Luke 1:5-7
In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
Planets follow an orbit. Mercury, nearest the sun, tracks closest to its star. Others are more far-flung in their orbits. Nevertheless, the sun is always their orientation even if each trace distinctively. Earth may be aware of the orbit of Mars, but the two do not collide. Each has its own track. I doubt anyone on earth is concerned about climate change on Saturn or the local interests of Jupiter because the orbit of earth matters most to us. Three orbits are noted here in Luke's Gospel. The public, civil orbit was Herod's. He was the Judean king who both brilliantly and brutally governed the Jewish people. His authority came from God who limits the reach of government which can only move well when it stays within the path of God's design to foster order, protect civilians, and administer affairs of the world with justice.
A second orbit is that of the holy ministry. Priests and their divisions who ministered in the house of the Lord were drawn in their orbit near the presence of God. Among them was godly Zechariah whose virtuous wife also came from a priestly family. Zechariah held the duty and privilege to minister the Lord's heavenly gifts, offer holy sacrifices, and lead the people's prayers.
The third orbit was private and personal, the marriage of Zechariah and Elizabeth. Though long and loving, their union had produced no child. Perhaps early in the arc of their life together they anticipated and hoped for children yet never foresaw where the orbit of their lives would lead them.
Each of us has an orbit as well.
Sometimes you feel as if no one else understands the solitary track you follow. So bound to their own affairs and schedules, no one appreciates your hardships or respects your triumphs. Is this meant to be? Are we solitary voyagers trailing a lonely path which too frequently veers into darkness?
For example, Herod quit the way of justice and made friendless tracks to his own ruin. Zechariah faltered in his faith, doubted God's Word, and soon was alone in his silence, not even knowing how to speak. Elizabeth's silent humiliation was her barrenness, another sad and isolating path. Each needed Christ just as each of us need him. Just as every orbit needs a point of orientation and reference, so every person needs God's Savior as the source and center of our lives.
As the centrum for every terrestrial orbit is the sun, so the heart and polestar of our lives is Christ. Whether in the civil realm, the church, or in our personal lives, we need Christ.
The only orbit both safe and free is that which is oriented to Christ; safe because He holds us to Himself by the loving pull and universal magnetism of the Gospel, and free because He gives us divine blessings so vast and good that even all creation cannot contain them.
What orbit are you in? No doubt it has its civil duties, sacred benefits, and personal features unlike that given to anyone else. But you are fundamentally bound to Christ by your baptism. But if the one secure orbit should swerve from Christ to revolve around anything but Him, that other way is neither safe nor free -- as Herod tragically discovered.
Zechariah and Elizabeth were drawn by the Gospel. They joyfully received a son lately born who would herald the rising of the Son of Righteousness. The good news of Christ's coming was betokened by the appearance of John, the forerunner and new Elijah.
It would be his distinctive ministry to direct all humanity, not to himself, for as he said he was not worthy to unlace the sandals of Jesus' feet, but to the center, to the Christ, to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, to Him Who is Himself the Way and Orbit of our lives, the Truth and Compass, and the Life which is forever both safe and free.
