What’s in a Name? Zechariah, Elizabeth, John & Mary - A Sermon for the Second Sunday of Advent December 8 2024
GOSPEL: Luke 1:57-66
The holy gospel according to Luke.
Glory to you, O Lord.
57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 Her neighbour's and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.
59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. 60 But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.” 61 They said to her, “None of your relatives has this name.” 62 Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. 63 He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 Fear came over all their neighbours, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard them pondered them and said, “What then will this child become?” For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
I offer you two mini-sermons today
as we bring the “What’s in a Name?”
preaching series to a close.
First - we look at the priest Zechariah struck mute.
There had been a silence:
a prophetic silence,
for some 400 years.
God wasn’t silent,
But after Malachi - silence.
400 years of it.
No prophecy.
And then, in God’s perfect time,
God breaks the cycle
and clicks off the mute button
and does the unthinkable:
the prophet will speak.
Zechariah is that prophet,
and the proclamation begins with one name,
John.
His name is John.
The people figured the child would be named
Zechariah, after his father.
They didn't’ know for sure,
because he wasn’t able to speak.
The angel Gabriel paid a visit to Zechariah and to Mary,
promising them both a child.
Interesting possibility I came across this week
in my research,
it is possible that this interaction happened
on Yom Kippur,
on the Day of Atonement.
It would explain why Zechariah
was in the inner sanctuary.
How perfect that the herald is heralded
on the festival day of forgiveness.
Zechariah was struck mute
because he didn’t believe the angel.
Mary is called blessed.
Funny little coincidence,
that 400 years of perceived prophetic silence
ends with the new prophet’s silence,
Zechariah struck mute
for doubting God’s promise of a child.
Upon naming the child John,
Zechariah has his tongue freed
and is able to speak again.
Immediately Zechariah sung a glorious song
of praise and prophecy:
You could say Zachariah ended
the 400 years of prophetic silence.
This is the psalm we sung earlier in the service.
So, what did Zechariah do with the gift of speech
after that?
Did he start telling everyone about John’s purpose?
That this young child will prepare the way
for the Messiah?
Did Zechariah proclaim that the Messiah is coming,
and will be born
just a short couple months
after John’s birth?
Or, did Zechariah’s tongue go mute again
on the subject of his son?
The neighbourhood would have known
about John’s birth.
Word gets around,
even in the ancient world.
Yes, Elizabeth’s pregnancy was somewhat hidden,
much in the same way that Mary’s was hidden,
but people would have known
who Zechariah was:
not just one of the priests,
but that older one who had a child.
You know he would have had
many opportunities to talk to people
about the miraculous conception:
and coincidentally,
John’s purpose.
Inquiring minds would want to know.
So did he speak,
or did he keep silent?
I think he sang.
If you look at the biblical text,
the song of Zechariah
sounds kind of like the song of Mary,
the Magnificat,
and the song of Hannah,
sung thousands of years before.
They sound to me like lullabies.
I can’t prove it,
but I have a hypothesis,
that Mary sung the Magnificat to the Christ child
like a lullaby,
and in the same way,
Zechariah and Elizabeth sung
the song of Zechariah to the baptizer babe.
Zechariah and Elizabeth were older:
who knows how much longer they lived
after John was born,
but like “Jesus Loves Me”,
you sing the song to the child
and it stays with them.
John fulfilled his father’s prophecy,
John prepared the way of the Lord.
John lived out each word of Zechariah’s song
in a similar way that Jesus lived out
each and every word of the Magnificat.
It matters what we teach our children,
the songs of faith that inspire,
the stories of faith that inspire.
In the words of Anna Carter Florence,
“raise children to take pride in their roots,
and they will.
Tell them the family stories,
the range of what is humanly possible,
and they will see it”
(Anna Carter Florence. A is for Alabaster: 52 Reflections on the Stories of Scripture. 106)
Mini sermon # 2
Elizabeth and Mary.
Why was Mary chosen?
I often hear the words
because she was meek and mild,
and she was a virgin.
I’m sorry, I don’t buy it.
That’s not why God chose Mary.
What’s in a Name?
In the New Testament,
Mary’s name is Miriam,
which means “Their rebellion.”
In the words of Roger Wolsey,
Mary is the first Punk Rocker.
She’s a rebel with a cause.
She doesn’t have time injustice.
