Advent Meditation

December 1, 2002

The Rev. Dr. Anthony J. Godlefski, Pastor

Montgomery United Methodist Church

Isaiah 42: 1-4 

Luke 1: 5-24

⁵In 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. ⁶Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. ⁷But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years. ⁸Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, ⁹he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. ¹¹Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. ¹²When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. ¹³But 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 give him the name John. ¹⁴He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, ¹⁵for 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 from birth. ¹⁶Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. ¹⁷And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." ¹⁸Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years." ¹⁹The angel answered, "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. ²⁰And 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 proper time." ²¹Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. ²²When 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. ²³When his time of service was completed, he returned home. ²⁴After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning! I’d like us to spend a few moments thinking about this idea: Don’t give up! God still has a plan for your life.

Oh, friends, I’d like you to know this truth – as long as there’s breath in my body, God has a plan for my life. Won’t you take that with you into the week? God has something special for you to do. And as you dedicate your life to Him, as you open your heart to Him, He will let you know what it is – something good, something exciting, something wonderful, something that will bless the world. It will be unique to you, as unique as your fingerprint. As long there is breath in your body, God has a plan for you.

It’s the first Sunday in Advent, and we are surrounded by the blessings of Christmas to come. The Gospel tells us the wonderful story of Zechariah. I love this story, don’t you? It’s a wonderful story about an old man who receives a special blessing. You see, there was an old priest named Zechariah, and he was one of the priests who performed the ministerial duties in the temple. He was very old. He was born into the priesthood; that was the way of his family.

There were many priests in the temple, but there was only one job that everybody wanted. Once a year, one priest had the privilege of going into the center of the temple, called the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was, and burned incense in that private room before the Ark of the Lord. Who would do it? They chose by lots. They all drew straws. Some priests never had the opportunity their whole lives long, and Zechariah drew his straw. He was the one! He would be the one to go in and burn incense before the Lord’s altar.

His heart must have been pounding. The Bible says that all the people were in the courtyard praying as Zechariah went in. He went through the doors, through the gates, into the sacred room that only one priest per year could enter. He carried his incense, to burn before the altar of the Lord. He entered into the silence of the Holy of Holies, and he placed the incense at the altar and lit it and knelt in prayer.

How exciting it must have been! All the people were surrounding him with the energy of prayer, and I wonder if in his heart was a prayer, too. You see, he and his wife Elizabeth were on in years, and the one dream they had, the one prayer request they had, was for a child. They had no children. Zechariah knelt and prayed.

And then, the Bible says, a very remarkable thing happened. To the right of the altar, a light started to materialize. The bright, glowing light got brighter and brighter, blue light, the light of a rainbow, a glistening, sparkling light. Zechariah was transfixed by it. And then the light took the shape of a person, a person of radiant light who looked back at Zechariah. The Bible tells us that Zechariah was sore afraid.

The person of light spoke to Zechariah. “Fear not, Zechariah. I am Gabriel. Your prayer has been heard. You and your wife Elizabeth will bear a son, and his name will be John, and he will be very great. He will cause reconciliation between fathers and children. He will prepare the way for the Lord. And it will come to be.”

Zechariah must have been thrilled to pieces. You’d think he would have said thank you. But instead he said, “How can this be? I am an old man. How will I know that this will come to pass?”

And the angel said, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God. It will come to pass, Zechariah. But between now and the time when it does, you will be silent.”

I wonder if in his heart Zechariah thought, “That’s okay – no one would be believe me anyway if I told them what happened.” And the angel vanished, and Zechariah left the temple, and all the people could tell that he had seen a vision.

You know the rest of the story. Zechariah went home, and it came to pass that his wife Elizabeth conceived and bore a son named John. Zechariah regained his speaking ability.

I love the story of when the baby was to be named. Relatives came over and asked Zechariah and Elizabeth what the baby would be named. They said, “You should name him Zechariah, after his father.” They motioned to Zechariah to ask what the baby should be named. Why did they motion to him? His hearing was okay! Zechariah wrote down, “His name shall be John.” And at that moment he regained his powers of speech.

