Luke 1:68-79
Recently, I officiated my brother-in-law’s wedding. It was a bittersweet occasion, for while he had found the love of his life, he also had just been diagnosed with ALS. The power of the ritual, the profession of undying love in the face of the fragility of life, moved everyone to tears. My brother-in-law said it was the best day of his life. For days after the wedding I had a strange physical or perhaps spiritual sensation that I could only name as peace. I kept humming “It is Well With My Soul” without knowing it.
In today’s text, Zechariah, an old man who struggled his whole married life to have kids, is elated by the miraculous birth of his child John (the Baptist) and prophesies:
Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them… Because of the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.
In his poem Stay With Me A While, Kabir, the 15th century mystic poet wonders why he can’t hold each moment as he did his son when he was born.
John the Baptist is not going to meet a pretty end. Still, the prophet Zechariah, in the miraculous moment of his child’s birth, says he feels the “tender mercy of our God.” Holding the gift of his newborn son, Zechariah believes that he and we will be guided out of the shadow of death into the way of peace.
What is Zechariah’s story? The old man who had a miracle baby or the father of a murder victim? What is my brother-in-law’s story? Someone who finally found the love of his life or someone with a tragic illness? And what is our story, Middle? Is there any hope that we, like Zechariah and my brother-in-law, might know peace this season even in the context of suffering?

Four years ago this week, our church burned to the ground.
On the day of the fire, our friend Rev. Micah Bucey, pastor of Judson Memorial Church (where we now worship as we prepare to move home this Easter), wrote the following:
For Middle Collegiate Church, as its congregation recovers from a devastating fire.
May you feel embraced by the admiration, prayers, and solidarity of the millions of us who are constantly blessed by your actively courageous faith, and as you grieve the damage inflicted on your physical sanctuary, may the fierce spirit of sanctuary that you so powerfully embody every day give you strength right now, may your unstoppable message of revolutionary love continue to rise and heal this broken world, and as you rise and heal from this moment of overwhelming brokenness, may you be nourished by a constant flow of spiritual, emotional, and financial support, rebuilding a new hope and a renewed home for all that you have been, all that you are, and all that you will be.Amen
What is our story, Middle? Are we the people who lost everything in the fire, or are we the ones whose love no fire can extinguish? Yes, we lost our beloved sanctuary, but since then we have become a sanctuary for 700 new members from around the globe.
In this Advent season and the months and years to come that will most certainly include struggle, how will we not only seek love and justice, but also provide peace? From our ancestors and from every chapter of the history of liberation, it would benefit us to learn that we must make peace like we make love or we will flame out. In a world where for so many there is no peace, Middle, how do we be sanctuary for one another, how do we be a place of peace?
Friend, if peace is the furthest thing from your state of mind or being, come be with us. We are doing our best to make peace for you this season. And if peace is running like a river in your soul, if your cup runneth over with peaceful feelings, come be with us. We need some of what you’ve got. Let us together, right here in the Middle of it all, find our way of peace.
So grateful to be in it together,
Macky Alston
Executive Minister and Chief of Staff
Middle Church
PS Come learn from congregations across the country how they are making peace and justice at the Fierce Urgency of Now Conference this April. Tickets are only $99 through the end of this month and are the perfect holiday gifts for friends and family. Don’t wait until the new year. Prices go up on the 1st!
PPS As Rev. Micah prayed: “May we be nourished by a constant flow of spiritual, emotional, and financial support, rebuilding a new hope and a renewed home for all that we have been, all that we are, and all that we will be.” Do not forget to make your year-end pledge, so that Middle continues to make love, joy, justice, and peace for generations to come!
Macky Alston