Advent 2, 2024

 I never gave this scripture about Zechariah that we have today as a Psalm, a second thought until this week.  Here we have both Zechariah and his son, John, breaking the silence.  In Israel, there were no religious writings for 400 years between the Hebrew Bible and when John and Jesus appear.  There seems to have been no prophets for all that time.  Suddenly the silence is broken.  It is broken with John the Baptist leaping in the womb at proximity to the fetus Jesus, and the ensuing song of Mary, the magnificat, “My soul proclaims your greatness O God and my spirit rejoices in you.”  The silence is broken by Zechariah, who when he questioned the likelihood of Elizabeth conceiving when they had been childless so long and they were both getting up in years, lost the ability to speak for 9 months.  And the silence is broken with the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Make way!  Prepare the way of the Lord!”

            Let’s first talk about silence.  According to Ecclesiastes 3, “there is a time to be silent and a time to speak.”  If you can figure out which is which, good for you, because knowing that can save you a lot of trouble.  Silence can have a lot of meaning.  I grew up in a big family and my mom did daycare, so we always had lots of kids running around.  To this day, I find silence very healing. In silence I can reflect and fill my cup.  I can listen to God.  I can listen to my heart and what my body is trying to tell me.  I have many times sat silently with someone who was dying or hurting or just needed someone nearby. 

            For introverts like me, we know not every moment must be filled with talking or noise.  We come to church and we try to have some silence, because not all of us get silence in our lives.  Silence gives room for someone who is unlikely to share space to form a thought and fit it into a conversation.  And let’s all remember that communication is only 7% words.  So much is communicated nonverbally—by appearance, by proximity, by body language, so many ways.

            So when we hear that the prophets were silent in Israel for 400 years, we have some considerations to keep in mind.  Was God silent for 400 years or was God using nonverbal communication?  Was God speaking and people just weren’t listening?  Was the silence for reflection?  I know many people who found God silent—who wanted a sign, an answer.  And when I looked at their lives, I saw beauty—a delightful grandchild, the chance to reconcile with someone, opportunities to explore nature or travel.  How might God have been speaking to this person and they didn’t hear?  What are we listening for, when we listen for God’s voice?

            God speaks in so many ways—through unexpected people, like children, like our enemies.  God speaks through nature.  When Jesus was teaching his disciples, he pointed to nature, “Look at this fig tree.  It’s trying to tell you something.  God is trying to tell you something through this tree, and that is that the Kingdom of God is near.”  “Consider the lilies of the field.  God is trying to talk to you through the flowers and tell you not to worry.”  God is not silent, as long as God’s creation is in relationship with us.  God’s creation now is suffering, so we are reminded to care for it so it can continue to teach us.

            Zechariah was struck dumb for 9 months, another period of silence.  What was that like for him and Elizabeth? I thought at first they could have communicated by writing, as Zechariah does in the temple when the couple go to present their child and have him circumcised, but it was very unlikely that Elizabeth could read.  He had an important job as a priest.  Was he able to fulfill his duties?  What did he think about all that time?  What was going on for Elizabeth?  What were their usual patterns and how did this disrupt them?  Did she enjoy a little peace a quiet?  Some of you have lost your voices for a considerable amount of time.  I understand you choose your words carefully once you can speak, that you think differently when you can’t use your voice.

            So we have here 400 years of silence or at least nothing they thought worthy to be written down.  In those years, Malachi has something to say about priests, filling in that silence with their own importance and their own unrighteous sacrifices.  He promises an end to the silence and an accountability for people in power who have taken from the poor, who have claimed more than their share, who have hurt vulnerable people. 

            So what changed to end the silence?  Were people more ready to listen?  If so, was that because there was so much suffering in the world that something had to change?  Did something change in God, to change tactics?  Was God preparing all that time to send the Christ child into the world to change everything? 

            So here we are in the silence and waiting of Advent.  The world is noisy with distractions and temptations.  But we come here to listen for God’s word of hope for us all.  When I was leading chapel every week at my previous congregation, 50 kids would file into the sanctuary and find a seat on the floor.  They would be encouraged to engage with open eyes, listening ears, their thinking caps, and a bubble in their mouths (otherwise it was chaos).  We had a time of listening to the stories of hope and then we had a time of singing and praying and it was glorious and messy.  So we come here, too, with our listening ears to listen for God’s voice crying out in the wilderness.  We come here with our open eyes to see what’s going on.  We come here with our thinking caps since God gave us a brain, we might as well us it!  We come here to break the silence and tell the good news—I experienced God’s presence this week and I am grateful. 

            In this time of silent waiting in hope and expectation, the Gospel gives us a hint of what we’re looking for—that all flesh shall see the salvation of God.  God is coming and we are invited to make space, in all the noise and distraction, to clear a space, make the mountains low and the valleys high, so that everyone can see and experience God’s saving power.  Salvation is salve, it is healing, all flesh is every person and every animal, all God’s creatures together having access to healing and being united in worship and  praise and hope and peace from the one who made us all.