It’s Never About Me
Zechariah’s Prophecy, Luke 1:67-80 Advent week 2, Dec 4, 2011
Intro:
I’d like to borrow some words of J.B Phillips for my introduction this morning. He was an Anglican most remembered for the Phillips New Testament paraphrase (think The Message, but for the previous generation – he started that paraphrase for his youth group that met in bomb shelters in WW II in England). Here are some of his thoughts on this Advent season:
According to an old saying, familiarity breeds contempt. Of course this is not always true! In particular, it is often not true of people with whom we are familiar. Indeed, with the best kind of friends, the more we know them the more we grow to love and respect them. It is only the people who are superficial and at heart unreal who let us down when we grow familiar with them. It is then that our previous admiration can turn to contempt.
But the old saying was not intended to apply only to human relationships. There are situations where human beings are at first filled with awe, and then as they grow more and more familiar with them they experience first indifference, and then contempt. The spiderman who works on scaffolding hundreds of feet above the ground, has to be on his guard against this over-familiarity. The man who works with high-voltage electricity must also beware of becoming contemptuous of his danger. And anyone who knows the sea will say to you in effect, By all means love the sea, but never lose your respect for it. Whenever familiarity breeds contempt there is potential danger.
The particular danger which faces us as Christmas approaches is unlikely to be contempt for the sacred season, but nevertheless our familiarity with it may easily produce in us a kind of indifference. The true wonder and mystery may leave us unmoved; familiarity may easily blind us to the shining fact that lies at the heart of Christmastide. We are all aware of the commercialization of Christmas; we can hardly help being involved in the frantic business of buying and sending gifts and cards. We shall without doubt enjoy the carols, the decorations, the feasting and jollification, the presents, the parties, the dancing and the general atmosphere of goodwill that almost magically permeates the days of Christmas. But we may not always see clearly that so much decoration and celebration has been heaped upon the festival that the historic fact upon which all the rejoicing is founded has been almost smothered out of existence.
(from Good News: Thoughts on God and Man, copyright 1953, The Macmillan Co., New York.)
Zechariah’s story:
Last week we began our Advent journey – a road of waiting with anticipation – by considering some of the characters in the story as Luke tells it at the beginning of his Gospel. I want to return to one of those characters this morning, partly because of a really great conversation we had in our Adult Education time that has returned to me several times this past week. But also because I see in this character an incredible focus at a moment when we would expect something completely different – a model that will help us keep from smothering the very heart of the Christmas story.
And to set up that story, let me ask you to reflect on a little question: when is it OK for life to be centered around you? Surely there are a couple times, at least, right? How about your birthday? How about when you are celebrating some great accomplishment?? What if you are the championship team’s MVP? Your wedding day? How about the birth of your first child – then is it ok to have the focus on you and your baby??
Last week we met Zechariah and Elizabeth, who were, in the words of Luke 1, righteous in God’s eyes, careful to obey all of the Lord’s commandments and regulations. 7 They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they were both very old. Then we read the story: Zechariah called to his priestly duty in the temple, chosen for the special privilege of entering the holy place and burning incense as the prayers of the people. Suddenly, POW – Gabriel, the mighty angel, appears out of nowhere and strikes terror into Zechariah’s heart. But wait – it is not a message of judgment, rather Gabriel says Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son. Ya, the old gal, Elizabeth, is going to get pregnant. Zechariah finds it hard to believe, questions the angel, and ends up unable to speak until the child is born. At least 9 months. And, as one astute observer commented last week in our adult ed class, If he was like most husbands, I wonder if Elizabeth noticed.
The question made me smile, but it also made me wonder a bit more. What was life like for those 9 months? Then I discovered something else, a little detail later on in the story, in vs. 62 after John is born and they are trying to decide on a name, Luke tells us: So they used gestures to ask the baby’s father what he wanted to name him. Wait a minute. Why didn’t they just ask him – the angel said Zechariah would not be able to speak, but we don’t hear anything about his ears not working. But they must also not be working now – he heard the angel speak in the temple, but now it seems Zechariah could not hear, or else they would not have had to use gestures to ask him about the name. It seems he was deaf as well as mute.
