Salem Baptist Church

Introduction - 4’ 33’’

Anyone know what’s going on here?

This orchestra is playing ... and I use that term loosely ... John Cage’s piece 4 minutes and 33 seconds ... it’s a piece written in three movements ...each of which consists of nothing but ... well ... nothing ...

We’ve just heard the first movement ... if you want to see the rest of the piece then I’ll put the link on the Salem Website later in the week ... and let me tell you the second and third movements are really catchy and can get stuck in your head :-)

I’ve shown that video this morning ... as (I hope) a light hearted introduction to our reflections on our second canticle from Luke’s Gospel ... Zachariah's song or prophecy ... because, of course ... Zachariah's prophecy in Luke 1:68 is given after 9 months of silence ...

For as I’m sure most of us are familiar with from countless Nativity plays ... Zachariah is struck dumb when he doubts the fact that he and his wife Elizabeth are going to have a baby ...

but I’m grateful to someone who pointed out to me last week v62 ... where it says that they made signs to Zachariah ... suggesting that not only was Zachariah struck dumb ... but deaf as well ... and apparently it is possible to translate v20 in a way to support this ...

So for 9 months Zachariah hears nothing and says nothing ... and at the end of this time ... he delivers this prophecy ... this reflection on God’s action in Zachariah's life and in the world that we now have recorded for us in Luke chapter 1 and verse 68 and following ...

and although its not really the main point of the passage ... I can’t help but ask; where are the places in our culture ... in our own lives ... for sustained, silent reflection upon the work of God in the world and in our lives? For I think without it ... we will never be able to appreciate God’s work in the way that Zachariah manages here in Luke 1.

So this morning we are going to be thinking about Zachariah's Benedictus ... a prophecy delivered after 9 months of silence ... and ... we assume ... after a lifetime of reflection on God’s action in history and in the world ...

However, although we are supposed to be looking at the Benedictus this morning ... it seems to me that we can only do that be considering Zachariah's story ... and, as with last week ... the story of God’s people, Israel.

Actually, I think all of these opening scenes of Luke’s Gospel have this twin focus ... the narrow as we focus on the specific individuals ... and the broad ... as we consider the history of God’s people and things of eternal and cosmological significance

... but ... although I think this is important for any Bible passage ...

I think it’s particularly important for the Benedictus …

that we think about its context ... both in Luke ... and in Biblical History in general ...

So let’s look at Zachariah and his story ... but before we do ...

[let’s pray]

God of the universe, revealed to us in Holy Scripture

through the writings of the prophets and the prophecy of Zachariah,

you have called us to prepare our hearts for your visitation.

Ready us now to hear your Word and to respond as faithful servants,

to the glory of Christ. Amen.

Zachariah's Story

I’ve only really noticed this this week ... but after the initial prologue of Luke’s Gospel ... Zachariah is the first character introduced Chapter 1v5 ...

I’m not sure why, but bear with me ... I haven’t been able to get away from thinking about how you would dramatise this for the stage...

[So here’s my thinking]

We could have a narrator ... who would read out the first 4 verses of Luke’s Gospel with the stage completely dark ... and then in verse 5 ... a spotlight picks out the character Zachariah ... who ... the narrator goes on to tell us ... is a Priest who with his wife Elizabeth ... is upright and blameless in the sight of God

BUT

The “Issue”

and here’s the narrative tension ...

BUT

they are childless ... and

not only childless

but getting on a bit ...

Now, I know that I am truly blessed by having three kids ... and those of us with children can only begin to try to understand the pain for anyone in being unwillingly childless ...

but it is important to understand that the pain in 1st century Jewish culture was particularly acute ... since the absence of children was perceived to be an absence of God’s blessing ...

So we learn very early on in Luke’s Gospel that there is this problem ... Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth have no children ...

The Angel

And Zachariah ... who so far had only been introduced to us ... is now made to move ... as we are told that it was his turn to serve at the temple ... and as he was going about his priestly business an angel appeared to him ...

... and notice what the first thing that the angel says to Zachariah ...

... Do not be afraid ...

I do sometimes wonder if we’ve got the wrong end of the stick with angels ... cute girls with tinsel aren’t going to scare anyone ... but ... although I haven’t actually checked ... I think almost every angel that appears in the New Testament says at some point don’t be afraid ... Angels apparently can appear quite scary ... but that’s just a little aside ...

So what does this scary angel have to say?

Well basically ... to tell Zachariah that he’s going to be a dad!

... And that his child should be called John -- which means the Lord is Gracious –

and the angel goes on to describe what John will do and be like ... basically saying that John is going to be a prophet ...

...

Now it seems to me that there is a subtext here …

… we’ve been shown that something is wrong in Zachariah's life ... he longs for children but so far remains childless ... and has all but given up hope ... and now an Angel is promising him that he will have a son ...

