Anticipation - Advent 2--Year C--December 6, 2009 - Scott Turner, Senior Warden

In the name of the Living God, Amen.

So I was listening to an interview show on XM a few weeks ago and lo and behold the interviewer was talking to Carly Simon. Now my first thought was “is she still around”? She can’t be that old but I just haven’t heard anything out of her or about her in a really long time. Turns out she just put out a new album and she was on this talk show promoting it. Then on Thanksgiving Day last week, there she was again, standing on a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade singing a song from this new album. Suddenly, it seems, Carly Simon is everywhere, at least from my perspective.

So my mind started wandering… Carly Simon… she was married to James Taylor… he wrote that song “Carolina in my Mind”… that’s the UNC-TV theme song… I really like that song… Carly wrote that song “You’re So Vain”… did we ever find out who that song was written about?... I don’t think we ever did…  she also wrote that song “Anticipation”… remember that one? They used it in some Heinz Ketchup TV commercials back in the 70’s and 80’s.

I actually found one of the ads on YouTube. That made me smile and peaked my interest. So I Googled it, the song Anticipation. According to reliable sources, and of course we know that everything that comes up on a google search is incredibly reliable… according to sources… Carly wrote the song “Anticipation” while waiting to go on a date with Cat Stevens… Who knew?

So then I started thinking, Anticipation, that’s pretty much the name of the game in Advent isn’t it? And as the refrain in Carly’s song says Anticipation, Anticipation is making me late, keeping me waiting. That pretty much sums up the season we’re in right now doesn’t it?

So to dig a little further I went to the oracle of all knowledge, Wikipedia… to get to the heart of what anticipation really means. What I found was what I actually thought was a pretty good definition of anticipation:

Here it is: “Anticipation is an emotion involving pleasure and sometimes anxiety in considering some expected or longed for good event, an emotion involving pleasure and sometimes anxiety in considering some expected or longed for good event OR irritation at having to wait. Anticipation can be shown in many ways: some people smile uncontrollably while others seem ill or sick.”

So anticipation has gradation over time and is a much more complicated emotion that I had ever imagined. Carly must have been on to something. I’m a visual person so I tried to picture this complicated emotion Anticipation on some sort of time continuum. Picture if you will a color bar, a green yellow red continuum. At any given moment your feelings of anticipation would be somewhere along that continuum. If you are experiencing pleasure in considering some expected or longed for good event then you would be in the green zone. However, if over time you are experiencing anxiety and irritation at having to wait then you would be in the yellow zone. And finally, if over an even longer period of time the wait is way too long and you are experiencing pessimism, cynicism and even unbelief then you would be in the red zone.

I wonder if Carly was in the green zone the night she wrote the song? I’m guessing that just like the You’re so Vain question, I’ll never know the answer to that one.

And on a personal note, anticipation is playing a large role in the life of my family right now as we await the arrival of twins to be born to my younger sister and her husband. If the babies don’t decide to come sooner on their own, they will be induced into this world this coming Thursday. We’re all pretty much in the green zone anticipating this event though I’m sure my sister finds herself in the yellow zone quite often.

Last Sunday, Advent 1, even though a good number of us were not here including me, we began Year C in the lectionary cycle. Year C is Luke’s year which allows us to hear his perspective on the gospel on most Sunday’s. Every year in Advent we hear of John the Baptist because all of the Gospels mention him. But Year C is the only year we hear about his parents because Zechariah and Elizabeth’s story is unique to Luke. And it is Zechariah’s story I want to focus on today. We don’t actually get to hear Zechariah’s story in the readings today, just his words. Today’s gospel is from Luke chapter 3 but Zechariah’s story is found earlier, in Luke Chapter 1. We did however hear Zechariah’s words in the Canticle we sang between the Old and New Testament readings. But what is the context of these words of Zechariah’s? What was the impetus for this grand thing we call the Benedictus? That is the story of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist.

In our Old Testament reading today we heard from Malachi. Malachi was the last in a series of prophets starting with Jeremiah who over a period of 200 years gave God’s people hope and promise of redemption. As we heard today, Malachi says “See I am sending a messenger to prepare the way”. Anticipation of the people of God would have been in abundance and definitely in the green zone! Then what happened? There was silence. For 400 years. The 400 years between Malachi and the time of Christ. So for 400 years God’s people carried on the traditions in the temple praying, sacrificing and burning the incense as God had instructed them. But no messenger. No apparent words from God at all. So it is here where Luke starts his story of Zechariah.

