Scripture Luke 1:5-17; 18-25
And it was in the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the lineage of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, living according to all the commandments and righteous requirements of the Sovereign God blamelessly. Now they had no child because Elizabeth was barren, and they both were advanced in age.
And it happened when Zechariah was serving as priest, and his order had the service before God, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to offer incense and he entered the sanctuary of the Holy God. The whole assembly of the people was praying outside at the time of the incense offering. There appeared to Zechariah a messenger of the Living God, standing to the right of the altar of incense. Now Zechariah was shaken when he saw the messenger and fear overwhelmed him. But the messenger said to him, “Fear not, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to a son for you, and you will call his name John. You will have joy and gladness, and many at his birth will rejoice, or he will be great in the sight of the Sovereign God. Wine and strong drink he must not drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother’s womb. He will turn many of the women and men of Israel to the Holy One their God. He will go before the Holy God with the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to prepare for the Redeeming God a people made ready.”
After those days Elizabeth his wife conceived, and she hid herself for five months. She said, “This is the Holy God’s doing; God has done for me when God looked favorably on me and took away my disgrace among humankind.”
Sermon
My parents met after World War II, and they hit it off immediately. Each of them saw in the other someone who was steady, honest, and who would be a hard worker., They were both children of the Great Depression, so this meant everything to them. They married in 1948, when they were 27 and 28 years old. They fully expected a child would be on the way soon.
My dad was a butcher from a long line of butchers, and eventually they saved up enough money to buy a little grocery store. My mom delivered groceries in an army surplus jeep, which she learned to drive very much on the fly. My dad’s instructions on the stick shift were as follows: “Put it in D-R. It’ll G-O.”
The baby hadn’t materialized. After about 8 years my mom told her friend, who, she thought was married to a dentist. Turns out he was an OB/ GYN. She and my dad went in for tests, some of them quite humiliating. In the end, the doctor friend gave my mother a Saint Jude medal to wear. For those of you who didn’t grow up in the Catholic Church, Saint Jude is the patron saint of lost causes. Even the doctor had lost hope.
Today’s story is about another couple who went many years without their hopes being fulfilled. Like my parents when they started seeking treatment for infertility, they were an older couple. But “older” in first century Palestine was not the same as “older” today. Most of the people in this sanctuary exceed the typical lifespan of Jesus’ peers: the average life expectancy was just 35 years. Scripture does say that some make it to 70, even 80 if they are strong (Psalm 90:10). And of course, we know that infant mortality was much higher before the existence of vaccines and antibiotics. But calling Elizabeth and Zechariah “advanced in age” gives us a large window—probably anywhere above 40 years old.
Our story begins with the husband, Zechariah, a priest, serving in the Temple. A messenger of the Living God approaches him—that’s another translation for “an angel.” The angel tells him, Fear not, calls Zechariah by name, and tells him, “Your prayers have been heard.”
We can make assumptions about those prayers, can’t we? My first assumption is based on the next sentence: Zechariah’s been praying for a child, probably a boy, who could go into the family business of priesting. But… that’s not the only thing Zechariah may have been praying for. Maybe Zechariah has been praying for the coming of the Messiah. And…we have no idea when Zechariah has been praying. Is this a current prayer? Did Zechariah dare to hope for a child, even in the couple’s advanced years? Maybe Zechariah is the kind of person who prays for miracles. Why not, as long as you’re already praying?
Zechariah is shaken by all this, but the angel has lots of info to impart:
His wife Elizabeth will give birth to a son.
They will name their son John, a name that means, “God is gracious.”
The whole community will celebrate and rejoice.
John will be great in the eyes of God.
This is a lot. Have you ever had someone tell you something so surprising, so unexpected that it kind of knocks all your other thoughts out of your head? This is how I imagine Zechariah’s state of mind. What overwhelming news. And… despite the angel’s upbeat tone and delivery, the news may have worried Zechariah. Childbirth was dangerous for women in that day, and would be even more so for an older woman.
And yet, this is a joyful moment. Still more news comes tumbling forth from the angel:
The child will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even while in his mother’s womb.
The child will turn the hearts of many people to God.
He will have the spirit and power of the prophet Elijah (and he’ll have the same taste in clothes, too, though the angel doesn’t mention that).
John will help those who have been disobedient towards God to become righteous.
John will prepare people’s hearts for whatever it is that God has coming next.
