Christmas On Mute

[0:00] I wasn't going to leave you waiting nine months.! What if you could suddenly not speak anymore?

[0:12] ! What if your words suddenly went silent?! All of the words that you have ever said, find out today that you've used all the words that you could ever say in your entire life.

[0:37] Everything that you should have said, everything that you wished you had said, you no longer had an opportunity. And everything that you should not have said, you cannot take back.

[0:52] Many times we are so careless with words. We use words like we have an unending supply.

[1:02] Like a rich man who doesn't value the coins in his pocket, because he's got so many. Words matter. Our words matter.

[1:13] Proverbs 17 says, whoever restrains his words has knowledge. And he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise.

[1:26] When he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent. Or as your mother or father might say, think before you speak.

[1:36] What would you do if you were told today by a doctor or professional, you only have around about a thousand words left that you will ever say?

[1:48] And then your voice will be gone. How careful would you be? How considered and measured would your words be? What would your last words be on this earth?

[2:02] Frank Sinatra might have said, I did it my way. But actually his last words recorded were actually, I'm losing.

[2:18] That was his final words. Marie Antoinette, the last Queen of France, was led to the guillotine to have her head chopped off.

[2:32] She accidentally stood on her executioner's foot. And her very last words on this earth were, pardonnez-moi, monsieur, je ne le pas fait d'esprit.

[2:45] Pardon me, sir, I didn't do it on purpose. That was her last words. When Benjamin Franklin's daughter told him on his deathbed to change position so that he could breathe more easily, his last words before he died were, a dying man can do nothing easy.

[3:06] And John the Baptist was miraculously born to an old priest, Zechariah, and his barren wife, Elizabeth. The angel was sent to him to bring him good news.

[3:21] He would have a son who would prepare the way for the Messiah, God's son. And although these would not be the last words of Zechariah before he died, before becoming mute for a very long time, his last words, given to a glorious angel of the Lord were, How shall I know this?

[3:45] For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years. The last words of this dedicated and blameless priest uttered in the temple to an angel expressed unbelief.

[4:02] He wanted a sign. And he was given a difficult one. He was made mute for nine months. I've often wondered about why this happened to him and not Mary when Mary asked a similar question.

[4:17] She asked the angel how it would be. But I realized for a long time I've not been looking very carefully at the Bible. When Mary asked the angel, how will this be since I am a virgin?

[4:31] She wasn't doubting that the thing would be fulfilled as we heard. Elizabeth, her cousin, said, blessed are you for believing that the thing would be fulfilled.

[4:43] So when she said, how will this be? She wasn't doubting it would be fulfilled. She was asking about the mechanics of how it would happen since she was a virgin. You know the song, Mary, did you know?

[4:56] One thing that we know that Mary did know, for some reason she seemed to know that what the angel said didn't mean that she would have a child with Joseph.

[5:10] For whatever reason, she knew that the angel didn't mean just wait until you consummate your marriage with Joseph, and then you'll conceive a child. She knew that this was somehow more immediate.

[5:22] Maybe it was because the angel said it would be the son of the Most High. It can't be Joseph's son. Or maybe it was just something about the angel's announcement. She knew it would happen immediately.

[5:34] And since her and Joseph couldn't legally consummate their betrothal, she knew it must be without Joseph. But either way, Mary didn't doubt that it would happen.

[5:45] She just asked how it would happen. But what I hadn't noticed was, if you look at what Zechariah says, just a few verses earlier in Luke chapter 1, Zechariah doesn't ask the same thing.

[5:59] He doesn't say, how will this be since I'm old and Elizabeth is barren. He asks, how will I know this? And it makes a world of difference.

[6:13] Because he's not asking about the mechanics of it. He's asking for more evidence. Okay, there's an angel of the Lord standing right in front of me in the middle of the temple.

[6:25] And I'm a priest who've served many years, probably taught about Abraham and Sarah miraculously having a child. Standing with a glorious archangel of the Lord, telling him these things.

[6:38] And he's saying, but how will I know? How will I know? Give me a sign. The angel says, okay, I'll give you a sign. While standing before a glorious and awesome archangel of the Lord, Gabriel no less.

[6:58] Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. And not only does Zechariah see such a sight, he is told by Gabriel, I was sent by God to you.

[7:12] I was told to give you this message. And yet you want more. You want more. This temple priest is asking for assurance, for confirmation, for some evidence, for some sort of way, some sign.

[7:28] So that he knows that what the angel is saying will be true. But this is an angel telling you, Zechariah. Do you see the difference between him and Mary? Do you see the doubt? It's not how will this be?

[7:40] It's how will I know? What would your last words be? What if your last words on this earth were expressing doubt that God would do what he said he would do, despite all the evidence that God has already given in our lifetime?

[8:00] You see, there are many things in life that we can doubt. But when God has already sent his son into the world for all mankind to see, 33 years he lived on this earth, leaving an imprint that turned the world upside down.

[8:17] Every religion acknowledges Jesus. His name has been ringing throughout the world and throughout the centuries, ever since he stepped onto this earth. The prophetic evidence, the manuscript evidence, the historical evidence, the archaeological evidence, the scientific evidence, enemy attestation, eyewitness accounts, the apostle John rightly said, that if every one of the things that Jesus did would be to be written down, the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

[8:47] So when we think about Christmas, when we think about the birth of Jesus and all that was said about this child, and then we consider all that has happened in history, contained in history, written in the Bible, passed down through the generations to our very ears today, how will we respond to all that God has done?

[9:15] When we consider that God sent his son into the world to make God visible, to shine a light on the darkness in this world, to show us that he is the way, to give his life as a ransom for our sin, to save us from perishing, to reconcile us to God and to renew us and give us eternal life, do we still say, but how will I know that all of this is true?

[9:45] Give me another sign, God. Son of God walking on this earth in astounding miracles, and words like no other fulfilling prophecy, and hanging on a cross for the whole world to see, is it not enough?

[10:02] When it comes to our words, we could probably use fewer words. Certainly at times we could use more measured and considered words. Think about this Christmas, if you have any of us have a grudge with anyone, consider how the Lord has forgiven us.

[10:22] Let us not persist to withhold words to other people who have offended us far less than we've offended God. Certainly let's be careful not to use our words to tear down any of God's creatures who are made in his image.

[10:38] Let us use words to build one another up and love one another. If we only had a few words left to ever speak, perhaps this Christmas is a good opportunity to speak words of truth with other people who need to hear, as the angel said, this good news.

[11:01] Finally, as I was thinking about poor old Zechariah, he was able to speak again. God gave him a voice again.

[11:14] And it says in Luke 164 that immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he spoke, in God. If we have any words in our bodies this Christmas period, may we use these words to bless God.

[11:32] The entire book of Psalms finishes up in saying, let everything that has breath praise the Lord. And so two things that any human being on this earth can do this Christmas.

[11:47] Christmas. Number one, if you have breath, praise God, because he's the one who gave you it. And number two, if you consider all the evidence that God has given for his son Jesus, then we can believe that God can do all that he promised. Nothing is impossible to God.

[12:09] One day we will run out of words. One day we will run out of breath. But like Zechariah, God will give us a voice again. And even from the grave and from the sky, the voice of countless angels and resurrected people will all be proclaiming Jesus as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and he shall be praised forevermore.

[12:37] Let us consider these things. Amen.