Luke 1:5-25
We love angels. Around this time of year, shops selling Christmas decor are stocked with angels. You can tell they are angels because they have wings, and usually halos. And the popular angels in the shops are mostly cherubic children--or even infants. Like Precious Moments angels in baby blues and pinks. Holy innocents. Certainly not the flaming sword-wielding, demon crushing militants, as the Bible describes angels. That won’t do at Christmas time. Those wouldn’t sell very well.
Nor do any of the angel figurines in Christmas shops look like frumpy old Clarence--who I mentioned in last week’s sermon--the angel in the movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Nor are the angels like the ones in TV shows like the once popular, “Touched By An Angel.” Not too many African American, female angels; or ones with British accents. They’re all porcelain white, and quite harmless looking. Nothing that you would fall down on your face in deathly fear before, as people in the Bible did when they saw a real angel.
It’s interesting to me that as disbelief in God is on the rise in our country, belief in angels is also on the rise. Especially belief in personal, guardian angels. I’m not sure how to make sense of that, other than people like the idea of angels, but not the idea of God. Maybe people think of angels as going about doing good, but that possibly God is less trustworthy in the “good” department.
What do we really know about angels? As I’ve been getting at, more people get their sense of the angelic from gift shops, folklore, fiction, and popular media than anywhere else. There are some church teachings about angels, but even some of that is kind of sketchy. In Catholic theology there are seven ranks of angels, kind of like in the military. I’m not sure how they came up with that. It’s kind of funny imagining the angels marching around heaven saluting each other with their wings. (Is it two feathers, or three?)
Most of what we know about angels comes from the Bible. Most of these instances are in individual sightings, visions, and dreams. That’s what we will take a look at on the four Sunday’s in Advent. Angel visitations in the Christmas story. There are five such visitations. I will look at four of them: the visits to Zechariah, Mary, Joseph, and the Magi. This morning, the angel visitation to Zechariah.
First, we have to know Zechariah and Elizabeth’s story. Zechariah and Elizabeth have been a faithful couple into their old age. In fact, they aren’t just faithful, they are super faithful! Zechariah is one of the high priests serving in the temple. He’s got the religion thing all figured out. Not only was he religious--he was “blameless.” No one could blame him for anything.
Unlike Calvin in the cartoon, “Calvin and Hobbes.” Calvin is so full of blame, he tries to spread some around. Like in this strip:
Zechariah wasn’t that kind of person. It’s hard to imagine a blameless person. Most of us are more like Calvin.
Elizabeth also had a strong religious background. Her family line traced itself back to the first High Priest in Israel’s history--the great High Priest, Aaron. So she’s got the best family pedigree, and married to one of the high priests. Elizabeth is firmly entrenched in old line religion.
Now comes the tension. Verse 7:
But they did not have children. Elizabeth could not have any, and both Zechariah and Elizabeth were already old.
Despite the fact that this couple was blameless, faithful, had reached the furthest height of religious activity, and had the most stellar bloodline--despite all that, they had no children. According to the story, it was Elizabeth’s fault. Too bad they didn’t have the elaborate fertility testing we have in our day. Elizabeth may not have had to bear the stigma as the barren woman, and therefore carry the guilt.
Because it’s not just that she could not have children. What was worse was the meaning that was attached to childlessness. They called it barrenness. The meaning that the woman carried was that she had sinned and God was punishing her by not allowing her to have children. By making her “barren.”
What a disgrace for Elizabeth to have to bear. That’s what she called it, AFTER the angel visited and she became pregnant: “The Lord has taken away my disgrace,” Elizabeth says (1:25).
The question then becomes, how could a blameless, righteous, priestly couple be barren and under God’s punishment? Why do disgraceful things happen to such good people? Either this couple wasn’t blameless; or, God wasn’t punishing them with barrenness. Sometimes it has nothing to do with God. Sometimes life just doesn’t work like we think it’s supposed to.
The final nail in the coffin for Zechariah and Elizabeth was they were old. Time was up. The biological clock wasn’t slowing down. It had come to a full stop. No more chances to redeem the “disgrace.” No more time to change the meaning of their story.
By a roll of the dice, Zechariah is chosen to go into the Holy of Holies, the innermost, the most sacred part of the temple, the place where God sits, to burn incense and pray. By a roll of the dice! Zechariah won the religious duty lottery! His powerball number came up. But is it just by chance? Is there more going on here than a simple roll of the dice?
The other priests tie a rope around Zechariah’s waist before he goes in. They do this incase he died in there. No one else wanted to go in there in case they saw God and died too. If Zechariah died in the presence of God, they could pull on the rope and slide old Zechariah’s body out of there. He pulls the curtain aside a little and walks in.
