We're getting ready for Christmas.
Or,
we're procrastinating. Either way, it's still coming
soon. Twenty four-hour holiday music is on the radio and 25 days of Christmas movies are on the ABC Family channel.
A favorite television special
of mine is "A
Charlie Brown Christmas." Even without a visual, there's
no mistaking the sound of Linus' voice reciting from the gospel of Luke, Chapter 2, about the birth of Jesus.
I, however, am particularly intrigued by Luke Chapter
1, which reveals the connection
between Mary, Joseph, and the birth of Jesus with Zechariah, Elizabeth,
and the birth of John (the Baptist.) It prepares the way for what happens in subsequent chapters.
Zechariah was a priest who had grown
up in a family of priests. His wife Elizabeth
was also from a family of priests. The early years of their marriage were filled with hope and prayers for children that were never fulfilled. They were both old now
and had likely given up on the dream
of having children
years before, but they both continued to serve God,
as Luke describes it, blamelessly.
The temple in Jerusalem
was served by priests
from several families. When the rotation came around to Zechariah's family, the lot fell on him to go into the temple's inner sanctum
to perform the incense offering.
He went into the priests-only portion of the temple and was greeted by none other than the angel Gabriel. Gabriel had a personal message
from God specifically for Zechariah. The message: Your prayer has been heard.
Gabriel told Zechariah that he and Elizabeth would have a son named John who would be a joy and delight
to them. I take that to mean that Gabriel was referring to Zechariah's prayer for children.
Zechariah responded with doubt and commented on his and Elizabeth's
old age. Based on that response, I gather that it had been a very long time since he had actually prayed
for children of his own.
Gabriel answered back,
calling Zechariah out for not believing God would answer his prayer. His lack of faith would cost him and he wouldn't
be able to speak audibly
until after the son he was promised was born.
Meeting Gabriel
was the most significant event of his entire life as a priest, but now he wasn't able to tell anybody about it. He also wasn't
able to tell Elizabeth specifically what Gabriel
had to say.
I imagine
that if it had been a long time since he had prayed for children, maybe it had been a while since he had done anything
else about it either. Without using words, how
was he to tell Elizabeth that she was going to get pregnant?
I think instead of telling her,
he had to show
her. He showed her in the most intimate way that a husband
can communicate to
his wife. The old folks were suddenly newlyweds again. It was a day of miracles all around.
After their son was born, Zechariah,
still not speaking, wrote, "His name is John." Immediately, his voice returned and his first words were praises
to God.
He addressed his newborn and told him that he would go on to prepare
the way for the Lord, repeating words he'd
heard Gabriel say just months
earlier.
Zechariah lost his voice temporarily but that did not relieve him of responsibility for his part in making the message from God a reality. He had something that needed to be done in spite of his limitations.
John was given a voice and a message even before he was born.
However, his time was limited. When Jesus showed up for ministry,
John's main task of telling
people to get ready was pretty much complete.
The Old Testament scriptures promised a Messiah and one was delivered. The New Testament scriptures once again
promise a Messiah. Jesus is coming again.
Again, the time to prepare is limited. Speak the message
to those who aren't
ready.
If you can't speak, show them. Because that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.
This was originally posted December 14, 2015 on The Press and Standard's website:
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