August 17, 2007

A Redemptive Vocation

Read Luke 1: 67-80

"...for you will go before the Lord to prepare a way for him,

to give his people the knowledge of salvation..." vs. 76-77

What a calling. Prophecy had told of one that would come before the Messiah in the spirit of Elijah and proclaim the way of salvation. This proclamation was a preparation. For there would then come another whose power and authority would far exceed the proclaimer. It would be in this "other" that salvation would be offered and life would be restored. But before this "other" would come, there would be the declaration from the desert.

As Zechariah sings (note our devotional from yesterday), he sings of his child. The Spirit had revealed to him that his son would step into a foundational role within the Story of God's salvation to mankind. It would be his son that was to be raised in the way of the Lord, set apart for a special calling, uncorrupted by the perversities of the world, given over to the vocation of the Prophet of the Most High. John, the child of gift to Elizabeth and Zechariah, would one day stand before the Israelite people and proclaim the nearness of God's reign. Boldly he would declare that liberation had come. With courage he would call people back to God, calling them to turn from their sins and receive the forgivness God has promised. Prophetically, he would announce that the sun had risen...light had broken forth, darkness was on its retreat, and path would be seen. What a mighty calling, indeed. There would be no one like John...or would there?

John the Baptizer's vocation as prophet of the Most High was both special and particular. God has chosen within a certain time in history, through a certain family to make known the way of salvation. John is one that two thousand years later we still honor as a saint among the faitful of God's people. But I have a fear. I fear that in reducing John to a historical figure to be studied, we miss something central to the story of God's work in this world. God was not done with proclamation and preparation when John was beheaded by Herod. That special calling of John's becomes the mighty calling of a new people.

Reading through Zechariah's song as we have over the last two days, we encounter something extraordinarily essential to its meaning in our lives. As Zechariah sings, his melody is sung throughout the chosen people of God, the church. The church is a participant in that melody, those that have tasted of the liberation, experienced the freedom, enjoyed God's favor and faithfulness. The church are those that live wrapped up in the gift of God's salvation. But beyond the first portion of the song, we continue to listen. We continue to hear the lyrics of that special calling...a calling that began with John and has now transcended a historical man. That calling, that redemptive vocation has been passed to those who have been graced by the melody of the beginning of Zechariah's song.

As the church we live in the in between. Jesus has come and offered salvation. We have tasted in the Lord and we know that he is good. However, the time has not yet come for the second advent (arrival) of the Lord. "He will come again to judge the quick and the dead." (Apostle's Creed) Until he comes we must ask ourselves what is our vocation as the church? Until the return of Jesus, the church is called to be those that proclaim the way of salvation. We proclaim that the return of the Messiah is at hand. We live as those set apart, sanctified in heart and mind. We battle the perversities and the corruptions of the world so that we might present God's path of forgiveness, mercy, and renewal faithfully. By living as those who have left behind the old way of sinfulness and disobedience, we offer this world the gift of something different from which they now experience. Our lives become the dawning of God's light (a city on a hill if you like), this light is not ours in origin...we are simply the vessels. However, as vessels we carry this light to dispel the darkness and illuminate the path of hope and redemption. The church in the "in between" lives according to the spirit of John whom makes straight the path of the Lord. What a calling? What a mighty and humble calling indeed.