Whatsoever |
Whatsoever |
Here is Zechariah, a father, looking up to God, understanding who God is, and then looking to his son and understanding who he will be. In the first half of the song he celebrates the great history of God’s dealings with his people: salvation, mercy, covenants, rescue from enemies, serving without fear. It begins with an assertion of salvation, and at this moment Zechariah can’t have known the details of what this would have looked like. He had faith that this is what God said he would do and he realised that now was the time. He is speaking in the power of the Holy Spirit, shouting a song of faith and praise, loud and clear after his months of silence. This reads like one of the psalms. Did someone write down what he said? Were the words repeated often so that they became the anthem of that household, that community? Did the priests hear this and use it as part of the temple worship: a new great form of prayer and praise to be lifted up with outstretched hands?
Then there is a pivot : the focus changes, to his child. John was the first ‘person of the Way’ (the early Christians were called People of the Way): he was given the task of preparing the way of the Lord - so that Jesus could come and live in power and so that we could follow on the path of peace. The markers on the way are paced out in these verses: know salvation, forgiven sin, mercy of God shining light to banish darkness, finding the path of peace. This boy’s life was not going to be easy, and would end early and violently. He needed the same silence and seclusion that his Father had experienced to understand his calling. A prayer Lord, thank you for this glorious hymn of praise to the great sweep of your purpose. I can hear this peeling through the years and in small, sometimes quiet ways, can add my voice. Teach me to praise you more extravagantly. As I live my life on the ‘Way’, thank you for the paths that John forged : his singleminded determination to clear a way through the tangled and impenetrable complexities that we have made of this world. In all the confusion and mess, the ruins and rubble there is a way to be found. John knew this and started clearing the path so that Jesus could himself become the Way, the Truth and the Life.
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WhatsoeverThe posts are 'postcards' on my journey through faith and art. The name 'Whatsoever' comes from Philippians 4:8 in the Bible : Categories
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