“The Civil War arrived with Sherman at last ready to ply his trade effectively as a key member of a national reconstruction project. Secession took Sherman by surprise, and he reacted as if the South were trying to make off with the family room. Even more than Lincoln and Grant, Sherman waged war with a ferocity aimed at driving the Confederate states back into the larger Union structure, getting the house divided back together. This accomplished, Sherman devoted much of his remaining career to further shoring up the framework, masterminding the construction of the transcontinental railroad and literally binding East and West together with bands of steel” (Robert L. O’Connell, Fierce Patriot: The Tangled Lives of William Tecumseh Sherman, xix).

“Beneath those four individuals without whom America would be a very different place–Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and FDR–resides a second tier of epic overachievers with substantial roles in furthering the national extravaganza. Sherman’s place here is secure, his significance in transcontinental consolidation being no small matter. America was built just once, so his achievements in this regard are almost guaranteed to remain unique. As long as we live here, Sherman will be remembered” (Robert L. O’Connell, Fierce Patriot: The Tangled Lives of William Tecumseh Sherman, xviii).

“Prayer was so essential to Edwards’s Christianity that the idea of a Christian who did not pray was preposterous. . . . It seemed contrary to Edwards’s understanding of Scripture that anyone could be indwelled by the Spirit who causes God’s children to “cry out, ‘Abba! Father!'” (Rom. 8:15; cf. Gal. 4:6) and yet not cry out to the Father in regular prayer” (Donald S. Whitney, “Pursuing A Passion for God Through Spiritual Disciplines: Learning from Jonathan Edwards,” in A God Entranced Vision of All Things: The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards, eds. John Piper and Justin Taylor, 115).

“Reading is exposure to Scripture–and that’s the starting place–but meditation is the absorption of Scripture” (Donald S. Whitney, “Pursuing A Passion for God Through Spiritual Disciplines: Learning from Jonathan Edwards,” in A God Entranced Vision of All Things: The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards, eds. John Piper and Justin Taylor, 114).

“While there is no one ideal method of meditating on the Bible, essentially it involves thinking in a prolonged and focused way about something found in the text while hearing, reading, studying, and memorizing it” (Donald S. Whitney, “Pursuing A Passion for God Through Spiritual Disciplines: Learning from Jonathan Edwards,” in A God Entranced Vision of All Things: The Legacy of Jonathan Edwards, eds. John Piper and Justin Taylor, 113).

“A speech does not have to be simplistic to be well unified. Simple, dialectical, and problem-solving logic can serve as helpful approaches depending on the situation” (Quentin Schultze, An Essential Guide to Public Speaking, 62).

“The images of snow in summer and rain in harvest [in Proverbs 26:1-3] illustrate that honoring a fool occurs in a world out of joint and that to do so is catastrophic. As snow in harvest destroys crops and brings death, an individual or society that honors a fool destroys a life or a culture full of promise” (Bruce Waltke, “Old Testament Interpretation Issues for Big Idea Preaching: Problematic Sources, Poetics, and Preaching the Old Testament – An Exposition of Proverbs 26:1-12,” in The Big Idea of Biblical Preaching, eds. Keith Willhite and Scott M. Gibson, 45).

“Perhaps the most important single characteristic of the annual calendar presupposed by the ecumenical lectionary is its Christological center. The annual sequence of seasons is actually a pairing of two Christ-celebrations: (1) Christmas and (2) Easter, (1) Incarnation and (2) Redemption. The Christmas celebration is prepared for in Advent and reflected in Epiphany. The Easter celebration is prepared for in Lent and reflected in the fifty days following, which climax in Pentecost. In this sense the Christian Year may be described as the annual rehearsal of the history of our salvation accomplished in the birth, death, resurrection, and return of Jesus Christ” (Horace T. Allen Jr., A Handbook for the Lectionary, 25).

Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. And her neighbors and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her. And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father. And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called. And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marveled all. And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God. And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea. And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him (Luke 1:57 – 66).

In Luke 1 we are told that there was a certain priest named Zacharias, who was married to a barren woman named Elisabeth, and, that according to the custom of the priests, Zacharias’ lot was drawn for a turn to burn incense in the temple of the Lord. And so during the instituted time, the people gathered outside and gave themselves to prayer while Zacharias stood before the altar and offered incense to the Lord.

At this time, however, an angel of the Lord came to Zacharias and conveyed a message: the angel revealed that his prayer had been heard, that his wife was going to get pregnant and deliver a son, and that they were to name the son “John” (1:13). But most importantly the angel told them that the Lord would use their son to turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and that he would also make ready and prepare the people for the LORD (1:17).

Zacharias was in shock and disbelief. The angel then told him that due to his initial disbelief that he would become and remain speechless until the child was born. So, going forward, for Zacharias, even his temporary state of speechlessness would have served as a witness to the angelic message; his word-barren mouth would have confirmed and corroborated the angel’s message.

The Gospel passage above narrates the birth of John. Elisabeth’s womb was barren, initially. But her womb was eventually filled with a miracle-child. Contrast the filled womb with Zacharias’ mouth: the latter became word-barren, but Elisabeth’s womb became the opposite–it was filled, dignified with fruitfulness. Nine mnths passed and the child was born. On the eighth day after the child was born Zacharias’ temporarily-barren mouth became, again, fruitful—we are told his tongue loosed, that he spake, and praised God!

Prior to this doxology, however, we are told that the relatives wanted to name the miracle-child “Zacharias” after his father’s name: apparently this was a family name according to family convention or practice. But obviously Elisabeth had received the angelic revelation from Zacharias. He had been speechless, but prior to the birth of their son he must have communicated to his wife that she was going to get pregnant and that the angel said they needed to name the child John. Thus, when the family attempts to mis-name the miracle-child, Elisabeth speaks up. She rocks the family-boat, she challenges the familial-status-quo, but not for the sake of being a rebel; neither for the sake of being antagonistic or contentious; nor for the sake of whim—what we call doing something for kicks and giggles. Elisabeth spoke up and said, Not so, but he shall be called John. And she did so out of covenantal obedience to the God. The same God who sent the angelic messenger, who filled her barren-womb with a son, and gave them a name for their miracle-child. The child’s name was to be John, meaning “Jehovah is a gracious giver” or “Jehovah has graced.”

As we think about the miracle and graciousness of God displayed through the events surrounding the birth of John the Baptist, it would do us well to acknowledge that on the one hand, family traditions, family conventions, and family practices, what we might call “House Rules”, like naming a child after one’s father, are good and right. However, we must never let them our family practices interfere with God’s word of revelation or graciousness. This is the first week of Advent and we are preparing to celebrate the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As is often times the case during holidays, families begin and/or continue with the observation of family traditions. Our family traditions, however, must not stand in the way or veil God’s graciousness. So, we need to ensure that our families, due to familial allegiance and family observations, do not run roughshod over Advent. When our family’s “Christmas traditions” become more important that genuinely preparing to celebrate the Nativity of Jesus, then that is like when the tail wags the dog. It should not be so.

Our families should not be large stones in the river of Christmas, where the Christmas-waters break, crash, and run around us. Rather, we should be like artisan carpentry: where all the joints and corners are dovetailed. Our families should live in the Kingdom of God and we should celebrate Christmas within God’s Kingdom, with Kingdom priorities. We, and our family practices, ought to be dovetailed, integrated into the Kingdom.

May God give us grace that our each and every one of our family’s Christmas-traditions may never be at odds with Jehovah’s Christmastide Graces.