"The Gift of Wonder"

“Gift of Wonder”
Luke 1:5-25
Todd Buegler
Dec. 2-3, 2006
Lord of Life


Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, and from Jesus, the Son of God, who comes as gift! Amen.

A couple of weeks ago, we held our 7th and 8th grade confirmation retreats. The retreats went really well…they were great! There was all the normal stuff…music, large group sessions, small group sessions and some wicked games of “dodge ball.” One of the new things we did this year was a session called “Ask Pastor Todd anything you want.” The kids could put any questions about life and faith anonymously into a box and we took turns pulling them out and answering or discussing them. There were a few questions like “What’s for supper?” or “How long is this going to last?” and of course, my favorite, “How old are you?” To which I made the classic mistake and asked “How old do you think I am?” All I can say is, based on their answers, some of those kids aren’t getting confirmed until they’re my age.

But by far, most of the kids asked unbelievably great questions. Questions like:
• “So if God created everything, who created God?”
• “What if I’m not sure I’m good enough to go to heaven?”
• “Why do people get sick and die?”
• “How do we know that the whole Bible is true?”

We had great conversation together. In the end, my observation was that these kids are in the process of “wondering” about their faith. This is an important stage of faith development. When you begin to wonder about your faith; when you begin to ask questions and to try to understand, you move towards a deeper faith, one that experiences the “wonder”, the awe, of God. We all are constantly moving from a simple, question based faith to a “wonder” based faith.

We don’t think much about “wonder” in our culture. And when we do, we think of it as a question; as in “I wonder what’s for supper…or I wonder what movie we’ll go see tonight.” It’s a simple kind of wonder. These were many of the questions the 7th and 8th graders asked me. “Why do people get sick and die” is an important question; an “I wonder” question. But there is a second way of using the word “wonder”. As in, the deeper sense of wonder that we mature into, that borders on awe. At this stage, we ask things like “How can God’s love really be for me?” It is not just a simple question, it is a deep wonder. It is positive. It looks forward to what God is doing.

I made sure the 7th and 8th graders understood that it is good to ask questions. It is good to wonder, both in terms of asking simple questions, and of being in awe at things we can’t fully understand. Most of us have times in our lives when we ask hard questions of God. This is an important step for us as we grow in faith. Our Gospel lesson for today is all about the difference between the kind of wonder which focuses on questions, and the kind that focuses on awe. And the author, Luke, is telling us which of the two God would like us to experience.

Our story serves as a kind of a “prequel” for the Jesus story, focusing on two fairly obscure characters from the Bible, Zecheriah and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist.

Luke sets the story up in an interesting way. First, he tells the story of the Angel Gabriel visiting Zecheriah, and telling him about the upcoming birth of their Son, John. Then immediately after this story is told, he launches into telling the story of the Angel Gabriel visiting Mary and telling her of the coming birth of her son, who is also John’s cousin, Jesus. Then he tells of John’s birth, followed by the telling of Jesus’ birth. There is clearly a pattern here: Announcement of John, Announcement of Jesus, birth of John, birth of Jesus, with a link between the two pairs as Elizabeth and Mary, pregnant with these two unexpected children, finally meet each other.

With this pattern, Luke wants to compare and contrast Jesus and John, and to compare and contrast Zechariah and Mary.

There are similarities in the stories that are obvious:
• Both children are announced in advance by the angel Gabriel;
• Both births are unnatural or miraculous.
• In both cases the angel Gabriel tells what the name of the child should be.

But today, I want us to pay attention to the contrasts.
• John was born to an aged couple…I’m not talking about Todd on a confirmation retreat old, I mean really old. And they were never able to have children.
• Jesus was born to a young woman who was a virgin.
• John was given a name which means “God is gracious.” Jesus was given a name which means “savior.” John describes grace; Jesus is grace.
• John was to prepare for the Lord, Jesus was the Lord who would reign forever.

