Time is a strange thing, because although we measure it in seconds, and minutes and hours, and days and years and even longer, and we can say how long each of these things are, it turns out that these are not actually set amounts of time, because time changes We all know that time is not constant. It can go long, or it can be slow. In fact, Einstein’s theory of relativity even says that the length of time varies depending upon which relatives we are around. If we want them to go away soon, then time goes slowly, and if we want it to last longer, then it goes too quickly. Or at least I think that’s what the theory of relativity is about. But, that’s when we have to understand that there are two different types of time. There is Chronos time, that is the time measured by the clock, or sequential time, this is what we normally mean when we talk about time. Then there is Kairos time, which is about God time, about those thin moments in life, when we encounter the divine, when time slows down. It’s a time that often comes with waiting, or as Paul says its about the fullness of time, and that’s what the season of Advent is about, a season of waiting and preparation. And, as I say nearly every year, there is not a war on Christmas, which doesn’t start until December 25, and then we have 12 days of celebration, there is a war on Advent. I think some of that is because waiting is hard to do because time is not a constant. For those of you who are a little older, do you remember when you were a child, how long it took for Christmas to arrive? And the closer you got to it, the longer it seemed to take, time slowed to a crawl. Now it just seems to fly by, except when it doesn’t, and we see something very similar in the story of Zechariah.
The passage begins by telling us “In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah.” Does that introduction sound familiar to other parts of the Bible? That’s right the prophets, so right at the start, Luke is making a connection to the historicity of Judaism. Abijah is a descendent of Aaron, who was the brother of Moses, and the head of the priestly class, and he represented one of 24 divisions into which the priesthood was divided under king David. We are then also told that his wife Elizabeth was also a descendent of Aaron, so this is a family that has some historic connections although they are not at the top of the social circle. Additionally, we are told that both are righteous and blameless before God, which means they are following all of the commandments and regulations of God. Luke gives us that information as well so that those who were not familiar with those terms will understand what that means. And yet, Elizabeth is also barren, or without child, which she says has brought disgrace upon her, and by default on Zechariah. And so, we have a juxtaposition of ideas here.
It was believed that it was God who made children possible, and so a woman without a child, obviously there had to be something that she had done wrong, that God was punishing her in some way. If she was truly righteous, the blessing given to her would be manifested in many ways, with children being just one of them. So, this reality tells others something about her, and yet, we are also told that she is blameless before the Lord, which means there is something else going on here. I think this is the first of the many remembers we get about claims that others make, especially religious leaders, about knowing the will of God especially when it comes to judging others. But, this is also a set-up to connect Elizabeth and Zechariah to some of the other great stories of the Hebrew Bible, including Sarah and Abraham, Isaac and Rebekah and a lesser known couple, Elkanah and Hannah, who are the parents of Samuel.
So, we are told that this happens in the days of Herod, which really means in the years of his reign, then it takes place while Zechariah was serving as a priest at the temple, which would have happened twice a year for a week at a time, and then to a specific day and time when the incense offering is to be made, and Zechariah enters into the sanctuary, the holiest place in the Temple, just before the room known as the holy of holies. The sanctuary was only entered into twice a day, by a solitary priest to make this incense offering. And so, in this moment, the narrative has moved from years to days to hours to this moment of the first dialogue in Luke’s gospel, when Zechariah encounters the angel Gabriel. Now, this is a momentous occasion for Zechariah even before Gabriel appears because more than likely this is the first time he has ever been drawn by lots to make the offering, and it will probably be the last time it ever happens. This is truly a once in a lifetime experience and moment, one he will talk about for the rest of his life, even if nothing else happens. Except he sees this angel, which presumably was not an every day occurrence, certainly not something that others had talked about happening to them, and so, just as will happen several other times, we are told that Zechariah is terrified, but the angel says to him “Do not be afraid,” and then we are told that Zechariah’s prayer has been answered and that Elizabeth will bear him a son, who will bring great joy and gladness, and that Zechariah is to name him John.
Man is there a lot going on in this passage. First, Zechariah, and presumably Elizabeth, have been praying to God to remove the burden of barrenness from them, something we didn’t know before, which means this prayer has probably gone on for a long time. Second, we are told a lot about who this child will be and what he will do, something we will return to next week when we look at John the Baptist. Third, in this momentous occasion, the angel is also telling Zechariah that God is usurping some authority here and taking what was traditionally the man’s prerogative in naming the child, and instead God is doing it. Even if Zechariah wanted his son’s name to be Zechariah junior, which is exactly what we are told the family wanted to do (1:59), God says no you’re going to call him John. This is the first test of loyalty for Zechariah, and perhaps for Elizabeth as well.
