Thursday 5 December - They were childless

Readings:

Judges 13:2-7, 24-25a, Psalm 71, Luke 1: 5-18 and Philippians 3:1-14

In 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. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. Luke 1:5-7

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.  When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But 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 call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.  Luke 1:11-14

Reflection

There is a beautiful song called “When the dream never dies” if you have access to you-tube you may like to find it (Donna Summer sings it)  and it portrays the longing of Elizabeth. We know so little about her life before Luke 1:5, the contours of her relationship with God, how she aged into her longing and lived with the pain of constant desire. We know so little about how her sorrow shaped her. I am grateful that the first central acting human figures of Advent are courageous women who participate with God's giving to humankind. 

Advent reminds us that the work of God begins in the most mundane corners of life, where our deepest insecurities and most vulnerable desires are laid bare. God  honours the seemingly rote business of domesticity, and chooses to visit us when our guard is presumably most down, in the commonplace of our homes.  I ponder if the invitation of Advent is again that God desires to inhabit us, to make a home within our home, to have a certain space within us which God’s self can let down God’s guard and show us the vulnerability of a God who would chose to dwell in us. Could Advent be the season when we clear out space for God to move in and linger around us. Where our dreams could be met, our sorrows and longings met and joys encountered.

Prayer

Patient, life giving God, through your grace that dawned upon humankind enable me to open my life to you so that you may dwell in me.
That I may abide and remain with you forever. Amen