The Songs of Luke's Gospel

Jesus: Song of Hope

TEXT: LUKE 1:67-79

LISTENING TO THE TEXT
This is actually the second song that Luke presents in his birth narrative. However, it is an appropriate beginning point for this series because Zechariah's song deals with the themes of anticipation and hope. The idea of "waiting on God," which fills the story of Zechariah, is a great introduction to the season of Advent.

The story begins in verse 5 of the first chapter. Zechariah and Elizabeth were faithful servants of God who knew a lot about waiting. As one of Israel's priests, Zechariah was waiting for his turn to serve in the Temple. There were so many priests that this privilege only came around twice a year for one week. Although they are from the hill country of Judea, when Luke introduces them, they are in Jerusalem, taking their turn of service. Zechariah was selected by lottery to enter the holy place and offer prayer.

Zechariah and Elizabeth were also engaged in another kind of waiting. They had been unable to have children, which in their culture was a reproach nearly beyond our understanding. It's with all of this heaviness that Zechariah enters the holy place to pray and receives God's promise that Elizabeth would bear a son. Zechariah learns that not only will he have a son but this son will be filled with the Holy Spirit and be used by God as an Elijah to prepare the way for the coming Messiah.

Zechariah is amazed and asks for a sign to verify the authenticity of this revelation. Part of the sign is that he will remain mute until the promise is fulfilled. So another kind of waiting fills the scene. Zechariah is silent, Elizabeth goes into hiding when she discovers that she is indeed pregnant, and Luke leaves us in verse 25 in a mood of expectation and waiting.

ENGAGING THE TEXT
The Need
The theme of waiting in this story connects to a real human dilemma. Like Zechariah and Elizabeth, we often find ourselves having to wait patiently on God's intervention in our lives. The people in our congregation are often in that waiting mode. They are waiting for an answer from God in some significant area of their lives. The preacher needs to think carefully and accurately about the kinds of waiting that his or her people are enduring.

God's Answer
The solution that this text provides for the dilemma of waiting is to be found in the covenant promise that God makes with His people. This whole story rises out of that promise made first to Abraham centuries before. The entire story of Israel is, in a sense, a story of waiting for God's promise to be fulfilled. Now, in the birth of John the Baptist, the drumroll begins and the curtain starts to lift revealing the long-awaited answer-Immanuel.

Though we live in the new covenant, we are still an Advent people. Christians are waiting for the return of Christ in glory and the consummation of the kingdom of God. We live "in the meantime." While we wait, it is with our eyes focused on the God of covenant promise, who will restore what is lost and redeem what is captive.

Our Response
When the situation is waiting, and the answer is God's promise, the only appropriate response is faithfulness. We are called to place our trust in "what we hope for" and our certainty in "what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1). This text calls us to be faithful not only in our temporal waiting (for God's blessing and provision now) but also in our eternal waiting (for the second coming of Christ). We are challenged to keep faith in the One who has made a covenant with us and will keep it.

PREACHING THE TEXT
One of the most difficult things I ever have to do is wait. I hate waiting. I may seem to you like a very calm man, but I'm never more agitated than when I have to wait. The Lord, knowing that about me, has graciously placed into my life all kinds of people who make me wait. Yes, I will resist the temptation to list them for you. I am willing to recognize, though, that sometimes people have to wait on me. It seems to be part of living life with other human beings. Every day we have to hurry up and wait.

Zechariah, the man whose song we heard today, understood about waiting. His whole life was about waiting. He and his wife, Elizabeth, were both from priestly backgrounds. She was from the family of Aaron, Israel's first priest. He was in the priestly division of Abijah, the eighth division of Israel's priests. Israel had so many priests that most of their time was spent waiting. They waited for their turn to serve in the Temple, which for each division happened only twice a year for one week.

Zechariah and Elizabeth lived in the hill country of Judea, but there was temple housing available for priests on duty and that's where Zechariah is when Luke introduces us to him. One of the high privileges of temple service was to be chosen as the one who would enter the holy place during the hour of prayer, burn incense on the altar, and pray on behalf of the people. Selection was determined by a lottery, and once selected the priest was out of the lottery. So if a person was ever fortunate enough to be selected, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Zechariah was selected, after all those years of waiting, and at the appointed hour he made his way into the holy place to pray. The people assembled outside were also praying. What they were waiting for was the time when the priest would emerge from the place of prayer and give to them the Lord's blessing.

We also need to remember that Zechariah was enduring a very personal kind of waiting. He and Elizabeth had been unable to have children. The reproach of being childless in that culture is beyond our understanding. Elizabeth's barrenness put her in a tradition that included Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Hannah. They had to bear not only the personal pain but often the judgment of others seeing it as God's punishment.

