The Gospel for the solemnity of The Nativity of St. John the Baptist Vigil Service is taken from Luke, 1st chapter, 5th, 17th verse. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the priestly division of Abicha. His wife was from the daughter of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both were righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the law blamelessly. But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

Once, when he was serving as a priest in his divisions turned before God according to the practice of the priestly service, he was chosen by Lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to burn incense. Then, when the whole assembly of the people were praying outside at the hour of the incense offering, the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense. Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him. But the angel said to him, do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. And you will have joy and gladness.

And many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. John will drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit of Elijah to turn their hearts toward their children and and the disobedient, to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord. God makes promises to all of us.

He made a promise to Zechariah and Elizabeth that they would have a son one day. And when the time passed for it to happen in this ordinary way, he lost sight of the promise and gave up on it. And yet, when an angel appeared to him to tell him that this was going to happen, but it was going to happen in a way that was beyond anything that would have been normal. It was an extraordinary event, a woman far into her old age having a baby. But what the lesson seems to me to be that no matter what, how long it takes, no matter what form it takes, the promises that God makes to us will take place. We have to believe, we have to trust, or we are not going to be open to when it does happen.

Please reflect on these thoughts and after the music, I will close with a prayer. The closing prayer. Father, bless us with an ability to trust. Beyond what is logical, what is practical. You’ve made a promise to all of us that we will know you, we will live with you, you will dwell in us and we will do things that are your work in others. Bless us with the faith that we need that never do, we lose the hope that that will happen.

And we ask this in Jesus name, amen.