Does Zechariah expect much of anything to happen? Same old thing. Priest goes in, lights the incense, prays for the people, walks back out, unties the safety rope. No big deal.
And we, when we’re getting ready for church--what are we expecting to happen during worship? Frank or the other ushers don’t tie a rope to anybody when you walk in the front door. Do we not expect to see something of the awesome presence of God? What are we expecting will happen? Say our prayers. Sing some songs. Hear some Good News. Go home.
How are we Zechariah? Privileged to enter the sanctuary every Sunday. We don’t even have to roll the dice. But is there awe-filled anticipation? Do we wonder, “Is an angel going to show up this morning?” It’s in the ordinary, routine of our day, even the routine of worship, that God breaks in and angels appear. It isn’t when we want them or expect them.
And angel does so for Zechariah. Notice the first reaction of Zechariah: abject fear. And the first thing the angel says, “Don’t be afraid…” It’s the same thing the angel at the empty tomb on Resurrection morning says to the women, “Don’t be afraid.” This should tell us something about real angels. The first thing they evoke is fear. Which lets us know real angels are nothing like Precious Moments figurines.
Secondly, the angel tells Zechariah, “Your prayers have been heard.” It’s the prayer he and Elizabeth had been praying to have a child. Remember I said last week, the priest carries the people into the presence of God. Zechariah was supposed to be doing that, but had also been carrying in himself and Elizabeth’s prayer--their personal prayer to God.
When the angel tells Zechariah his prayers had been heard, was the angel talking about just then? Or, all the years and years and years previously that Zechariah was uttering those prayers. Remember Zechariah and Elizabeth were “advanced in years.” So had they kept praying, or had their praying really stopped long ago? If so, why now? Why the angel now? Why when hope and Elizabeth’s womb stopped working?
And so the conversation between Zechariah and the angel Gabriel begins. The word in Greek for angel is euangelion. It means a herald. But not just a herald--a herald who brings Good News. Not just news. Good News.
But look how Zechariah responds to the Good News. He and Elizabeth will now be parents. (Whoopee) Their son will be the forerunner to the Savior of the world. (Oh, nice)
“How can I be sure of this?” is Zechariah’s first words in response to Gabriel’s good news.
Then comes the first uncomfortable pause from Gabriel. “This guy wants it in writing,” Gabriel is thinking to himself. You’ve got to remember who Gabriel is. We find out in Gabriel’s retort to Zechariah, that this is not just any angel. This is not Clarence trying to earn his wings. This is an angel who stands beside God in Heaven. Gabriel must be thinking:
Do you know who I am?
Do you know where I stand in Heaven?
Do you know who sent me here?
Do you know what kind of news this is?
Those are the rhetorical kinds of questions you don’t mess with. Like in the book, Lessons Kids Learn, one of the lessons is, “When your dad says, ‘Do I look stupid to you?’ don’t answer.”
That’s the position Zechariah was in, facing the angel Gabriel. To not believe an angel who stands beside God in Heaven is to not believe God. If you doubt the message and the messenger, you doubt the one who sent the messenger. In this case, God When an angel talks, you listen. Evidently Zechariah didn’t learn that in priest school. Which is the humorous irony of this dialogue--a priest gets visited by an angel and doesn’t get it. His prayers have finally ben answered, and he doesn’t believe it.
Then to further the insult, Zechariah says to Gabriel, “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m old! And have you gotten a good look at my wife? She’s old! Nothing works anymore. God’s timing is all messed up.”
That’s followed by Gabriel’s second uncomfortable pause. Gabriel can hardly believe this priest’s disbelief. Makes you wonder what Gabriel’s expectations were for this conversation. A lot of glow must have gone out of Gabriel’s halo. All it took was one human being. One old man. One priest, who doesn’t get it and ruins Gabriel’s day.
Gabriel’s patience and understanding, not to mention his initial excitement comes to an end. He pushes the mute button on Zechariah’s remote control so he can’t say another stupid thing. No more talking for Zechariah until the birth. Zechariah is fortunate all he got was the silencer. Because, like I’ve been saying, Gabriel’s no cutsey novelty store angel who just goes along with anything you do.
Everything goes just as Gabriel heralded it. John, who becomes John the Baptist is born to the aged Zechariah and Elizabeth. Gabriel headed back to heaven to stand next to God; that is, until God sends him on another encounter with a human--this time the girl, Mary. Next week, we’ll see if Gabriel fares any better with Mary, than he did with Zechariah.
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