the story of Zachariah
In verse 5 we hear about Zachariah for the first time
We learn that he is a priest in Jerusalem who is married to Elizabeth
who is the daughter of a priest
But we also learn that they are now elderly and childless
With the incredible cultural and
family pressure to have children, childless parents often felt deficient, as if
passed over by God.
If you've ever longed for something
with all your heart, then you know the kind of self-examination and surrender
that Zechariah and Elizabeth experienced
You know how disappointment can turn
into sorrow --- sorrow to despair, and despair into resolve.
Now, with the passing of the years,
they had long-since packed away their hopes.
The story begins on what was most likely the most important
day of Zachariah's life.
Amy-Jill Levine sets the scene in the book we are studying
this advent season: Light of the World.
She writes:
The magnificent building, priests
and worshipers, Jews and pagans, from Europe and Asia and North Africa, sounds
of Levites singing and children laughing, the smells of incense, and animals,
even the tastes of the meat of the sacrifices.
. . .
It is the time of the afternoon
incense offering and "all the people who gathered to worship were praying
outside during this hour of the incense offering" (Luke 1:10). . . . Some perhaps were praying, as Zachariah
and Elizabeth had, for children; others for health or healing; still others for
the well-being of the people, of for thanksgiving, or, perhaps for Herod to
take a long vacation. Or perhaps some
were praying for the Messiah to bring about the kingdom of heaven.
Zachariah had finally been given the opportunity to serve in
the temple --- it was the day every priest longed for --- because it most
likely only happened once in a lifetime.
Zachariah is on incense duty inside the temple when suddenly
an angel appears.
Now, I don't know about you --- but if an angel showed up
one morning and started talking to me --- I think I would be a bit shocked and probably
speechless.
Zachariah we are told was terrified
But the angel seems to pick up right where Malachi left off
The angel tells him that: he and Elizabeth are going to have
a baby --- and that baby is to be the very one that Malachi promised would
come.
This child would grow up to be the same one that Isaiah
seemed to also be speaking of and that Mark alludes to when he says John was a
voice crying out in the wilderness
But at that moment --- Zachariah couldn't fathom such a
thing.
Instead, in verse 18 he says: “How can I be sure of this? My
wife and I are very old.”
The angel responds:
“I am Gabriel. I stand in God’s
presence. I was sent to speak to you and to bring this good news to you. Know
this: What I have spoken will come true at the proper time. But because you
didn’t believe, you will remain silent, unable to speak until the day when
these things happen.”
Zachariah is late leaving the temple and the people are
getting antsy
We are told that they people could tell that he had had seen
a vision
And Zachariah
tries to explain to them with gestures because he couldn't speak
It must have been quite the scene watching Zachariah trying
to explain what had happened in the temple.
And wouldn't you love to be there when he goes home and
tried to "tell" Elizabeth that she is going to become pregnant.
And then the story basically says she hid out for the next
five months --- probably ashamed at her husband and unsure how to really
explain the growing belly bump
Was Zechariah being punished?
That doesn’t
seem fair, does it?
I don’t believe the silencing of Zechariah was about
punishment.
I believe
that in the silence, God was preparing Zechariah
For nine months --- Zachariah was silent
During this time Zechariah must have poured over the Hebrew
Scriptures, trying to understand what was happening.
He must have spent long hours in prayer trying to understand
exactly what the angel had said, and what role this son of his would have.
At some point, it all came into focus for Zechariah.
In the silence, God had prepared Zechariah to understand that
this was bigger than just a miraculous birth to an elderly couple.
Zechariah sang, but it wasn’t a lullaby.
It was a song of faith.
Zechariah sang, not about his own son, but about another
baby who would soon be born to a distant relative of Elizabeth's.
It’s not until almost the end of Zachariah's song that he
addresses his own son (John), and the role he would play in this event we call
Christmas.
Little baby John would grow up to
be a messenger, to prepare God's people for the coming King.
This was the first song of the first Christmas.
Before the
shepherds and the wise men
Even before
the stable
Zachariah
sings his song of hope
Amy-Jill Levine reminds us:
When we feel the absence of the
diving, when we think there is no reason to hope, we call out to God to
remember, because we remember. We can do
so because we know that the covenant is permanent.
And the lesson for us is this:
Even in
apparent silence, God is preparing you and me for Advent.
We are not being prepared for the holiday of Christmas, but
for the reality of Christmas: “God with us.”
