Our themes for this Advent have been Waiting, Accepting, Journeying and Birthing. Since it’s the last week of Advent, today we will cover the theme of “birthing.” Troy felt it was right for me to preach this week. My experience of birthing was more dramatic than his. I pause here for your laughter.
I’m going to talk about birthing in the literal and metaphorical sense. Before I do that I want to acknowledge the pain that the topic of having children may cause for some. Chances are high that there are parents here who never had the child they dreamed about. That there are women here who miscarried. I want to say “I’m sorry” that this is the case. You are seen, you are loved, and God shares in your pain. As someone with family members and friends who are in your shoes, I felt the need to acknowledge this reality.
Immaculate conception aside, it truly is a miracle when any woman becomes pregnant. For a while, Matt and I didn’t think it would happen for us. The day I was supposed to start a more aggressive form of infertility medication was the day I found out I was pregnant with Phoebe. I didn’t accept my pregnancy for an entire day because I wanted to take at least half a dozen pregnancy tests just to make sure. After our first visit with our doctor, we learned about birth plans. Birth plans are meant to articulate one’s hopes for the process of labor and delivery. It gives you space to articulate your wishes to your health care team and the logistics such as who will bring you to the hospital and what will be in your hospital bag etc.
Most importantly a birth plan gives you a sense of control amid an uncontrollable situation where a myriad of things can either go right or wrong. Maybe it’s because I grew up in a medical family or that I’m a pessimist at heart, I knew to loosely hold onto my “birth plan.” My first reaction to creating a birth plan was to simply state: “I plan to have a healthy baby.” Whether or not a birth plan goes to plan or not, the biggest benefit of a birth plan is that it gives parents a sense of control. All plans, whether it’s a birth plan or something else, help us feel like we have some control in the face of the unknown.
A birth plan was not possible for Elizabeth and Zechariah, the parents of John the Baptist, the cousin of Jesus and the prophet who was to prepare the way for Jesus. For one thing, they didn’t think they could ever have kids due to their age. Their “Birth plan” came in the form of an angel who told them they were about to be parents. Zechariah has a lot of questions (who wouldn’t?!) and then loses the ability to speak until John is born. Their Birth Plan was about trusting in this new yet incredibly impossible thing God was doing in their lives even though it was scary.
More often than not when God wants to do something new in our lives it’s scary because it’s usually in opposition to what is normal and the status quo. Because of her age, Elizabeth would’ve been considered a high-risk pregnancy today. She’d have multiple appointments or perhaps would’ve been put on bed rest for weeks if not months. In general, birth is disruptive, but the birth of their son John the Baptist was especially disruptive. And even after the birth of John, the disruptions continue.
In Elizabeth and Zechariah’s day, it was custom for parents to name the firstborn son after the father. They go against protocol and give their son the name that God commanded them to give their son: “John.” This makes their community pause and ask questions: “No one in your family is named ‘John!’” “This isn’t the way we do things!” They then turn to Zechariah who still can’t speak at this point as if to ask him to speak some sense into Elizabeth. But it’s then that Zechariah can speak again. He not only affirms that their son is to be named John, but begins to praise God for God’s steadfast faithfulness and love.
At this point, we are told that Zechariah and Elizabeth’s community and neighbors were afraid. While the original Greek word that Luke uses for “afraid” can mean fear and terror, it can also mean being in a state of “wonder” and “awe.” The response of their community was more a state of awe, rather than fear of what God was doing through Elizabeth and Zechariah. The pregnancy was amazing and impossible, so what more amazing and impossible things would God continue to do through this baby as he grew up? As it turns out, a whole lot.
But before they were in awe and amazement, they pushed back. Not because they were afraid, but because Elizabeth and Zechariah were breaking protocol. When the norm is disrupted it’s disconcerting. It’s uncomfortable. Their initial response is how we all respond when God chooses to create or birth something new in our lives.
In his book, “Canoeing the Mountains,” about leadership, Tod Bolsinger writes that we should expect people to push back against anything new. New is change, unknown, and disruptive to the status quo. New is different than what we’re used to. The “new” ruins our plans and takes away our sense of control. We see this in Zechariah’s response to the angel and their neighbor’s response to the birth of John. New is scary because we don’t know what to expect. It’s no wonder as Bolsinger writes: People will always push back against change before experiencing the benefits of change. We too will push back against anything new God wants to do in our lives.
We say God is always creating something new within us and around us, this all sounds fine and dandy until it actually happens. Like the birth and newness of a child, what God wants to create anew in us is disruptive. The first question we need to ask ourselves before “accepting” the new that Jesus is doing in our lives is if we are pushing back on what God is doing within us.
We are in good company when it comes to pushing back against God. Abraham was aghast that God was calling him to travel to a far away foreign land. Moses balked at the idea of being a leader. Jonah literally tried to run away from God when God called him to minister to the Ninevites. The disciples aren’t any better. Peter told Jesus he better not get himself killed and then denied ever knowing him when Jesus was arrested. While there were consequences to their lack of trust in God, God never gave up on them. The same is true for us.
The good news is God expects us to push back. God expects us to be afraid of change at first. Because Jesus’s love is bigger than our fear he is patient with us as we push back against the new and good he wants to do in our lives. When we get over the shock of the new God is doing within us and around us it’s then we can come to a place of awe, and wonder of God’s goodness, faithfulness, and power.
And when we do, we too become vessels for God’s goodness and faithfulness in our communities just like Elizabeth and Zechariah. Even in how they, especially Zechariah, pushed back against the miraculous way God blessed them with a child they thought they never could have, the community witnessed how God continues to be faithful even when we are not.
What new things might God be doing within you? In other words what does God want to birth or create anew through you? How can we be vessels for God’s newness in the world just as Elizabeth and Zechariah were for their community?
Perhaps God is creating in you a new and urgent sense to see God at work in our daily lives. Perhaps this means more intentional time in devotionally reading scripture, time in prayer and discussions with others in how you are all seeing Jesus at work in our lives. Maybe the new thing God is doing within you is the encouragement to forgive. Forgive yourself or forgive someone else. Perhaps the new is in the form of receiving forgiveness from God or someone else. Whatever newness God is birthing in us, we know deep down it’s for the good, but because it’s new, it’s scary.
How are we pushing back (because we will push back) against whatever newness God is creating within us? How can we be honest with God about our fears regarding the new that God wants to do in our lives? God is patient and wants to help us get over those fears so that we stop pushing back against God and we start trusting God.
We will then embrace the newness God is doing in our lives – even when it’s scary. And just like Elizabeth, Zechariah, and their friends, we are brought to a place of awe and wonder before God’s power, love, and faithfulness. And others will join us.
