We begin Advent with an invitation to acknowledge our weariness. “We can be weary because of our age… because of our waiting… because we have faced the same routine for years and seemingly watched nothing change. We can be weary for various reasons, but must we stay weary? Can we exchange our weariness for hope?”
November 30, 2025
How does a weary world rejoice?
“We acknowledge our weariness”
Luke 1: 1-23
Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl
Luke 1: 1-23
Many people have already applied themselves to the task of compiling an account of the events that have been fulfilled among us. They used what the original eyewitnesses and servants of the word handed down to us. Now, after having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, I have also decided to write a carefully ordered account for you, most honorable Theophilus. I want you to have confidence in the soundness of the instruction you have received.
During the rule of King Herod of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron. They were both righteous before God, blameless in their observance of all the Lord’s commandments and regulations. They had no children because Elizabeth was unable to become pregnant and they both were very old. One day Zechariah was serving as a priest before God because his priestly division was on duty. Following the customs of priestly service, he was chosen by lottery to go into the Lord’s sanctuary and burn incense. All the people who gathered to worship were praying outside during this hour of incense offering. An angel from the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.
When Zechariah saw the angel, he was startled and overcome with fear. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah. Your prayers have been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will give birth to your son and you must name him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many people will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the Lord’s eyes. He must not drink wine and liquor. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth. He will bring many Israelites back to the Lord their God. He will go forth before the Lord, equipped with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will turn the hearts of fathers back to their children, and he will turn the disobedient to righteous patterns of thinking. He will make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? My wife and I are very old.” The angel replied, “I am Gabriel. I stand in God’s presence. I was sent to speak to you and to bring this good news to you. Know this: What I have spoken will come true at the proper time. But because you didn’t believe, you will remain silent, unable to speak until the day when these things happen.”
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they wondered why he was in the sanctuary for such a long time. When he came out, he was unable to speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he gestured to them and couldn’t speak. When he completed the days of his priestly service, he returned home.
We acknowledge our weariness Luke 1: 1-23
“How can I be sure”…this is the question Zechariah asks the angel. It is his response to the angel’s announcement that Zechariah and his wife, Elizabeth will have a child. It is this question which transforms their lives. It is this question which moves them from weariness to hope. It is this question which disrupts their limited and limiting narrative, opening them up to the possibilities of new life through the promises of God. It is this question which changes their story from mundane to hope filled.
Now before I go on, I need to admit that in years past, I have been fairly critical of Zechariah and his “lack of faith”, stating that given his background, given his line of work, Zechariah should have known better. He should have remembered the stories. You know the foundational faith story about Abraham and Sarah, you know the one that kicked off the covenantal relationship between God and the people of God, You know the one where God says I will make you into a great nation, Sarah laughs, and surprise! Nine months later…a baby arrives. I fully admit that in years past, I have been critical of Zechariah, leaning into the logic that he should have remembered that God had acted in the past to bring new life to God’s people. That was his job! That was his profession. For years, I have said that Zechariah of all people should have known what to say and do when an angel appears.
Except this year feels different. Maybe it is where I am in my faith life. Or maybe it is because nothing seems sure anymore but this year…this year, I’m not so critical of this priest who is questioning the angel about the possibilities of new life promised. I am not so critical of the priest who needs certainty. I am not so critical of the person of faith who is unsure how to respond to such good news. Rather instead, Zechariah’s question of “How can I be sure” is resonating with me like never before. Rather instead, I find myself coming up with reasons as to why Zechariah, a priest, a person who should be in the know, a person of faith, would ask such a question of an angel standing in front of him. Maybe he was not in the place physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually to receive the good news the angel brought. Or maybe it was that he was realizing that all those foundations which he counted on were crumbling underneath him. Or maybe it was simply that there was more and more brokenness, hurt and hate filling his world that he couldn’t help but wonder where God was in all that mess. This year, I am finding that more and more I am resonating with Zechariah’s question of “how can I be sure” in response to the angel’s announcement because that is where I am, where we are as people of faith as we begin our Advent journey.
And I am realizing that is actually a very good place to start because our faith story reminds us that God sees us, that God hears our cries and responds. Let me say that again, our faith story reminds us that God sees us, that God hears us and God responds by disrupting the limited and limiting narratives about our lives, about our world, about possibilities of new life, about where God is present and invites us as God’s people to live into a new story, invites us to dream of new possibilities of hope, invites us to remember that this world does not have the last world.
You see, Zechariah’s question becomes an invitation, an invitation to remember that “weariness can harden us, that when we are weary, we tend to seek clarity instead of insisting on God’s grace, instead of looking for the light, instead of holding on to the hope promised to us. Zechariah’s question becomes an invitation for us as people of faith to remember that our God responds that our God is moving in and among us, transforming the mundane into the miraculous. This Advent season, Zechariah’s question becomes an invitation for us to remember that more often than not, it is a both/and, meaning that we can acknowledge our weariness. We can name where we are in exhaustion, in fear, in worry, in grief, frustration AND know that it is not the end of the story. We can hold all of that AND still open our hearts, open our ears, open our eyes to where God is moving in and among us, bringing forth new life. For us as people of faith, Zechariah’s question becomes an invitation for us to lift our heads, to step back and see the larger picture, to remove the blinders. It becomes a way for us to stand assured and live in the promises of God because we know our God is here, because we know He taught us to love one another; that His law is love and His gospel is peace. Because Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother, and in His name all oppression shall cease. So today and all days, sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, as all within us praise His holy name.” May it be so. Amen.
See also: Theology Tuesday for Sunday, November 30, 2025 – We acknowledge our weariness Luke 1: 1-23.
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