Home > Jasons Sermons > Dec 2009 to Feb 2010

In the Dark

Text: Luke 1:68-79

One of the thrills of expecting a baby is choosing a name. Late nights poring over name books saying to each other, “Oh! I like this one. What do you think?” The face says it all. It looks as if your partner has just taken a sip of pure lemon juice. “No way! I don’t like that one at all!” And so it goes on, a ping pong match, batting possibilities back and forth until a clear winner emerges.

Naming a child varies from culture to culture. Many non-western cultures tend to give names according to meaning. Americans and Canadians are known for unusual names, often after movie stars. Traditionally, the British tended to pass names down. The children were named after their grandparents or an auntie or uncle. Pity the child who was the youngest in a large family who had to make due with being given whatever name was left over. Now, the British are tending to follow the North American lead.

It’s becoming more common now for parents to choose their child’s name carefully, thinking about what the name sounds like and what it means. The hope is that the child will grow into their name, living up to its meaning but also defining it with their own character.

And of course when the name is first announced there are the usual mutterings. “She should have been named after Great Grandma Gertrude.” “What an odd name! Cuthbert is so-o-o old fashioned. Whatever on earth possessed them to burden a boy with such an atrocious label!” friends and neighbours gossip. Everyone wants in on the action. Everyone has an opinion.

You can imagine the upset when it came to naming the new baby that had been born to Elizabeth and Zechariah. It was eight days after the baby’s birth and the day of his circumcision. It was time for the name to be given. Of course women didn’t have much say about how things were going to be. No one thought to ask Elizabeth her opinion and they new that it was pointless to ask Zechariah. Ever since Zechariah had done his duty as priest in the temple he hadn’t been able to say a word. They all assumed that it had been the shock of whatever he had seen and heard in the temple. They didn’t realise that he’d been made mute because he hadn’t believed the message of the angel Gabriel that he was going to become a dad.

Everyone was so excited. For a woman not to be able to have a baby was a disgrace. It was thought that she was not blessed by God. No one could figure out why Elizabeth and Zechariah had not been given a baby: after all, they lived according to God’s ways. So when the pregnancy was announced everyone was thrilled. As soon as news of the birth travelled round, all the neighbours and relatives gathered round. They were so pleased for Elizabeth. Finally, God had shown her mercy in giving her a child. Elizabeth held her newborn son and the men in their wisdom decided that they would call the little boy Zechariah after his dad.

Elizabeth would have none of it. “No; he is to be called John.” You could hear the sharp intake of breath. A woman dared to speak out against the men of the family and community? They reasoned with Elizabeth, “None of your relatives has this name!”

Elizabeth was dismissed as being hormonal. She didn’t know what she was talking about. Women are not sensible creatures. So they turned to Zechariah. Somehow they had to get through to him to save this baby from a naming fiasco.

Zechariah was not able to speak or hear and so they had to use sign language to get through to him. After a lot of waving of hands - a kind of elaborate charades game - they finally made him understand. What did he want for the boy’s name?

Zechariah motions for a writing tablet, a wax covered wooden board.[1] “His name is John.” No ands, ifs, buts, or maybes. Relative or no relative with the name, John it is. The name is not Zechariah’s choice. The name is not Elizabeth’s choice. It is God’s choice. It was the word of the angel, “Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John” (1:13). John means “God is gracious.” That is exactly who this baby is: God’s gift to his parents and to his people.

To say that they were gob smacked is an understatement. No sooner had Zechariah scratched out his message than his speech was restored. The words poured out of him. Months of silence were broken by songs of praise to God.

Fear came over the neighbours. Not the kind of fear that we associate with bad things happening. It was the kind of fear that is best described as awe. Everyone was struck by the amazing things that had happened: first Zechariah’s muteness, then the pregnancy that defied nature, and finally the sound of Zechariah’s worshipping voice. They could detect the presence of God in all of this and the news spread like wild fire throughout Judea. As the story spread of the miraculous events surrounding John’s beginnings, people wondered, “What then will this child become? What will he be like when he grows up? Will he live up to his name?” Everyone had a gut feeling that this kid stood out from the crowd.

