WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.540 I was walking to the park yesterday with the family and came across some new graffiti just 00:00:07.540 --> 00:00:07.540 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:35.200 okay walked on a bit further don't waste your time on Christmas it's a con 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:45.980 a little bit further Santa is Satan see what they've done a clever little move with the letters 00:00:45.980 --> 00:00:56.640 it's easy to be cynical about Christmas isn't it particularly if you've been through a few 00:00:56.640 --> 00:01:02.780 now what was interesting actually we got a bit further somebody had written then Jesus is the 00:01:02.780 --> 00:01:07.900 God man and they'd written so like drawn some ichthys fishes so I think this was maybe kind of 00:01:07.900 --> 00:01:16.620 Christian graffiti but certainly cynical but cynicism I think can easily creep in this time 00:01:16.620 --> 00:01:20.120 of year maybe you're there at the minute this evening you're thinking to yourself why on earth 00:01:20.120 --> 00:01:28.740 am I making all this fuss why am I doing this again another year for one day it's just one day 00:01:28.740 --> 00:01:37.260 what's the point maybe you're asking yourself does this all whatever this all is all the stuff that 00:01:37.260 --> 00:01:45.040 you do at this time of year does this all really matter does Christmas really make a difference to 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:53.500 my life does it actually do anything to address the problems that I face day by day the struggles 00:01:53.500 --> 00:02:01.660 that I go through the hardships that I have to wrestle with day in and day out it feels in some ways that this 00:02:01.660 --> 00:02:08.099 time of year with all of the expectation that comes with it that that's just another burden that's just 00:02:08.099 --> 00:02:16.919 another struggle it's easy to look around I think perhaps like these graffiti artists had done to 00:02:16.919 --> 00:02:22.919 look around at all the commercialism that we see and the way that the the reality of Christmas that we 00:02:22.919 --> 00:02:29.479 as Christians understand gets lost in all of that it's easy for us to see that and just to get cynical 00:02:29.479 --> 00:02:36.959 because we know what Christmas is about we know that we know it's about Mary and Joseph it's about the 00:02:36.960 --> 00:02:41.400 shepherds watching their flocks we know it's about the angels appearing we've been hearing about that 00:02:41.400 --> 00:02:47.580 Sunday by Sunday haven't we over the last few weeks it's about the manger and the baby Jesus it's about 00:02:47.580 --> 00:02:55.939 those three men with the gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh we know that and if we've been around the 00:02:55.939 --> 00:03:05.819 church for any length of time we know that it's about the birth of this child bringing God to us 00:03:05.819 --> 00:03:13.659 God as we heard this morning if you were here taking on flesh and coming to dwell among us what 00:03:13.659 --> 00:03:22.740 theologians call the incarnation we know that but does that actually have any real meaningful significance 00:03:22.740 --> 00:03:31.639 for my day to day does that change anything in my life that's a real question and in some ways it's a 00:03:31.639 --> 00:03:38.579 reasonable question for us to be asking and there's an answer to that question that I want us to see 00:03:38.579 --> 00:03:45.959 this evening it's an answer that is behind if you like that very first Christmas that Luke describes 00:03:45.959 --> 00:03:50.759 in the reading that we had just there in Luke chapter one so if you can open that up again page 00:03:50.759 --> 00:03:56.560 855 Luke chapter one that's where we're going to be this evening see we may know what Christmas is 00:03:56.560 --> 00:04:02.120 about but do we know how we got here in the first place do we know the significance of what happened 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:07.879 that first Christmas into the context in which it came see the first Christmas doesn't just come out 00:04:07.879 --> 00:04:17.060 of nowhere there is a backstory and of course it's true that that story the backstory goes all the way 00:04:17.060 --> 00:04:22.259 back to the very beginning of time again we heard that this morning from John chapter one you could say 00:04:22.259 --> 00:04:27.819 it goes further back than that into the eternal mind of God but there's also a more immediate backstory 00:04:27.819 --> 00:04:34.480 to the birth of Christ that we could easily miss and when we perhaps particularly those of us that 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:39.360 have been Christian for a while we've been in the church for a long time this season comes around and