Luke 1:63-79 “The Gift of Joy”
In Zechariah’s song, I find a parallel to another contemporary Christmas character. Ebenezer Scrooge is the protagonist of Charles Dickens’ 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol. At the beginning of this story, Scrooge is depicted as a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas. Charles Dickens describes Scrooge as "a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner! Hard and sharp as flint... secret, and self-contained, and solitary as an oyster." He is fittingly named Scrooge as this is a byword for stinginess and misanthropy. Dickens notes early in the story that "The cold within him [Scrooge] froze his old features, nipped his pointed nose, shriveled his cheek, stiffened his gait; made his eyes red, his thin lips blue; and spoke out shrewdly in his grating voice." His heart was as cold as a winter’s night. Despite his sour personality, Scrooge is wealthy and known among the merchants of the Royal Exchange as a man of good credit. His personal success and business acumen are at least partly reliant on his refusal to pay his clerk, Bob Cratchit, a living wage, and his hounding of debtors. His detest for Christmas and others is made crystal clear as he sneers at the poor, turns his nose to charitable donations, and washes his hands of his nephew Fred’s dinner invitation. Scrooge’s “Bah! Humbug!” sums up his disdain for others and the season quite well.
The very night of these refusals, Scrooge is visited by his business partner Marley, who has been condemned to walk the world bound in chains forever as punishment for his greed and inhumanity. He tells Scrooge that he will be visited by three ghosts—The Ghost of Christmas Past, Present, and of Christmas Yet to Come—if he does not mend his ways, Scrooge will wear even heavier chains. Scrooge experiences in real time his life past, present, and future. The Ghost of Christmas Past shows Scrooge visions of his early life. These visions establish that Scrooge's unloving father placed him in a boarding school, where at Christmastime, he remained alone while his schoolmates returned home to their families. His happiest memory was when his sister Fan came to take him one Christmas. He eventually served as an apprentice under the generous Mr. Fezziwig at the warehouse. There he fell in love with a young woman named Belle and proposed marriage, but gradually his love for Belle was overwhelmed by his love for money. Belle realized this and, saddened by his greed, left him one Christmas, only to eventually marry another man. The Ghost of Christmas Present arrives next. It shows Scrooge that his greed and selfishness have hurt others in addition to himself. We meet Cratchit, his underpaid employee, who cannot afford to provide his desperately ill son Tiny Tim with medical treatment. The Spirit tells a horrified Scrooge that Tiny Tim will die within a year and reminds Scrooge of his own heartless words about the poor and destitute back in his face. Finally, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge where his greed and selfishness will lead: a lonely death, unpaid servants stealing his belongings, debtors relieved at his passing, and the Cratchit family devastated by the loss of Tiny Tim.
Who was Zechariah? In Zechariah we find a priest who was said to be righteous before God and blameless in his observance of all the Lord’s commandments and regulations. Despite his faithfulness, the Scriptures tell us that he and Elizabeth had no children and were both very old. Advent time is a time of anticipation, and yet it is also frustrating, and, even, discouraging. It may seem to us, as Zechariah, that the wait for God to shine God’s’ light upon us seems awfully long, but the Messiah is coming. While doing his priestly duties, an angel from the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. The angel said these words to Zechariah, “Don’t be afraid… Your prayers have been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth and you must name him John. He will be a joy and delight to you...” Zechariah responds, astonished, “How can I be sure of this? My wife and I are very old.” The angel replied, “I am Gabriel. I stand in God’s presence… What I have spoken will come true at the proper time. But because you didn’t believe, you will remain silent, unable to speak until the day when these things happen.” When he came out of the sanctuary, he was unable to speak to them. He was silent for the duration of Elizabeth’s pregnancy.
Scrooge begs the spirit for another chance, promising to change his ways. And then, suddenly, Scrooge wakes up in his bed on Christmas Day. And even as Zechariah’s first words begin with “Blessed be,” Scrooge commits himself to being more generous and compassionate. Zechariah have quite literally received a new lease on life! Scrooge hurriedly accepts his nephew's invitation to Christmas dinner, provides for Cratchit and his family, and donates to the charity fund. Zechariah, before friends, family, and neighbors, names his child and sings with newfound joy and gratitude. Scrooge becomes known as the embodiment of the Christmas spirit and a “second father” to Tiny Tim. Zechariah’s song becomes known as the embodiment of Advent, knowing that the light has come and awaiting the light that has yet to shine in its fullest measure.
Zechariah’s song is very much ours. We know that the light has dawned, but perhaps it doesn’t seem to have reached the deepest darkness inside and around us. We see the faint light on the horizon, but we still await the full, dazzling light of God’s incarnation in Jesus Christ. We find ourselves now in-between, standing in that moment of the already and the not-yet. For us, Zechariah and Scrooge tell similar stories: God not only sees us but looks favorably upon us. God not only loves us, but desires that we would have abundant life and unspeakable joy. God not only knows us, God not only sees our current predicaments, but God again and again chooses to be manifest in our lives. God shows up, literally visits with us, to interrupt prolonged seasons of barrenness. God wrestled with Jacob. God parted the red seas. God led Israel through the wilderness. God comes when it seems like the light shall never shine again, whether we find ourselves faithful or as Scrooge. We may, with Zechariah, doubt that such a thing is possible, but we may also praise God for the dawn. We may, with Scrooge, have turned our back on even the mention of joy, but may also awake knowing that dawn brings a new day. Our invitation this Advent season is to receive this gift of joy—to praise God for the dawn, to praise God for the shining stars, seeing in them the shimmering of signs of hope, peace, and joy in whose light we already bask, even as we wait for its full radiance. Let these words from Howard Thurman be our prayer:
“I will light candles this Christmas.
Candles of joy, despite all the sadness.
Candles of hope where despair keeps watch.
Candles of courage where fear is ever present.
Candles of peace for tempest-tossed days.
Candles of grace to ease heavy burdens.
Candles of love to inspire all of my living.
Candles that will burn all the year long.”