Sing Out Loud, Sing Out Strong

Luke 1:67–79 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. 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 ancestors 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.” CONSIDER THIS I have always loved singing. In fact, I’m pretty sure I can recall the first song I remember singing to family and friends, thanks to my avid watching of the children’s television show Sesame Street. The song was simply called “Sing.” The Carpenters would record it in 1973, and it would go on to be a hit on the Billboard charts. I loved this happy song. Song and singing runs throughout my family tree. Perhaps that’s why one of my favorite scenes from a holiday film centers around the beauty and importance of song found in the holiday classic Elf. No one really grabs ahold of childlike Christmastime wonder quite like Buddy the Elf. If you’ve seen the movie, no doubt you recall the scene. On this particular day, Buddy wanders into the toy department at Gimbel's store. He’s talking to his friend and coworker Jovie, who’s not in the best of moods, and Buddy makes a simple observation: “Sounds like someone needs to sing a Christmas carol.” To say that Jovie’s not receptive to the idea is an understatement as, according to her, she doesn’t sing. However, Buddy is relentless and won’t give up. And that’s when Jovie confesses, “I can sing, I just choose not to sing. Especially in front of other people.” Buddy can’t accept her lack of holiday cheer and shows her how it’s done. Before Zechariah’s encounter with the angel Gabriel, I’m not sure if Zechariah was pro singing in public or anti singing in public. However, after his voice returned, we learn something about him that we all could take a few pointers from: on the other side of the wonder in the waiting, there was a song of wonder just waiting to be heard. Did you know that there are four Advent songs attributed to Luke’s Christmas story? • Mary’s song (1:46–55) • The angels’ song (2:13–14) • Simeon’s song (2:28–32) • Zechariah’s song (1:67–79) Think about this song of Zechariah. Four hundred years of silence stood between a word of hope that the last prophet in the Old Testament, Malachi, received and this word of salvation and the coming Messiah spoken by Gabriel in Luke 1. Add to those four hundred years an additional nine months from Gabriel’s revelation to Zechariah and his doubt until little John came into the world. Once his voice returned, Zechariah was ready to sing of all the Lord had done and of his wonders and grace. It didn’t matter if his singing voice was pleasant or not; Zechariah didn’t care. He just needed to sing! He sang with a heart looking back on the story of God’s people, the story of the redemption and salvation found in God’s promises which are everlasting. He sang of the promise of deliverance from our enemies, the mercy and grace extended to our ancestors, and the freedom to worship him without fear, in holiness and righteousness, as long as we live. So what about you? Is there a song in your heart that needs to be sung today? Go ahead. Take a few pointers from Zechariah. Look back and remember where God has met you in your story. Then look forward! Remember God’s promises and trust in his provision. Then sing! THE PRAYER  God of wonder, our prayer is the words found in Lamentations 3:22–23: “Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” We rejoice in your great love. May that be the song we sing today with our very lives. Amen. THE QUESTIONS How do you feel about singing? Is there a song in your heart today that you could sing? What would that look like for you? What would that song be?