we 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:44.759 read the narratives again and again and again and they're just very familiar but we could easily miss this 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:51.279 the backstory of the birth of Christ that is so very important and the reason it's very important is 00:04:51.279 --> 00:05:00.599 because of the parallels with our day today what I mean by that well Luke in the first four verses 00:05:00.599 --> 00:05:07.339 of his gospel he's told us his goal in writing he's written it in order to give assurance certainty about 00:05:07.339 --> 00:05:13.579 the things that have happened but after that verse five he roots us in a very specific time and place 00:05:13.579 --> 00:05:21.459 with the words look at verse five in the day in the days of king of herod king of judea when he says that 00:05:21.459 --> 00:05:26.699 he is rooting us at a particular point in history and he's reminding us of the political environment of 00:05:26.699 --> 00:05:36.579 the day the kind of rule that God's people were under when the events of that first christmas unfolded 00:05:36.579 --> 00:05:45.819 herod was a jewish king his leadership was marked we know by two qualities two qualities vanity and 00:05:45.819 --> 00:05:56.759 insecurity now what that meant is that whatever he did he did to serve himself but he also knew that 00:05:56.759 --> 00:06:02.959 he was only a pawn in the wider roman empire he was given his commission to rule by mark anthony and so 00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:08.539 he knew he could be removed at any point so these two qualities marked his leadership vanity and 00:06:08.539 --> 00:06:17.539 insecurity swagger on the one hand and terror on the other and leaders who use their position for their 00:06:17.539 --> 00:06:23.879 own ends and who live in constant fear of being found out or kicked out by those above them 00:06:23.879 --> 00:06:33.300 well they're usually controlling and they're usually very heavy-handed and herod we know was just like 00:06:33.300 --> 00:06:42.659 that and god's people had to live under that dark and difficult and painful regime to be a christian 00:06:42.659 --> 00:06:49.540 as it were to use the kind of parlance we would use today to follow god back then under him was very 00:06:49.540 --> 00:07:04.420 difficult indeed it wasn't popular it wasn't incentivized it wasn't easy but more than that herod ruled from 37 to 4 bc 00:07:04.420 --> 00:07:12.980 which means there was a further level of pain for god's people to deal with in those days and that is 00:07:12.980 --> 00:07:25.680 that god hadn't spoken for 400 years there had been no prophets for four centuries of course they still 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:32.100 had the words from the previous prophets they still had the promises of god and the history of of uh 00:07:32.100 --> 00:07:39.140 their life together but generations of israelites had been born had lived their lives and had died 00:07:39.139 --> 00:07:46.899 without any revelation from god now they knew that he'd made promises they knew that he promised that 00:07:46.899 --> 00:07:52.180 he would make them a great people that they would be a people who would enjoy his special blessing in a 00:07:52.180 --> 00:08:00.219 particular place a special land they knew that but what had happened to those promises you see knowing 00:08:00.219 --> 00:08:06.279 the promises in and of themselves almost made it worse because of what had been promised the hope that was 00:08:06.279 --> 00:08:12.599 attached to those promises made the fact that those promises didn't seem to be coming to pass all the more 00:08:12.599 --> 00:08:27.239 difficult living under tyrannical rule under a silent heaven in what felt like very very dark days 00:08:27.240 --> 00:08:38.980 where is god in times like that now that's a question that our culture has been asking and i think has been 00:08:38.980 --> 00:08:46.919 asking in renewed ways over the last few years and when things are difficult where is god that question 00:08:46.919 --> 00:08:53.159 was everywhere during covet i don't know if you noticed that where is god when our leaders take away 00:08:53.159 --> 00:08:59.480 our freedoms where is god when they stop uh when the state stops us seeing our loved ones 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:06.199 and i've noticed that the question comes uh in different forms more recently as well maybe you've 00:09:06.199 --> 00:09:14.199 noticed this too cost of living crisis where is your god foolish governments that seem to act without 00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:25.960 accountability where is your god wars conflict all kinds of things being done by people and influence 00:09:25.960 --> 00:09:32.520 and authority over