The Mystery of Christmas: “Your Prayers Have Been Heard.”
Luke 1:5-25
Rev. Sandy Johnson
November 29, 2015
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This morning begins the season of Advent, the four weeks in which we prepare for the coming of the Christ Child. During Advent we also anticipate the time when Christ will return. Advent, like Lent then, is a time of preparation. A time to realign our thoughts and actions to what is truly important in our lives. The Advent tradition can be traced back to the latter part of the 6th century when five Sunday’s were celebrated until Pope Gregory VII reduced the number to four Sunday’s in the eleventh century[1].
Advent is a season of waiting; waiting not only for the baby to be born, but waiting for prophesy to be fulfilled, waiting for the final return of Christ. Advent is a time when we are invited to slow down. It is a time when we are called to step aside from the frenzy that began with Black Friday and avoid getting caught up in the pursuit for the perfect present, the most elaborately decorated dinner table and the most spectacularly adorned Christmas tree.
We are called to live by the values of the Kingdom, not the distorted values of Madison Avenue. “Advent reminds us of the Christian Perspective of walking in the light of Christ, of loving God and loving our neighbor, that my friends, is where our focus should be.[2]” Throughout Advent we can let go of our anxiety and rediscover hope, the hope we have in the risen Christ and our hope for the world around us.
There is great hope in the lesson for today, isn’t there? Hope for answered prayers, hope for a community that realized something mysterious was happening, and hope for a barren woman who had been ostracized for decades.
Our lesson begins with a priest named Zechariah who was at the temple in Jerusalem, ready to fulfill his duty as a temple priest. Zechariah was married to Elizabeth, both were descendants of Aaron. They are described as “righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord.[3]” Their only sorrow is that they have no children. A Jewish couple who had no children was thought to be receiving divine punishment for sin. “Childlessness was valid grounds for divorce.[4]” But Zechariah had not divorced Elizabeth. He continued to pray and hope for God to bless them, even in their golden years.
Zechariah and all the temple priests were descendants of Aaron. There were so many descendants in fact, that they were divided into twenty-four sections, one-thousand priests in each section. They each served for one week, twice a year. “Within the sections all the duties were allocated by lot. [5]” You know how to cast lots? It’s like drawing straws…short straw wins!
“Every morning and evening sacrifice was made for the whole nation. A burnt offering of a male lamb, one year old, without spot or blemish was offered, together with a meat offering of flour and oil and a drink offering of wine. Before the morning sacrifice and after the evening sacrifice, incense was burned on the altar of incense so that, the sacrifices might go up to God, wrapped in an envelope of sweet-smelling incense.[6]”
So here is Zechariah, selected by drawing straws, and he enters the Temple to offer this incense to God. Most priests never had the privilege of entering the temple sanctuary and to be the winner was a once in a lifetime privilege. Zechariah had dreamed of this moment likely his entire life. Outside, those looking on, were in prayer for Zechariah. The traditional prayer was something like this: “May the God of mercy enter the sanctuary and be pleased to accept the sacrifice of his people! May the God of mercy enter the sanctuary and be pleased to accept the sacrifice of his people![7]” I imagine Zechariah’s stomach was filled with butterflies, his palms sweaty and his legs a bit shaky as he walked through the doors.
As his eyes adjusted to the dim surroundings, there before him stood an angel of the Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. Predictably Zechariah was afraid, scripture says he was terrified and overwhelmed with fear. I wonder if he was also startled at meeting anyone in the sanctuary. He entered thinking he would be the only one present and before him stands what appears to be an angel. Yeah, I’d be scared too!
The angel can see the terror on his face and reassures him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John.[8]” “What? What just happened? My wife and I are too old to have a baby!” I suspect Zechariah stopped listening, you know how time stands till. You get stopped when you hear an incredible story or prediction. We’re going to have a baby? No way.
He likely missed the rest of the prediction, shared by the Angel where he says, “You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.[9]” Oh yeah, Zechariah missed that. And then the angel advises Zechariah, “He must never drink wine or strong drink.” This sounds like the angel wants him to be raised as a Nazarite, part of the holy order which did not drink, did not cut their hair and who dedicated themselves to God.
The Angel then said that this child would be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before he was born. “In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit was only a temporary gift from God, even to the most exceptional individual.[10]” The angel was telling Zechariah that his son, this child not yet conceived, was special, even before he is born he is blessed.