It's with that heaviness of heart that Zechariah enters the Temple. Surely he prayed for the redemption of his people, as every priest would, but perhaps he also prayed that somehow God would bless him with a son to carry on the family line.

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared before him. Zechariah froze in fear expecting to be struck down. Instead he received a wonderful message of hope and promise. The angel delivered God's promise that Elizabeth would bear a son. He was to call him John, "gift of God." The son would be filled with the Holy Spirit and be used by God as an Elijah to prepare the way for the coming Messiah.

Zechariah couldn't believe it. He said, "I need a sign, some kind of assurance that what you say is true." The angel identified himself as Gabriel, sent by God to deliver this message. But there was a consequence to Zechariah's lack of faith. Because he doubted the promise, he would not be able to speak until the promise was fulfilled.

Meanwhile, the people outside are waiting, wondering why there is delay and what has happened to Zechariah. Finally, he emerges from the holy place and the people wait with anticipation to hear the word of blessing from the Lord. But they hear nothing. They soon realize he can't speak, and it becomes obvious to them that he has received a vision but couldn't share it with them.

When Zechariah's service rotation was over, he returned home. Elizabeth did become pregnant, but for five months she waited in seclusion, not sharing the news. Zechariah is silent. Elizabeth is in hiding, and Luke leaves us in a mood of expectation—waiting.

You know as much as we dislike waiting, there's something about it that prepares us to receive God's gifts. Even when the waiting is painful and involves repentance, it opens our hearts to accept God's blessing.

Finally, the glad day arrived. Elizabeth gave birth to a son. On the eighth day they gathered to perform the rite of circumcision and of naming the new boy. They assumed, as was custom, that he would be named for his father, but Elizabeth quickly interrupted and said, "No, his name is John." The relatives protested so they looked to the boy's father for a decision. He grabbed a writing tablet and scribbled in hurried but decisive letters, "His name is John."

Immediately, Zechariah's tongue was loosed, and he burst forth in words of praise to God. The neighbors and all living in the hill country were amazed at this miracle, and they knew this had to be a special child indeed! What were the Lord's plans for him?

Zechariah answers the question in the song that we read this morning. In essence the song says, "In this child of promise, God has begun the process of redeeming us. God is bringing his salvation to us and it's starting now! The very thing we have longed for and prayed for, the thing the prophets have preached, the desire of all our hearts is being accomplished right before our eyes!" His song looks beyond the immediate. It looks beyond the joy of his own son and focuses on the coming Christ—Jesus, the Song of Hope.

You see all of Zechariah's waiting was not lost. It was not counterproductive. It prepared him to understand what God was accomplishing. It prepared him to grasp the fact that he was but an instrument in God's hands to fulfill the ancient promise of a holy relationship between God and his people. It was in his waiting that he heard the song of hope.

I am sure that just as God called Zechariah to a period of waiting, so He calls us to wait on the fulfillment of His promise. This may be one of the most difficult aspects of our relationship with God. We live in a world of instant gratification that affects the way we come to God. We often come to Him in prayer much like we go to a fast-food drive-thru. We place our order, drive forward, pay our money, and fully expect everything we asked for to be ready.

That's why celebrating Advent with some intentionality is countercultural. We choose to recognize that God is not like the drive-thru at McDonald's. He doesn't respond like a vending machine to our every desire. Though He sometimes says yes and sometimes says no—very often He says wait. There's a reason for that. God knows that very few things besides waiting can prepare us finally to let go of our own agenda and receive what He wants to give us.

Advent is more than a way to count down the days until Christmas. It's a time to wait on God. It's a time to prepare for His coming. And if we are willing to wait, if we are willing to do some careful preparation, He will come to us in a fresh way this Christmas.

We also need to remember that we are waiting for another Advent. We are waiting for that day when Christ will return in glory and redeem His people for all time. We wait for that glorious day when He will finish the work He started on that first Christmas morning. Our life together as the church is really a time of waiting for that second Advent.

As we wait, we prepare. We prepare by receiving His forgiveness and cleansing. We prepare by serving one another in love. We prepare by announcing to the world the good news of His coming and the way to be reconciled to God.

Waiting is sometimes hard. It means we have to live with the pain that life can dish out. It means we have to work on wounded relationships, damaged emotions, and disappointing circumstances. But because of the Song of Hope, because of Jesus, we do not wait in despair! We wait in hope and even in joy. We can thrive in the meantime because He has placed His Spirit in our hearts as a seal of His redemption.

So as we enter another Advent season, I call us not only to mark days on a calendar and check off items on a list. I call us to wait. Enter into a spirit of waiting and preparation for the deep hope of our lives, Jesus, to be revealed.

He has come! He is coming again! And we wait anxiously for His appearing.