00:00:00:19 - 00:00:46:01 Rev. Trudy The fourth track on Our Advent Mixtape sounds an awful lot like the other songs. How is it different? A lot. Take a listen. Welcome to Perspectives, a podcast where the clergy women at the First United Methodist Church of San Diego share their musings on Scripture, theology, and what it has to do with us. Welcome to this episode of Perspectives. We are continuing our series on the lesser-known songs of Christmas. I am Reverend Trudy Robinson, this is Reverend Dr. Hannah Ka, and we are talking today about Zechariah's Benedictus. I love that word – Benedictus. We're going to get into that and the scripture here in just a moment. 00:00:46:03 - 00:01:04:16 Rev. Trudy But to set it up, I want to share with you a little bit about what came before this point in our Scripture. We're looking at the Gospel of Luke. And if you remember, the angel Gabriel comes to visit Zechariah when he's in the temple, and he tells Zechariah that he and his wife Elizabeth are going to have a baby. 00:01:04:20 - 00:01:32:19 Rev. Trudy Even though both ... even though they're both very old, like Sarah and Abraham. And Zechariah did not believe the angel. Or so the scripture puts those words in Gabriel's mouth saying, "because you did not believe my words." The angel Gabriel says, "you will become mute, unable to speak until the day these things occur. Until that baby is born." 00:01:32:19 - 00:01:59:03 Rev. Trudy And indeed, that's what happens. Zachariah loses his voice, doesn't speak at all. And in the meantime, Elizabeth is pregnant. She's starting to show. Mary gets visited by the angel Gabriel, and then Mary goes to visit Elizabeth. She stays for about three months. She goes home. And then it comes time for Elizabeth to have the baby. She gives birth. 00:01:59:05 - 00:02:25:05 Rev. Trudy And Elizabeth says, we're going to name the baby John, and they're questioning her. And Zechariah puts his foot down and writes on the table because he still can't speak. "His name shall be John, because that's what the angel said," and that releases his tongue. And he begins to speak. And this is when he says. This is Luke, chapter one, verses 68 through 79. 00:02:25:06 - 00:02:46:18 Rev. Trudy "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favor favorably on his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a mighty Savior for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we would be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us. 00:02:46:20 - 00:03:26:09 Rev. Trudy Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and he has remembered his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins, by the mercy, the tender mercy of our God. 00:03:26:11 - 00:03:40:05 Rev. Trudy The dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace." 00:03:40:06 - 00:03:45:12 Rev. Hannah Excellent reading. You actually got me to think of our two different parts there. 00:03:45:16 - 00:03:49:10 Rev. Trudy So, it did feel, it felt like that as I was reading it. 00:03:49:12 - 00:03:53:08 Rev. Hannah He was talking as a new father. 00:03:53:09 - 00:03:56:09 Rev. Trudy Yes. An old new father. 00:03:56:11 - 00:04:11:12 Rev. Hannah Can you just imagine the excitement he has about this newborn baby? Yeah, but yet, he talks about this God's plan for Israel and salvation and all that. Before he talks about the baby, his own boy. 00:04:11:12 - 00:04:11:21 Rev. Trudy Oh, yeah. Yeah. 00:04:11:21 - 00:04:46:06 Rev. Hannah And the boy is going ... he's going to prepare the way. He's not going to be the main character of the salvation. Right. But he will be an important part of that salvation. So I see a little bit of two traditions coming here, in this tone. One from the Jewish Christian community and the other one from a Christian community, coming together to tie their understanding of salvation from the Jewish culture with the birth of a new child. 00:04:46:08 - 00:04:47:05 Rev. Hannah Jesus. 00:04:47:06 - 00:04:55:00 Rev. Trudy Okay! You're going to have to say more about that, because I love that idea. And just to remind everybody. Right. 00:04:55:01 - 00:04:56:04 Rev. Hannah I shouldn't say anything. 00:04:56:05 - 00:05:21:07 Rev. Trudy No, no, I want to hear more. I want to hear more, because I never really I felt the two different parts of this, but I hadn't considered one coming from the more Jewish tradition and having Christianity play some kind of a Velcro piece to match it. Right. And this John, of course, is John the Baptist, and he is poised as the one who goes to prepare the way of Jesus. 00:05:21:10 - 00:05:31:09 Rev. Trudy Right. So it makes sense that there would be a hook to connect the Christian believers with the Old Testament, Judaism. 00:05:31:11 - 00:05:38:23 Rev. Hannah Right, I think. Yes. And I also see a little bit of the need to reconcile John's followers into for sure. 00:05:39:03 - 00:05:40:02 Rev. Trudy Absolutely. 00:05:40:02 - 00:05:41:08 Rev. Hannah I see that connection. 