Preparing for the Light … with Love
Advent 4 – Narrative Lectionary 2
December 20, 2015
Grace, Mankato, MN
Luke 1.5-13, 57-80
One lesson I learned in seminary—and continue to relearn—is that how you say something is just as important as what you say. For instance, if I said, “Once upon a time …” you’d know that a fairy tale was going to be told and treat the following story accordingly. And if I said, “It was a dark and stormy night …” you’d know that a thriller was coming, perhaps even a bad one. And if I said, “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away …” the light sabers would come out and you’d definitely know it was time for a Star Wars flick.
Luke (the gospel writer, not Skywalker) is a master storyteller and understands this same mechanism for telling a tale. He begins the Jesus story with a kind of prequel about John who will become the Baptist. If Jesus is Episodes 4-6, then John is Episodes 1-3. Luke begins both of these stories similarly. In this case today, he begins his story “In the days of King Herod of Judea …” To Luke’s early readers—and to us—, this signals that God enters the world in a specific time and place.
The time and place for the Jews would be one of darkness and oppression under Roman rule. As we know from our journey through the Old Testament these past weeks, the Jews have been under the thumb of various somewhat evil empires: the Assyrians, the Babylonians and the Persians. Since their release by Cyrus of Persia, you can include the Greeks and now the Romans. In this foreign occupation, Jews like Zechariah and Elizabeth have tried to be faithful to God, although it hasn’t been easy.
And what a way to enter! After an almost 500 year silence, God comes on the scene in a big way. The angel Gabriel speaks to Zechariah and, as often happens when God shows up, the first words are “Do not be afraid.” On the lips of an angel, these words of comfort are far more reaching than the present moment of fear. For God is doing a new and wondrous thing, a thing beyond our comprehension. Even more amazingly, God invites us to be a part of it.
Of course, Zechariah balks at Gabriel’s announcement. He is rewarded for his curiosity with a silenced tongue. Yet Zechariah’s muteness in itself will be a sign to others that God is doing something incredible. So, Zechariah and Elizabeth do as they are told. They conceive, bear a son and prepare for the circumcision and naming as good Jews do. Wonders will continue to unfold for as both Elizabeth and Zechariah declare the boy’s name shall be John, Zechariah’s tongue will be freed and he let loose a song of praise that would rival any Broadway musical. The song is, in fact, a love song, though not as you think. It’s a song testifying to God’s love for us.
Today, as the days get darker, we light the fourth candle on the Advent wreath, the so-called love candle. We may not live in a time of foreign occupation like Elizabeth and Zechariah, but we know all too well the darkness in the world. Although it may not always come out this way, we are constantly bombarded by messages of fear. We have enumerated them enough in the past that we don’t need to do so again; you know them all too well. And yet, if that wasn’t bad enough, there are the things we live with day to day, the unexpected: marriages you thought were good all of a sudden fall apart. Illnesses that come upon us and leave us stunned. If there is anything I’ve learned this Advent is that it’s almost impossible to love when you’re afraid.
A long time ago in a place a lot closer than you think, God came down as God’s love always does. God said to the world, “Do not be afraid for you are not forgotten. I am doing a great thing.” How God loves us is just as important as the fact that God loves us. God does so by entering our world as one of us. As you prepare to celebrate God’s love in the flesh, Jesus, know God keeps speaking words of love. Amen.
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