Whilst everyone is wondering what John will amount to, Zechariah is filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesies. Now, there’s a popular idea that prophesy is peering into the distant future. Though it’s true that there is an element of looking forward, prophesy is much more than the medium peering into a crystal ball. Prophesy is God given insight that understands what God is doing in the present in keeping with the promises he has made in the past. His promise keeping in the present moment points to the unfolding of his promises in the future.

Zechariah’s prophesy takes two parts. First he blesses the Lord in verses 68-75 and then honours his son John in verses 76-79. It is quite likely that Zechariah blesses God with a hymn well known among the Jewish people. Zechariah’s prophesy is deeply rooted in God’s past promises to David, the holy prophets, the ancestors and Abraham to save his people. Sure enough, the Lord God of Israel has been true to his word. He has sent a mighty saviour, Jesus, who is in the Davidic line. He has looked favourably on his people, coming to save them from their enemies so that they might have the freedom to serve God according to his holy and right ways.

This old hymn that Zechariah sings envisions this salvation as political: a nation within borders with a mighty king. It is still a vision of ‘us’, the people of Israel, and ‘them’, our enemies, the Gentiles. There is no room in this hymn for outsiders in God’s redeemed community. But this is where Zechariah’s prophesy reshapes the old promise in terms of the new thing that is happening in the present.

It is through his son John that a new thing is about to begin. A new thing is going to happen. Zechariah celebrates his son who will be a prophet of the Most High, the last prophet of the old age and the first prophet of the new. John will be the trailblazer one step in front of the Lord, preparing his ways by raising the consciousness of people to salvation which comes through sins forgiven.

Zechariah is clear that just as the name ‘John’ originated with God, so salvation through the forgiveness of sins was born in the heart of God. The gift of John springs from God’s tender mercy, his loving compassion towards us. By God’s tender mercy a heaven sent daybreak has burst upon ‘us’ - the people of Israel. The light of this new dawning is not limited to the chosen few. Its rays pierce the night of “those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death” (1:79). This is the point at which Zechariah peers into the future and recognises that Jesus, whom his son will announce, will be a light to the Gentiles (Acts 26:17-18). The light which shines on Israel and non-Israelite alike will illumine the way of peace. There will be no more uncertain shuffling of feet but the confident stride of peoples of different ethnic backgrounds living in peace.

John lives up to his name. God is gracious through John’s words and actions: John who points beyond himself to Jesus; John who recedes into the background after Jesus is baptised. John heralds Jesus whose life, death and resurrection is the dawning of light on Israel and non-Israelite. It is to this same Jesus that his followers are called to bear witness: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

Does Zechariah’s prophecy provide Christians with a hint of what it means to be prophetic? We sing the hymns of the past…the understandings of faith from the past…the practices of faith from the past…and in and through them bless God that he has come to us in Jesus Christ. We bless God as we trace his promises kept to us through the ages. We also discern God’s coming to us in the present. How are we experiencing his salvation, the forgiveness of sins in the here and now? We see now that slavery - once condoned by Christians - is to be condemned; racial segregation like that in the States or in South Africa - once condoned by Christians - is to be condemned; that the class system - upheld by the Christian doctrine of the divine right of kings - is to be condemned; that keeping women in their place - condoned by Christians upholding the authority of men - is to be condemned. We stand in awe of the glimmering of dawn as we see the light of Jesus shining on people of every race and both sexes. We look to the future and dream of the day when there will be no more divide between people…when we will see clearly the path of peace.

Martin Luther King spoke his own prophecy called One Day:

Youngsters will learn words they will

not understand.

Children from India will ask:

What is hunger?

Children from Alabama will ask:

What is racial segregation?

Children from Hiroshima will ask:

What is an atomic bomb?

Children at school will ask:

What is war?

You will answer them.