Luke 1:68-79
68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.69 He has raised up a horn[a] of salvation for us in the house of his servant David70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—72 to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant,73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham:74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear75in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven79 to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
Good morning. Earlier this week we celebrated a most crucial chapter in the unfolding of God’s redemptive story, and that is the moment God took on human flesh in the birth of Jesus Christ. I’m sure by now all of us know the Nativity story frontwards and backwards. I’m also confident that all of us understand the reasons why we celebrate this miraculous event and how it impacts of our faith.
And yet this Christmas season I believe it is important to ask, how much do we comprehend about the painstaking groundwork God undertook centuries before so that the baby Jesus might rest in his manger? Are we able to appreciate the meticulous preparation God oversaw so that one day the baby Jesus might lead all of us to follow him along the path of peace?
Thankfully God’s people possess texts like Lk 1 that help us to better recognize the ancient beginnings of God’s saving work and at the same time make us even more grateful for the glorious future that God’s redemptive toil secured when Jesus took his first breath.
While many in the Bible struggled with grasping the breadth and depth of God’s great rescue effort, Lk 1 makes it clear that John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, was not one of them. With the birth of his son in Lk 1, Zechariah’s song portends the future with clarity and confidence.
Whatever doubt or mystery that existed in Zechariah prior to Lk 1 was now gone and in its place an unshakable hope remained. Incidentally, I absolutely adore how Zechariah reacts to the birth of his son. Is there any more authentic response to the birth of one’s child than to sing?
But what exactly is Lk 1 certain of? First, Lk 1 is steadfast in its belief that the prophets helped to lay down the foundation of God’s liberating scheme centuries before the birth of Jesus. Though beaten regularly and martyred frequently, Lk 1 acknowledges that it was the prophets who nurtured the hope of a Messiah even when all seemed lost. According to Lk 1, John the Baptist would use this long-standing hope to shape his message that Jesus would come into the world to not only save us from our enemies, but to save us from ourselves as well.
Second, Lk 1 is resolute in its conviction that the origins of God’s mercy appeared long before the birth of Jesus. Lk 1 puts forth the idea that God’s mercy is found in God’s memory. As Abraham had been promised, Lk 1 proclaims that God does not remember the sins of the righteous, but instead chooses to remember His promises. Moreover, Lk 1 asserts that God does permit His promises to go unfulfilled, nor does He allow His oaths to fade.
Finally, Lk 1 is unyielding in its commitment to preparing the way for Christ’s arrival. Before encountering Lk 1, I confess that my perception of Christ’s arrival stopped at the manger. After reading Lk 1, however, I have come to see that Christ’s arrival is not an isolated event. Rather, Lk 1 persuades me to believe that Christ arrives every time we choose forgiveness over revenge. Lk 1 convinces me that Christ appears any moment we select mercy over retaliation. Lk 1 teaches me that Christ emerges each instance we pick peace over violence.
So this Christmas season may we do what we can to see to it that Christ arrives more than once a year. And of course, when it comes to leading the world onto the path of peace, may it be God’s people who prepare the way.
CJE