Well, thanks, Katie. Lovely to see you this morning, folks.
Particularly if this is your first time with us, you are so welcome today.
And it's a great joy to get into God's Word together.
So if you've got a Bible, please grab it.
If you want to do that on your phone, you can do that as well.
If there's one in the pews in front of you, grab that.
The verses, I'm sure, will be going through them as they go on the screen.
So I did a quick count this morning on my two hands, and it's eight sleeps to Christmas.
So I thought with that in mind, it was a good time to get something off my chest that really annoys me at the time of Advent.
You ready for it?
It's time to come clean.
Here is who I've got beef with.
And it's this guy.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the red suit and the hat.
Big fan of the belly laugh and everything that goes with Santa Claus.
But what gets me every single year is what he's holding in his hand.
Do you see it?
What's he holding in his hand, Innes?
The good or the naughty list.
Gets me every time it's that list.
You know the one that he's keeping?
The one that he's checking twice?
He's trying to work out who's been naughty and nice.
Now, notwithstanding the GDPR implications of his data keeping,
here's the beef that I've got with him.
I've got no idea where I stand with him.
I have got no idea if I've been good enough for Santa.
That's a stress.
I think you'll agree that you don't need this time of year.
Added stress to your life.
You see, Santa's character may be entertaining,
but if we take in his message,
quite frankly, it's exhausting.
Because here's the crux of it.
His present giving is intrinsically connected to our performance keeping.
And honestly, I used to think that the God of the Bible ran a similar kind of setup.
So it worked with him.
He was like some kind of Santa in the sky.
He was out to reward our good behavior.
He was out to punish our bad behavior.
It's how the gods of our imagination and our construction work, isn't it?
And if we think God works like that, maybe that's you here today,
then I've loved hanging out with this man, Zechariah, this week in his song,
because his song blows our minds,
blows all our misconceptions of what the God of the Bible is like out of the water,
because his song is all about how the God of the Bible works.
It's all about how good the God of the Bible is.
And it is so refreshingly good.
So before we go inside his song, though,
we've got to spend some time outside his song,
which helps us understand it.
If you've got a Bible there,
come with me to verse 5 of Luke's gospel.
See, we meet this man, Zechariah,
and we get his job straight off the bat.
What is he?
Do you see it?
He is a priest.
That's his job.
And he's married to this lady called Elizabeth.
And straight off the bat,
Luke wants us to know certain details about their lives.
Do you see?
Verse 6, the two of them are blameless when it comes to living for God.
There are a couple who want to honor him with their lives.
They want to live for the worship of this God.
And we think to ourselves,
if ever there was a couple to make it onto Santa's good list,
surely it was this couple we meet right here in Luke chapter 1.
Do they have rewards in store?
Is life going to go swimmingly for them?
Well, again, if it was according to Santa, that's a straight line that would go.
But not really for this couple here, for there's a massive source of pain that's in their lives.
Do you see it there?
The massive source of pain is that they are old and they can't have a child.
Some of us here, I'm sure, will know the pain of that.
There's a lovely truth about the God of the Bible.
He sees every pain.
He knows every tear.
Disappointment after disappointment.
Hope followed by heartache.
That has been the life story of this two devout couple here.
And to compound it all in this day,
it was thought that childlessness was a sign of sinfulness.
And Luke's helping us see that that simply can't be the case.
There's pain in their life.
And yet when it comes to his day job, though,
do you see things start to take an upswing for Zechariah?
He hits the jackpot.
He's drawn at Lot, not just to minister, do you notice, at the temple, but in the temple.
Verse 9, he enters and he is within feet of the most holy place.
That is the very place where God dwells.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime privilege for Zechariah.
This is the pinnacle, if you like, of his professional career.
And notice the details.
He's at the right side of the altar of incense.
Now, why does that matter?
It matters because in this day, this is the place where the prayers go up.
Prayers of the people, they go up.
And he's there at the hour of incense.
Do you see that?
Again, why is that important?
It's important because at this point,
he and those who gathered outwith to pray,
they're praying particularly for the nation.
They're praying for their people.
And they're praying really simply this,
God, would you come and save us?
And Gabriel appears to him,
God's heard your prayer.
Elizabeth will have a son and his name will be John.
He'll be set apart from the Lord.
Do you see that?
We don't just get his name.
We get his job description, if you like.
We don't just get his lifestyle.
We get his life purpose.
