The Age of Aquarius
Aquarius! Aquarius!
Harmony and understanding
Sympathy and trust abounding
No more falsehoods or derisions
Golden living dreams of visions
Mystic crystal revelation
And the mind’s true liberation
Aquarius! Aquarius!

That song was written during the late 60’s at the height of the Viet Nam War. Its lyrics imply a wish for world harmony and world peace.

A gallop through history will confirm that every generation experiences a yearning for life to be better. Every generation faces its challenges of world events, and certainly, individual hardships and pain; no one escapes it. Yet, ready or not, Christmas comes to every generation (at least since the first one). Christmas is the season when we plan for joyful settings of family and friends, and when we lovingly remember those who will not be with us due to work, school or military service. Christmas is that time of the year when our culture tells us that we are to experience the “spirit” of Christmas, as if there is something wrong with us if we do not obtain it.

If we had only the cultural emphasis – the carols that we hear and sing, the gifts that we give and receive, and the parties that we attend with both family and friends - it would be easier to get the “the spirit of Christmas.” Yet the Church messes with our minds by having us read the scriptures that we read during this time. If we not careful…the meaning of these stories could absolutely ruin Christmas for us.

It is at this season that the Church has us to revisit a time and place when this little nation of Israel was in a state of derision. We read stories about the time of Caesar Augustus, soldiers, and Rome’s occupation of Israel. We are reminded of a time when Rome forced every adult citizen to return to their city of birth to pay a census tax so that the soldiers that occupied their country could be paid a salary. We read stories about a jealous, spiteful and evil king named Herod. Yes, we are even reminded of the cruelty placed upon a 14 or 15 year old expectant mother who had make a long and dangerous destination, and we are embarrassed to think about the unsanitary conditions of the place where the birth of her baby took place. Yes, all of this could ruin Christmas for us if we are not careful.

And then to add to the discouragement, we have scripture like the passage today, that reminds us of how easy it was for those who were called of God to do something great, but misunderstood God’s intent and purpose. Poor Zechariah whose voice was taken away because Zechariah could not believe that God had chosen him and his wife, Elizabeth, to be gifted with a son who would be a prophet equal to Elijah. Yet even when Zechariah’s voice was returned when he acknowledged the name of his son for the first time, we see in this passage that once again Zechariah misunderstood God’s intent.

Instead of a true Savior for whom his son would proclaim, Zechariah misinterpreted the long awaited Messiah to be a king who would be one of military might…one who would establish a kingdom much like the kingdom of David…the strongest in all of Israel’s history.

Listen to these phrases:

“He has raised up a mighty savior for us
in the house of his servant David,”
“ [71] that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.”
“[73] the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham,
to grant us [74] that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies…”

Zechariah, like many of the other people of his day, even Jesus’ disciples, misunderstood the meaning and purpose of the Messiah. Yet, from hindsight, 2000 years later, we know that God had greater plans. God’s kingdom, one that was to be established by the Messiah to come, was beyond a particular geographical area…it knew no boundaries, and it was one that was not be limited by any nationality or culture. It was a Kingdom whose definition was not based upon military might, rather through peace that would prevail in the hearts and minds of men and women who would be able to grasp the meaning of loving God with one’s heart, mind and soul, and loving one’s neighbor as one’s self.

Yes, we must be careful at this time of the year, because these stories and their meaning can ruin Christmas for us.

Yet there is a glimmer of hope – yes here in this passage. For as Zechariah’s song is given to us, at the end of it we believe that the truth of our Savior’s purpose and birth is finally given. Here are Zechariah’s words recorded in verses 78 and 79:

[78] By the tender mercy of our God,

the dawn from on high will break upon us,

[79] to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into the way of peace."

The Age of Aquarius is already here! It was introduced when Christ came here to implement it; and it was to be fully realized when Jesus fulfilled his purpose here on earth.

Yes, these Christmas stories come to us as an inconvenient truth to the world and it cultures, but this inconvenient truth breathes life and joy, and yes “spirit,” into our lives when we live into and out of that truth. Indeed, may it be “truth” for you and me!

Amen!