The Rev. Patricia Templeton
Advent 2C
December 6, 2009
St. Dunstan's

Readings

"Surprised by God"

We hear today from the beginning of the Gospel of Luke, the gospel that gives us the most beloved stories of Jesus’ birth – the angel’s visit to Mary announcing she will have a son, Mary’s beautiful song of praise in response to that startling news, the journey to Bethlehem and birth of the child, the visit by the shepherds to the newborn baby.

But Luke’s story does not begin with Jesus or Mary. Instead it begins with waiting.

The people of Israel at this time have been waiting for centuries for the fulfillment of the promise of a messiah. The prophets of old have foretold it; the faithful believe God will keep God’s promise.

But even for the most faithful, the promise of deliverance sounds hollow by now. Israel is under the domination of Rome, and its vassal king, Herod. Hope seems futile, but still the faithful struggle to believe.

Among those faithful are Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth. Both are descendants of priestly families. They are faithful and righteous, following all of God’s laws and commandments.

Zechariah and Elizabeth are exemplary Jews. But despite their blameless lives, they have no children, and as scripture puts it, “they both were getting on in years.” Any hope that they may have once had for a child is rapidly fading.

Anyone familiar with the stories of scripture knows to pay attention when a faithful, childless, old couple appears on the scene. Something miraculous may be about to happen.

Sure enough, Zechariah is on duty at the Temple, and he is chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary and offer incense. Offering incense in the sanctuary, the holiest place in all of Israel, was an enormous privilege, one that was normally granted to a Jewish man only once in a lifetime.

As Zechariah enters, prays, and prepares the incense, the whole assembly of people is gathered outside praying. It surely is a moment Zechariah will always remember, one that he would share with his children, if he had any.

What was already a special moment suddenly intensifies. An angel appears beside the altar. Zechariah is understandably terrified, overwhelmed with fear.

The angel reassures him.

“Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayers have been heard,” the angel says. “Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord.”

Zechariah is a man of great faith. He has prayed fervently for a son for years. He is standing at the holiest spot in Israel.

And he is absolutely shocked, and totally unprepared, when his prayers are answered.

I don’t think we are so different from Zechariah. We struggle to be faithful, we pray and go to worship, but I would guess most of us hardly expect to meet God, or God’s messenger, in the midst of our daily activities, or even in worship.

Most of us would react with shock to find our deepest prayers suddenly and dramatically answered.

In the words of Catholic writer Megan McKenna, “We see and we don’t see. We believe and we don’t believe. We pray and we don’t pray.”

So it seems understandable to me that Zechariah would respond with disbelief. “How will I know this is so?” he asks the angel in amazement. “I’m an old man, and my wife is not so young anymore, either.”

The angel is not amused.

“I am Gabriel,” he responds. Not just any old angel, but the chief angel, the one who stands in the presence of God.

Because Zechariah dares to question God’s messenger he is struck dumb, unable to speak until the events Gabriel foretells have occurred.

I have always thought Gabriel was a bit hard on Zechariah. After all, when an angel announces that 90-year-old Sarah will become pregnant, Sarah laughs out loud. And yet she does become pregnant, becoming the matriarch of the people of Israel with the birth of her son Isaac, whose name means laughter.

When Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her she will have a son, she answers, “How can this be?”

Neither Sarah nor Mary are punished for their responses.

For the next nine months, Zechariah remains mute. It is not until the birth of his son, when he responds to those who try to name the child Zechariah by adamantly writing, “His name is John,” that his mouth is opened.

And then he sings with praise to God, the song which we sang as our psalm this morning. Zechariah proclaims to all what the angel has told him, that this child is not only the answer to his prayers, but also an answer to the prayers of Israel.

God has chosen an old, childless couple to usher in a new age. Once again God has chosen the poor and humble, those who seem insignificant in the eyes of the world, for the great work of redemption.

And so Zechariah sings about what God is now doing through his son, John. As McKenna says, for Israel “the promises are coming true. The time of waiting is over and done. Now it is happening.”

Listen to Zechariah’s verb tenses. Not God will raise up for us a savior, but God has raised up for us a savior. God has kept the promises made to Abraham and all his descendants. God has remembered the covenant. Deliverance is here.

And then Zechariah announced the true identity of his child. This child is not just his son, this child is a prophet, the one who will prepare the way for the imminent arrival of the Messiah.

On this second Sunday of Advent, we, too, are in a time of waiting. We wait once again for the birth of the Messiah, each of us with our own private desires, our own private hopes and prayers.

What are you waiting for this Advent? What are your deepest prayers? Have you prayed for so long that the words are beginning to sound hollow? Have you begun to believe that hope is futile, begun to sink into despair?

Are you saying words with no real expectation that God is listening, that God cares or will act?

Maybe your prayers are for some personal yearning or desire; maybe they are prayers for the community or the world.

This Advent I pray for peace when our own country is escalating an almost decade-old war, and when so much of the world seems intent on violence and death.

I pray for an end to hunger when more than 20 percent of the people in this state alone “food insecurity,” meaning they go to bed at night not knowing if they will have food the next day.

I pray for understanding among people of different faiths, when many in our own denomination can not agree or get along.

I can’t say that I am optimistic about any of these things, and at times my prayers seem futile.

But Zechariah and Elizabeth give me hope. They remind me that God works in surprising ways, and is faithful despite our low expectations.

Amen.

Back to Top

Readings

Malachi 3:1-4

“See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?” For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

Philippians 1:3-11

I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because you hold me in your heart, for all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Luke 1:5-20

In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years. Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. But the angel said to 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. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He 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." Zechariah said to the angel, "How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years." The angel replied, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur."

Back to Top