Dawn – A sermon from 12/6/09
“Dawn”
A Sermon for Pleasant Street Church
December 6, 2009 – Second Sunday of Advent
Rev. Reebee Girash
Texts: Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 1: 68-79
Malachi 3:1-4
See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight—indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
Luke 1:67-79
Then John’s father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy:
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has looked favorably on
his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up a mighty savior for us
in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke through the mouth
of his holy prophets from of old,
that we would be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us.
Thus he has shown the mercy
promised to our ancestors,
and has remembered his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,
to grant us that we, being rescued
from the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness
before him all our days.
And 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.”
Prayer
Sermon
“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.”
Dawn.
The moment when, after a long night, cold and dark, you can see that morning has come. Dawn – not the actual brightness of day, but the moment when you can see day’s approach. When dawn comes, it is indeed a tender mercy.
But before the dawn, especially in this winter season, the dark night is so long.
For so many, this is a season not of approaching light, but of lengthening, deepening darkness. Hope, which is supposed to be the watchword of this season, seems to fade with the sun.
I’ll never be able to do this. The shadows fall around you.
He’ll never come back. Darker still, midnight comes.
She’ll never get better. Even darker.
We’ll never find the right partner. Pitch dark.
I don’t love you anymore. You cannot see your hand in front of your face.
We’ll never be parents. The dead of night.
I am all alone, in the dark.
The dark night of the soul. (An allusion to St. John of the Cross)
But in the darkness, an angel speaks to you.
An angel spoke to Zechariah. Let’s turn back to the beginning of Luke’s gospel and hear the first chapter of Zechariah’s story.
He was all alone, in the sanctuary of the Lord, taking care of the Lord’s house. (If you need evidence that taking care of a church is a holy task, look to Zechariah.) He was all alone, this righteous man, servant of the Lord. Surrounded by shadows, guided only by dim candle light in the innermost sanctuary, he was all alone with his thoughts and prayers. The prayers prayed for many years, that he and Elizabeth would have children. Some of you have prayed that prayer. Some of you have arrived at the moment when you stopped praying whatever prayer is deepest in your soul, believing that it was too late. All alone in the darkness, perhaps Zechariah had begun to let go of the starlight.
But in the darkness, an angel spoke to Zechariah.
And Zechariah was terrified. Imagine. You would be scared, too.
“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.”
“Deep dawn,” writes James Lowery, “is that indefinable time between darkness and light, that time when the promise in which you believe is true; or the promise in which you believe is a lie. If everything you believe in is true, then there is hope. If everything you believe in is a lie, then there is no hope.” (Journal for Preachers, 2004 in a sermon entitled “At Deep Dawn”)
“Your prayer has been heard.”
“How? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.”
Zechariah was terrified, after all.
“The angel replied, ‘I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.’”
This, I suppose, did not bring any light into the darkness.
Did Zechariah watch Elizabeth for those nine months, this old woman, wondering, is she strong enough anymore to bear up to pregnancy and childbirth?
Did he wonder, how will it be to have a son who will grow to be a prophet, and then a martyr? How can I, an old man, a humble temple priest ever give him the wisdom and strength he will need?
Did he wonder, why could we not have a child who would grow to be happy, settling down with the neighbor girl, and taking care of us as we grow old?
Maybe that nine months of silence was God’s way of saying, you may have been praying to me for many years, but you need more time to listen to me.
You need more time to understand what is to pass.
It had not yet dawned on Zechariah.
He had not yet figured out what to believe.
How hard it is, in the middle of the darkest night, to accept unquestioning, God’s message of hope. The hardest thing to believe is that nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37)
Scholars of Luke’s Gospel think that Zechariah spent those 9 months praying, and listening to God. Perhaps the silence of his voice mirrored the silence of his spirit, making room for God’s voice to speak, and guide him to the dawn. (I am indebted to Alyce McKenzie’s article in Interpretation, October 2001, for these ideas.) By the moment of his son’s birth, Zechariah’s spirit had transformed. The moment of dawn had come, and he believed that it was all true.
“Deep dawn is that indefinable time between darkness and light… If everything you believe in is true, then there is hope.”(James Lowery)
In the silence, Zechariah embraced trust, and hope. In the silence, maybe not until the very last moment of the night, when Elizabeth was laboring, Zechariah moved from disbelief to celebration. In the silence, Zechariah came to obey God, to welcome his small part in God’s plan. In the silence of his prayers, Zechariah came to a dawn of joy and repentance.
“57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. 60 But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.” 61 They said to her, “None of your relatives has this name.” 62 Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. 63 He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God.”
Then John’s father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy:
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has looked favorably on
his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up a mighty savior for us
in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke through the mouth
of his holy prophets from of old,
that we would be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us.
Thus he has shown the mercy
promised to our ancestors,
and has remembered his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,
to grant us that we, being rescued
from the hands of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness
before him all our days.
And 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.”
Blessed be our God, who tender mercies bring us all to the dawn of a new day.
Amen.