November 29, 2009 “An Orderly Account” – Luke 1:1-25

So many others have tried to tell you this story.  I decided to write it out for you.

• It all began with a man, Zachariah, whose wife, Elizabeth, had no children, a humiliating, life altering situation for both of them.  But in spite of the social and emotional stigma, they lived their lives honorably and faithfully before God.

It’s not so easy to live honorably when things are falling apart.  When we experience difficult things in life we often blame God.  But we’re not equal opportunity blamers – we blame God when things go wrong, but we give ourselves the credit when things go right.  It’s God’s fault when someone gets sick, but it’s our healthy choices that keep us well.  It’s God’s fault when someone gets sick, but it’s our miracle drugs that heal them.  It’s God’s fault when someone dies in a car accident, but it’s not the drivers fault for talking on their cell phone, or texting, or even being inexperienced.  We blame God for what goes wrong, and we’re not willing to give God the credit for helping us through difficult life events.

It couldn’t have been easy for Elizabeth to go to the well to draw water every day, knowing that the other women talked behind her back – “Oh, poor Elizabeth, I wonder what she did to make God so angry he closed her womb.”  Today we call it blame the victim syndrome – it’s her fault she got cancer, just look at the way she smokes; or it’s no wonder he’s got diabetes, overweight, no exercise and look at what he eats. And all the while people are talking behind our backs we’re thinking – I’m doing the best I can, but there’s something that just won’t let me get free from … whatever this is – And we all have a this.

We know how Elizabeth felt, because we have all had people critiquing us behind our backs.  Elizabeth’s deepest wound in her soul was not having a child.

What it the deepest wound in your life?

• Having parents who are distant or non-existent in your life?
• Having children who are making terrible choices that will affect the rest of their lives?
• The untimely death of someone you loved, with the question WHY always pushing your heart deeper and deeper into grief.
• We each have our own wounds.
• So did Elizabeth and Zachariah.

But in the middle of their pain God broke in – in a spectacular way and Luke wants you to know he’s checked this cockamamie story out – up-side, down-side, in-side, out-side.

It’s true.  Everyone he’s talked to has the same story.  Zachariah came face to face with an Angel in the Temple.  The angel told him he and his wife were going to have a son.

And they did!

Well, look around you – Anyone here want to admit to being 80 years old and pregnant?  Imagine if I were to become pregnant.  The news would circulate faster than the grape-vine knowing that I didn’t feel well on Wednesday.  Think about how strange it would be to see an old woman, pregnant.  Outrageous!  Impossible!  Miraculous!

In the middle of a quiet, routine, righteous life God breaks in –

And ALL HEAVEN BREAKS OUT!

When has God broken into your quiet, routine life?

God breaks into our lives all the time, but we rarely see it.

• Ever been sick and recovered?
• Ever been mad at a family member and reconciled?
• Ever wanted to pass a test you didn’t study for – and then passed it?
• Have you ever prayed and your prayers were answered the way you hoped?

Those are experiences of God breaking into your life.

We accept what happens in the daily mundane events of our lives as being normal, somehow disconnected from God.  We don’t think that God is in the lifted hands of a 3 year old who wants to be carried; we don’t think that God is in the person who holds the door open for us; we don’t even consider that God is in our spouse, because we know them too well – we know their humanity, their faults, their failings, we know the things that irritate us

But that is exactly where God is – God is in our lives; God is in the people of our lives.

The sad fact remains: unless we are thoroughly shaken we ignore God –

Until, of course, we need God for some really important life or death issue.

If God were to come to us right now at this moment would you recognize God?  What would God have to look like?  What would God have to say?  What would have to happen to overcome your cynical attitudes that keep God from really being a part of your life?

My guess is that unless God came in a form we approved of; unless God said what we wanted to hear; and unless God appeared in some razzmatazz we’d go right on with life, never noticing God was right in front of our eyes.

Well, you say, Zachariah saw an angel!  But what is an angel?  Simply a messenger of God.

We have messengers of God in our lives.  We have people who warn us of danger.  We have people that teach us how God wants us to live.  We have people who speak God’s word even when it isn’t easy.

Look around for God’s angels.  They’re here, we just don’t see them because we aren’t looking beyond what we think they should look like.  We expect to see winged, white robed, glowing men – not an old woman preacher; not a crabby English teacher; not a neighbor whose dog barked all night; and not the person in the car who just aced you out.

If you’re waiting for Gabriel to appear white robed and glowing you’re likely to be disappointed, but if you’re looking for God’s messenger to extend a helping hand, or a healing word, or even a hug then God’s right here, right in front of you.  You don’t have to look very far to see an angel.

You may even be one, from time to time.

What makes Elizabeth so captivating is her ability to look beyond what’s in front of her eyes and see into the reality of God’s activity that most of us miss.  Then Zachariah and Elizabeth did something we often don’t do, they responded to God.  They didn’t sit back and wonder they actively participated in God’s plan.

Think about that for a moment this wasn’t the Immaculate Conception.  Zachariah and Elizabeth were probably at least 80 years old.  They had to act in order for God’s plan to be carried out.  They had to get up and do something.

The entire New Testament is full of action – Mary got up and went; Joseph dreamed and followed; Jesus and John grew and preached; Herod killed; the wise men searched; the shepherds came; the angels sang.  They all got up and did something.

If you’re looking for God get up, look around and do something for someone else because God’s already here.

Elizabeth’s final words are: “So, this is how God acts to remedy my unfortunate condition!”

So this is how God acts: shocking, un-ordered, breaking social norms and using everyone

Luke wanted to write an orderly account of God’s salvation history, but God’s history is anything but ordered.

Unlike we good Presbyterians, God is willing to:

• Turn things upside down.
• To take our weakness and make strength.
• To take our situation and make it work.
• To forgive us time after time.

An orderly account?  Luke may have organized the story, and he may have done his homework and got the facts right, but the story is quite un-orderly.

[1] http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/Message-MSG-Bible/#vinfo

[1] http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%201&version=MSG