Loving God, you continue to send your messengers and to pour out your Spirit on your people.  Empower us by your Spirit and enable us to hear your voice, that we might live to the praise of your glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    An elderly couple has been unable to have children.  Yet, they have lived according to God’s commandments and have spent their whole lives worshiping God.  Then one day an angel shows up and tells them that they are going to have a son.  The Holy Spirit will rest on him, and God has a mission for him.  This will happen in spite of the fact that the woman involved has been barren.  Does any of this sound familiar to you?...  Have you heard this story before?...

    I’m wondering how many other miraculous births you can think of that are found in the Scriptures.... [Isaac, Samson, Samuel, Jesus, possibly Moses] Each one of these stories has some things that are similar to John the Baptist and some things that are different.  In the case of Abraham and Sarah, they, too, are elderly, Sarah has been unable to have children, and either one - or maybe three angels - are involved in the announcement of Isaac’s birth.

    In Samson’s case, an angel announces his birth but we are not told the age of his parents.  The angel makes it clear that Samson’s life is to be dedicated to God (Judg. 13).  As for Samuel, he, too, is dedicated to God before he is ever born.  This time, there’s no angel involved, but his mother Hannah has been barren for many years and has prayed for many years before Samuel is conceived (1 Sam. 1).  And of course, in the case of Jesus, the angel Gabriel is involved in the announcement, and the Holy Spirit is intimately involved in his birth.

    What strikes me with all of these miraculous births and with so many of the people that God calls into service in the Bible is what an age range there is.  We have Abraham and Sarah, and Zechariah and Elizabeth who are all quite elderly when God calls them and gives them an important role in God’s mission.  At the other end of the spectrum we have John the Baptist who is filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth (Lk. 1:15).  I recall Martin Luther pointing to John as an example of infant faith, as he leaps in Elizabeth’s womb the moment he is in the presence of Mary and the yet unborn Jesus.  And then there seems to be every other age in between.

    Samuel is maybe five or six years old when he begins to serve God in the temple with Eli.  Jeremiah is another one who was called by God even before he was born, and who later protests that he can’t do what God is asking him to do because he is only a youth! (Jer. 1:4-7) And then there is Mary, who was quite likely a young teenager when the angel Gabriel appeared to her in order to announce the birth of Jesus.

    And so, none of you are either too old or too young to be called by God.  God works through all kinds of different people in order to accomplish God’s mission here on this earth – even people like you and me!  God also does not require that we have it all together or that we don’t make mistakes in order to be of service.  All we need to do is to look at people like Abraham and Sarah, or Samson, or David, or even Zechariah, to know that God is able to work through some pretty imperfect people.

    In fact, we didn’t hear the part of the story today where Zechariah doesn’t quite believe what the angel has told him and is left unable to speak until the day of John’s naming and circumcision.  Really, can we blame him?...  There are some pretty unbelievable things that are promised in the Scriptures, both by angels and by other messengers.  Very few, if any, of the people God uses to further God’s mission have faith that is so strong that they never have doubts.  And so, perhaps we can actually take some comfort in Zechariah’s disbelief.

    Ultimately, though, God does work through Zechariah and also through his son, John.  Once Zechariah is able to speak again, he is filled with the Holy Spirit and comes out with a prophecy that is known as the Benedictus and also as the song of Zechariah.  (Show picture) In this picture you can see the Latin words that are written around the doorway.  It starts out with Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel - Blessed be the Lord God of Israel.  This is the beginning of the song of Zechariah, written over the birthplace of John the Baptist.  (New picture) It is also Latin that is inscribed at John’s birthplace.  It means “here the forerunner (or precursor) of the Lord was born.”

    This was, indeed, John’s main mission in life - to go before the Lord to prepare the way.  However, Zechariah’s song adds a little more detail to this mission.  Through John, the people would hear that they are forgiven.  They would know God’s salvation, which also means healing and wholeness.  Through John, the people would experience God’s mercy and compassion, shining down on them from on high.  They would see that there is light in the darkness - even in the shadow of death, and they would be guided into the way of peace.

    Of course, these are the things that were revealed in all their fullness through Jesus, and John pointed the way to him.  However, you may have noticed that not all of God’s promises have been fulfilled just yet.  How many people are there still in this world who do not know or experience God’s mercy and compassion?  How many people are there who have not experienced salvation and don’t know the joy of God’s forgiveness?  How many people are there who still sit in the shadow of death and who don’t see any hint of light in the darkness?  And how many people are there who still have not found the way of peace?

    These are all things that are to be found in Jesus, and God continues to call people just like you and me to share God’s love and mercy and compassion with all people.  This is still the world that God loves, in spite of the fact that so many things are not as they should be.  As well, just as God’s Spirit was poured out on people like John and Samuel and Mary and Zechariah, we, too, are offered the gift of the Holy Spirit, ready to empower us and to work through us, and to use us as beacons of hope - signs of God’s mission in the world.

    We have indeed been saved and redeemed through Jesus.  May others come to know him through us.  Amen.

Advent 4 (NL 2)                                Luke 1:5-13, 57-80
December 20, 2015
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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