00:05:41:08 - 00:06:11:13 Rev. Trudy Yeah. Yeah. That's just to say that scholars typically believe that there was a movement that really followed John and most of his followers came over to follow Jesus. Now, intentional or not, I remember telling, my one congregation that, you know, that might not have been an easy move for John to actually live with. That there was probably a lot more tension than Scripture or history would allow. 00:06:11:15 - 00:06:23:05 Rev. Trudy I got in trouble. People didn't like that, but who knows? We don't know, right? History is written by the winners. That's a long sidetrack. Go ahead. No, no. 00:06:23:05 - 00:06:26:20 Rev. Hannah I don't need to say more. 00:06:26:22 - 00:07:02:01 Rev. Trudy So this this song is called a Benedictus because of the first line of this song. "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel." And that's Latin for blessed. Right. A Benedictus is throughout the Hebrew Bible. Many scholars agree that much of that was not original from the author of the Gospel of Luke, but rather a composite of citations or allusions or fragments from old songs of praise, or from the Psalms and the Hebrew Bible. 00:07:02:03 - 00:07:03:09 Rev. Hannah Liturgical songs. 00:07:03:10 - 00:07:10:18 Rev. Trudy That's right. But, and that, "blessed be the Lord God of Israel," was a Jewish blessing meant to be recited daily. Right? 00:07:10:19 - 00:07:11:08 Rev. Hannah Yes. 00:07:12:18 - 00:07:44:14 Rev. Hannah I see than, lots of blessing and promises made between God of Israel and people. Yeah. And in a difficult situation. So just like the Old Testament Hebrew Bible times, when people lost their nation and fell to enemies hands. Yeah. And hopelessness. It's the same situation here, too. So I guess, Luke is weaving those two stories just like Mary's Magnificat. 00:07:44:20 - 00:07:49:20 Rev. Hannah Weaving the old and new together. To make the connection. 00:07:49:22 - 00:08:25:16 Rev. Trudy That's a good analysis of this song. What I find really interested interesting is that I began to see the differences between Mary and Zechariah. You know, both of them were greeted by the angel Gabriel told of a miraculous kind of birth that was to come. And very similar songs. And it made me start wondering just about that relationship and, you know, we hear of Mary going to visit Elizabeth. 00:08:25:18 - 00:08:46:21 Rev. Trudy Mary going to the house of Zechariah is the way Scripture puts it. Doesn't really mention that Zachariah may or may not be there. Whatever it is, he's silent because he still can't talk in that visitation. Imagine, you know, a man in a household with two women, and he can't say a thing. But you better believe – 00:08:46:21 - 00:08:47:07 Rev. Hannah with two pregnant women 00:08:47:07 - 00:09:14:03 Rev. Trudy – those two pregnant women are saying an awful lot. And I can't help but think of this time of silence as something other than just Zachariah being forced to listen. Right. Being forced to listen. And it really is, you know, in that visit with Mary and Elizabeth, that's when Mary sings her Magnificat which has themes that echo in Zechariah's song. 00:09:14:05 - 00:09:20:23 Rev. Trudy It makes me think that maybe Zechariah was listening to this song. 00:09:21:01 - 00:09:39:06 Rev. Trudy Right. And that he began to have his imagination, his understanding of his faith tradition, of his hope for his child, begin to play against that song of a greater hope for the whole community. Right? 00:09:39:07 - 00:09:50:19 Rev. Hannah Yes. And while these two women were pregnant with babies, he was getting pregnant with Hope. Yeah. Have you ever been to Silent Retreat? 00:09:50:21 - 00:10:08:05 Rev. Trudy Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's not easy for me. Yes. And, I mean, I remember being ... brushing my teeth at the end of the first day of the silent retreat. And somebody came in, and I said "Hi!" And then I was just, you know, really. Yeah. So I'm not good at it. 00:10:08:07 - 00:10:38:18 Rev. Hannah But when you're forced into silence like Zechariah, there's nothing that you can speak about. Yeah. But you get to think about. Yes. Yeah. And how deeply he was engaged in tracing all the history of Israel and his own life. Childless life. A life of a priest without any heir. Yeah. How miserable could that be? But think about those days. 00:10:38:19 - 00:10:52:18 Rev. Hannah Yeah. And this baby coming to their family. Yeah. And seeing that baby as a part of the big plan that God is having for Israel. Yeah. Yeah. 00:10:52:19 - 00:10:58:12 Rev. Trudy And when he speaks, this is like the first thing he does. He praises God. 00:10:58:14 - 00:10:59:12 Rev. Hannah Yes. 00:10:59:13 - 00:11:00:14 Rev. Trudy He praises God. 00:11:00:15 - 00:11:26:11 Rev. Trudy "Blessed be the God of Israel." Yeah. You know, when it, Gabriel, came to see Mary. And this is really kind of the typical series of events when an angel visits you. Right? A person is doing their ordinary stuff, and the angel suddenly appears, and the person is scared, and the angel speaks. "Don't be afraid." 