As I write these thoughts today, earlier I was pondering the infant dedication which will be a part of our Sunday morning gathering next week. I think it is going to be a very significant time. Each situation has a background story of difficult times, even wondering if children in the home could be a reality. These little ones represent God’s gifts and goodness in very profound ways.

And so it was for Zechariah and Elizabeth. This was more than just a … “Wow, I guess they weren’t too old for children after all.”  No, that a baby boy came into this home was nothing less than a miracle that was recognized by everyone in a tight-knit community. Added to the wonder of it all were the unique physical things going on with Zechariah – from this passage indicating that he likely was not only not able to talk, but also not able to hear (as people were making signs TO him).

The tradition was for a son to be named after the father, so it was a great surprise to the people in the community that Elizabeth said the baby’s name was to be John. The people did not believe her, likely because she was a mere woman in that time and culture. But Zechariah affirmed the name in obedience to God. Immediately he was able to talk and he breaks out in praise of God.

All of this must have been quite a scene in a small community. Surely these events would be long remembered by people who would add to the story about John’s unique role in God’s plan, especially over the years as he began his preaching ministry.

Not every child dedicated to God is destined for a great public ministry of some sort. Ministry callings can also have some attendant difficulties in a world that is hostile to God’s representatives … John ultimately losing his head, for example. Infant dedication is not only about the child, it is also about the parents/families dedicating themselves. And we all need to be dedicated to whatever tasks the Lord will lead us and our families into. But there is ultimate fulfillment in following that leading.

Luke 1:57 – When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.

59 – On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”

61 – They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”

62 – Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.

If I commissioned any of you to write a song of praise to the Lord, the finished product would likely demonstrate your knowledge of Scripture and the readiness of mind to quote relevant phrases. If you were to write such a work of adoration about some event in your life where God supplied a need at just the right time, likely you would include phrases like “all things work together for good,” or, “God will supply all your needs according to his riches,” or, “they who seek the LORD shall not be in want of any good thing.”

So it is with this Song of Mary, often called The Magnificat. Her broad understanding of Scripture is astounding, as no less than 12 quotes or inferences to Old Testament passages are included.

One cannot read this without thinking back to another amazing mother of 1,000 years earlier. And that is Hannah, the mother of Samuel. She too would be blessed with a child who would serve the Lord mightily, being dedicated to God and his service under the tutelage of Eli. Hannah’s song of praise is very similar in construction.  (It is in 1 Samuel 2:1-10.)

Each begins with a personal reflection upon God’s goodness in honoring them. For Mary, it was the profound realization that out of all women, she would be the one to bear the promised Messiah and Savior of the world.

The songs go on to speak praise to God for his great character and deeds, particularly for his justice in being merciful to those who trust him, while rendering judgment on those who rebel.

And finally, there is the acknowledgement of God’s providence and the outworking of his plan of the ages. This gives clarity to the past, perspective for the present, and hope and peace for the future.

These three steps inform us as to how to pray and relate with God. We begin with thanksgiving for his love and care for us, praise for his loving and sovereign attributes, and prayers of acknowledgement for the outworking of his plan in our day and in the days to come.

The passage today concludes with a single note that Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months before returning home. Was John the Baptist born during this time? Or did Mary leave before that? We don’t know. But in any event, imagine the conversations between these two great women of faith.

Luke 1:46 – And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.

50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.

54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”

56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.

One of the very fun things about the expanse of our extended family has been seeing the generation of children from my wife’s sisters, along with our five boys, having another generation of the family coming along at the same time. Some of them have been born in the same season of time, just as their first cousin parents were ahead of them. The granddaughter that I had up front with me at the outset of the sermon on Sunday had a little girls sleepover event with her local second cousin last weekend.

It says in the Scriptures that Mary and Elizabeth were cousins, right? It does say that, right? Well, the King James Version says that, though it is a more specific translation of the original word than can be definitively affirmed. The Greek term means “relative,” and could be used to speak of cousins.

Elizabeth was descended from the family of Aaron, whereas Mary was from the family of David. Since this was determined by the fathers, it could be that they were first cousins with mothers who were sisters, but who married men in different families. All we can say for sure is that they were relatives of some sort in some way, each familiar with the other. Mary didn’t say to the angel, “Elizabeth? What Liz are you talking about?”  She knew immediately.

