Lk. 1:68 Zechariah Advent 1 Workshop Wabash Valley

 

Advent is a time of waiting in the dark, where the light of love is obscured by violence, in its variety of terrible shapes and guises. All of us continue to live under the shadow of death, in mortality and as a nation. The president with his Nobel Peace Prize announced another troop increase in Afghanistan, with a date to start to remove them. I sincerely pray that this will be a path toward peace, but I fear that we are throwing more blood and treasure down the drain. Zechariah's prayer spoken under Roman occupation,  is certainly appropriate to our day and time. I have long loved the words, tender mercies (78 compassion)s. In a tough world, we certainly need the tender mercies of heaven, to ease our way through.

 

In a dark time, Zechariah's prayer sees the private matter of a surprise birth as a harbinger of a change for the people of Israel, a multi-layered salvation. His prayer is one from the side of the underdog, more sinned against than sinning. The prayer get more and more specific as it moves toward his new son. Zechariah strikes me a a thoughtful person. of course, he's had time to think, as he has been struck mute during the pregnancy of Elizabeth. He sees deeper meaning behind the birth of John.The birth of John is a signal flare that a new day is coming. The hymn, O Come Emmanuel, speaks of a dayspring, instead of the more pedestrian dawn. It's the dawn of a better days, that sees signs of tender mercies, of forgiveness, of light in the darkness of trouble.

Answers Is. 59

Horn symbol of power-I sam 2:10, Ps18, 

Righteous as a virtue

Dawning alos related to the branch (Jer. 23, Zech 3:8) darkness if lxx Ps. 106 (107 :10)

As in the Magnificat, Zechariah lifts the miracle child into the story of the nation.

One could consider comparing the two great prayers.

He speaks inspired words (see Ezek. 37)He sees the promises of old coming true somehow.

God has not forgotten about them (72) (Why covenant with Abraham and not Sinai or even the new covenant of Jeremeiah? See Is. 42 and 59 and many psalms for allusions.

Salvation has what meaning here do you think?

Redeemer sense of freeing someone through payment of a ransom

Rescue permits free service

How does forgiveness give knowledge of salvation at this point?

Light shining in the darkness of the shadow of death-(Ps. 106) we have lived in the shadow of violence, criminal and governmental for too long-Zechariah ike the elderly in Joel can peer into a new future, and he knows it will not be a mere repetition of what a has come before-

Tender mercies-deep compassion from the gut/heart of God mercy/pityas it what we would call heart feelings, affectionate feelings, warm feelings, in a number of KJV psalms 25, 40 In Robert Duval movie Tender Mercies in his new wife’s prayers

Given that we have a lot of gray hair in our churches, this could be an ideal time to look at Advent reading here as a time of new life and hope for Elizabeth and Zechariah.