The Second Day of Christmas

Luke 1:5-25
5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. 8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, 9 According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. 11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 
12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. 15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. 16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. 
18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. 19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. 20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.
21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple. 22 And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless. 23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. 
24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, 25 Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.

This birth of John brings mirth to his parents and community. “Thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.”  Children are naturally a source of joy for father and mother and the people around them. This is normal and good.


But have you heard of D.I.N.K.’s? Dual-Income-No-Kids? DINKs are people who have a “partner”, someone they are living with in an intimate relationship, sometimes married, but sometimes not. And they are particularly proud of the fact that they have no children. Having no kids enables them to live a life of “freedom”, financial and otherwise. 


Their lives, however, are deprived of a source of delight that no amount of money or freedom can make up for. By depriving themselves of children, they deprive themselves of great joy. And for what? Money? Vacations? That is too high a cost. DINKs, or at least intentional DINKs, are dumb.


(Certainly, there are those among us who are in the same place as Zecharias and Elisabeth in Luke 1, who have not been blessed with children. They recognize the joy that children can bring, but for His own reasons, God has withheld that joy from them. They are neither DINK’s, nor dumb, but those who rejoice at the gifts of God, even if they do not receive them.)


The joy that John brings to his parents and community, however, is not merely natural, but supernatural. It is not worldly, but otherworldly. Israel, the people of God who are waiting for His kingdom, are filled with joy because John will prepare her to meet her Maker.  


John will call the people of Israel to repent, to turn from their sin by making confession and receiving baptism. He will warn them to watch for the hypocrisy of the religious leaders, that brood of vipers. All this preps the hearts of the people to welcome Jesus Christ, the Lamb of Godwho takes away the sins of the world.


In your life, your pastor is your “John”. The entire goal of a Christian pastor’s ministry is that the people who hear him preach and teach would be ready to meet Jesus face to face, whether that be in their death or at His sudden return. Your pastor does the work that he does so that you can meet your Maker with a clean and confident heart.


Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection make all of this possible. He bears our sins on the cross so that we can be certain that confessing our sins will result in forgiveness and not condemnation. We can confidently repent, knowing that our Father will welcome us back. He rejoices in His children coming home. 
​

The birth of each child is a joyful reminder of the blessing that God bestows on fallen humanity through His gift of children. Whether they are our kids, or the progeny of others, we can rejoice that God works such wonders, both natural and supernatural.