But, Zechariah fails the main test because he wonders how it could possibly be that they well have a son, after all, he is old, and, he says, “my wife is getting on in years,” which is a nice way of saying that she is old. It’s like saying “she’s celebrating her 40th birthday for the 20th time.” But Gabriel tells him “because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.” Then, time speeds up again, and he exits the sanctuary, unable to speak, to provide the blessing that the priest is supposed to give to the people, so they know something has happened inside, and then time speeds up again with Zechariah finishing off his week of service, and then suddenly it’s five months later and Elizabeth is pregnant with child, and she has been in seclusion, presumably as a way of protecting the pregnancy, and then gives a blessing to God for what God has done in taking away her disgrace, in her words, and all the while Zechariah remains mute until after John is born and has been named.
That had to have been some severe waiting as well. Imagine not being able to speak for more than nine months. And not just not being able to speak, but having been silenced by God because you didn’t believe what God was telling you was going to happen. You questioned God’s ability to do something. The people that Jesus reserves the harshest words for are the religious leaders of his day, those who are convinced they have God all figured out. They knew who God is and what God wants and what God can and will do, and, most importantly, they know who God likes and who God doesn’t like. And Jesus silences them in their interchanges and tells them how wrong they are. That they don’t understand God at all, and rather than spending so much time talking about God and thinking they know, they need to just shut-up and spend some time listening, especially to those who are marginalized by their ideas, thoughts, words and actions. That is just as true today as it was in Jesus’ day, sometimes the church just needs to be quiet and listen, especially the white men in charge. The silencing of religious leaders starts with the story of Zechariah, who has to spend the next nine months listening to his wife, and others, without a chance to respond, and perhaps at the end of the nine months when his tongue was finally loosed he said everything he had wanted to say, but I doubt it. I suspect he was a very different person.
This story also sets up what will be true in the rest of the announcements about the coming of Jesus, and his ministry, certainly in the gospel of Luke, and that is that those who the announcements are made to, and those who are chosen and blessed are not the people we would expect, and certainly not who the religious or political authorities would expect. These are nobodies who are not just receicing the good news, but are participants in it with God. God is overturning the established religious and political order, and it’s being done through people that no one normally concerns themselves with, a barren older couple, an unwed teenage mother, those living in their fields caring for animals, and foreigners who know how to act when they see a sign from God, and a man living in the desert eating only locusts and honey, and that might be one of the most important elements as we think about waiting and the Advent season.
More strikingly, Zechariah has been praying for God to give them a child, but apparently didn’t actually believe it could happen. It’s like a group getting together in the midst of a drought to pray for rain, but none of them bringing an umbrella with them. It seems to be just an exercise, something we do. Similarly, Zehcariah is performing religious rites, and he is going into one of the most sacred spots in Judaism, but there seems to be no expectation that he will encounter God in anything that he is doing. He’s just going through the motions. Where is his sense of divine expectation? But, similarly, where is our sense of divine expectation? How many of us came here this morning expecting to experience the holy, or encounter God, or even having our prayers answered? Maybe some of us, but many of us come here for lots of other reasons, and forget about encountering the divine in the rest of our lives. But if we don’t expect to encounter the divine in our sacred spaces, where, exactly do we expect to encounter the divine? And some of this is because we are spending too much time looking for the answers, of doing the right things, the right practices, rather than stopping to make room for the journey and the questions, or taking the time to listen rather than to talk. But, what Zechariah encountered, what we too may encounter, is that silence allows for the voice of God to be heard. It allows us to hear and to feel and to experience that the world, especially at this time of year, is pregnant with divine possibilities.
Time is important. There is Chronos time, the ordinary time, and then there is Kairos time, God’s time, the time where the extraordinary happens, the time where God breaks into the world. Advent is a season of waiting and of preparation, a time when time slows down, or when we are called to slow down time, to notice and appreciate, to listen and watch for divine happenings in the world. We are told these things happen in the days of Herod, but he doesn’t have anything to do with God’s inbreaking. Instead, it begins with a righteous old couple, of whom Zechariah had been concerned that his days had past him by, but instead he is now counting down the days until the birth of his son, not just because he can speak again, and the first sign that the announcement is true is him being silenced, but because his son, John the Baptist, will prepare the way for the coming of the Lord, and will bring joy and gladness to many people. So in these days of expectation, may we encounter every moment as a time in which we not only can, but will encounter God in our lives. I pray that it will be so my brothers and sisters. Amen.
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