Advent is our season of waiting and expectation for the coming of Jesus. We anticipate again the birth of the Christ-child at the same time as we look for his return in glory. The readings for the first Sunday of Advent, which we read last week, most explicitly call to mind Jesus coming into the world again. Reading several verses from late in the Gospel of Luke, we heard Jesus’ vision of the future, a future when the Human One would come in power and splendor.
This week, we turn primarily to the early chapters of Luke as we consider the initial coming of Jesus and all that would mean for the world. Even so, you may have noticed that Jesus doesn’t even get an explicit mention this week. As we consider the theme of peace, our focus is actually on Jesus’ cousin, John (see Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 1:68-79; Luke 3:1-6).
John, commonly called John the Baptist or John the Baptizer, is an important part of the story of Jesus. John appears in all four of the Gospels. He is described as a prophet, preaching in the wilderness against the excesses of their nation and calling on the people to repent. He frequently speaks against Herod. While some wonder if he is the Messiah, he points to one who is greater than he who will come. According to the Gospel of Luke, John recognizes Jesus for who he is both when he is still in his mother’s womb and again when Jesus comes to be baptized.
Our readings today suggest that he is the messenger foretold in both Malachi and in Isaiah. Malachi speaks of the messenger who comes before the Lord to prepare the way. Isaiah, who is quoted in Luke 3, speaks of the voice crying in the wilderness. He is the voice who comes ahead of the Lord, to announce that God is coming into the world and to make the people ready. He preaches repentance, the need to turn away from the things that have grabbed our attention in this world, to turn back to God. He is metaphorically tearing down the barriers on the path between us and God, removing the chasms that have grown within us that separate us from God.
Luke is comparing John to the prophets of old, particularly Isaiah. The quote from Isaiah was written during a time of exile. Isaiah has a vision of a different future. His is a vision of redemption, of return from exile, of the return of God’s glory. He foresees a time when all will be changed and the people will live as God intended once again.
It is easy to see how this fits with the picture we have of John. John speaks of people changing their ways, of returning to what God intended. He heralds the coming of God into the world. He wants the obstacles to be removed from the path. No mountains to block the way, no chasms to divide us. The path from us to God should be direct and smooth. This is what John sees when he sees God coming into the world.
As we consider our own world and our own time, what are the obstacles on our path? How have we been in exile? Can we imagine what it is like to clear the path ahead of us, to return from our places of exile into a stronger relationship with God?
This vision of Isaiah that Luke shares with us points us to a time of peace. God will be with us, and all will be saved. But it is hard to ignore the imagery we have here. Mountains being brought low. Valleys being filled in. Roads shifted and smoothed out.
God coming into the world means change. The world as we understand it will be changed, needs to be changed. The kingdom of God does not fully resemble our world. The divisions we create between us do not matter in God’s kingdom. The barriers we have built between God and ourselves and between us and one another will be torn down. The paths will be cleared. No more excuses.
For many, this vision of hope and peace is a good thing. The barriers to life and salvation and relationship torn down; what’s not to like? But perhaps we can also see how some may be less excited by the changes. Those who benefit from the present structure. Those who grow wealthy and powerful off the way things are now. God coming into the world shakes up the very foundations of life as we know it. Even when the end result is peace and restoration, the process can seem daunting, even scary, for some.
Even for those who are oppressed, who have no place to go but up, this vision of peace may be hard to believe. In the lectionary, there are two Gospel reading appointed for today. Rather than read the second one, I chose to sing a version of the text from Luke 1. Called the Canticle of Zechariah or the Song of Zechariah in English, or simply referred to in some circles as the Benedictus from the first word of the text in Latin, this song is an important reminder of God’s power and glory coming into the world.
Zechariah was one of the Temple priests. He was married to Elizabeth, and we are told earlier in the Gospel that she is barren. One day, while serving in the Temple, an angel appears before Zechariah and announces that his wife will bear a son and that he will be a messenger of God, announcing the coming of God into the world. Zechariah is no longer a young man. He naturally scoffs at the idea. “I’m an old man and my wife’s not so young either.” Because Zechariah questions him, the angel Gabriel causes Zechariah to become mute, telling him that he will remain that way until all he has been told comes to pass. (This story of Zechariah is also an important one to remember as we come to Mary's story in a couple of weeks.)
Fast forward at least nine months, during which not only has his own son been born, but his wife’s cousin, Mary, has shown up at their home carrying a child of her own. Zechariah finds his voice for the first time in months at the dedication and circumcision of his son, John, and immediately sings a song of blessing to God. His song recognizes all that God is doing in the world as well as all that is to come. God fulfilled the promises that God has made. God offers salvation for the people. God is compassionate and will guide the people in the ways of peace.
This song, along with two others found in the early chapters of Luke, have an important history in the life of the church. This particular song is traditionally sung as a part of the service of morning prayer. It is a recognition that each day is the day that God has promised. Each day starts with God’s promise of salvation and peace. Each day starts with God’s compassion.
As we consider these stories, of messengers and prophets, of the world as we know it being brought down, of God’s presence in the world, where do we find peace? Are we comforted by these visions? Or are we perhaps a little uncertain? What will these changes mean for us?
Where are the mountains in our lives that need to be torn down? What are the valleys in our lives that need to be filled in? How can we walk in the paths of peace today?
I don’t have easy answers for you. I don’t think there are easy answers. I think it is still just as hard today as it was for the people two thousand years ago, and two thousand years before that. All we can do is strive for that future and nourish that relationship with God that we have been called into.
One of the ways we can live into this vision of the future right here in the present is by joining together at the table. At the table that Jesus has prepared for us, we participate, even if it is just for a moment, in that kingdom that is to come.
We celebrate a time when we are all equal, when the divisions between us are torn down.
We celebrate a return from exile in the world to God’s glory.
We celebrate salvation and peace.
We celebrate God’s grace.
As we gather at the table, may we remember all that God has done in the world and all that God continues to do. And let us carry our glimpse of the kingdom into out lives and into our world that the world as we know it may be shaken up by the breaking in of God's kingdom.
And for those that might want to sing along with Zechariah's pronouncement of God's peace changing the world: