Preparation, Anticipation

Preached at St Mary the Virgin, Little Burstead on 28 November 2021

Preparation for Christmas

On one of my Facebook groups, the Friday question two weeks ago was “When is it OK to put the decorations up for Christmas?” or something like that. There were already hundreds of responses. Some were enthusiastic and had already started, while others had a fixed date in mind, often the 1^st December. Some were for an even later date – Christmas Eve.

So When do you put up the Christmas decorations?

[pause]

Well, if I’m honest - I don’t. That’s something that Jo does, and it will happen probably in the next couple of weeks – certainly before our family arrive on 17th.

Decorations

Once the decorations are up, it feels like Christmas, even if Christmas itself is still weeks away. Many people like that atmosphere – the busier streets, lots of additional events, lots of lights to brighten the long dark evenings, and perhaps even the beginnings of ‘good will to all men and women’. It adds to the excitement and perhaps recalls a childhood time when Santa is on his way and all is right with the world.

We are all, slowly, or maybe not so slowly, preparing our selves for that time.

Now, I know that some are preparing themselves in quite a different way, because Christmas for them is a difficult time, perhaps with sad memories, or a time when they find the endless party atmosphere difficult.

Either way, preparation is required.

Book of Kells

Tom Wright tells the story of visiting the Book of Kells. It’s an illuminated manuscript containing the four gospels among other things and is on display in Dublin. It’s one of the top visitor attractions. I’m glad he saw it, because when we went to Dublin for a long weekend, that exhibition was closed! Anyway, here’s what he says:

“The people who arranged the exhibition don't let the public see the gospels themselves straight away, Wisely, they lead you first past several other very old books, which prepares you step by step for the great treasure itself. By the time you reach the heart of the exhibition, you have already thought your way back to the world of early Celtic Christianity, to the monks who spent years of their life painstakingly copying out parts of the Bible and lavishly decorating it. You are now ready to appreciate it properly.”

That’s what I am trying to do today, help us to get into a good mindset for the rest of Advent and particularly Christmas. That’s what Luke is trying to do in the early part of his gospel – help those who read it get into the mindset they need, so they will better appreciate what’s going on and how to interpret events when Jesus arrives. He’s started by telling a story which sets the scene, and shows his hearers how the world was.

Zechariah and Elizabeth

So let’s take a closer look at the first part of the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth. They are both elderly and are both descended down the priestly line. He is a priest, in one of the 24 divisions of priests that were set up by King David. He is in the eighth division, the division of Abijah. Each division was led by one of the sons of Aaron. You can read about the priestly divisions in 1 chronicles 24.

Of course, there is not a clear line from Abijah to Zechariah because all that was disrupted by the exile when the Babylonians conquered the Israelites. On the return, everything was reconstructed as well as it could be, but the records were no longer available.

Elizabeth, too, is a descendant of Aaron, but we are not told how.

Blameless

Verse 6 tells us:

Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly.

“Upright” and “blameless” is high praise indeed, it means that they were faithful to God and had been serving Him for their entire lives. That puts them up there with the likes of Noah. It doesn’t make them sinless, though, but it does mean that they would have made all the appropriate sacrifices at the appropriate times.

Childless

So, it is a surprise, really, that they are childless. A faithful Jewish woman, at that time, would have seen children as a blessing. No doubt, when she was young, Elizabeth would have hoped to one day give birth to the Messiah as so many young women did in those days.

It was the expectation of the society that all women would have children, and it was though that those who didn’t were somehow cursed by God. The lack of a child bought shame on the couple.

So we can reasonably assume that it was Elizabeth's greatest wish to have a baby, but they are both old and that time has passed. They could easily be excused for thinking that God had forgotten about them.

A priests life

The priests served in the local community among the people they lived with. Twice a year each division would serve in the temple for a week. They would travel from their village to the temple and lodge in the temple precincts.

Yesterday (27 Nov 2021) was the first day for the priests of Abijah to serve. So the descendants of Zechariah’s division would be serving in the temple today – if there was a temple!