00:11:26:14 - 00:11:46:11 Rev. Trudy And then delivers the message and then vanishes. Right. And that's the way it is with both Mary and Zechariah. But. But, Mary. One commentator points out that the storyteller does not ever say that Mary was really afraid. She ... it never really says the angel, you know, had an obligation to say, do not be afraid, because that's part of the plan, right? 00:11:46:12 - 00:12:30:11 Rev. Trudy That's part of the sequence. But Mary wasn't necessarily named as being afraid. So, whether or not that's true, that detail is omitted. And instead it kind of describes her actions as being more ... in her thoughts, her words, her actions ... be more analytical, more grounded in something other than just the emotion of the event, but already maybe grounded in that history of what her faith had given her, being already grounded in such a deep trust in God. 00:12:30:12 - 00:12:34:12 Rev. Trudy I don't know. 00:12:34:14 - 00:13:09:03 Rev. Hannah Well, hearing you mention "do not be afraid" ... that's the most commonly or frequently shared wordings in the entire Hebrew scripture and the Christian scripture. Yeah. By looking at the frequency of its appearance in the Bible, we can say that people are usually afraid. Yeah. It's part of human nature. It's true. Living with fear. But we see in this song, and also in Mary's song, and in a lot of human stories in the scripture. 00:13:09:04 - 00:13:33:17 Rev. Hannah That their faith, their holy ground, is in their history. Their faith gives them a song. And as they sing the song, they find more courage to relate God to salvation. Into their everyday life with fear and without fear. Yeah. 00:13:33:19 - 00:13:59:23 Rev. Trudy I read somewhere that poetry and music deepened the impact of what is said. Yes. And I have always known that if you sing something, it hits you differently. You hear it differently if something is sung to you as well. So, that's what you're talking about in terms of these songs being part of what really gets it to sink in. 00:14:00:00 - 00:14:02:00 Rev. Trudy Yes. And become a foundation. 00:14:02:01 - 00:14:29:21 Rev. Hannah Yes. And if you think about the Psalms of David and Psalms of other people, including Miriam dancing to Moses' song. Yeah. It's in a worse situation they start singing and dancing, and that's the ground of our worship, I guess. Yeah. The music? Yeah. Not because our life is perfect, but because you come to God's presence in the midst of your own pains and struggles. 00:14:29:21 - 00:14:39:13 Rev. Hannah Yeah. And then there's this song that carries us. Yeah. Yeah. But a little bit. 00:14:39:15 - 00:14:49:16 Rev. Trudy You know, this song uses the word that I think translated is "looked upon favorably." 00:14:49:18 - 00:15:23:15 Rev. Trudy Which is also translated as "visited." Right. So, this is "blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people," and "he has visited his people." Could be either way. Which is different, right? I mean, and the visitation in these songs and in the other instances where this verb is used, you would know what it is, but I'm not even going to attempt to speak it in Hebrew or Latin or whatever it is. 00:15:23:17 - 00:15:54:12 Rev. Trudy But the verb is also used when God showed up in Sarah, to Sarah in her barrenness. And in Ruth, when God ended the famine that they were experiencing at that time. And so, it really, it's kind of this verb that indicates that there's something more than just God is there. It's more than just God sees you in your despair or in the situation or your hopes or dreams or whatever. 00:15:54:15 - 00:16:01:16 Rev. Trudy It's more than that. It's more like a manifestation of God's self in your life. 00:16:01:18 - 00:16:21:18 Rev. Hannah Yes. And that actually, like it's not a spiritual gift, that actually gives you the courage with that presence that gives you the wisdom and love and peace that will help you move through that situation with a different stance. Yeah. Because God is there. 00:16:21:23 - 00:16:25:05 Rev. Trudy Yeah. Yeah. Because God is there. 00:16:25:06 - 00:16:29:21 Rev. Trudy You know, I know music changes me. 00:16:29:23 - 00:16:34:03 Rev. Trudy And it changes my mood. It changes everything. 00:16:34:05 - 00:16:36:07 Rev. Hannah That's why you love music. 00:16:36:07 - 00:17:16:05 Rev. Trudy I do love music! That's right. That's right. I do love music. And these songs, all of them, have been so rooted in the stark reality of an exiled people, of a tormented king, of Mary, a young child and living in occupied Rome, Roman Empire, you know, all of these dark places where they talk about the rich, they need to go away empty because we are hurting so badly. 00:17:16:05 - 00:17:40:01 Rev. Trudy And all of these things that we hope will be recognized and dealt with. And it starts in that place of such deep, deep darkness. And then somehow they settle back down into that song that has been sung in one form or another throughout history.. 