The Myth of Christmas: When Hope Seems Lost

Communion Sunday

Pastor Mitch Coggin December 3, 2023 Advent 1B

Just after this meditation we will sing, “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.” We will sing the line, “from our sins and fears release us, let us find our rest in thee.” These are challenging words, to consider rest when rest will seem in short supply.

The myth of Christmas is that we view it as a season of hope and expectation, but often it is just the opposite. We experience Christmas as more tradition than a journey of faith. Maybe we aren’t responsible for our own hope. Perhaps, hope is something that God has already given and offers to us.

During Advent, we might be caught in a conundrum of expectations. We will feel compelled to meet demands of tradition. We may hear the age-old stories and sing familiar songs that pack little punch for our complex and complicated lives, far removed from mangers and shepherds and heavenly stars. During these weeks, I invite us on a Sacred Journey in which we might recognize the hand of God in common stories.

We read the story of Zachariah and Elizabeth from Luke’s Gospel. Two geriatrics who barely make a ripple on the Christmas geiger counter of importance frame our first Advent lesson. You never see Zachariah or Elizabeth on Christmas cards. They don’t appear in manger scenes, nor are they featured in Christmas plays. The dusk of sadness hovers over them; the thing they longed for most was to have a child. Now that dream has passed them by as their biological clocks have long since struck midnight.

If we interviewed them about their expectations, thoughts, and feelings, they would look at us with blank stares and admit that their expectations had long been unfulfilled. Both, however, continued to live lives of faith and Zachariah dutifully went about his priestly duties.

But then the unexpected happened, a messenger appeared to Zachariah in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. Was he seeing things? He was afraid until the messenger said those words we all long to hear, “Your prayers have been answered.” Zachariah may have wanted to say, “What prayers are those?”

What prayers have any of us given up on? Perhaps, Elizabeth and Zachariah had stopped praying for a child. Maybe by some stretch of the imagination, they were on God’s timetable and not their own.

It did not take Zachariah long to play the card of impossibility when the Angel told his preposterous news. “You are aware how old we are? Elizabeth and I are really not the perfect choice here, you know.” Zachariah felt that it was his job to provide God with a reality check and so do we. For Zachariah’s doubt, he was struck mute until the time he and Elizabeth heard little John the Baptist cry.

Is it not ironic that Zachariah was struck mute while still at work, he would not have been able to rush home and tell Elizabeth, “You’ll never believe what happened to me today!” You’ll never believe what will happen to you 9 months from now.”

For 9 months, silently they waited, locked within their own thoughts, awash in the impossibility that their most extravagant dream was indeed going to happen.

Zachariah’s silent waiting is not the hurried frenzied wait that frames most of our own Advent. What if like Zachariah, we dedicated more time for silent waiting, reminded of the power of God to surprise us with the impossible for which none of us are responsible?

What impossibility can we still believe in? What hope are we praying that God might still miraculously fulfill? Sometimes we just need to see how preposterous our situation is to say, “God, it’s too impossible/too crazy for me. But not for you!” Remember that it is not our responsibility to do the impossible – that exclusively belongs to God.

God really doesn’t need us to be in control of our own miracles. God thanks us for our opinions that the world or this church or our family are in such a state that nothing will ever turn them around. Maybe it’s time to consider that our opinion is just that, our opinion that has little basis in the truth that “with God all things are possible.”

How did Zachariah and Elizabeth prepare for the birth of their miracle? The same question may be asked of us in the coming days. How do we prepare ourselves to birth the impossible into our lives and into our world? Will we be so caught up in meeting expectations that we miss the hope that God offers to us?

What myth do we need to get rid of so that we can embrace the kind of silent waiting that Zachariah and Elizabeth modeled?

There is a myth about where hope comes from. We think hope comes from meeting expectations, or pleasing people, or staying just ahead of the demand that chases us in every direction. Our lack of hope diminishes our belief that with God all things are possible. What does that even mean in our lives, in our church, in our culture?

We read from Isaiah 64 which begins with a prayer that God would “tear open the heavens and come down.” The Israelites were no strangers to waiting, they had waited for generations for God to rescue them from their enemies. In verse 4, Isaiah writes, “From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for the Lord.”

When all hope seems lost and the chasm between God and God’s people seems to have drifted too far apart, we are reminded that we are the clay and God is the potter. We belong to God.

SUNDAY READINGS

1^st Scripture: Isaiah 64:1-9

O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, so that the mountains would quake at your presence— as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil— to make your name known to your adversaries, so that the nations might tremble at your presence! When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From ages past no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who works for those who wait for him. You meet those who gladly do right, those who remember you in your ways. But you were angry, and we sinned; because you hid yourself we transgressed. We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity. Yet, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, and do not remember iniquity forever. Now consider, we are all your people.

2^nd Scripture: Luke 1:5-25

In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years. Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. But 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. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 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.” Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.”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.” Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah, and wondered at his delay in the sanctuary. When he did come out, he could not speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable to speak.When his time of service was ended, he went to his home. After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she remained in seclusion. She said, “This is what the Lord has done for me when he looked favorably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.”