And it appears that Mary went quickly to see Elizabeth. Knowing only the region where Zechariah and Elizabeth lived and not the exact town, this would have been a journey of somewhere between 50 to 75 miles. No small trip at that time.

For the first time, Jesus and John are in close proximity to one another. Baby John “leaped” in the womb – I’ve never been pregnant, but that sounds painful!  I know I’ve been using a lot of Greek words on you lately, but I couldn’t resist looking at this one. Here’s what it means: LEAP!  Only Luke uses it in the New Testament – twice here, and on one other occasion to say “leap for joy” (6:23) … of the reaction Jesus said his followers should have when they are persecuted for association with him.

The filling of the Holy Spirit leads to a most beautiful and profound statement and blessing from Elizabeth.

You have to like these two women. Here are two ladies – one young, one older – who were trusting God in the midst of very unique circumstances. This was the pattern of their lives. They were willing to be used of God for His glory and purposes, in spite of the personal pain it may bring to their lives. They saw themselves as blessed.

The kingdom of God, the church of Christ … through all ages have been blessed by women of such character. It continues to this day; it is a part of our church and our ministry. Churches could not function without the blessings that godly women bring to the family of faith. Beyond the incalculable influences they have in the homes, women make a church function practically in myriads of ways. This extends beyond hospitality to the very ministry of the Word to children and to other women in a host of venues. Y’all are MVPs!

Luke 1:39 – At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

About a half of a lifetime ago I was leading a youth music group to Scotland on a summer missions trip. I was being hosted by a lovely Scottish family, who in the course of conversation told me that they were still in a bit of recovery from having lost a five-year-old son in the past year to some disease that took him rather suddenly. Even in the midst of their grief, they modelled the joy of faith and life in Christ.

It was quite remarkable, and my understanding of their faith was informed by what the father told me of his experience. He said, “This is the thought that has given me the most comfort: If God had come to me six years ago and said, ‘I have this precious child that I need someone to give a home for five years, but then I’m going to take him back with me, would you be willing to do that?’”

And the father, with moisture gathering in his eyes, looked at me and said, “I would have certainly said to God in answer to that question, ‘Absolutely, YES, we will take that assignment.’  So why should I be angry about my loss when I have so much to be thankful for about the great blessing we received?”

That would be a tough assignment. It is difficult to give your heart away to uncertain situations. And that is what, for example, makes foster home parents such fantastic people in my book! But honestly, most of life is quite uncertain.

God sometimes gives people some tough assignments to carry out in the context of a difficult, sinful and fallen world. Mary could justly say that God dropped on her a pretty tough job. Along with the issue of the social stigmatization of the pregnancy, there was the challenge of raising and having this unique child in one’s home.

Looking ahead, at the cross we see Mary … apparently Joseph had died somewhere along the way … watching her son on a Roman cross. Talk about a brutal assignment!

But Mary accepted this assignment from God … immediately … no doubting or delaying. Over and over we see this with the main characters of the incarnation story. That a type of “character” we should strive to be as well!

Luke 1:26 – In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”

38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

The angel went back to heaven and said to the Lord, “That Mary is one impressive young woman! She didn’t put up any fuss or resistance. All she said was, ‘OK, cool.’’

Alright, yes, I did add that last paragraph. But it’s believable.

I am guessing I am not alone in having melancholy experiences where, perhaps in a moment of solitude, we take stock of our lives and wonder what unique significance they have had … what have we truly accomplished, etc.  Likely we think this way more and more in the waning years. For me, I have at times bounced back and forth between feelings of the great blessing of having served in the church of Christ as a pastor, yet honestly, pastors are a dime a dozen. I have had the privilege of serving in some very interesting congregations that are larger than what most of my brethren have had, yet a voice tells me I should have done more to make them bigger and better.

I suspect the character of our focus today had some of the same melancholy moments. Zechariah has shown up for work for a lot of years as a priest in Israel. There was a privilege and blessing in doing that work, yet it was also a truth that priests were a dime a dozen. Divided into 24 divisions, his group – called the “priestly division of Abijah” – would serve in the temple one week at a time, twice a year.