He's going to be the one to get the people ready for the coming of the Savior.
And you think, wow.
And yet Zechariah doesn't believe it at first.
I don't know.
Maybe it's too painful a reality for him to get his head around.
Please don't get my hopes up again.
Of a child.
How will this be?
He says, verse 18.
Which we're to interpret, Luke says,
As disbelief.
Again, if this were up to Santa,
At this point, Zechariah makes a huge mistake.
He would be on Santa's naughty list.
So you think to yourself,
Is God going to move on?
Is God going to pick someone or somewhere else?
Or is even God just going to take him out
Because of his disobedience.
Well, God in classic Zoom call style,
In wonderful grace, make no mistake,
He makes him mute.
Now, have you ever wondered why
God put him on mute?
I've thought about it this week.
I've never actually thought about that before.
Have you ever wondered why God made him silent?
Of all the things that God could have done.
Well, I take it that Zechariah
Watches everything unfold in front of him,
Unable to speak.
I wonder if this just leaves him
With a lot of thinking time.
God needs to do some work in his heart.
Imagine him going home, verse 24.
He sees Elizabeth become pregnant.
Notice the little detail there.
He goes home.
This birth is, pregnancy rather, is marvellous.
It's not miraculous like Jesus' was.
He goes home.
But imagine these two, this old couple.
I'd love to have been in that antenatal class,
Would you not, as that couple walked in there?
Are you here for your grandson?
No, no, no, no.
My wife here is having a baby.
Are you sure?
On their Zimmer frames, in they go.
Imagine him hearing from Elizabeth
That when Mary came to visit them,
At verse 39,
Elizabeth reports to him
How Jesus in her womb,
In Mary's womb rather,
Rejoices at Jesus.
John in her womb rejoices at Jesus
In Mary's womb.
He leaped for joy.
I love the sense of wondrous anticipation
There in that scene.
Don't miss that.
And it's all about the names.
All about the names.
John, whose name means God is gracious,
Is wonderfully and joyfully celebrating in this moment
The presence of Jesus,
Whose name means God saves.
God is gracious meets God saves.
What about those two things have in common?
John's got a lot of thinking time.
Zechariah's got a lot of thinking time.
Has Zechariah got it?
Well, it comes to the names.
Tradition of the day says that the son takes the father's name.
But the suggestion comes from left field from Elizabeth.
Do you see it?
To go for John.
Will the silent Zechariah say the same?
But it's bigger than that.
Will he, having had time to think deeply on these things,
Will he begin to walk by faith
And not by sight?
Grabbing a writing tablet, verse 63.
Love how tablets aren't a modern day invention.
Verse 63, really simply.
We'd love to have thought of him writing this.
His name is John.
And his charades days are over.
He's off mute and his mouth is opened.
And again, notice what he's singing about.
What is it that makes him sing now?
It's not simply that he's having a child.
As glorious as that is.
Because God has been at work in his heart.
What grabs him now is what God is doing
In this moment.
In the arrival of his son.
And on a side note,
Isn't it interesting how Luke lets us know
Just how much this whole episode
It grabbed the attention of the neighbours?
Do you not love that?
As they looked in and they saw
That God was up to something.
God was breaking in here.
He was working in marvellous ways
In the hearts and the lives
Of those who were faithful to him
In this household.
And as they saw the worship and wonder
That filled
Zechariah and Elizabeth's house.
And as they hear Zechariah praising God
Like he's never praised him before.
Do you think that made an impact on them?
Verse 65
You bet it did.
They were filled with awe.
It really made me think this week
About my neighbours
Both physically
But also those who I rub shoulders with every day.
Do they see me celebrating Christmas
With the joy of this household here?
So we step inside this man's song
This old man
Whose heart has been so deeply captured by grace
And it's a lovely picture of what the gospel does
Do you see how we've got Mary, this young girl?
Her song is a deeply personal one
And yet we also have Zechariah, this old priest
His song is a beautifully corporate one
Even there do you see how this gospel
This good news of good joy
Is for everyone
It's all strata of society
As this priest
He maybe reflects on the mess
That he and his people have made of things
Over the years
By their foolish choices and their sin
And the wonder that this God
He acts
Not like Santa
He doesn't reward performance
He doesn't
Act on the basis of our performance
No, no, no
He works according to his promise
A promise that snowballs down the ages
With prophet after prophet
That centres on a king
And that's what's implied there
By, if you're wondering about that language
The horn of salvation
Verse 69
That's what that means
It means God's going to raise up a king
What is it about this king
That gets Zechariah singing?