You see, Zechariah was in the Temple with his family of Levites who were doing their rotational duty overseeing the offerings, sacrifices and prayers. We find Zechariah doing his duty but not just his usual duty this time. He was chosen by lot one day to burn the incense before the Lord in the Holy of Holies. This was an honor most could only hope to do once in a lifetime. This time the lot was cast in his favor and he was the chosen one to offer the prayers and incense.

As this story begins Zechariah is already old. He and Elizabeth his wife are well beyond child bearing years and yet without child. And they are also described as blameless and righteous before God. They had been looking for the deliverance of their people for a long time, and they had been hoping and praying for a child, to no avail. So here he was, the chosen one of God, at least for today, and yet God had not answered his prayers for a child. On our Anticipation scale I would guess that he was far over in the red zone.

So he prayed for the nation and his people and mixed in a few prayers of his own for a child, but surely they must have been prayers of exasperation, of a hope he knew surely would not be realized.

So Zechariah is doing his duty in the Holy of Holies when suddenly the Angel Gabriel appears to him and tells him that his prayers have been answered and his wife will bear a son who will turn his people to the Lord. Zechariah remember, is way over in the red zone so what does he do even when one of God’s archangels is standing in front of him? He says “How do I know you are telling me the truth”? That’s like having Eric Chilton appear at your door to warn you of an impending storm and you ask him “How do I know you are telling me the truth?” Zechariah was old and tired but he did his duty in the temple and he even prayed for what he thought was the impossible. And then when it was granted to him, he didn’t believe it, even with the Angel Gabriel standing right in front of him.

Now Zechariah was praying for a child so he and Elizabeth would not be hopeless and alone. Their concerns were for their future and standing in the community. Children allowed families to be successful and provided for them in their later years. Notice God answers their prayer but not for those reasons. God’s reasons were beyond Zechariah and Elizabeth’s comprehension. He has the big picture in mind. John would be the messenger to prepare the way of God’s Son. If Zechariah and Elizabeth wanted a son who was going to stay home and take over the family business, they would be sorely disappointed. As we all know, by age 30, John was in the wilderness wearing questionable clothing and eating even more questionable food.

So what does God do to get Zechariah out of his red zone? He renders him mute until his baby is born. Total silence. Think about that. Nine months without being able to say a word. Can you imagine not being able to speak for nine months? Some of you are imagining it right now… for your spouse or your children. And of course you young people are thinking… no worries we’ll just spend all day texting.

But of course, God knows what he is doing. If you have ever been on a silent retreat you know how powerful and centering that experience can be. Zechariah was forced to go on a nine month silent retreat and how do you think it affected him? Just reread the words of Zechariah found in the Canticle we sang today and you’ll know. The first words out of his mouth praise God and sum up all he has learned over the years about God’s promises to his people. And then he speaks to his son, the son he thought he would never have, and tells him all that is in store for him. You see that nine months of silence brought Zechariah’s anticipation back into the green zone, back to the smiling expectation of a longed for good event.

So what do you do if you find yourself in or approaching the yellow or red zone of anticipation? Be still and reconnect with God. Find some quiet time in a quiet place and just ask God to be with you in your busy-ness. And while you’re at it, spend some time with Luke. Luke has 24 chapters and there are around 24 weeks between now and Pentecost. I challenge you to read a chapter a week. If you’ve wanted to get into a regular scripture reading discipline but just didn’t know where to start, try this out. Your spiritual life will be richer for it and your anticipation just might stay in the green zone more often. And finally, when you come up every Sunday for communion, come to the altar as if the Angel Gabriel was going to be there to announce God’s promise to you. And if you see him, just stay quiet and nod your head.

So as we wait for our own longed for future good events; the coming of the Christ Child, the coming of a new rector and the coming of new life in our own families, concentrate on God and concentrate on the uncontrollable smiles. Believe me they will be contagious. Let us pray.

God of timeless grace, fill us with joyful anticipation and genuine quietness. Make us ready for the message that prepares the way, that with uprightness of heart and holy joy we may eagerly await the kingdom of your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.