And unlike the Lead Pastor at TSF who has five sons, Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth carried the sadness of childlessness … now into their elderly years. Though this did not deter them from faithfulness as “righteous in the sight of God,” it represented years of unanswered prayers and “disgrace” in the eyes of the populace of that time.

Finally, something big happens in the life of Zechariah!  He wins the priestly lottery! Exactly! His number is pulled to have the honor of representing the prayers of the nation one day in the temple by taking the incense into the holy place. There were so many priests that not every last one of them would at some point in life have this honor. This would be the only time in Zechariah’s life that he would do this duty. As I liked to say as final words to my cross country teams when standing on the starting line at the state championships, “No pressure; just don’t mess up!”  A host of assembled worshippers were praying just outside, awaiting his reappearance.

But what’s this? An angel is there with a strange message … of a baby to be born who would fulfill prophecies from Malachi about a person who would be a forerunner of the Messiah. This cryptic fellow would be sort of like Elijah; he would be one to bring many people back to God. We will know him as John the Baptist.

In the model of Abraham and Sarah, Zechariah has the natural child-bearing doubts associated with advanced age. The angel gives him a divine smack-down for that moment of disbelief, rendering him unable to talk for the period of the pregnancy. But it is clear to all that something of great significance has happened. Something extraordinary is piercing the routine of the mundane.

Luke writes of this (applicational thoughts to follow) …

Luke 1:5 – In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25 “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

Some of the greatest characters in Scripture had lives that were 99 and 44/100^ths percent routine. God used an ordinary priest in Israel – one of thousands of such men – to father a child who Jesus would speak of as “among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist.”  (Matt. 11:11)

But note that it was before any of this happened that the inspired Scriptures say of Zechariah and Elizabeth that they both “were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.”  Greatness is not measured so much as the product of great efforts and accomplishments as much as it is the result of great faithfulness in the mundane routines of life. So do not weary of faithful duty and obedience day by day. We never know when something very small may be used of God to become something very big.

I really like this guy named Luke. He’s my kind of guy! Being a self-styled historian of sorts with my interest in the Civil War and my work at the Antietam National Battlefield, I’ve also previously done the bulk of research and writing on a biography of a Civil War general (Abner Doubleday). I say that I’m going to complete my manuscript and publish it before I’m completed, but we’ll see how that goes!

Writing a biography is great fun! I can’t think of a much happier day in life than digging through old manuscripts in the bowels of a library, searching for gems of information that will make the character of interest come alive! It is a little bit like being a detective. It would be better yet if, in my case, I had the ability to interview people who knew and served with Abner Doubleday. But they are all long gone, of course.

Whereas there is no certain evidence that Luke knew Christ Jesus (though some have conjectured that he may have been one of the 72 sent out), he was certainly intimately acquainted with a great number of people who had walked with the Savior. And Luke begins in this opening paragraph of the first four verses to speak of his method as a researcher/writer …

Luke 1:1 – Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

Luke was a humble guy. He does not use his own name in his writing. As the author also of the book of Acts, he puts himself into the narrative of traveling with Paul for a time by talking about the places “we” went in “our” group. From other New Testament writings we are able to know who was with Paul at that time, and the list includes Luke. All the others are mentioned by name at some point in Acts, and so the process of elimination makes it pretty clear that Luke is the writer of these two works that actually comprise 28% of the New Testament. We know too from Colossians 4:14 that Luke was a physician, as well as being a gentile believer in Christ.

Both the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts are addressed to a fellow named Theophilus, a person who is a bit obscure. With a name that translates to “lover of God,” many believe he was some sort of gentile Roman official who was interested in a detailed account about this unique character named Jesus Christ, along with curiosity about what was this message of the Gospel. If so, that would make him likely a seeker of truth, perhaps someone very unique among his circle of acquaintances – which were more likely to ridicule this faith with its Eastern origins.

Indeed, this gospel of Luke is going to be “an orderly account.”  And it is a more lengthy and detailed accounting than the other gospels. We will be able to groove with his writing in a personal way, as Luke writes about the expansive and universal nature of the message of Christ. He brings across his pages a host of stories about outcasts, sinners, Samaritans, women and children, etc. … people like us … people who began to walk in Christ’s footsteps. And we shall be encouraged all the more to do the same.