I.
“‘What is
this child going to become?’”
A.
This is the
question on everyone’s lips in Zechariah’s and Elizabeth’s
neighborhood.
1.
Every parent thinks
about this question before their son or daughter is born:
2.
Your dream for
your child, what you
want to give the child, what you hope he/she will achieve in
life–
a.
all these things
are tied up in the name with which you christen them.
B.
Surprisingly,
it is his mother who names the child on the 8
th day,
contrary to the longstanding
Jewish tradition,
1.
No, he will not be
named after his father: “‘His name is John.”
2.
Then Zechariah
confirms it by writing the name on a tablet,
a.
and instantly his
tongue is “loosened” and he is able to speak.
3.
Some of you older
members may remember a song made popular by Harry Chapin back
in
the 70's, “Cat’s in the Cradle.”
a.
“My
child arrived just the other
day,
He came to the world in the usual
way,
But there were planes to catch and bills to
pay.
He learned to walk while I was
away.
And he was talking ‘fore I knew it, and as he grew,
He’d say, ‘I’m gonna be like you,
dad,
You know I’m gonna be like you.’
“
b.
The son in this
song keeps asking,
“When
you coming home, dad? You know we’ll have a good time then.”
c.
But the father
replies that he has a lot to do; he never comes home. Before he
knows it
his son is grown and a college graduate.
d.
The father in the
final verse
sings,
“I
called him up just the other
day.
I said, I’d like to see you if you don’t
mind.
He said, I’d love to, dad, if I could find the
time.
...But it’s sure nice talking to you,
dad
It’s sure been nice talking to
you.
And as I hung up the phone, it occurred to
me,
He’d grown up just like
me.
My boy was just like me.”
II.
Through
His Canticle, it is John’s father Zechariah who answers
the
important question,
“‘What is this child to
become.
A.
A parallel
question is asked of Jesus by John:
1.
“‘Are you the one
who is to come, or shall we look for another?’”
2.
And we may only
speculate as to what kind of relationship both John and Jesus
enjoyed
with their own fathers.
a.
Certainly neither
of these two sons were like their earthly fathers.
B.
Now there are
many things Zechariah predicts or hopes his son will be when he
is grown,
1.
The Canticle of
Zechariah, or “the Bendictus,”is divided into two parts:
a.
The first half is
about how God will bless Israel (vss 68-75);
2.
The second part is
about John and the blessing he is to become.
a.
His new son
is
“to
give knowledge of salvation to his people”
by the forgiveness of their sins
to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of
death,”
b.
But the most
important prophecy about this child is that he is
“to
guide our feet into the way of peace,”
(1)
The song builds up
to this last prediction,
(2)
the climax,
(3)
the highest hope,
(4)
the most fervent
desire,
(a)
“to guide our feet
into the way of peace.” [pause]
C.
Peace is
what we all want; it
is one of the attributes Isaiah gives to the Messiah.
It is the fourth attribute Jesus appropriates in understanding
his own calling:
1.
“For unto
us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is
given:
And the government will be upon his
shoulder,
And his name will be
called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
(Isa. 9:6)
2.
Last Sunday we sang
an Avery and Marsh Christmas carol, borrowed from
a West Virginia mountain
song...
a.
“Mary,
Mary, what you gonna name that baby?
What you gonna
call that holy baby?
Slaves are we
and looking for a
master,
Why don’t you
call him Lord? Let’s all call him Lord?
...Hungry
and poor we need someone to save us,
Why don’t you
call him Savior?
Kings of
the world, we see someone to rule us,
Why don’t you
call him King?
b.
Too few have called
him “Prince of Peace,” though that may be one of the
greatest gifts He gives us–
(1)
peace, inner peace,
lasting peace.
c.
The U.S. Navy named
a battleship after a city in Texas, “Corpus Christi,”
“Body of Christ,”
what a terrible name for a battleship! We might as well call
this weapon of destruction the “Prince of Peace!”
3.
Peace is what is
wanted in the streets of Baghdad and Basrah and Tikrit,
a.
in the homes of
Afghanis in Kandahar and Kabul.
b.
for too many years,
in the homes of Catholics and Protestants of Londonderry and
Belfast,
c.
in our own
neighborhoods, our own homes, schools, businesses,
d.
in our marriages
and friendships, - 2 -
e.
deep within our own
souls.
f.
in our own
congregation. [pause]
4.
