Bringing the Dawn

“You, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Luke 1:76-79

At the beginning of this semester, I committed to blog twice weekly as a way to reach out to students at Baylor University, where I am the United Methodist campus minister. It appears that some non-students have followed along. Classes end tomorrow. So I will be taking a break until a new semester begins in January. Then I’ll post once a week. Twice weekly was way too ambitious, and I want to savor the scriptures.

I end this semester where I began, with the scripture from which this blog takes its name. Zechariah is praising God after the birth of his son, John the Baptist, who will prepare the way for the coming of Christ. His words remain part of Christian worship and are said or sung by many Christian communities at least once a week.

Kathleen Norris, a writer who often worships with Benedictines, has said that she sang this scripture for years before she realized “you, child” meant her. We can join in these words because we, too, are meant to be “prophets of the Most High,” who go before the Lord to prepare people’s hearts to receive Christ and to give them “knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.” Through us, the “dawn from on high” breaks in to shine in their darkness and guide them into the way of peace.

How better to prepare people’s hearts to receive God’s forgiveness than to give them our own? to demonstrate that it is possible to enter into the way of peace because we have? Maybe we haven’t fully entered in, but God is at work in us. As God’s tender mercy appears through us, dawn breaks, at least in one small part of God’s world. What a privilege to bear the dawn, however imperfectly.

God’s peace,

Katie

Gathered for Joy

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

Luke 1:39-45

After the angel told Mary she would give birth to the Messiah – and that her cousin Elizabeth, who was past childbearing age was six months pregnant – Mary “went with haste” to see Elizabeth. Many explanations have been offered for her trip.

Those of skeptical mind reason that Mary wanted proof that what the angel had told her was true. If Elizabeth were pregnant, then the promise to Mary could be trusted.

More than one task-oriented person has suggested Mary went to “help out.” Elizabeth was way too old to be pregnant. She needed someone to take care of her. That seems unlikely because Mary left (v. 56) just before Elizabeth’s baby was born.

What seems more likely is that Mary had just welcomed God to act in her life in an unimaginable way. God was breaking into history. The Messiah was at hand – and Mary would be his mother! Who could begin to understand what had happened to her? Only Elizabeth, who also had experienced an “impossible” act of God.

Elizabeth greets Mary with awe and joy. God is acting, and through them! After Elizabeth’s welcome, Mary bursts into a song of praise (vv. 46-55). The women celebrate with wonder what God is doing and that they are part of it.

Some have said that these women offer scripture’s earliest picture of the church – people gathered to rejoice at what God is doing and how they are part of it. What would it be like if we approached worship in the spirit of Mary and Elizabeth? We would have to take care to recognize the ways God is entering into the world and that God chooses to come among people through us – and then let ourselves be awed, humbled and joyous.

God’s peace,

Katie

Choosing Small

The angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. . . . With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 

Luke 1:13-15, 17

Zechariah was an obscure country priest, who came to Jerusalem once a year to serve in the Temple. Inside this holy place, where no one else could see, an angel told him that his faithful prayer over decades had been heard. He and his wife, Elizabeth, would have the child for whom they had hoped so long. More than that, God was entrusting them to shape John (later called “the Baptist”) to be a great prophet, who would prepare Israel to receive its long-promised Messiah.

No one would have nominated Zechariah and Elizabeth for greatness. Sometimes we feel that way about ourselves. What we can do is small. Never does it seem smaller than when the end of a semester is bearing down, along with Christmas events and activities. How can we also prepare our hearts spiritually? But for the birth of Jesus, God chose “small.” Zechariah and Elizabeth had been faithful in small things. After God gave them John, they still probably looked little different from their child-rearing neighbors. In scripture, God consistently opts for faithful, often obscure, people over high-profile ones.

Christmas, of all seasons, is not a time to think big. It’s a time to join God in thinking small – seeking to give thanks faithfully for our blessings, offering our lives and tasks to God daily, looking for God in small moments of connection with others, and not asking of ourselves more than we can do. If God can choose small, so can we.

God’s peace,

Katie