She doesn’t have time for the Roman empire’s
way of doing things.
She doesn’t have time for the unethical status quo.
God didn’t choose Mary because she followed the rules,
God didn’t choose her because
she was quiet and calm.
Mary believed the angelic messenger.
She had faith.
She had thick skin.
And Mary didn’t say “no” to God.
She was greatly perplexed
when told she would bear God’s child.
Mary says, “Angel, are you sure?
I’m not exactly “with” a man right now”
The angel said
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you.
nothing will be impossible with God.”
And Mary said “Okay - here I am, the Lord’s servant.”
Mary didn’t say no.
Mary simply believed what she was told,
even if she wasn’t sure how it could be.
For nothing will be impossible with God.
Elizabeth, her relative, testified to this -
God spoke, and Mary believed.
What’s in a Name?
Elizabeth means “God’s promise” or “God’s oath.”
Zechariah means “God remembers”
After being struck mute,
Zechariah sure knows that God remembers.
But Elizabeth wasn’t struck mute.
she knows God keeps God’s promises.
Elizabeth becomes like Sarah or Rebecca 2.0,
another faithful woman of God’s choosing,
well past child-bearing years
and God brings her a child,
A gift of grace for her and her husband,
What’s in a Name?
John means “God is gracious.”
God is working through Elizabeth and Mary -
two shamed women,
one very young, one very old
two very unexpected vessels
to carry out God’s work.
It is with these women
God begins restoring and changing the world.
This work begins with blessing.
God blesses Elizabeth,
Elizabeth blesses Mary.
The Angel blesses Mary.
After Jesus is born, Simeon blesses Mary.
Perhaps the greatest blessing Elizabeth gave
was a practical one,
she took Mary into her home for months.
They were able to be pregnant together,
and this kept Mary safe.
She could have been stoned
for bring pregnant out of wedlock.
One way to understand our calling in the world
is like the words used for ancient Israel,
blessed to be a blessing.
We join God’s work of loving and blessing creation.
Sometimes that love and blessing is practical,
like finding furniture for the family who just arrived
from a refugee camp,
or like bringing your friend who can’t drive
to the potluck.
Sometimes that love and blessing
is found in a simple welcome to the other.
The one who seems least likely;
like an unwed pregnant teen,
or an elderly mom-to-be,
or the person whose lifestyle I don’t understand,
they may just be God’s vessel.
Friends,
Christmas is coming.
the Lord is near.
We are preparing for our celebrations of Christmas,
and, generally speaking,
Christmas is the least threatening time of year
to invite someone to church.
We gather here because of the life-giving Gospel
that heals, restores, gives us new life.
We gather for the community that upholds
relationships that sustain.
We gather because God feeds us when we hunger.
Yet we know our communities are unravelling,
longtime faithful friends are dying
and pews seem emptier.
We’ve been asking God for a while,
what’s next?
What should we do?
and for many,
it seems like another time
of God’s silence,
even though we know God is not silent.
A little statistic that is old now,
but the average Lutheran in North America
invites someone to church once every 27 years.
That’s the average,
meaning many of us invite someone
less often
than every 27 years.
Evangelism,
sharing the Gospel,
loving the neighbour
is not as simple as inviting someone to church,
but the statistic is telling.
We find ourselves in a position not unlike
Mary, Elizabeth, and Zechariah.
We’ve been told what’s coming:
Emmanuel, God with us.
We know our world,
our neighbours,
our friends and family,
need God’s Light that shines in the darkness,
we all hunger and thirst for the God of grace.
At Christmastime, in this Advent,
Will our tongues go mute like Zechariah?
Will we welcome the other into our home
like Elizabeth?
Will we join God in rebellion
against the powers of this world
like Mary?
Will we sing the lullabies of faith to our children
and grandchildren?
Will we join John in the wilderness
proclaiming the Lord is near?
My blessing for you this day:
May the God of Grace,
the God who remembers you
the God who blesses you,
give you courage
to be the person of faith
that God has made you to be.
Maybe yours is a sustaining faith like Zechariah,
or a caring faith like Elizabeth,
or a rebellious faith like Mary.
May we live our faith,
in this congregation,
in our living rooms
and in our communities.
May you trust in your uniqueness,
trust in your particular gifting from God,
trusting that God has a purpose for you
in this time of wilderness and darkness.
Stir up your power, Lord Christ, and come.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
