Luke 1: 5-13, 57-80
Zechariah
and Elizabeth’s Story
Time for
miracles
Time for
hope
Time for
JOY!
It was a
bleak time; Romans, the interlopers, the invaders, were everywhere; life was
lived on a knife edge, with no one trusting anyone else.
There was an
expectation of doom and gloom in the air; no one expected anything, especially
not a visit of an angel, or a heavenly messenger
And no one
expected a miraculous, unexpected, unanticipated, impossible birth.
Yet, they
happened anyway.
Sometimes it
is at the most difficult, most troubled and most challenging times that the
most extraordinary things can happen.
At this time
of year we usually hear about the other miracle baby born around the same time…
but today we think instead about his cousin’s birth.
Elizabeth
and Zechariah are elderly they have lived blessed and faithful lives, yet have
not be blessed by the child they so longed to have. Now, before we go on I’d
like to take a moment’s pause…
For those of us who have been blessed
with children it is impossible to imagine the pain of not having them. The
depths of despair, the yearning, the desperation that childlessness brings to
some is beyond our imagining. Add to that this story – (and others, John is not
the only miraculous impossible baby in the bible) and the pain is compounded:
Why can’t we pray hard enough? Why won’t God bless us with a baby? What did we
do wrong?
For all who yearned for babies to
love and care for we pray; for those who prayed to God to help them conceive,
we pray. For those who never got the opportunity to become parents, we pray.
In a society
which set such great store by families and future generations, securing the
family line, to be barren was viewed as a curse; a punishment even. Zechariah
was a holy man, a priest; he served in the temple, his was a position of great
honour and status; yet here he was, an old man, in his twilight years, with no
son to pass on the family name to.
Into this
scenario comes a stranger, a visitor, an unknown. We are told that when the angel
appeared, Zechariah was afraid… and, as is customary, the angelic visitor tells
him not to be. Hmm… easy for the angel to talk!
In today’s
reading we then fast forward the whole nine months to the time for Elizabeth to
have her baby.
In the
verses we miss out, there is a maelstrom of happenings and strangeness. For a
start, Zechariah is so utterly incredulous at the declaration of the angel he
doubts and questions… and boom! He is, literally, struck dumb for the next nine
months.
Meantime,
the angel is kept busy, nipping up to Nazareth to visit Elizabeth’s very young
cousin Mary and let her know that she too will be having a baby – but hers is
different to Elizabeth’s. For she is unmarried and will not be conceiving by
any known means… but that’s a story we know and will not visit again this year.
So, back to
Elizabeth and Zechariah.
He, being
struck dumb, cannot tell her the happy tidings, she has to wait and work it out
for herself. Though we must suppose he has written her notes, because she knew
the chosen name for her baby.
When
Elizabeth knows beyond doubt that she really was going to have a baby, she
makes this declaration: “At last the Lord has helped me, he has taken way my
disgrace”
And when the
child is born, the local population is filled with wonder and questions – what
will this child be, do? What is he a sign of for the future?
His father
however is roused from his silence, to declare the boy’s name, and then praises
God, and prophesies about his precious son.
“You, my child, will be called a prophet of
the Most High God.
You will go ahead of the Lord to
prepare his road for him, to tell his people that they will be saved by having
their sins forgiven.
Our God is merciful and tender.
He will cause the bright dawn of
salvation to rise on us and to shine from heaven on all those who live in the
dark shadow of death, to guide our steps into the path of peace.”
The words of
the final two verses, in a different translation, I use as the introductory
verses of every funeral I conduct ‘in the tender compassion of our God, the
dawn of heaven will break upon us, to shine on those who live in darkness,
under the shadow of death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace’. The
words remind us, in our darkest hour, that God never leaves us alone, that even
in darkness there is light, hope and peace.
Because,
more than anything, we need light and hope.
We need to
know we are not alone; that God has not abandoned the world.
Even now.
Especially now, that it seems that the whole world is hell bent on
self-destruction.
From the
nit-picking and compromises of the World Climate Change Conference; to the
proliferation of death and destruction by the abuse of guns; to the strange and
scary thought that extremist views are pervading the world giving voice to
hatred, racism and bigotry… the world is indeed, a dark and scary place, yet at
this time of year as we reflect on the world as it was 2000 years ago, we can
see that it wasn’t dissimilar. The weapons might be different; the means of
communication more instantaneous, but the world was still a dark and scary
place, with fear and violence pervasive and persistent.
The world
needed symbols of hope
Symbols of
peace
Symbols of
joy… and what can be more joyous than the promise and hope of new life!
The world
still needs these same symbols: we need to know that it is not all darkness; it
is not all hopeless; we need to hear the good news proclaimed from the
rooftops.
God is still
here!
God’s word
stands for all time – God is compassion and kindness
And God’s
dawning light will shine on us in our darkest hour, and guide our feet into the
ways of peace.
Zechariah
believed God’s promises; he knew he would never see his son grow up – that is
the curse of older parents – but still he believed; his son would be a prophet
of God; he would have a special task, to prepare the way, to declare God’s
promise of JOY and hope would be fulfilled.
In the
tender compassion of our God, the dawn from heaven will break upon us, to shine
on those who live in darkness, under the shadow of death, and guide our feet
into the way of peace, hope, and JOY.
And that’s a
promise worth holding on to.
Amen.
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