So what’s the subtext?

The Subtext

Well the Angel is basically saying that Zachariah's longing for a child will be met with the birth of a son who will be a prophet ...

but remember that there has not been a prophet in Israel for the last 400 years ...

for something is not only wrong in Zachariah's life … something is wrong in life of the nation ...

God’s people ... the nation of Israel ...

are longing for liberation from the oppression of foreign powers ... and they have all but given up hope ...

there have ... of course been promises in the past...

to Eve that the seed of woman will come to crush the head of the serpent

to Abram that one day through his family all nations of earth will be blessed

to David that one of his descendants will come and establish a kingdom that will last for ever ...

promises have been made through the prophets, that one day the lion will lie with the lamb ... that peace will reign and swords will be beaten into ploughshares ...

This is the longing ... the hoping ... of the people of God …

… but so far ... nothing ...

God’s people are under the heel of the Romans ... and God has remained silent for 400 years ... but now there is the promise of a longed for intervention … in the promise of a child to a couple who have longed for a child for a lifetime …

Zachariah Doubts

… so … with all this in the background …. perhaps we can understand Zachariah being a little unsure of the promise that he will have a son ...

But ... the Angel ... seems unsympathetic ... perhaps thinking that a Priest who knows the history ... the Scriptures ... should have a little more faith  ...

And so Zachariah is struck dumb ... and potentially deaf as well ...

And I think that there is supposed to be some humour in this story ... kind of like the “And Finally” story at the end of the news (do they still do that?) ... And finally today Priest gets struck dumb ...

Anyway ... the plot of Luke’s Gospel moves on and we leave Zachariah and Elizabeth to meet Mary and the parallel account of her meeting with an angel ...

And when Mary and Elizabeth meet … and the enormity of what is going on lands on Mary ... she gives us the Magnificat ... the revolutionary Gospel we looked at last week.

And then we return to Elizabeth and the birth of her baby ...

and following some confusion about his name ... he is eventually given the name John ... [the title ... the Baptist coming a bit later] ...

And then in v66 the narrator interrupts ...

Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

Now it’s unusual to hear from the narrator in Luke ... and it kind of sets up a “pause” in the action ... for us to reflect a little on what is going on ... as Zachariah delivers his prophecy,

A prophecy of two halves ... a praise to God ... which on first glance doesn’t really respond to the issue raised in v66 ... and a blessing on the child ... which perhaps does ...

The Benedictus

So the first half of the Benedictus ... (which is called that as this is the first word of the Latin translation of Zachariah's prophecy ...)

The first half of the prophecy begins with praise to God that he has come to redeem His people ...

it talks about a horn of salvation ... horn symbolising strength ... from the house of David ... remember the promise made to David that one of his descendants would establish a kingdom that will last for ever ...

about ... salvation from foreign rule ...

about the covenant between God and His people made with Abraham ...

Now remember that Zachariah is speaking here after 9 months of silent reflection on the state of the world and God’s divine action ...

So what’s going on??

Standing in the stream of Biblical History

Well it seems to me that ... Luke is providing for his readers an opportunity to pause and reflect on the events of the Nativity ...

and as we do our attention is being drawn to God’s action in the past ... through the history of God’s dealings with His people ...

... and I think as we do that ... really we’re being asked to reflect on the true nature of Christmas ...

and here’s the thing ... there’s no stable or star, shepherd or wise man in sight ...

You see the Benedictus ... at least when reflected upon in its wider contexts ...

invites us to reflect on God action in His world ... His activity ... His intervention ...

I want to say that the Benedictus invites us to reflect on the fact that the Nativity ... indeed the whole of the New Testament stands in the stream of Biblical History ... or continues the stream ... or to use John Piper’s picture ... is the delta of the stream as the salt water meets fresh ... but is still being swept onwards towards the open sea ...

You see Zachariah's story invites us to reflect on the fact that there is something wrong in his life ... he doesn’t have children and desperately wants them ... and God intervenes and promises that one day he will have a child ...

however, Zachariah doubts and is struck dumb ...

but God delivers Praise be to the Lord ...

BUT

more than that ... Zachariah's story and these opening verses to Luke’s Gospel ... invite us to reflect on the fact that not only is there something wrong in Zachariah's life  …

there is something wrong in the life of the nation ...

but God promises redemption ... like in the exodus of old  ...

like in the promise made to David v69 ... a horn of salvation (where horn means strength) from the house of David ... remember the promise to establish a kingdom that will last for ever out of David’s house

v71 ... a promise of salvation from enemies

v72 ... the promise of the covenant with Abraham ...

and Zachariah appears to be saying ... that although there may be doubts ... God is delivering ... praise be to the Lord!

