Sunday Worship: Luke 1:57-80

They thought that the opportunity for them to have a child had passed them by. In fact, the reason Zechariah at the beginning of these verses can't speak is because when the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, Elizabeth is going to bear a child, Zechariah laughed at him. Zechariah questioned the wisdom of God. God showed up and said, You expect one thing, I'm giving you another. [00:26:56] (23 seconds)  #ExpectationsUpended

Zechariah questioned the wisdom of God. God showed up and said, You expect one thing, I'm giving you another. And Zechariah was in silence until he writes down, His name is John. Upending the expectations of all of his family, of all of Elizabeth's family who have gathered together to celebrate the birth of this baby, they asked what name is going to be given to this child. They had expectations. They knew what Zechariah's ancestors were named. They knew what Elizabeth's ancestors were named. And it wasn't John. And here, Zechariah says his name is John. [00:27:11] (46 seconds)  #HisNameIsJohn

Christmas, Advent, is about this season of waiting, the season of preparation. But it's over and over and over again, we are reminded that that season of preparation, that season of waiting, is to be prepared for things to unfold differently than we imagine. For things to unfold differently than we could conceive of. For things in God's hand to come out good, but not the way we expected or even necessarily the way we would have wanted. [00:27:58] (40 seconds)  #PrepareForTheUnexpected

His name is John is this radical statement in the middle of our story. And it is Zechariah standing up and saying, my lot is with the Lord. My future is with God. My future, my lot is not with the expectations that everyone else has, because my expectations have been foiled. God showed up to me and said, Elizabeth's going to have a son. And I doubted. And yet, here this son is. My expectations aren't big enough for God. His name is John. [00:28:38] (41 seconds)  #MyLotIsWithTheLord

My future is with God. My future, my lot is not with the expectations that everyone else has, because my expectations have been foiled. God showed up to me and said, Elizabeth's going to have a son. And I doubted. And yet, here this son is. My expectations aren't big enough for God. His name is John. [00:28:53] (26 seconds)  #MyFutureWithGod

It's interesting. We would be passive. That we would be saved. It is God's action that is done for us from our enemies and from the hands of all who ate us. We would be saved. It's not something that we do. It's not effort that we put out. It is God's effort on our behalf. We are saved because of what God is doing. [00:32:13] (25 seconds)  #SalvationIsGodsWork

Even when we get verbs in Zachariah's song, two out of the three aren't great. We're sitting in the shadow of death. We're passive in receiving what God is doing. And all God asks of us, which is actually kind of a big thing when you think about it, is to serve without fear. That's our assignment as Christians, to live into this love that connects us to each other, to live into this love that connects us to God, and to stand up and say this is what the forgiveness of Christ looks like. [00:42:08] (45 seconds)  #ServeWithoutFear

God's promise is good, God's future is loving, God's hope is with us, and we in that hope, we in that peace, we in that love, are called to serve, to serve one another, to serve God without fear, without expectation. Let us go into Christmas hearing the story of the birth of Jesus Christ with new ears, recognizing that the way God is working in the birth of Jesus Christ is not the way we expected, not the way anybody thought the story would unfold, but it's God's truth, it's God's promise, and it's God's salvation offered to us all. [00:44:08] (58 seconds)  #HearChristmasAnew