Really quickly
It's two things
Firstly, that he is a king of might
He will save us from our enemies
Now, Zechariah at that point
May well have been thinking about
The occupying Romans in his mind
But equally, given that he mentions
The forgiveness of sin at verse 77
There must be a sense in which he realises
That the biggest problem for him and his people in life
By a country mile
Is their failings
Their sin against this God
The sin, that defiance that starts
In the attitude of our hearts
Against our creator
This holy God
The sin that's turned us in on ourselves
That is seen in so much of the selfishness
That pervades our actions
That's our biggest problem in life
Bigger than climate change
Bigger than economic uncertainty
Bigger than political instability
Our biggest problem in life
Is our sin against this holy God
You know, spiritually speaking
We are like those workers
Who were trapped in that mine in India
A few weeks ago
Imagine their sense of utter helplessness
And that's how the Bible speaks
Of our situation out with Jesus
We are lost
We are helpless
You know, I've got a good friend Andy
Who works as a pastor down in Nidri
One of those economically deprived areas
Of our city
And he always says this
After 12 or 15 years of working there
He says the biggest problem we have
In our community here is not poverty
As big as that is
It's not poverty
It's pride
See the language here
From the slave market
Verse 68
That God is going to redeem us
He's going to buy us back
The language from the gladiators
Arena
Verse 71
This God is going to deliver us
You see, this king has come
To deal with the penalty
That is due to us
Because of our rebellion against him
That's the language the Bible uses
To help us understand
What this child would grow up to be
As he heads towards the cross
You know, the crucifixion
Was not the sad anticlimax
To a life that promised so much
No, actually the cross of Christ
Is the very crown and glory
Of this king's mission
And for what purpose
And I love seeing this in the passage
Please see it
Verse 75
What is the purpose of all this?
That we might serve him
Without fear
Because of this king
When you accept him
There is no sense of dread
And nervousness
As we come before this God
No, no, no, no
He doesn't have a Jekyll and Hyde
Kind of heart
Towards his people
He acts to take away our sin
As we say sorry
And as we turn
As we run to him
Forgiveness means
That we can call him father
Adoption
Being adopted
As a son and daughter
Of the living God
Adoption means
We can call him Abba
There is no fear now
Because of Jesus
As we come before our God
Jesus will save us
From our sin
For himself
And that is why
We will serve him
As Zechariah says here
In holiness and righteousness
All our days
With this God
It's not a case of
We have to serve him
You come to see
The beauty of Jesus
And quickly
Your hearts come to see
Wow
I get to serve him
In the words
Of Charles Spurgeon
Jesus is the most
Magnanimous of captains
He's a king of might
Is this Jesus
And really quick
He's a king of light
See verse 76
It's almost like
Zechariah at this point
Spontaneous praise
For what this God
Is doing at the minute
It's almost like
He pauses at this point
And he turns to his son
He thinks about the boy
Who is holding
Probably in his
Rickety bony arms
And he says
You son
Your role will be
To prepare the way
For this saviour to come
Because of the
Tender mercy of our God
Do you not love
Those two words?