us that make our lives difficult or make lives terrible for other people where is your god 00:09:33.480 --> 00:09:40.440 insecure leaders who do what they do to serve themselves and they don't care what effect it has on others 00:09:40.440 --> 00:09:44.920 where is your god 00:09:47.880 --> 00:09:51.560 we know too don't we that it's not just the culture that's asking these questions 00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:57.000 these are questions that we're asking in the church as well these are questions that we as christians 00:09:57.000 --> 00:10:03.480 find ourselves asking questions that creep into our heads of course we may not verbalize them because 00:10:03.480 --> 00:10:07.480 well we're christians and we're not supposed to be thinking like that that's what we've told 00:10:07.480 --> 00:10:13.879 ourselves but yet those questions are there when the darkness closes in in our lives when things are 00:10:13.879 --> 00:10:21.480 hard for whatever reason the tyranny of others the tyranny of temptation the struggle with our own sin that seems 00:10:21.480 --> 00:10:27.159 to dog us all the time that oppressive regime of our sinful nature 00:10:27.159 --> 00:10:36.679 just snapping on our heels all the time it feels like we we resist temptation in one area and then it seems to 00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:44.759 get us somewhere else and we think where is god when this is going on and it feels like heaven is silent it 00:10:44.759 --> 00:10:48.519 feels like when we're praying our prayers nothing's coming back 00:10:48.519 --> 00:10:51.799 what is god doing 00:10:54.199 --> 00:10:54.840 where do we turn 00:10:57.399 --> 00:11:04.360 well if we delve into the christmas backstory we meet people who are faithfully waiting in hard times 00:11:05.799 --> 00:11:09.879 faithfully faithfully waiting in the same kind of struggles that you and i are waiting in 00:11:09.879 --> 00:11:14.200 and the events that unfold here give us grounds to wait 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:20.679 in our lives in faith and with confidence and with hope even when our circumstances are hard 00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:25.879 with more certainty and more confidence than they had we'll get to that in a minute because 00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:32.360 before that very first christmas what we see here is number one point number one of two points this evening point 00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:39.879 number one god breaks his silence that's verses five to twelve verse five in the days of herod king of 00:11:39.879 --> 00:11:45.960 judea there was a priest named zechariah of the division of abijah and he had a wife from the daughters of 00:11:45.960 --> 00:11:51.480 aaron and her name was elizabeth and they were both righteous before god walking blamelessly in all 00:11:51.480 --> 00:11:59.800 the commandments and statutes of the lord but they had no child because elizabeth was barren and both were advanced 00:11:59.799 --> 00:12:02.359 in years 00:12:02.439 --> 00:12:11.240 zechariah and elizabeth who are they and what on earth are they doing here in the story zechariah was a priest 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:19.000 and his wife elizabeth a descendant of the highly regarded ironic ironic related to aaron not ironic 00:12:19.719 --> 00:12:25.879 there's nothing ironic about this priesthood uh uh related to the you might say ironic you know what i'm trying to say 00:12:25.879 --> 00:12:35.240 aaron that priesthood they're from good stock that's what that means and they're devout verse six righteous 00:12:35.240 --> 00:12:40.600 before god devoted to his law they are blameless not sinless to be blameless means that they are 00:12:40.600 --> 00:12:47.559 obedient to the law they're following the statutes of the law so they've got good heritage they are good 00:12:47.559 --> 00:12:56.679 spiritually but verse seven they're childless to be childless uh in this context would have been a 00:12:56.679 --> 00:13:01.399 disgrace to the couple especially to the woman verse 25 look at verse 25 thus the lord has done this for 00:13:01.399 --> 00:13:08.439 me taken away my reproach there was disgrace that was associated in that culture with that verse 18 00:13:08.440 --> 00:13:17.240 we're told time has advanced beyond them on this one we're supposed to see them as a devout godly sincere 00:13:17.240 --> 00:13:19.080 but largely insignificant couple 00:13:21.640 --> 00:13:26.760 then one day zechariah is chosen by lot to perform the incense offering at the temple now 00:13:26.760 --> 00:13:31.880 this is done twice a day so that incense was always burning and the the burning of the incense 00:13:31.879 --> 00:13:38.120 the smoke going up it symbolized the