Jesus wept over
Jerusalem before he died, because they “‘did not know the things
which make for peace.’”and neither do we.
D. Zechariah’s
prophecy and hope were not to be realized,
1. at least not in the person of his son
John,
a.
for John was
destined for a life of struggle in the desert,
b.
Though God was
sending John as a portent of peace, he would be spared
neither imprisonment nor death at the hand of Herod.
c.
In a greater sense
he would lead the way for Jesus Christ,
d.
and it would be
Christ, his cousin, not John, who would fulfill these great
prophecies of hope.
e.
In the Gospel of
Luke, old Simeon will make a similar prediction to Mary
about her baby which he held in his arms and blessed:
(1)
“‘and a sword will
pierce through your own soul also...’”
2.
How many of you are
Vietnam veterans? My younger brother Richard was in Vietnam 11
months. I also remember back when
President Reagan welcomed home the USS Pueblo hostages freed
from North Korea on Christmas Eve in 1968. One of the 83
crew aboard had been killed, Fireman Apprentice Duane Hodges.
His body was also brought home.
a.
A loving father
shares the story about his son Kenny who was fighting in the
Vietnam war. The father says, “I prayed daily for his
safety. I asked God to protect him during the fierce, savage and
cruel battles in which he fought to liberate oppressed people. I
also
asked God to extend (it) to the long journey home. As I
agonized in prayer I received no answer. Finally the answer
seemed to come
so vividly. I could hear the audible voice of God, ‘Your son is
safe. I’m protecting him.’ After that prayer I never prayed for
his safety
again,” Kenny’s father writes. “My prayer had produced peace
that replaced fear.”
b.
However, two days
later, as I approached home, I observed a number of cars parked
around my home. ...My wife met me at the door.
She cried, ‘Kenny was killed in action....Just two days ago you
told me he would safely return home. Now he is dead. I always
believed
in you. What happened?”
c.
Had I
misunderstood, misinterpreted God’s answer? “I asked God to
help me... I remembered that Kenny had been killed about the
time
God had spoken to me. He was already in heaven. ..Thus my prayer
produced peace that replaced confusion.” (P, 7/90)
B.
In the song
of Zechariah this is the first mention of peace in Luke.
1.
It is important to
note that he characterizes this “peace” as not merely
deliverance from hard times and political oppression,
2.
but it is a
peace which must be linked to salvation,
3.
a salvation which
comes to God’s people through the forgiveness of their sins
4.
as their hearts are
turned to the Lord.
5.
Eduard Schweitzer
observes that the Good News according to Luke is this:
- 3 -
a.
“The ultimate
purpose of God’s salvation (here) presupposes deliverance from
the enemy but is in fact undisturbed worship,”
b.
for deliverance
makes worship in peace possible.
6.
In our peaceful
worship, we receive forgiveness of our sins,
a.
and you and I
understand that we have this gift of salvation,
b.
all because our
hearts are turned to the Lord in Jesus.
c.
If you read about
John the Baptist’s fiery preaching in the wilderness, he
delivers exactly this message.
- 3 -
7.
This is not really
a new definition of peace:
a.
it is precisely
what was foreseen by Jeremiah,
b.
and other prophets.
c.
They understood
that God could not redeem us without peace,
d.
redemption,
forgiveness, salvation, peace,
e.
each is necessary
for the realization of the other.
f.
It is like a piece
of red hot coal. It needs other coals to stay hot,
it cannot survive and stay hot on
its own. And you and I are the same.
8.
Jesus has “guide(d)
our feet into the way of peace,”
much more so than John, and it is Jesus who becomes
“the
Dayspring from on high who has visited us.”
a.
he brought peace to
those who received him,
b.
to the dead child
being carried in a funeral procession,
c.
to the woman with
the bleeding sore,
d.
to the repentant
tax collector Zaccheus,
e.
to the Roman
soldier whose daughter had died at home,
f.
to the thief on the
cross beside him.
9.
“‘What is this
child to become?’” Ask the question of your child, but also
of yourselves?
a.
What am I to
become?
b.
What have I become
... in my church?
c.
What is my destiny
in Jesus Christ?
d.
Will I guide
anyone’s feet into the way of peace,
e.
Will I bring the
knowledge of forgiveness to them,
f.
and the gift of
God’s salvation?
g.
Will I do anything
to turn their hearts to the Lord,
h.
so they may also
worship in peace? Amen.
- 4 -