Christmas as a “political” event

Now these promises indicate that God appears to be delivering a “political” salvation ...

Now Christmas and politics are usually not put together … but I think it’s interesting that just this week Steve Holmes ... a Baptist lecturer at the University of St Andrews has published an article for Theos the Christian think tank :) with the title The Politics of Christmas ... http://campaigndirector.moodia.com/Client/Theos/Files/ThePoliticsOfChristmas.pdf

where he argues that Christmas is of course a hugely political event ...

And, I’m pleased to say that we are obviously “on message” as a church since this is that we thought a little about last week in our look at the revolutionary nature of Magnificat …

and thank you for those who have shared some of their reflections on how we ought to engage in matters of global justice, creation care and so called mercy ministries ... and I’d love us to hear from others and continue that conversation ...

However, in the second half of the Benedictus there are signs that Zachariah's vision goes beyond simply re-aligning political powers (Tom Wright (2001) Luke for Everyone, (SPCK:London),p19.) God’s mercy, the forgiveness of sins, the rescue from death itself all point to a deeper and wider meaning of salvation ...

in providing this narrative “pause” ... this opportunity to catch our breath before the action really begins ... Luke seems to be preparing us for the idea that in fulfilling the Old Testament promises God is going beyond a merely political solution to this-world-problems to provide a this-world salvation and is instead opening the door to a whole new world in which sin and death themselves are dealt with. (Ibid.)

So what?

So what??

Well … let’s re-cap …

Something is wrong for Zachariah, God promises deliverance from this, Zachariah doubts ... is struck dumb ... God delivers ... Zachariah is free to praise God

Something is wrong for Gods people, God promises deliverance from this, God’s people doubt ... are struck dumb ... no prophets for 400 years ... God delivers a new prophet in the person of John the Baptist ... who will prepare the way for the one who will provide ultimate salvation so that God’s people are free to praise Him once again!

So what ...

Stuff is wrong with the world ... right? Right? Well no its not right its wrong! :)

Stuff is wrong ... something is wrong in your life …

but Christmas ... reminds us that God intervenes ... God has promised to deliver ...

… and … not just freedom from the stress of Christmas shopping but freedom from sin and suffering and sickness and death,

God will deliver justice in the resurrection, and God promises those who are in Christ … life with Him in the New Heavens and the New Earth...

God has promised ...

And so we hope ...

Advent is the season of hope ... we hope ... we long for that time when there will be no more sin suffering struggling ... death, oppression, injustice ... maranatha ... come Lord Jesus ...

are you longing for this??

But like Zachariah ... it is easy to begin to doubt ...

the weight of it ...

… the struggle and the battles of daily life … the image and realities of global injustice in famine, in needless deaths due to treatable disease … can lead us to doubt and in the midst of our hoping we can begin to say Lord are you really there?

But the Christmas story and Zachariah's story … remind us that God is there ...

even in the dark night of the soul ... God IS there …

God has remained faithful to His people throughout the ages and IS there ..

Even when we are struck dumb and cannot even articulate our battles God is there ...

And not only there but interested and intervening  .... to make good on His promises ...

It may not always be clear to us …

But God is at work …

Let that land on you ...

God is at work ... He has a plan ... He knows what He’s doing ...

He’s faithful ...

He will deliver ...

and this passage in Luke reminds us ...

that at this time of Christmas we not only stand in the recent tradition of sentimentality ...

but in the deeper and more significant tradition of God’s deliverance of His promises ...

I can’t help but think that the apostle Peter puts it best in 2 Peter 3

you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgement and destruction of the ungodly.

 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

There’s more that I wanted to say ... about how John the Baptist prepares the way as we too as disciples prepare the way ... but that will have to wait ...

Because I think the key thing I want us to take home today ... is that God intervenes in History ...

God acts really ...

So I just wonder whether … this Christmas we need to focus less on sheep and barns and stars and so on ... and focus instead and this awesome truth that at Christmas God involves Himself ...

I guess in the midst of this season ... I want us to catch our breath and reflect on the fact that God is involved ... to lift our eyes above the day to day and recall the eternal and cosmological dimension to Christmas … that God is at work in History … that there is an eternal, divine dimension to Christmas … into which we are caught up … as God is faithful to His people …

Let me close with a reading from

Psalm 121

1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains— 
   where does my help come from? 
2 My help comes from the LORD, 
   the Maker of heaven and earth.

 3 He will not let your foot slip— 
   he who watches over you will not slumber; 
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel 
   will neither slumber nor sleep.

 5 The LORD watches over you— 
   the LORD is your shade at your right hand; 
6 the sun will not harm you by day, 
   nor the moon by night.

 7 The LORD will keep you from all harm— 
   he will watch over your life; 
8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going 
   both now and forevermore.

How very very cool!

Let’s pray