Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, is silenced in the opening scene of Luke chapter 1.  In the final scene, he speaks.  Luke calls it a prophecy.  It includes these words:

“…that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness…”

I’ve been thinking a lot about fear these last few months, how it’s an instinctual survival response.  There are many divisions in our country, but this may be a common thread – we are all, on some level, afraid.  We just differ on what the threat is, what we want to live and what we fear could die. 

I suppose, as Zechariah proclaims, being rescued from enemies is one way to have less fear.  Being rescued from our continual need for enemies is a longer project of the human spirit.  I see this as part of the core vision of Christianity.  Jesus called out harms and those doing the harm, even as he initiated a new humanity gathered around not a common enemy but a common table. 

I wonder if it’s possible to grieve our losses, to be appropriately vigilant in caring for ourselves and those dear to us, and yet to “serve God without fear.”  It is, as Luke says, a prophecy, a gift from the imaginative future pressing in on our present moment.  It’s a prophecy and a prayer, as Zechariah continues:

“…to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Joel