So what was life like for those 9 months? How did Zechariah work? How did his inability to speak or to hear effect his day to day life? He’d be trapped in his head with his thoughts, cut off from the world around him. How did he feel not being able to ask Elizabeth how she was doing, or hear her share anything of her pregnancy journey. How could they have any conversation about the future for them as parents? How frustrating would it have been for him to have a thought, or an idea, or a concern, and face the wall: can’t say it… How frustrating would it have been for Elizabeth to need something and not be able to ask Zechariah for it? What if he saw danger and couldn’t yell a warning. What if he felt ill and couldn’t explain what was wrong or ask for help? What if a friend needed his advice and he couldn’t give it. He became a silent spectator, as his wife of many years experiences this 9 month once-in-a-lifetime journey.
I think that it illustrates very vividly what happens when we don’t believe God, take Him at His promises, and live in those promises – how much we have to learn to cope with less than the best because we didn’t simply open our hands and say thank you to God for the promise He offers. It is much better to listen and obey when God speaks!
9 months of silence. 9 months of punishment, frustration, and missing out. And then finally the baby, John, is born. Gabriel had said, you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born, and finally the time comes. The baby is born, the miracle is done, let the rejoicing and celebrating begin! Now, think about Zechariah – imagine him trying to speak, opening his mouth to share his thoughts and joy, full inside to bursting after 9 months of not being able to speak, holding on to Gabriel’s word that you will be silent and unable to speak until the child is born, seeing that the child had been born, and …. still nothing.
Luke 1:57-66
57 When it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to be born, she gave birth to a son. 58 And when her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very merciful to her, everyone rejoiced with her.
59 When the baby was eight days old, they all came for the circumcision ceremony. They wanted to name him Zechariah, after his father. 60 But Elizabeth said, No! His name is John! 61 What? they exclaimed. There is no one in all your family by that name. 62 So they used gestures to ask the baby’s father what he wanted to name him. 63 He motioned for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s surprise he wrote, His name is John. 64 Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God.
65 Awe fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean hills. 66 Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, What will this child turn out to be? For the hand of the Lord was surely upon him in a special way.
8 More Days…
I imagine what the nine months were like, what about those last 8 days? What was going through Zechariah’s mind? the angel said until the child is born … well he is born! God? Are you there? Are you going to keep your promise? Am I ever going to hear or speak again?
Then, finally, the question comes, the tablet is given, Zechariah obeys the command of the angel to name the child John, and Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God.
Now, that is a little bit of a long lead in, but I think it is a great story worth telling, and more importantly we needed to really try to get into Zechariah’s head space, really try to imagine what it was like for him, before we can actually see how profound the next words are. What might we expect from Zechariah? What do we think he should want to talk about, where does he start getting caught up on 9 months of silence, where is his heart with his new-born son, long awaited and now alive for 8 days without him hearing the child’s voice or heartbeat, without being able to speak or coo or laugh; what about his wife of many long years, won’t he have something to say to her?
Luke tells us Instantly Zechariah could speak again, and he began praising God. His first words were directed not as his wife, or his newborn son, they were words of praise to God. That in itself is pretty fantastic, and a lesson for us. But it gets even more profound. I expect Zechariah’s words of praise to be about how great God has been to him, and his wife; words of thanks for the child, words of praise for the healing miracle in his life (finally!), words of praise centered around him and his family and his experience. But that is not the case. Luke records Zechariah’s words for us, hear them now as the first words out of the mouth of a man who has neither spoken nor heard for nine months, and who has seen his long-awaited prayer answered:
Luke 1:67-79:
67 Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy:
68 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited and redeemed his people.
69 He has sent us a mighty Savior
from the royal line of his servant David,
70 just as he promised
through his holy prophets long ago.
71 Now we will be saved from our enemies
and from all who hate us.