00:17:40:03 - 00:18:14:22 Rev. Trudy But there's hope. But there's hope. And God is on the side of justice. God is on the side of compassion and God is on the side of righteousness. And that right things will happen. Things will be righted. Right. And there's a sense in which the act of naming what is out there and then remembering God and the ancestors that have come before us and what they have had to deal with. 00:18:15:00 - 00:18:23:03 Rev. Trudy That gives you the imagination to think you could maybe see something different in your lifetime. 00:18:23:03 - 00:18:23:14 Rev. Hannah Yes. 00:18:23:19 - 00:18:28:23 Rev. Trudy And then they talk about it as it is already done. 00:18:29:01 - 00:18:53:05 Rev. Hannah Yep. Yep. And think about this time, Mary and Joseph traveling while she's very pregnant, under the order of the Empire census. Right. And they didn't choose to do it. They were forced to do it. Right. 00:18:53:06 - 00:18:55:04 Rev. Trudy And the census is for taxation, you know, lovely. 00:18:55:04 - 00:19:18:12 Rev. Hannah And out of this oppressive situation, they think of God. Yeah. And their ancestors. Yeah. And their faith, their life, their oppressive situations. All of them are interconnected. And faith is not about after life, it's more about being grounded in this life. 00:19:18:13 - 00:19:31:09 Rev. Trudy Absolutely. And I think of Zechariah and the way in which he is going to raise that son of his. 00:19:31:11 - 00:19:52:08 Rev. Trudy With that absolute knowledge of God's work throughout history, of God's presence in the darkness, and he is going to set up his son in such a way that John the Baptist will be doing his little bit. 00:19:52:10 - 00:20:19:05 Rev. Trudy Of whatever is needed so that the next person can come along and add their gifts to what's happening, it just happens to be Jesus, which is a pretty big gift according to our narrative. Right. But it's ... I'm just so struck by Zechariah's, offering of the inheritance of some of the most important lessons you can tell your child. 00:20:19:07 - 00:20:30:12 Rev. Trudy And to see that child embrace them. And change the lives of others because of that inheritance. 00:20:30:14 - 00:20:53:17 Rev. Hannah That's true. You actually got me to think about a different way of parenting. Instead of focusing on my child. And the protection and the wellness of that child. If you see that child contributing to the betterment of this world. 00:20:53:19 - 00:21:06:08 Rev. Trudy Yeah. Yeah. And you know, they can do it so easily. And I think, when I think about my kids, when I think about your daughter, I think that, you know, we're pretty lucky. 00:21:06:10 - 00:21:39:12 Rev. Trudy We've got some amazing children. And they are gifted, and they are kind, and they are generous, and compassionate. And they know a little bit about the faith because, you know, doggone it, we're pastors and they're PK, preachers kids, right. But they don't have to be anything different than who they are to contribute. But I think what we can offer them is the recognition that we see them contributing. 00:21:39:15 - 00:21:50:16 Rev. Trudy Yes. Right. Yeah. I mean, the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth and John is almost like, Zechariah is saying already "you're going to prepare the way of the Lord. Look at that!" 00:21:50:16 - 00:21:52:16 Rev. Hannah "Look what you're going to do." 00:21:52:19 - 00:22:05:07 Rev. Trudy Right. Exactly. So, he had it from the very beginning that he was going to be, to know the significance of his life. And I'm not sure we always do that with our children. 00:22:05:09 - 00:22:11:23 Rev. Hannah That is very true. That's a bonus gift to our Christmas season. To our parents. 00:22:12:00 - 00:22:18:23 Rev. Trudy Just to be able to say to our kids, "you are making a difference in this world, and it is amazing to see you do it so effortlessly." 00:22:19:00 - 00:22:24:03 Rev. Hannah "Good job, good job." Right? Right. Right. Yep. 00:22:24:05 - 00:22:27:01 Rev. Trudy I don't know. There's a lot in this always. 00:22:27:01 - 00:22:36:21 Rev. Hannah And I enjoyed our conversation, like, always. And I'm glad that we didn't talk about this ahead of time. Something new came out of it. 00:22:36:21 - 00:22:42:13 Rev. Trudy It always works better. It may not be very organized, but, you know, we aren't writing a book here. We're just having a conversation. 00:22:42:14 - 00:23:18:19 Rev. Hannah Yes. That's the whole point! With that, I would like to invite our listeners and viewers to consider some questions for your own faith journey. So, here are some questions: What might salvation look like in your daily practices? Where do we see God's dawn breaking right now? And what is faith for you? I hope you enjoy reflecting on these questions and having conversations with others. 00:23:18:21 - 00:23:27:12 Rev. Hannah And thank you for listening and we'll see you soon again. Bye. 00:23:27:14 - 00:23:43:13 Rev. Trudy This is a production of First United Methodist Church of San Diego. To learn more about our events and ministries and to access additional learning resources, visit FUMCSD.org