Zechariah's Song

Exodus is simply a beautiful book...which brings me to Zechariah. Wait, let me explain. No, it is to long, let me sum up. As we've (Exodus Community) studied through the book of Exodus, we've been examining four main themes. I've talked about them before and they are huge.

Deliverance, the way that God works in responses to our cries for help to bring us out of oppressive situations. Covenant community, the way that God invites us into Him, into a community of humans, living and breathing, praising and sinning, holy and imperfect, that is centered around the perfect trinitarian community. Knowledge, the way of hearing and seeing and finally knowing that the LORD is the one God and the action, or experience, that appropriately accompanies that head knowledge. And finally, land, which is a difficult word for the last concept, but what it basically entails is the way that we bring the kingdom of heaven here and now, the way we display God's love and power to those we meet now.

We've tossed around big words for these four points, wrestling with what they are, what they mean, where else we see them, why they are important. But we know that they are. We've called them God's plan for all of eternity, salvation, the D.C.K.L., the life of salvation, eternal life, and on and on. We've been trying to find some bearing for them.

Let alone trying to live them, which is the ultimate purpose of all Scripture and is importantly placed within those four points (which we've settled on calling the D.C.K.L. for now). How do you deliver someone? Do they have to want you to? How do you find out that they want you to? What is the best way to invite people into the community? How do we get our community more into God? What do we need to hear? Where do we act that out? What is our specific call in bringing heaven on earth to the community? Who should we be bringing it to?

With questions rising, I came across a Scripture I always overlook a few weeks ago. It's not fully contained within the story of Jesus. It seems like preamble (in some ways it is). It's not bold and awe-striking. It very easily skipped. It's Luke 1:67-79. Zechariah's Song. I'll post the entirity below.

"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come and has redeemed his people.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us—
to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace."

Just some things to pull out of here. Some breath-taking connections to me. There is a remembrance within this song of God's deliverance (salvation from our enemies, rescue us from the hand of our enemies). There is a remembrance of the covenant, the community formed around the oath to Father Abraham. There is a knowledge, a knowledge of hearing (the tender mercy of God) and action (the forgiveness of their sins). Finally, there is also bringing heaven to earth in our actions (serve him without fear).

But who is this song about? Well, it's twofold right? It's a praise song to the Lord, for his mighty hand had just worked in Zechariah's life to bring him a son, John the Baptist. But it's also a song the son will here, because the ending is addressed to him (And you, my child...).

So what is John the Baptist to do? He's to be a prophet, a priest, but most of all...he's to prepare THE WAY of the LORD. He's to turn people's heart to remember the way of the Lord and repent. He is a worker, cultivating the LORD's way. To "guide our feet in the path of peace." John was the beginning of this way. He prepared it.

And what does Zechariah exort him to remember in preparing this Godly path? Deliverance, covenant community, knowledge, and bringing heaven. The same that God exorted Moses to remember, directly before saving his people from the oppression of Egypt. Strange that they are being brought up again here, directly before Jesus saves humanity from its sins? No.

I have a growing conviction that these four things, the D.C.K.L., they are the way. The way we are to live, the way we are to react, the things we are to speak, the truth that forms our lives. They are the way. In living this, we prepare the way of the LORD. And then God brings the salvation.

Maybe the understanding of salvation is beyond us, for it is only something that God brings through Jesus. But we are part of the preparation. By remembrance, by living, by acting out deliverance, covenant, knowledge and land we turn hearts from hard to soft and prepare them for the salvation of our LORD.

There's the thoughts you've been stirring up in me for awhile Lord. It's Your turn to take them, roll Your tongue around the edges, and respond in wisdom and truth to me. All I've given You is honesty. I love You and praise You for the connections Your bring. All praise to the God of all, the One. You certainly deserve to be remembered in song.