So much amazing information! And we can see how these statements line up with the things we know about John the Baptist’s ministry. He calls upon people to repent, a word that simply means, to turn their lives around. He offers them the opportunity to be baptized, to be immersed in the waters of the Jordan River, as a sign of their new lives, focused on the Holy One, their God. “All of Judea,” the gospels tell us, will stream to that river, seeking this renewal of their lives, their hope. In fact, God will be restoring hope, not only to Zechariah and Elizabeth, but to all God’s covenant people. He will be the forerunner and prophet of Christ.
There are, however, tucked in here, are a few statements that may be a little confusing, or set our minds wondering exactly what the means. The angel gives instructions. John is not to have wine or strong drink. We know from the ministry of Jesus that this is not something that applies to everyone—Jesus is so comfortable drinking wine with his disciples and with those who entertain him in their homes, some people call him a drunkard. So, why can’t John imbibe a little?
It's likely that God wants John to be a nazirite. (This word sounds a little like Nazarene, but they are unrelated.) The requirements for nazirites are detailed in the book of Numbers, chapter 6. Nazirites are Israelites, both women and men, who choose to dedicate themselves to God for a period of time. During that time they must obey special rules, including abstaining from wine or strong drink. In fact, they are not even allowed to have grape juice, or grapes, or the skin or seeds of grapes, or raisins. They are also not allowed to cut their hair for the entire duration of their time of dedication, and they aren’t permitted to go near the dead—not even if their family members die. All these things are a part of their vow of holiness during this time. Interestingly, the most famous nazirites in scripture, Samson and Samuel, both made the vow for their whole lives, and not just a set period of time; and they also both had mothers who, initially, had not been able to conceive and give birth. God wants John to consecrate his calling by following this very particular vow.
There’s another odd statement in the ’s description of what God commissions John to do—odd to us, anyway. John will “turn the hearts of parents to their children.” This sounds like something most parents do naturally. What can it mean? It turns out that this is a mistranslation: in the original Greek it reads, “he will turn fathers’ hearts to their children.” In ancient Palestine, parenting was truly the responsibility of the children’s mother; she was responsible for the care and instruction of her daughters indefinitely; and of her sons until they came of age, when that responsibility was handed over to the father. In an age when fathers are more active and involved parents than ever, this is a strange concept. But it is a lovely reminder that both parents bear responsibility for their children, including showing them love and acceptance.
Ironically, Zechariah’s heart is attuned to his child already. Our passage skips over the awkward part where Zechariah questions the angel, saying, “How can this be? We’re old!” The angel strikes Zechariah mute for daring to question the message from God. After the birth and naming of the child, Zechariah’s speech returns, and he sings the glorious canticle we will be using as today’s Statement of Faith. In it he glorifies God for the astounding miracle of, not only this child’s birth, but the coming of God’s Messiah, a promise fulfilled after many, many generations of waiting. And tucked in there is a beautiful portion in which Zechariah sings directly to the baby John, presumably as he holds him in his arms.
And you, child, shall be called
the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare the way,
to give God’s people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
to shine upon those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace. ~Luke 1:76-79
Our passage ends with news that Elizabeth does indeed conceive a child, and immediately hides herself away for five months. She speaks, for the first time in this portion of the story, and it is bittersweet.
“This is the Holy God’s doing; God has done this for me when God looked favorably on me and took away my disgrace among humankind.”
It is sweet because she will be at last be a mother, following years of disappointed hopes. But she bears the emotional scars of societal blame, which, in that era, always accrued to the woman. She speaks of it as shame, which is heartbreaking. We know from our own experiences and those of our loved ones, that struggles with fertility are painful enough without having to deal with the questions that can result. Imagine if all of society looked upon it as a sign that God was done with you, that you were being punished, that it somehow meant you were unworthy. No wonder Elizabeth hid away. I imagine she wanted to hold close the return of hope that was now giving her days filled with joy and wonder. I imagine that she wanted only the closest loved ones around her, and not prying eyes that wondered what was up with the priest’s wife. I imagine she, too, saw the tender compassion of our God, breaking upon her like the dawn.
As you can see, my parents eventually had children, who grew, not in my mother’s body, but in both of their hearts. My brother and I were adopted, and my parents spent their entire lives showing us how grateful they were.
Scripture brims over with stories that show us the return of hope, and those same stories are in our lives, too. This is a season when we give witness to the infinite love of God poured across the earth, and each one of can bask in the tender compassion of our God, breaking upon us like the dawn.
Thanks be to God. Amen.