The angel continues, this baby “will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.[11]”
This baby, who will be named John, John which means “God is gracious,” has an important job before him; one that will support the perfect one to be sent after him. But Zechariah is still back at the part of the message where Gabriel said he was going to be a father. He doesn’t acknowledge any of the message except to protest. “How will I know that this is so? I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.[12]” You think I’m old, you should see my wife!
Gabriel is not amused with Zechariah. Really, he should be more confident, he is in the presence of God’s messenger and Zechariah is questioning him. Mary will question the angel when he appears before Mary to announce that she too will become pregnant. The difference likely is that Mary is a young girl, Zechariah after all is a priest, an old man who surely should have a more mature faith and would not find it necessary to question God.
Sort of makes you feel good doesn’t it? I mean, if Zechariah can question then so can we! So the angel reminds him that he is a messenger from God and as punishment for his unbelief, Zechariah will be mute until the baby is born.
Outside the crowd was getting restless. Zechariah should have been out by now, where in the world is he? And then he appears, waving his arms, trying to speak but he was unable. Instantly those present knew that he had seen a vision. When his week of service ended, he returned home to his wife and in short ordered she became pregnant. For five months, scripture says, she remained in seclusion. I suspect she was so shocked to be pregnant past menopause that she didn’t want to tell anyone, lest they think she was crazy. But there comes a point about five months that you can’t keep it a secret any longer. Elizabeth recognizes the blessing she has received and is thankful for being redeemed.
Do you ever feel like Zechariah and Elizabeth? Praying for years for a special prayer to be answered? Praying for a child to come to know Christ? Praying for your church to build their own sanctuary? Praying for a cure for an illness that plagues your loved ones. Praying for your parents that their later years would be a blessing, not a curse. We all have prayers that we have prayed for years. Not all prayers are answered in the way we believe they should. We all need to hold onto the hope that we hear in this lesson, the hope that God is never done with us.
“Throughout all the years of their childlessness, God was hard at work, preparing a couple of old people like Zechariah and Elizabeth to bear the one who was to announce the greatest news in history.
When we wait and wait and wait, when nothing seems to be happening in our lives, rest assured that God is still at work. Rest assured that at these times He is even doing his deepest work in you. You see, we tend to think God is working in our lives only when we feel it. But it’s when we don’t feel it, when God seems a million miles away, that He is hardest at work. God is not a feeling – He is the Lord of our lives, but how often do we really believe it?[13]”
When God lives within our hearts, when we place God at the very center of our lives, we can maintain the hope that prayers will be answered, that when hope seems lost, there is always hope in the God of the Universe. Sisters and brothers, “your prayers have been heard.”
Let us pray: God of the Universe, we thank you for the example you have given us in Zechariah and Elizabeth. When hope seemed lost, you entered into their lives in a most mysterious way. There is so much that we can’t explain and that we seek to know. Grant us the wisdom to be at peace with the mystery and ever trust in your love for us that we may rest in the hope of this advent season. Amen.
[1] http://www.aquinasandmore.com/catholic-articles/the-history-and-meaning-of-advent/article/173/sort/relevance/productsperpage/12/layout/grid/currentpage/1/keywords/advent Accessed Nov 28, 2015
[2] https://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/6500/markadvent-a-season-of-blessingsmark Accessed Nov 28, 2015
[3] Luke 1:6
[4] Barclay, William. The Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Luke, Revised Edition. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia. 1975. Page 10.
[5] Barclay, William. The Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Luke, Revised Edition. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia. 1975. Page 10.
[6] Barclay, William. The Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Luke, Revised Edition. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia. 1975. Page 10.
[7] http://www.ministrymatters.com/library/#/ibnew/aab4bee3578b69f90203ffe26d5869f9/a-annunciations-to-zechariah-and-to-mary-15-56.html. Accessed November 28,2015
[8] Luke 1:13
[9] Luke 1:13-15
[10]http://www.ministrymatters.com/library/#/ibnew/aab4bee3578b69f90203ffe26d5869f9/a-annunciations-to-zechariah-and-to-mary-15-56.html. Accessed November 28, 2015.
[11] Luke 1:16-17
[12] Luke 1:18
[13] “Zechariah & Elizabeth.” By Nils von Kalm, 6 March 2005.
