A pastor’s son

Gospel: Lk 1:5-25

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121923.cfm

John the Baptist was a priest’s son in more ways than one. Not only was his dad a priest, but his mom was a descendant of Aaron, the priestly brother of Moses. The passage goes on to explain how devout they were, but when the angel lets Zachariah know that his wife is going to have a child, he doesn’t believe it and asks for proof.

When we strictly follow religious practices, it is easy to get lost in what you should or shouldn’t do as if faith is a set of rules or guidelines to be followed. When we see the world this way, it makes it difficult for us to recognize when exceptions occur to our limited view of things. Zachariah and Elizabeth had accepted that they were destined to not be parents. As it seems from the gospel, they probably had years of trying and had lost hope. Elizabeth even felt disgraced by others for not being a mother and went into seclusion for part of her pregnancy.

Following the law is not giving your will over to God. When you give your will over to God, you accept that the impossible can be made possible; you become more open to infinite possibilities. It’s easy to lose sight of this at times, but life has a way of reminding us. Even Jesus struggled with this as he prayed in the garden, “Not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:39)

Sometimes when we follow the rules, we anticipate specific outcomes, but that’s not how God’s love works. Grace is not earned, it is freely given. By allowing God to work in your life, you stop narrowing your options but keep your horizon open for surprise. To grow is to take yourself beyond your current limited thoughts about actions and consequences and trust that God’s reality is radically different from that.