72 He has been merciful to our ancestors
by remembering his sacred covenant—
73 the covenant he swore with an oath
to our ancestor Abraham.
74 We have been rescued from our enemies
so we can serve God without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness
for as long as we live.
76 And you, my little son,
will be called the prophet of the Most High,
because you will prepare the way for the Lord.
77 You will tell his people how to find salvation
through forgiveness of their sins.
78 Because of God’s tender mercy,
the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide us to the path of peace.
Even here, it is about Jesus
Who is Zechariah talking about? Do you see it?? It is about Jesus. Jesus is the Lord… (who) has visited and redeemed his people; who is the mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David, who was promised long ago, who will save us from our enemies, who is the fulfillment of the covenant he swore with an oath. It is about Jesus – the child not yet born, in a distant relative’s womb, no doubt not even on the radar of the crowd around, who we heard about in vs. 65 Awe fell upon the whole neighborhood, and the news of what had happened spread throughout the Judean hills. 66 Everyone who heard about it reflected on these events and asked, What will this child turn out to be? – they were all talking about John, and here is John’s father talking about Jesus.
Zechariah does speak of his child, with tenderness and love, And you, my little son, will be called the prophet of the Most High, because you will prepare the way for the Lord. 77 You will tell his people how to find salvation through forgiveness of their sins. But even still, even here, it is in terms of John’s relationship to Jesus, and Zechariah’s prophecy goes right back to Jesus, the morning light from heaven… about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death and to guide us to the path of peace.
I find this almost shocking. In the middle of all Zechariah has gone through, we would have expected him to be thinking about him and his family. We would even have rejoiced with him if he had focused on him and his family, and praised God for all He has done in their lives. But that is not where Zechariah is focused. It is not about him, not about them, it is about Jesus. If ever there was a time when we would have thought it ok for the celebration to be heaped upon (JB Phillips phrase) and for the focus to be on them, it would be now.
But it isn’t. For Zechariah, it is about Jesus.
Conclusion:
So, where is all this headed? What is there in this story for us to hear and act on? I think it is summed up in this question: is your Christmas really about Jesus? Or has so much decoration and celebration has been heaped upon the festival that the historic fact upon which all the rejoicing is founded has been almost smothered out of existence. If Zechariah can experience everything he experienced and stay focused on Jesus, surely we can also.
Like how? How do we make Jesus the center – do we have to strip back the decoration and celebration – should we trade in the santa suits for Grinch costumes, strip it all bare except for a simple manger and see if our homes and families wake up smiling and singing even without any decorations or trees or presents or roast beasts?
I don’t think so. I’m not going to! See, the decorations and the celebrations are not the problem. The problem comes when those smother the central fact: God invaded our planet and our lives. In the form of a helpless, poor, infant. The problem comes when our focus is on us and on our celebration and decoration and not on Jesus.
So again the question: how do we make Jesus the center? I can’t and won’t answer that for you, but I will get you started. First, commit right now to having a conversation about that as a couple or as a family. I suggest you do it over lunch, while it is fresh in your mind: how can you as a family keep from smothering Jesus under the weight of the Christmas season? Will you do that?
Second, consider some of these possibilities I brainstormed:
Come to church on Christmas day – it is a Sunday this year, our service will be at 11, a simple service of carols and Scripture (our Lessons and Carol’s service we do each year).
Read the Gospel story of Jesus’ birth before opening gifts.
In the giving of gifts, maybe re-evaluate: what are we giving to Jesus? Rather than thinking only about what to buy for aunt so-and-so, maybe put some effort together as a family into what to give to Jesus. What might He want?
Make a focus on serving others. Isn’t that what Jesus would want?? Especially those whom Scripture calls the least among you.
If or when you encounter stressed out people (maybe a retail clerk?), offer them a word of peace in the name of Jesus.
That is just a quick list, to get you thinking. I’m sure you can think of more, better ideas. The point is simply this: if Zechariah can focus on Jesus, so can we. Let’s make it not about us, but about Him.