prayers of the people proceeding up to god now this was a once in a 00:13:38.120 --> 00:13:47.240 lifetime thing for zechariah he would intercede for the nation in the place where god dwells it couldn't 00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:54.200 have been any bigger for him the assembled worshipers are praying outside for the redemption for the 00:13:54.200 --> 00:14:01.320 deliverance of israel from the darkness of herod's rule and it is zechariah's job plain old ordinary zechariah 00:14:01.960 --> 00:14:10.200 to go in and to offer the incense that it was thought brought these prayers up to god symbolize the prayers passing up to god this was a 00:14:10.200 --> 00:14:19.000 massive privilege a huge honor for him whatever zechariah felt about that however delighted he was about that however 00:14:19.320 --> 00:14:25.080 intimidated he was about the responsibility that would be quickly forgotten in light of what happens next look at verse 11 00:14:25.080 --> 00:14:33.639 and there appeared to him an angel of the lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense 00:14:34.360 --> 00:14:40.920 and zechariah was troubled when he saw him and fear fell upon him i bet it did 00:14:42.759 --> 00:14:49.240 angels in the bible are terrifying creatures boys and girls you know uh when um when you see an angel in 00:14:49.240 --> 00:14:57.560 in a in a book or something like that it's a fairly innocuous looking kind of uh creature with like wings and um um did i just say 00:14:57.560 --> 00:15:07.399 innocuous to the children um fairly uh harmless like insignificant uh kind of creature with these kind of wings and 00:15:07.399 --> 00:15:10.519 whatever and a bit like smiley face and stuff that's not what angels are really like 00:15:10.519 --> 00:15:16.919 angels in the bible when they confront people the people are terrified 00:15:21.319 --> 00:15:29.879 and this one we're told verse 19 is called gabriel he shows up zechariah is scared 00:15:29.879 --> 00:15:51.320 this angel has come from the the white hot holiness the presence of majesty perfection no wonder he's so 00:15:51.320 --> 00:15:57.080 terrifying but his purpose in coming isn't just to strike fear in zechariah just for the sake of fear 00:15:57.080 --> 00:16:06.680 fear it is to bring a message from god and verse 19 this message you see is good news i am gabriel i 00:16:06.680 --> 00:16:11.960 stand in the presence of god and i was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news 00:16:15.080 --> 00:16:22.840 god is breaking his silence god's word is coming to his people once again centuries have passed heaven 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:31.800 been silent god is speaking again heaven is no longer shut up and what i want us to see is that this 00:16:31.800 --> 00:16:38.519 isn't just significant for zechariah or for those in the days of herod this is rev this revelation is 00:16:38.519 --> 00:16:47.879 good news for you and me as well you see in our waiting in your pain in your sadness in the frustration of 00:16:47.879 --> 00:16:54.039 our living under destructive leaders in our living through the personal struggles of our sin this 00:16:54.039 --> 00:17:00.679 word from heaven all these years ago fires hope down through history it fires hope through the whole 00:17:00.679 --> 00:17:09.319 cosmos why because the word brings change because we discover our second point god breaks his silence but 00:17:09.319 --> 00:17:14.839 he breaks his silence in order to keep his promise point number two god keeps his promise 00:17:17.480 --> 00:17:21.159 the priests drew lots to describe to decide who offered incense 00:17:23.000 --> 00:17:31.079 drawing lots was like um uh like stick your hand the bag see who gets the who gets the the highest 00:17:31.079 --> 00:17:35.960 number that kind of thing like a chance type thing but the book of proverbs tells us that every decision is 00:17:35.960 --> 00:17:44.200 from the lord the lord decides what number you pull out so he's drawn the lot but it's god getting 00:17:44.200 --> 00:17:45.960 zechariah to where he wants him to be 00:17:48.680 --> 00:17:55.079 and god is getting zechariah on his own to tell him that he keeps his promise look at verse 13 the angel 00:17:55.079 --> 00:18:01.079 said to him do not be afraid zechariah your prayer has been heard and your wife elizabeth will bear you a 00:18:01.079 --> 00:18:07.240 son and you shall call his name john and you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:13.319 birth for he he will be great before the lord and he must not drink wine or strong drink and he will be 00:18:13.319 --> 00:18:18.199 filled with the holy spirit even from his mother's womb and he will turn many of the children of israel 00:18:18.199 --> 00:18:23.799 to the lord their god and he will go before him in the