Luke 1:57-66
“He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And all of them were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God” (Luke 1:63-64)
I’ve always loved this story, but it has a particular (sad?) resonance this year.
As you likely remember, Zechariah had been confronted by an angel of the Lord while working his duties as a priest in the Holy of Holies. It was here that he was told he would have a son, but when he disbelieved, he was rendered mute. It is now 9 months later and the baby is born. To everyone, this was quite the miracle. Zechariah and Elizabeth were pretty up there in years (not quite Abraham and Sarah levels, but still startlingly old for a pregnancy) and you can only imagine that the community was quietly terrified that they would lose this child because of Elizabeth’s advanced age. (Even without the benefits of modern-day obstetrics, folks knew the risk of what we now term a “geriatric pregnancy”). So, when the baby is born, the community is thrilled! And since it was a boy, there was every expectation that Zechariah would take his victory lap on this little miracle and name the boy after himself – or at least after somebody in his family. But no, because the angel had already named John. (Side note: That both Jesus and John are named by angels is a way of signifying that God is claiming ownership over their lives. For more details on the importance of naming, go check out the sermon titled “Naming Rights” from August 23). It is here, then, in Zechariah’s acquiescence to the will and work of God that the previous curse of being rendered mute is lifted. At once, he is able to speak and speak he does – all shouts of praise and honor to God’s glory.
I love this story because there’s something spiritually satisfying in receiving the reward of faithfulness (even if it is on the heels of disobedience) so suddenly and in the moment. Most of the time, the rewards for our faithfulness are small, incremental, and easily missed. But seeing God restore Zechariah to wholeness so quickly and dramatically just really scratches a certain spiritual yearning we all have for our own faithfulness.
And this is what leads me to that parenthetical “sad?” above. Because we’re living through a pandemic where so many people are trying to be faithful. They’re limiting their exposure by not going to certain events (even family events). They’re limiting their duration when they do need to be exposed (that is, there’s no more “retail therapy” of just casually walking around the store). They’re wearing masks. They’re social distancing. They’re washing their hands. And yet for all that faithfulness, we’re not seeing the restoration of health come flooding down upon us so quickly and certainly not as dramatically. Of course, there are plenty of people who aren’t doing these things, so maybe the continuation of this plague is nothing more than our receiving our communal comeuppance (for, surely, even the most hardened and grizzled individual who thinks this entire thing has been overblown would acknowledge that getting COVID because you’re working to feed your family is not the same thing as getting COVID because you had a third round of beers with friends at a bar. “Judge not lest ye be judged,” sure. But – c’mon – we’re still permitted the exercising of prudence and therefore can name imprudent actions when we see them splashed across our Facebook newsfeed). Even still, though, those who are doing the right thing yearn to experience the healing and restoration we witness in Zechariah’s life.
So, let’s cling to that. Let’s cling the hope that God will, indeed, bring such healing. Let’s cling to doing the right thing for the right thing’s sake. I don’t know what your Christmas plans are in the next days and week, but if you’re limiting – no, let’s call it what it is; if you’re sacrificing – then let’s celebrate that as an act of faithful obedience to the needs of the entire community. And as for that delay? Well, it’s significant that the story quickly jumps 9 months’ worth of time. It is quite likely by day three of being mute that Zechariah was more than happy to acknowledge that God was at work and that his baby would be named John. But still he had to wait for that entire gestational period. And maybe – just maybe – that extra waiting is what made his loud praises that much louder once he was healed. If so, then – Lord – let it be so for us too. Amen.
