Something To Talk About Series

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In 1991, Bonnie Rait released a song entitled “Somethin’ to Talk About.” It became her highest ranking song on the billboard lists - topping out at #5. This song also became instrumental in helping her win a grammy.

The song addresses rumors that had been going around about two people being secret lovers. It then makes the argument that the two should go ahead and give them something to talk about - “love.”

The song is a cute play on relational dynamics and may not be the best dating advice. But this song came to my mind this week as I was studying the passage we’re looking at today - especially this verse:

Luke 1:65 ESV

And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea,

There was something worth talking about and it had captured people’s attention.

Open your bibles to Luke 1:57.

Two weeks ago we learned about the news that Zechariah and Elizabeth would have a son and that Elizabeth was finally able to conceive in her old age. Last week, we got to hear about how Mary received similar news, but that this was not going to be her fiancee’s son, it would be the Son of God. So Mary and Elizabeth spent several months together.

Which brings us to the passage we’re considering today. As if the pregnancies of an elderly woman and an unwed teenager weren’t enough to talk about, the birth of John sparks speech in ways that should encourage us to verbalize things about our faith as well.

First of all, we get to see that we can speak of…

Joy for God’s mercy (57-58)

Luke 1:57–58 ESV

Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son.

And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.

These neighbors and relatives recognized God’s mercy in Elizabeth’s life - allowing her to finally have a child after decades of dashed dreams. It was truly of God and so they rejoiced with her.

There are a variety of circumstances that God places in our lives, circumstances that give us cause for joy and a reason to celebrate. We could include in this things like marriages and births, promotions at work, success at school, answered prayer, victory over temptation, and so much more. One of the great joys we have as a church is that we get to be a community of faith that does life together - we get to communicate with one another about God’s mercies in our lives.

Not only did they talk about God’s mercy, but …

An unlikely name (59-63)

… also sparked some conversations.

Luke 1:59–63 ESV

And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered.

There is something significant that goes into a name. I mentioned in the midweek email about how we came up with the names for our kids. We wanted the names to have good meanings. We wanted to be able to honor family members, so all of our kids have grandparent’s names for their middle names. We also ended up with names that end in a “y” sound. On top of all of that, we wanted to like the names. But one thing we didn’t do was talk about names very much with others before our kids were born. We found that some people have a way of casting judgment on a name before the child is born.

And yet, in Zechariah and Elizabeth’s culture, typically the naming of a child would happen when he or she was presented in the temple or tabernacle. As we can see from these verses, it was expected that they would choose a family name. These friend and neighbors didn’t seem to care for the name that had been chosen for this boy.

I can just imagine a small group of people accompanying Elizabeth and Zechariah in the temple, sharing their joy and delighting in this great event! When the priest would turn to the parents to ask for the name, all of these others would respond, “of course, his name is Zechariah.” What better way to mark this momentous occasion than to name the child for his elderly father!

And yet that was not God’s plan. God had decreed that his name would be John.