12.4--Great Expectations (Sermon on Luke 1:5-25)

The story goes that Balaam, a priest and sorcerer of much renown, was on his way to thwart the Israelite king and his armies. Having been hired by the enemies of Israel, Balaam set out on his trusted donkey to the Jew’s encampment so that he might curse them and gain for his employers the upper hand. As he was traveling, God sent an angel, armed with a sword, to bar his way.

Now, Balaam, for all his prowess and priestliness, could not see this heavenly being standing so menacingly in front of him. If he had been unimpeded in his traveling, his life would have been cut rather short. Luckily for him, his trusted steed’s eyes were opened to the impending doom, and she stopped in place and would not move a step closer to the armed seraph. Balaam, who was oblivious to the danger, cursed his donkey and beat her. She moves slowly and carefully around the angel, and they continue on their way.

The story is not over, though. God moves his malicious messenger farther down the road. Again, the donkey sees what Balaam cannot. Again, the donkey stops short. And again, Balaam curses and beats her. Not the nicest guy, is he?

A third time God places his angel in Balaam’s path, but this time it is in a narrow gorge. The angel is taking up the entire path, and there’s no way for the Balaam-laden donkey to work herself around the heavenly barrier. When the donkey sees the angel, she stops and will not move, no matter how much Balaam beats her and curses her. Now, Balaam is not a patient man. He, a priest and sorcerer of great renown, is used to kings shriveling before his gaze. No one crosses him, and yet this donkey is getting the upper hand… or hoof… on him. He has had enough, and he is ready to strike this animal down for her incompetence. But as he prepares to kill her, God opens the donkey’s mouth and Balaam’s eyes and ears. She—the donkey—calls him out for being an ignorant jerk, and he, already wide-eyed at his donkey speaking, sees the angel waiting menacingly ahead of them.

He was completely caught off guard by the angel and the donkey.

In our Scripture reading today from Luke, we encounter another who was caught completely off guard by the visit from a heavenly messenger. Zechariah was a priest in the Temple. Both he and his wife were from the priestly line, so he had been raised for the sole purpose of working within the Temple and serving as a minister and mediator between God and the people of God. This was a holy vocation, one ordained by God and established long ago by Moses. In our story, Zechariah’s rotation is up for duty in the Holy of Holies, the place within the Temple that God is said to reside in. During a worship service, Zechariah is supposed to light the incense within the Holy of Holies to aid in the worship and prayers of the Jews that day.

But while he is in there, something amazing happens: an angel of the Lord visits him. Zechariah is caught completely off guard. He is scared. The angel speaks to him, tells him not to be afraid and that God is going to give him and Elizabeth—his wife—a baby boy. Zechariah recovers from his shock only to be struck by unbelief. He says, “How can this be? I am old and my wife is barren!”

I love the angel’s response. “I am Gabriel I stand in the presence of God and I have been sent to speak to you and tell you this news.” Duh! I’ll tell you how this can be! If God can send an angel to speak to you, God can also give you a child. Are you really going to question a heavenly being?

And so, Zechariah is made mute until his son is born. When he exits the Holy of Holies, the people immediately recognize what Zechariah had not: he had seen a vision! He had been witness to divine work!

So what is the difference between Balaam’s experience and Zechariah’s? Well, for one, only Balaam’s story includes a talking donkey, and anything that makes me think of Shrek is a great thing. But more than that, and honestly the biggest difference for me, is the location. Balaam encounters the angel in the middle of nowhere. He had no reason to expect to meet a heavenly being on the road. Zechariah, though, was not only in the Temple; he was in the Holy of Holies! This was the location of the Ark of the Covenant! This is the very place in which God is said to reside! And yet Zechariah is completely unprepared for a visit from the divine.

How can this be? Why was he caught completely off guard?

I imagine it was because he didn’t think anything would happen, that there was nothing special that could happen. You see, Zechariah was old. He had been serving in the Temple for the majority of his life, had been in the Holy of Holies many times. Never before had he experienced anything special, never before had he heard of one of his fellow priests having a heavenly encounter. It was a job, a routine.

He didn’t expect anything to happen because, in his experience, there was nothing to expect.

I wonder how many of us feel the same about our church and our times of worship… How much of what we do is done because we know its what we are supposed to do? How many of us come to church, say the prayers, sing the songs, eat the bread and drink the juice because it is simply our routine?

Friends, are we just going through the motions here, or do we really expect Christ to meet us here and change us?

The first time I encountered contemporary worship music, I was pulled out of my weekly church routine. I grew up attending church and Sunday School every week, saying the prayers, singing the songs, and taking communion. I knew all the words, had all the answers, and expected the same thing out of worship week after week—nothing. But once I was pulled out of that rut, God showed me just how amazing worship could be! My eyes were opened to the depth and significance of this Lord’s Prayer. The songs spoke new meanings into my life situation. The sharing of the bread and cup held new implications both for me and those around me!

I began encountering God in worship.

Since then, I admit that I’ve gone through phases of times when every worship experience leaves me breathless, wanting more, and times when I feel like I’ve fallen into a rut of routine. But in those times, it doesn’t take long for God to meet me anew, to pull me from that rut, and rekindle my excitement for worship again.

So, friends, I ask again, are we here at this church to just go through the motions of worship, or do we really expect to encounter God here?

My hope, my prayer, is that we as individuals and as the body will come expectantly and impatiently waiting for God to meet us here in worship, to change our very lives and to leave us always wanting, always needing more.

So may we, especially in this Advent season, be ready for a new and amazing encounter with God. May we not need a donkey to point out the divine before us. May we meet God anew here in this place, and may we be ready and waiting for when that time comes. Amen.