Friends, there are several wonderful lessons for you and for me in this story of Zechariah. The first one is, never give up, because God doesn’t give up on you. Never give up! When an angel came and told him good news, Zechariah said, “How shall it be? I have such shortcomings.” And the angel said, “I am Gabriel. Do you need picture identification?”

God has a plan for you, my dear friends. Keep that thought with you and know it in the depths of your heart. Have you noticed this in the Bible? – God always uses broken people. Moses had a speech impediment. Abraham and Sarah were very old. King David had some moral problems he had to work on. But God still used them! Mary Magdalene had a tragic past. Mary the mother of Jesus was terribly young. Each one was broken in some way. St. Paul had a thorn in the flesh – he didn’t even want to talk about what that was, some kind of physical ailment. God uses broken people!

How about you? How about me? Do you feel broken in some way? Do you feel less than perfect? Is God putting a dream on your heart? And is your tendency to say, “No, God, I can’t because I’m too ‘this’ or I’m not enough ‘that’”? God has a plan for you. Take it to heart and know it. He has something wonderful that He wants you to do.

Starlite Chorale sang for a senior residence the other day. Some folks came up to me afterward and told me how much they enjoyed the concert. A couple, a mature couple, wanted me to know that they had a special job to do. “We are crossing guards.” They said it with all the pride and responsibility that should go with that job. You see, they did not give up on God’s plan for them. They knew that they could use their energy for something good.

God does not give up on you, as long as there is breath in your body. Please know it.

The second lesson from the story is, let’s be on the lookout for angels. You never know when you may run into one, either spiritually, invisibly, or visibly. Zechariah did not expect to run into an angel that day.

I believe there are three kinds of angels. The first we’ll call a professional angel. A professional angel is like Gabriel. He is created by God to be of a separate order, unlike any other creation. The Bible says it is so; I believe it. Angels are not intrusive. These professional angels do their work on our behalf as messengers of God. That’s the first kind. Sometimes we’ll get a message; sometimes we’ll be protected.

The second kind of angel is what I call a transformed angel. I believe the people that we know and love who bless us in life and go on to be with the Lord are transformed into a new order of being. And just as God gives us things to do, God still has work for them. Have you ever had an experience where someone has gone to the Lord, and something will happen in your life, and you think, “Oh, that’s just what Dad would do!”? That’s a transformed angel at work.

And the third order of angels, I believe, is that of deputized angels. That’s you and me and the people who come into our lives. God touches you, touches me, to be angels to other people, just when we need them. Have you had that experience? When I was a sophomore in high school, my sister died. She was challenged with cancer, and she passed away. It was a very difficult time for me. But there was a lady who worked in the cafeteria, Mrs. Salt. Everyday I would go and visit with Mrs. Salt. You know, she always had time for me. She was the cashier, and she always had a good word to say and cared about how I was doing. God sent her as an angel to me.

How about you? Are there people who are deputized angels in your life? Is God asking you to be one of them? Be on the lookout for angels this week, won’t you?

The final thought I’d like you to take with you is this: Take good care of your dreams. They are the gifts of God. What is a good dream? A good dream is a situation that fits you like a glove, and that does something good for the world. Cherish your dreams. They may be bigger than you can possibly imagine being able to accomplish, or they may be very simple and right before you. Cherish them. Don’t think that you’re too old or too young or too this or too that. Take the dream that God puts in your heart, and nourish it and water it and protect it and care for it, because it can grow into something wonderful for the Lord and something wonderful for you.

I was driving along Montgomery Road between Routes 206 and 518, and I was stuck in traffic. It gave me time to admire a giant oak tree. It was stately and strong and beautiful, and it was the glory of the property it stood on. And that oak was once just a tiny sapling! That’s what a dream is.

Has God put a special dream in your heart? Cherish it. Value it. Protect it. Nurture it. It is the gift of God. So remember, as we light the first candle of Advent, that it is the candle of hope. And hope means “I’m taking good care of my dreams.” God has put the dreams into our hearts.

Don’t give up – God doesn’t give up on you, as long as there is breath in your body. Be on the lookout for angels this week, and take good care of your dreams. They’re God’s gifts to us, because God loves you. I do, too. Have a blessed week. Amen.