Not harsh
Discipline
No the tender mercy
Of our God
Zechariah here
He's tapping into
The language of
The reading that we
Started with
Archie read from us
From Isaiah chapter 9
Of this light
That will shine
Into the darkness
This light
That will shine
To those who are
In the shadow of death
Do you hear what he's saying
Verse 79
This sunrise will visit us
It will give light
To those who are
Sitting in darkness
And that's the thing
About the Bible
There's a lot of darkness
At this point
In the journey
And yet here is
Luke declaring to us
That this light
Is about to burst into
And is smashing into
Our darkness
To conquer it
So do you hear
Zechariah's song
He's saying that
The heart of this God
Isn't like Santa's
That this God
Does not come
To deal with us
According to our performance
No this God
Acts for his glory
In accordance with
His promises
To save us
So let me just ask you
As we close
Have you entered
Into the joy
Of knowing the salvation
That God offers to us
In the person
Of his son
Do you know
The burden lifted
Of your sins forgiven
Do you know
The peace
Of your conscience
Cleansed
Do you know
Life to the full
With the God
Who created you
All of that
Is on offer
In the person
Of Jesus
You know
Just as we wrap this up
Let me tell you
About my Friday morning
It's 8.30am
I'm beginning the school run
The kids are dressed
We're out the door
It's beginning to get light
I put the alarm on
I close the door
I lock the lock
And I look out
And I'm tired
But I'm pretty sure
I've seen a firework
Go across the sky
And I think to myself
Surely I can't be
The only one
That just saw that
Before I grass up
The neighbours
And call the police
Who's setting off
Fireworks at that time
In the morning
I turn to the kids
Kids did you see anything
Did you see anything
Did daddy just imagine that
We saw nothing dad
So cross the road
Make him away to the school
Meet some other parents
On the school run
Did anyone else
See something in the sky
This morning
Didn't see anything
In the sky this morning
I must be thinking
I'm really tired
Beginning to lose it
Then another parent
Came at me this time
She said
Listen listen
Did you see something
In the sky
Yes I saw something
In the sky
And we worked it out
We went on Google
As you do
Modern parents
Did anyone else
See the meteor
No
No one saw
Anyway
Three seconds
It lasted
This meteor
Just went across
The sky
Wonderful thing
Full of colour
And light
And it was absolutely
Incredible when we
Worked out what it was
But here's the thing
About the meteor
The meteor was wonderful
For three seconds
It was purple
It was green
It was blue
It had a tail
It was lovely
And then it disappeared
And it struck me
As I
I've hung out with Zechariah
This week in his song
And do you see
How he mentions there
He sings about
What God is doing
In this moment
And he references
Verse 69
The house of David
What that is code for
Is God's forever king
And it struck me
That he is celebrating
The fact that the life
Of God's king
Will be the opposite
Of that meteor
What will start
Really humbly
With an unspectacular
Beginning in Bethlehem
What will end
With him on the cross
In his earthly life
What will happen
Will it be
Forever glorious
And mighty
The reign of this
King Jesus
He's the opposite
Of the meteor
And that is why
I love the invitation
To come to this king
This morning
Who we're still
Speaking about
And celebrating
And who's still
Changing hearts
The world over
Some 2000 odd
Years later
What would have been
The odds on that
How do you explain that
It's because this king
His reign will have no end
This king is not like
The meteor
Who will be
Three seconds
Have his moment
In the sun
And he will be
Forever banished
To folklore
No this king
Is an everlasting king
Who really does
Transform lights
John would write this
At the beginning
Of his gospel
The light shines
In the darkness
And then get this
And the darkness
Has not overcome it
Two giveaways
We'd love to give you
Just before we sing
And we wrap this up
This morning
That you can get
On your way out
One is just a really
Nicely decorated
Christmas version
Of Luke's gospel
If you're wondering
What all this has been
About this morning
If you've been wondering
What I've been speaking about
That is something for you
To take away this morning
It's our gift to you
Please grab it
On your way out today
And another one
Is just a giveaway
For you as well
This book by a guy
Called Bob Lapine
Called The Four Emotions
Of Christmas
Just might connect
With what's going on
In your life just now
The different emotions
That we feel
But it's going to connect you
And tell you about
The good news of Jesus
Grab those two this morning
As you go
We'd love to be
Our gift to you
Why don't we pray
And let's pray
To this God
Of light
And so Father
We thank you so much
For this morning
Lord on all the fun
And all the festivity
And all the laughing
Lord
We thank you
For the serious news
The wonderful
Life transforming
Good news
Of the coming of Jesus
So Father
I pray
That in all the busyness
Of this season
That you would meet us
Where we're at
Lord I pray for those
In this room today
For whom this is
Really difficult
A really hard time of year
Remembering the
Maybe the death
Of loved ones
Maybe the stresses
Of some of the things
We've been thinking
About today
Lord I pray
That the Prince of Peace
Your Son
By your Spirit
Would meet them
Where they're at
Father for those of us
Perhaps who are just
Really tired
And weary
I pray that we would be
Greatly strengthened
By the King of Light
Father we pray as well
As those
For those of us
Who are doing well
Father we pray
That you would help us
To have joy
In this King
Lord help us
Just this Christmas
To make time
To do what Zechariah did
Just to take time
To reflect
And would you do
Some deep work
In our hearts
Father
Help us to see
The beauty
Of what you're doing
In this moment
So Lord we just
Thank you for today
Thank you for everything
That's gone on
Father be with us
As we finish this morning
In Jesus' wonderful
And in his strong name
We pray
Amen