Universal Signing

I can only imagine the joy that filled Zechariah’s and Elizabeth’s house when the baby boy was born to them in their old age. Zechariah’s still not talking when the day comes to circumcise and name the baby, so the community takes it into their own hands and begins to name the boy after his father. But Elizabeth in a moment of boldness spoke up, “No! He is to be called John.” Luke 1:60 The people are confused and look to Zechariah. Scripture says that they “made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child.” Luke 1:62 I find this hilarious, but true today as well. When we talk to someone who has laryngitis, we whisper because they are whispering. John wasn’t deaf. He didn’t need the signs. But he couldn’t speak, so he had come up with sign language over the past nine months and when that failed, he used paper to write on. He wrote, “His name is John.” Luke 1:63. Now it is obvious that he believes that John is special just as the angel Gabriel had told him. He’s had nine months to think about it and I’m guessing he did a lot of talking to God during those nine months (in sign language, of course) and probably he did a good bit of listening as well.

I got to pondering sign language a bit and find it somewhat of a play on words. Zechariah had to use sign language to communicate because he needed a sign in order to believe what Gabriel had told him about the birth of John. And as I thought more about signing, I thought about how sign language is built on concepts more than spelling of words and there is a lot that can be communicated across language barriers. So maybe sign language should become the universal language that we use to communicate and then it wouldn’t matter if we spoke Spanish, English, German, or Russian. We could communicate.

And another thought is that God uses sign language all the time. “For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Romans 1:20

Once Zechariah got his voice back, he “was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: ‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David… And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.’” John 1:67-69; 76-79

John was given his job description before he was even born. And at birth, it was confirmed. He was to sound the horn of salvation – to call people to repentance. He would call people back to their God, preparing the way for Jesus, the Messiah. I’m sure Zechariah and Elizabeth taught John his job description as he grew. “And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.” Luke 1:80

I wonder why John needed to live in the desert. Maybe it was so that he wouldn’t be tainted by the ‘dead religion’ and he would be able to hear God’s voice. He had a big job to do and it meant a lot of preparation was needed. He had to be totally in touch with God and hear God’s voice. It could not be drowned out by anything.

I wonder how much I drown out the voice of God just by daily living. Do I take time to come away and quiet the electronics and voices of others and just listen to God? God still has a message for the world and he still needs willing servants to prepare the way. Am I willing to come away and let God prepare me to be a voice calling out in the darkness of this world, letting people know a new light has dawned?