spirit and the power of elijah turn the hearts of 00:18:23.799 --> 00:18:29.319 the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready for the lord a 00:18:29.319 --> 00:18:37.879 people prepared zechariah's prayer has been heard he's been told i heard your prayer what prayer 00:18:39.079 --> 00:18:43.000 well some people think it's the prayer that him and his wife would have been praying for many years to 00:18:43.000 --> 00:18:48.119 have a baby but i don't think that that's the case because remember where zechariah is 00:18:51.319 --> 00:18:55.639 he's having his big moment in the temple offering incense for the prayers of the nation 00:18:55.640 --> 00:19:02.440 now it's likely that those prayers were set prayers there was a liturgy that went with that and they 00:19:02.440 --> 00:19:08.040 they were prayers representing the assembled worshipers he was standing in the place that the 00:19:08.040 --> 00:19:14.280 priest stood in representing the people before god praying prayers on behalf of the people and on behalf 00:19:14.280 --> 00:19:19.080 of the nation praying for the messiah to come and to rescue his people 00:19:19.079 --> 00:19:29.559 what's more in the bible when god intervenes to enable a barren couple to have a child so we think 00:19:29.559 --> 00:19:37.240 of abraham and sarah and isaac perhaps rachel and jacob with joseph manoa and his wife with samson elkanah 00:19:37.240 --> 00:19:42.839 and hannah with samuel the child born has a special role in the unfolding promise of the covenant god 00:19:43.480 --> 00:19:49.799 and that is exactly what we discover is going to happen with this one with the birth of john john 00:19:49.799 --> 00:19:55.079 who would be john the baptist he will be great before the lord and his ministry will be unique 00:19:55.079 --> 00:20:00.199 that's why there are these restrictions about strong drink included in there that's why we're told that 00:20:00.199 --> 00:20:04.199 he'd be full of the holy spirit in his mother's womb this is a special child 00:20:04.200 --> 00:20:15.080 with a special ministry a special role to play in the purposes of god and what is the ministry 00:20:17.080 --> 00:20:26.039 his name means god is gracious and he will bring joy and many we're told will rejoice because of him 00:20:26.039 --> 00:20:30.200 he will bring many of the wandering israelites those who think that god has forgotten him 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:35.720 those who think that the silence from heaven has been too long he will bring many of them back to the 00:20:35.720 --> 00:20:40.840 lord and he will have the spirit and power of elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children 00:20:40.840 --> 00:20:46.279 and he'll turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous and he will do all of this 00:20:48.519 --> 00:20:51.960 as a preparation for the coming of the lord 00:20:51.960 --> 00:20:57.559 as the angel speaks as this 00:21:00.279 --> 00:21:04.680 earth-shattering moment for zechariah in the presence of the heavenly voice 00:21:06.039 --> 00:21:09.319 as that comes the bells would have been ringing in his head 00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:18.039 because all that is being described here is the fulfillment of what god had promised previously for 00:21:18.039 --> 00:21:25.639 the forerunner of the messiah the one who would come before the lord jesus so listen to the very last 00:21:25.639 --> 00:21:32.119 words of the old testament malachi chapter 4 god's last words before this moment in the temple with 00:21:32.119 --> 00:21:39.240 zechariah behold says the lord i will send you elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the 00:21:39.240 --> 00:21:43.480 lord comes and he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to 00:21:43.480 --> 00:21:49.400 their fathers lest i come and strike the land with a degree of utter destruction with a curse 00:21:53.960 --> 00:22:01.160 i don't need to tell you this do i but the bible isn't the story of two gods as is popularly thought 00:22:01.160 --> 00:22:06.759 by some people the old testament is the bad god the new testament is the good god but that's that's not 00:22:06.759 --> 00:22:13.720 the case the bible is one story weaving together god's dealings with his people and i suppose to 00:22:13.720 --> 00:22:19.240 put it crudely the later material is an explanation of how god fulfills the promises of the earlier 00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:27.879 material the bible is one story with this thread that weaves all the way through and points us to the 00:22:27.879 --> 00:22:36.200 lord jesus zechariah's name means yahweh has remembered again and that's exactly what's happening 00:22:36.759 --> 00:22:41.960 exactly what's happening here how did the old testament close it closed with