How did Zechariah respond when told what was happening? You have to know a little bit about Zechariah: He was a priest and he had just been given the honor of entering into the temple, an honor for which he would only be selected once during his lifetime. And now, inside that temple, face to face with Gabriel, he is given a gift. He is told that at his age, he is to become a father. He can’t bring himself to believe. Zechariah had been a priest for a very long time. He was a good man, and had followed the rituals, traditions and laws faithfully. But when confronted with God’s working in his life in an unexpected way, old Zechariah just couldn’t think himself outside of the box. He said he couldn’t believe. He couldn’t move beyond the wonder that asks questions, into the wonder that is in awe at what God would do. Zechariah was stuck…stuck in an immature faith where if he couldn’t get the answers he wanted, he wouldn’t believe.

How did Mary’s faith express itself? When the angel was finished predicting the miraculous birth of Jesus, Mary said in verse 34, “How can this be, since I have no husband?” Note the contrast: Zechariah said “This can’t be.” Mary says “How can this be?” Zechariah asks for more evidence, while Mary asks for an explanation. Zechariah says he can’t be sure…he doubts; Mary says she can’t understand. This is an important distinction. Zechariah doesn’t believe. As an old man, he is stuck in an immature faith. Ironically, it is the young Mary, who demonstrates mature faith. She may not understand, but she believes. Gabriel’s response to Mary? “Nothing is impossible for God.” That’s it. No deeper explanation than that. That’s the way it is for many of us. Often we don’t find the answers we seek. But we believe.

And Gabriel’s response to Zechariah? Gabriel, who apparently takes his cues from the “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all” school of thought, tells Zecheriah: “…you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words...” Zecheriah was silenced, muted, until the birth of his Son, 9 months later. Apparently, Gabriel did not appreciate his disbelief.

Contrast this with Mary. After she is pregnant, Mary sings the Magnificat…the song of Praise to God.

This points out another thing that I think Luke wants us to see: There is a right way and a wrong way to respond to God’s promises.

Luke clearly wants us to follow Mary’s example, not Zechariah’s.

I think this story teaches us that it is possible to demand too much evidence before you believe God’s promises. When we do this, we risk slipping into disbelief.

God wants us to believe, and to wonder with awe. Mike Yaconelli has a great image of wonder. In one of his books, he writes of his two year old nephew, who lived in a snowless part of the country. When the nephew came north to visit Mike and his family, they choreographed the moment perfectly.

Mike writes that “…they opened the screen door and set him on the deck. His eyes stretched wide with astonishment, as though the only way to understand what he was seeing was for his eyes to become big enough to contain it all. He stood motionless, paralyzed. It was almost too much for a two year old. He twitched and jerked each time a snowflake landed on his face…His mind was a confusion of strange conflicting realities: …causing an overload so great, so overwhelming, he fell backward…a slow-motion landing in the billowy whiteness, the snow tenderly embracing him. He had given up trying to understand snow and had given in to experiencing snow. It was a moment of pure wonder.”

This was the wonder of Mary, when Gabriel explained to her what she was going to experience. Her words? “How can this be?” And she gave herself to the experience. It was a moment of pure wonder.

God calls us to a faith like Mary. God calls us to wonder. Zecheriah had the right resume…he was a faithful priest, a religious leader…but when confronted with the grace of God, he buckled under the weight of doubt. He couldn’t believe God.

Mary had no resume. She was an unmarried pregnant teenage girl in a culture where she had everything to lose. And she was carried away by the grace and the wonder of a God who loved her.

My friends, I believe that God speaks to us in the same way. Jesus’ birth has been announced, and like Mary, we await the day. God offers you a gift. He says “my grace, my love, my forgiveness…it is for you, in my Son.” Sometimes our natural reaction is to look at such a gift with doubt; to say “How can I know this?” Don’t. Look at it with wonder. Say “how can this be?” Accept that we won’t understand it. Whether you are a 7th grader, are as old as me, or are approaching the age of Zecheriah, accept that nothing is impossible for God…and let the grace of God create in you moments…no…full lives…of pure wonder.

Amen.