Zechariah’s lot

Each day a lot is cast to see which priest will go into the inner courts to offer incense. On this day it was Zechariah’s turn. This was a once in a lifetime activity, so no pressure. It’s just a normal day in the temple, Zechariah has been there hundreds of times before. All the worshippers have gathered and are at prayer. In he goes. Not expecting anything to happen, perhaps looking forward to seeing inside the inner courts, and making sure he has a good memory of what’s happening – something to tell to the villagers on his return.

Angel

Suddenly, there is someone in there with him. In verse 12 it says he was startled and gripped with fear.

I’m not surprised. I remember being in Christ Church late one night, with little or no light, when we had the scarecrows for the harvest celebration. Even though I knew they were there, I jumped each time I caught a glimpse of them as I moved about the building.

A message from God

Gabriel, like almost all angels, starts with “Do not be afraid”. Yeah, right! Of course, he’s afraid – he’s terrified. He must gain his composure quickly. The angel has a message. This is more important than making memories. This is God intervening in the world. There have been no prophets since Malachi, about 400 years ago. God has apparently been silent for the whole time. Now God is speaking again, and the message to Zechariah is, “your prayer has been heard”.

Zechariah and Elizabeth’s Prayer

I expect Zechariah and Elizabeth had been praying for a child since they were very young. As a faithful couple, their prayers would have been a regular part of their daily lives. Since they had become old and Elizabeth had passed the age of child bearing, I wonder how prominently that prayer had featured. I can imagine it might have been less regular than it once was, as they slowly began to think that perhaps God did not want them to have a child.

Angel’s message

The Angel Continues:

Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Doubt

That’s a lot for a still trembling Zechariah to take in. Not only will Elizabeth give birth in her old age, but the child will be a powerful prophet – he’s going to lead a revival. It’s understandable that he has his doubts. Is this really an angel or is he just having hallucinations, perhaps like Mr Scrooge he thinks the vision is more to do with a poor meal. “You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato.”

As a priest, though, he should know his scriptures. This is one of the ways that God works – Remember Abraham and Sarah, and the birth of Isaac. Remember Elkanah and Hannah and the birth of Samuel. These special babies are not just born, much prayer and longing is involved, and sometimes the wait is beyond what seems possible – but with God nothing is impossible.

Charades

Gabriel is not impressed with Zechariah’s doubting of his message, and sentences him to silence until the baby is born. Now Zechariah has a real problem. He has been inside the inner courts for far too long. The worshippers outside are going to start thinking that the old man they sent in had died, and will begin to wonder what they are supposed to do about that. Instead, Zechariah eventually leaves the inner courts and now has to find a way to explain himself.

So channelling your best Lionel Blair, just how would you explain “I saw an angel, and he promised me a son, who is going to bring Israel back to God”?

If anyone would like to demonstrate?

[pause]

Back to normality

So, now it’s back to normality for the priestly family, but it will never be normal again, God’s intervention has seen to that. They return home and Elizabeth becomes pregnant.

Elizabeth’s response

Her response is to go into hiding for the last five months of her pregnancy. She doesn’t want the villagers watching her, perhaps willing the pregnancy to fail. She doesn’t want to hear any gossip that may be going around. Instead, she spends her time focussed on God and the baby. Until at the end the horrors of her life are over, no longer can anyone say anything against her – she has her child.

She recognises that this is all God’s will, God’s plan. Her response:

“The Lord has done this for me. In these days he has shown his favour and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

It is the response of a devout, lifetime servant of God. There is only faith and love for the Lord.

Hope

So, Luke has reported the first part of the story of how the world was redeemed. At last there is hope, and it has come through an ordinary couple who have been living a devoted life for many years.

God has acted right there in the middle of everyday life. Something had begun, a revival is promised, but the changes that are coming are, as we know, way more important and far-reaching than a mere revival.

Advent

Through the season of Advent, we remember these events as we look back on the events leading to the birth of the Messiah. We also look forward to the final victory of the Messiah, on His return and to the completion of our redemption. Through the cold, dark, winter things are looking up, great things are coming. And the Christmas we are all preparing for is just the start.

Amen.