a promise 00:22:43.160 --> 00:22:47.879 that before the great and awesome day of the lord before the arrival of god's messiah 00:22:50.200 --> 00:22:52.039 he would send elijah to prepare the way 00:22:55.559 --> 00:22:59.480 long time ago i went to see you too in concert in dublin 00:22:59.480 --> 00:23:09.240 and um i went down with some friends and we we we headed to the stadium we went early because we 00:23:09.240 --> 00:23:14.519 didn't want it was at lansdowne road as was and we didn't want to be miles away at the back so we went 00:23:14.519 --> 00:23:19.640 early so we'd be up near the front and get a good view now in order to get near the front you need to go 00:23:19.640 --> 00:23:25.400 hours ahead of time and so we brought our picnic and we brought our stuff and you know a paper and 00:23:25.400 --> 00:23:35.000 book and whatever and we waited and we waited and the picnic ran out and we'd exhausted conversation 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:40.040 with the other party souls that had done the same read the paper think some of us even had a snooze 00:23:41.560 --> 00:23:50.040 and then the first warm-up act came out and the whole mood changed all of a sudden people were getting up 00:23:50.039 --> 00:23:54.119 out everything was different 00:23:56.839 --> 00:23:59.000 people were starting to get excited why not because 00:23:59.720 --> 00:24:02.279 some random band came on i can't even tell you who they were 00:24:03.000 --> 00:24:06.359 but because that meant that the real show was about to come 00:24:08.359 --> 00:24:11.319 he was getting close bono was getting close 00:24:14.119 --> 00:24:15.799 it's a bit like that with the arrival of john 00:24:15.799 --> 00:24:22.519 he's signaling to god's people as one author put it the son to be born will fulfill the biblical 00:24:22.519 --> 00:24:28.039 promises that had spoken of god sending someone to prepare israel for the coming divine visitation 00:24:28.039 --> 00:24:34.599 gabriel tells zechariah that this will be john's task he's coming to do the job that is going to bring 00:24:34.599 --> 00:24:35.319 the messiah 00:24:37.960 --> 00:24:40.759 when john arrives you know the next thing that's going to happen 00:24:40.759 --> 00:24:47.640 is that the messiah is going to come so god is remembering and he's keeping his promises 00:24:48.920 --> 00:24:56.279 things are unfolding out of the darkness exactly as god wants you know that in your struggles the delay 00:24:56.279 --> 00:25:04.039 that you feel for god intervening in your life is only a delay that you feel the heavenly courts things 00:25:04.039 --> 00:25:05.559 are running exactly the time 00:25:08.039 --> 00:25:14.680 this was great news for the people in zechariah's day the long-for messiah is coming but how much more joy 00:25:14.680 --> 00:25:20.680 how much more confidence in god can we have from where we stand from our position in history 00:25:21.720 --> 00:25:24.200 we're the other side of all that john preceded 00:25:24.200 --> 00:25:32.120 we can see that the messiah did come he came exactly as planned that first christmas 00:25:34.039 --> 00:25:36.360 and he did bring salvation to the world 00:25:39.559 --> 00:25:44.519 as we think about this we have to remember that this backstory reminds us of what came first it is a 00:25:44.519 --> 00:25:56.759 very human story of silence and sadness a story of drama in the life of one ordinary insignificant couple 00:25:57.960 --> 00:26:05.639 and that is where god meets his people god meets us in our stories of silence and sadness of the unfolding 00:26:05.639 --> 00:26:07.079 drama of ordinary people 00:26:07.079 --> 00:26:16.839 we often uh people often think that christmas is a time to escape reality that's an attitude that lots of 00:26:16.839 --> 00:26:25.000 people in our culture take isn't it we party and we purchase and we pretend because it numbs the pain 00:26:25.000 --> 00:26:32.199 of reality for a while it's a way of getting away from the things that make life difficult but to do that 00:26:32.200 --> 00:26:40.279 that misses all that was happening the very first time because christmas is a story of reality 00:26:42.440 --> 00:26:47.960 but there is more to say because look notice how it's also a story of doubt did you see that um as it 00:26:47.960 --> 00:26:57.080 was read see how zechariah responds to all of this an angel appears the heavens open it's terrifying 00:26:57.079 --> 00:27:02.359 gabriel speaks zechariah says verse 18 oh no no hang on a sec 00:27:06.759 --> 00:27:11.559 how shall i know this verse 18 i'm an old man my wife's advanced in years 00:27:14.119 --> 00:27:19.559 with all that's gone on you think to yourself come on zechariah think if we'd been there we would 00:27:19.559 --> 00:27:25.639 have responded differently we would have believed him we would have