December 16, 2018 Advent 3 Luke 1:57-80

            “Does my life have a purpose?” I think is one of the fundamental questions of being a human.  It’s a good question because we want our lives to have meaning.  We want all the struggles and the toil and the obstacles overcome to be worth it.  Otherwise, what is the point?  If we are just accidents in a pointless cosmos then why exhibit any virtues at all? 

Some branches of sociology suggest that religion is an invention of humanity in order to give meaning to life in the midst of meaninglessness.  Some scientists, perhaps Carl Sagan most visible among them, suggest that we really need to divorce ourselves from the idea of God and realize the cold hard reality that there really is no point to existence.  We are just accidents of mathematical probability.

What a cold and depressing way to exist!

But let’s not swing to the other extreme either.  Some people seem to think that everything that happens to them is a sign from God and that every hardship and every success is sent by God for fulfilling their divine purpose.  That’s a pretty narcissistic way to think.  It also makes God into a cruel little man behind a curtain pulling levers micromanaging our lives.  Or perhaps it makes God into a heavenly bungler.  I remember a Far Side cartoon where God is depicted as a little boy who has just received a “Grow Your Own Humans” kit and he can’t wait to get started.

The gospel reading we had for today gives us a good idea of how to understand our purpose.  We encounter Zechariah again.  We met him two weeks ago.  If you were here you’ll remember that he was met by the angel Gabriel who promised that he and his wife would have a son despite their old age.  They were to name their son John.  Zechariah was both terrified by the angel and skeptical.  He probably did the stupidest thing in his life and asked the angel for proof.  His proof was that he would be unable to speak until it came to pass.  And in those days people associated being unable to speak with also being deaf.  Though the text does not say it, the original readers probably assumed he couldn’t hear either.  And that is borne out by the text because it says they had to use hand gestures and writing to communicate with him.

Some length of time has passed since then; nine plus months to be sure.   The child has been born.  He’s eight days old so it’s time to circumcise him, as was the expectation of good Jewish families, and name him.  The expected name would be Zechariah after his father.  But, obeying the instructions of the angel he is named John.  Immediately Zechariah can hear and speak again.

            Let’s not miss that the original readers would have thought two miracles had occurred here.  The obvious one that Zechariah could speak again.  But also the less obvious one that Elizabeth says the boy should be called John.  Zechariah can’t hear this so they motion for him to give a name and he also writes John.  Now they could have somehow agreed beforehand what to name, although Elizabeth was probably illiterate, so the fact they independently come up with the same name would have been seen as a sign of divine intervention.

            Zechariah’s first words are this well-known poem, often called the Benedictus.  It is a grand vision that God is up to something new and great.  The first part of it, vs. 68-75, say what God will do:  God will visit his people, God will redeem them (redeem being the legal term for paying the price for someone).  God will send a savior who will save them from their enemies and those who hate them.  And God will be faithful to the promises made long before.  There are two major promises or covenants God makes with the people in the Old Testament.  One is the Moses covenant.  In that covenant God says that if you obey me I will be good to you and you will stay my people.  The other covenant is the Abraham covenant.  There God says I will be your God and you will give birth to my people… period.  There is no condition.

            Which of the two covenants is mentioned here?  It’s not the Moses one with conditions.  It is the unconditional Abraham covenant.  Therefore God will act and will accomplish his purposes regardless of human acceptance or not.  In other words, there are no “ifs” here.  God will act.

            The second part say how God will act.  And here is where we understand our purpose and how God interacts with us.  God does not say he’s going to do it all on his own; this fulfillment of a guaranteed covenant.  God has chosen John, and his father Zechariah, and his mother Elizabeth, and Jesus’ mother Mary, and everyone else we meet as the cast of characters in the gospel expands.  All are part of God’s plans.  Notice I did not say that God has a plan for each and every one of them.  No, God has one plan, the Abrahamic covenant, and each and every person is invited to participate in it.

            Zechariah says these words over his son John, “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins.”

            This is both a very specific purpose, but also a very broad one, for it is our purpose too – to proclaim that God’s salvation by giving knowledge of forgiveness.

            If you’ve looked through the bulletin you may have been puzzled by the two photos.  One shows the famous Budweiser Clydesdales pulling the 12 Horse Ale wagon.  The other is a team of 32 horses pulling a combine harvester in a wheat field in the early 1900’s.

            Some people would like their purpose in life to be like the Budweiser Clydesdales: handsome powerful horses who are individually well groomed pulling a fancy shiny wagon.  I suppose many people would also like the idea of God as the wagon driver whose sole purpose is to deliver beer.

            But I think God’s purpose is much more like the harvesting photo.  You see 32 horses of different colors and sizes.  They aren’t all looking the same direction.  They do not have coordinated steps or anything.  It looks more like a hoard than anything else.  But they are all strong and capable.  That combine does not have an engine on it.  Those horses are not only pulling the heavy thing up and down hills, they are providing the power for the machine to thresh the grain.

            Jesus uses a lot of harvest imagery in his teaching.  And while combines certainly did not exist in his day, I think the image works.  God’s goal is the harvest.  It is sure and certain.  God wants you as a part of the team.  That is the purpose of life.

            You may not get your own individual grooming, and a fancy stall, and perfect food, and get to pull a famous wagon in parades to cheering crowds.  The work will be dusty and dirty.  You’ll be in the hot sun.  You’ll pull hard and have aches and pains, and probably marks from where the harness dug into you.  Sometimes food and care will be good and sometimes not.  But at the end the harvest will be complete.  The task accomplished.

            Are you important to God as an individual?  Yes, of course!  But our purpose, our meaning, our value comes in being part of a hard working team.  God’s first purpose is not to micromanage every aspect of everyone’s life.  God’s purpose is to get the job done.  God’s already given you the capability to do it.

            Don’t embark on a quest for a unique purpose for your life.  That’s a waste of time.  Embrace the purpose that God is already doing.  Zechariah’s words continue with what God is doing, which means we are to do as well:
            “… the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”