Zechariah's Song

Zechariah’s Song
The season of Advent is 4 weeks long…Advent is the season of waiting…It’s not Christmas yet as we wait for the birth of Jesus…Now, we of course know the whole story—the story of the baby that was born. But until Christmas comes, we wait…And our waiting isn’t quite as long as it must have seemed for the people who were waiting for the Messiah to come.
One of the things that is interesting to point out in all of the Gospels is that not much time is spent on Jesus’ birth…The Gospels of Matthew & Luke are the only two gospels that share anything about Jesus’ birth. In the gospel of Luke, where our passage comes from today…The birth of Jesus is told in 21 verses. The birth of Jesus’ cousin, John—known more commonly as John the Baptist, is told in 24 verses. Luke spends more time talking about the birth of John than the birth of Jesus.
John’s birth was one of miracles…The angel Gabriel came to Elizabeth and Elizabeth was told that she would have a baby. Elizabeth had been without child for so long that she was in advanced age, that it must have been a surprise to her when the angel told her she would have a baby, but she accepted this good news with excitement…Zechariah, well Zechariah on the other hand had another reaction…Zechariah, Elizabeth’s husband was in such disbelief and so surprised by this news! He just didn’t believe that it was possible. Now if there’s anything that we can learn throughout history is that one should always believe that God will do what God says God will do…
A baby was something that Elizabeth & Zechariah had been wanting for a long time, but had given up hope that it was even possible. Maybe you’ve felt like that before…There was something that you wanted so desperately but had given up hope that it was possible and then it just happens! And Zechariah was completely out of the loop with it…An angel came to him and told him that Elizabeth was going to have a baby…Exactly what they had been wanting…And Zechariah’s reaction was not one of joy, but one of disbelief and anger…How is this possible? No one consulted me on this? No one made sure this was okay with me? This is not happening—Elizabeth is old! And I was not there for this decision! Oh Zechariah is upset! But here’s what happens…The angel tells Zechariah what this baby means—that this baby will be the forerunner for the messiah…That this is a joyful thing and that he should be excited and grateful for the gift that God is giving them…But Zechariah doesn’t stop…So, then it comes…The angel says…Hey, I was there—I know the whole story, what you clearly can’t understand. So, if you can’t accept this graciousness, the wonder of this gift, this baby…You will not speak until after your son is born. The angel takes away Zechariah’s voice…And Zechariah was not able to speak again until John was born.
Now this seemed to be quite an effective tool…it gave the angel the quiet to share the good news and it gave Zechariah time to think about what had just happened…He remained without a voice until his son was born. When John was born, Elizabeth & Zechariah brought their baby to the temple on the 8th day to be circumcised and named…Zechariah; still unable to speak was asked what name they were going to give this child. The angel had instructed both Elizabeth & Zechariah that their child was to be named John, so Elizabeth told the priest that was the name of the child and they argued with her. John was not a family name, so they questioned Elizabeth and asked Zechariah…Unable to speak, Zechariah wrote done the name John for the priests…It took him some time to soak in all that happened—the gift of a baby that he and Elizabeth had been given, the calling their son had been given by God, and the special circumstances around this baby…And he took it all in and accepted it. As he wrote down the name John on the tablet, his mouth was opened.
Our passage from this morning has the first words that Zechariah spoke when he was able to speak again. This really isn’t as much of a speech as a song. This was a song that Zechariah sang out of joy and belief. He had some time to think about what had been happening in Elizabeth & his life…And this was the song that he sang out of joy for what God had done in their life. Today, if people are so excited about something that they burst out in song, we think that there might be something a little wrong with them…But it was not uncommon in the temple for outbursts of song to happen. Its how people expressed themselves. Sometimes it’s easier to express in song what words can’t convey. And we have Zechariah’s song.
Even in the miraculous events around the gift of the baby and the birth of his son John, Zechariah recognized that there was something bigger going on. That his role in this was very small…As he sang, he prophesized about the coming Messiah. Now, Jesus was not yet born, but Mary was pregnant. And Zechariah sang of this coming Messiah. The horn of salvation from the house of David…The one who would save us from our enemies…The one who will execute mercy…The one who will remember the covenant of Abraham…The coming Messiah was a huge deal for God’s people.
The Jewish people were in exile once again as the Roman authorities had seized control over all of the world that they knew. They were waiting for the Messiah to come and overthrow this government and restore them to the power they thought they should have as God’s chosen people. What they had forgotten was that they had not lived as God’s chosen people…They were blessed to be a blessing…Instead they lived the blessing without sharing it with anyone else…When Zechariah sings about the covenant of Abraham—God had lived up to God’s end of the covenant, it was God’s people who fell short and didn’t live up to the covenant. So the Messiah that was coming was going to fix everything…
Zechariah’s song makes those promises again—that the Messiah was the one that they were waiting for…And as we knew Jesus came as the Messiah in ways that the world wasn’t expecting and in a lot of ways, the Messiah that the world didn’t want. So, Jesus is coming as the unexpected Messiah and John will be the prophet who will share the good news of Jesus’ coming.
When Zechariah dedicated his son as a prophet of the Most High, the one who will go before the face of the Lord, he knew the risks that this meant…Prophets were not well accepted and often met a terrible death…Not only was John being dedicated as a prophet, but as a prophet for the coming Messiah…Although most people wanted the Messiah, there were some who didn’t—mainly the people who were in political power and authority. And John will be the one to proclaim the coming of the Messiah.
Zechariah sang this song of joy knowing all the risks involved and he still sang to the glory of God. The decision that he was upset about at first, he knew had a bigger meaning than himself…It really wasn’t about him, but about God’s plan of salvation.
We have a lot to learn from Zechariah and his story seems so short…Just a few verses in the Gospel of Luke…We hear Zechariah’s selfish and angry disbelief and his move from that into understanding that there’s more than himself and what he wants.
Which is what the spirit of Christmas is about…Christmas is not about what we get and what we want, but Christmas is about that baby—the Messiah…It’s not about our desires, but it’s what God’s desires…And that spirit doesn’t last as long as Christmas, but that’s what the church is about. The church is not about our own desires, but about fulfilling the mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We are blessed to be a blessing! How are we being a blessing to the world? How are we living like Zechariah and putting away our own selfish desires in order to live God’s desires? Do we fight for what we want or for what God wants? Are we working harder at keeping ourselves comfortable or are we willing to be uncomfortable in order for someone to understand the love of God? That’s what Zechariah did—he put aside himself in order for God’s plan for salvation to be made known…It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t comfortable, but it’s what God calls…We are blessed to be a blessing.
This Advent & Christmas seasons are great times to reconnect with that idea…Christmas is not about what you want, but it’s about Jesus…Christmas is not your birthday, it’s Jesus’ birthday…Church is not about what we want, but what God wants…And what God wants is for all people to know about God’s love…For all people to know about God’s mighty acts of salvation…That God’s love is free and available for all people…That Jesus Christ was born for the world…That’s the message that we should be sharing as we make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
My friends the good news of the gospel is shared in Zechariah’s song…that God has raised up a horn of salvation from the house of David …The one who would save us from our enemies…The one who will execute mercy…The one who will remember the covenant of Abraham…The one who has blessed us to be a blessing for others.