Out of silence a song of praise
Luke 1:67-78
67 Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy:
68 ‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has looked favourably on his people and redeemed them.
69 He has raised up a mighty saviour for us in the house of his servant David,
70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71 that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.
72 Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors,
and has remembered his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,
to grant us 74 that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins.
78 By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.’
80 The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.
Zechariah had had 9 months to think about what had happened to him, what was happening to Elizabeth and himself, and what it might be that God was up to. Since he could not speak, and since we saw yesterday, he was essentially overlooked by everyone around him, he had time in silence.
Silence is a great thing. When we are silent, we don’t need to be thinking about what we will say and so we can really hear what is going on around us. When we are silent, we become unseen worrying less about how others see us and able listen to our inner voices that are not heard when we are worried about other people’s perception of us.
In his silence Zechariah had reflected on what God was doing – how God was redeeming Israel. And second to think of the role John, his son, was to play in ushering in the start of the kingdom of God. A kingdom of light in the midst of darkness – a kingdom marked by forgiveness and tender mercy and guided into the ways of peace (vs. 78,79). These were – and still are – in contrast to the ways of the world which are built on violence and revenge.
Advent invites us to live by the patterns of the kingdom Zechariah came to recognize, the pattern of the kingdom of God. But changing to live by that pattern is a major change in lifestyle. Zechariah’s 9 months of silence are a reminder of just how significant a change in the pattern of our lives this is. This change happens only with the help of the Holy Spirit renovating our lives.
PRAYER:
O Holy Spirit, come and transform our lives. Shape and form them to be fit for your coming kingdom. Lead us in the way of peace, that our lives would be examples of the forgiveness and tender mercy you alone can bring. In Jesus’ name. Amen.