taken it on faith but let's be 00:27:25.640 --> 00:27:31.720 honest with ourselves we struggle to trust god's promises in the midst of our own silence and sadness 00:27:32.440 --> 00:27:33.320 every bit as much 00:27:36.600 --> 00:27:44.520 you want to say zechariah what's wrong with you but his weak half faith here is more than some of us can 00:27:44.520 --> 00:27:52.120 muster when god tells us that his plans to save the world to redeem this mess are still on track even 00:27:52.119 --> 00:28:00.119 though he can't see it christmas rolls around every year we sing the songs we tell the stories of the 00:28:00.119 --> 00:28:07.399 in-breaking of god into the world the in-breaking of god into the world to save us and to redeem a 00:28:07.399 --> 00:28:15.799 people for himself light and life to all he brings risen with healing in his wings and it washes over us 00:28:15.799 --> 00:28:23.000 because we have our own versions of how shall we know this don't we 00:28:24.599 --> 00:28:28.519 zechariah his reason for not trusting god was i'm an old man and my wife's past 00:28:29.399 --> 00:28:30.359 childbearing age 00:28:32.440 --> 00:28:33.240 what is it for you 00:28:36.519 --> 00:28:41.079 what's the reason what's the functional reason why god can't be trusted in your life 00:28:41.079 --> 00:28:49.480 what do you see as the problem in your life that's too big for god or the reason why you don't feel 00:28:49.480 --> 00:28:55.799 that you can trust him the thing that makes you say how can you be doing good in my life god because 00:28:55.799 --> 00:29:07.000 i don't have this or i have this well listen to this because while zechariah fluffs it and is disciplined 00:29:07.000 --> 00:29:13.720 it doesn't derail god's plan zechariah is rendered mute so when he leaves the temple and the crowd 00:29:13.720 --> 00:29:18.119 are waiting for him to pronounce the benediction there's just silence and hand waving it's an ironic 00:29:18.119 --> 00:29:23.400 judgment isn't it um the god who has broken his silence has rendered zechariah silent 00:29:25.480 --> 00:29:31.480 don't miss that zechariah's failure here doesn't stop god's plan proceeding elizabeth becomes pregnant 00:29:31.480 --> 00:29:35.079 the boy will be born and before long christmas will happen 00:29:38.440 --> 00:29:45.400 god's power and grace will not be thwarted and you will not be saved or otherwise on the basis of 00:29:45.400 --> 00:29:50.839 the strength of your faith you are saved by christ so bring your doubts to him 00:29:53.160 --> 00:29:57.799 bring your doubts to him bring your weak faith to the god who keeps his promises 00:29:57.799 --> 00:30:06.279 and on the basis of those promises will bring you to glory christmas backstory 00:30:07.159 --> 00:30:15.639 shows us that the god of the manger and the magi has already been pouring out his lavish grace and mercy 00:30:15.879 --> 00:30:17.079 to undeserving people 00:30:19.159 --> 00:30:27.240 zechariah and elizabeth demonstrate to us that god is rich in grace and mercy to people who are very ordinary 00:30:28.279 --> 00:30:33.159 and whose faith isn't absolutely bulletproof people like you and me 00:30:36.279 --> 00:30:42.119 and because broke the silence because god broke the silence and kept his promise back then we can 00:30:42.119 --> 00:30:49.079 know with greater confidence that he will do the same in our lives as we wait not for christmas next 00:30:49.079 --> 00:30:58.439 sunday but for the return of christ in glory when he comes again and all of our struggles and hardships 00:30:58.439 --> 00:31:06.199 all of our dramas all of the difficulties all of the pain it will be taken up into that great conclusion on 00:31:06.200 --> 00:31:13.799 that day when the story kind of reaches its end and we'll see then why everything happened the way it did 00:31:15.880 --> 00:31:17.640 but until then we can wait with hope 00:31:17.640 --> 00:31:26.120 not a fingers crossed hope not a kind of hope for the best you know here's hoping but a biblical hope a 00:31:26.600 --> 00:31:31.720 certain that i'm clinging to the god who keeps his promises no matter what kind of hope 00:31:31.720 --> 00:31:39.480 because that's what we need when heaven feels like it's silent that's what we need when life is tough 00:31:39.480 --> 00:31:44.200 that's what we need when there are people who interfere with our lives in ways that make them difficult 00:31:44.200 --> 00:31:54.039 he kept his word in the past and he'll do it again in the future so yes yes don't fall for the lie of christmas 00:31:55.000 --> 00:32:01.000 the lie that says it's just for the kids or the lie that says it's not worth celebrating the lie that says 00:32:01.000 --> 00:32:08.920 oh it's not worth it for one day the lie that says oh it doesn't change anything it does changes everything 00:32:10.759 --> 00:32:11.319 let's pray