Well, good morning everyone. It is 14 days until Christmas time. As Bing Crosby said, it's beginning to feel an awful lot like Christmas.
Who's excited? Put your hands up. A bit of excitement this morning. Excellent.
Here's what I want you to do. I want you to take that excitement and I want you to turn to Luke chapter 1.
Take that excitement to Luke chapter 1 and we'll get into this story this morning.
It's really exciting. This morning we're getting into the events that Luke describes leading up to the Christmas story.
And as Paul said, just to mix it up just a little bit, what we're going to do, instead of one sermon, we're going to have three little sermons.
That terrifies you by the look of things, but we'll get there.
We're going to have three mini sermons and in between each we're going to sing a carol.
And hopefully this will help us to get into this story because it is fantastic.
So Luke chapter 1 and we're going to look at these characters that we've already read about, Zechariah and Elizabeth.
So let's pray and let's ask for God's help as we turn to this chapter of Scripture this morning.
Father, we thank you. We thank you so much for our time together this morning.
And we thank you for your word.
And we thank you for Christmas.
And we thank you for everything that it represents to us.
So, Father, we ask that this morning these perhaps familiar verses.
Father, would you help us to grasp them anew?
Would you help us to see their mind-blowing significance and their meaning in your plan, your grand plan of salvation?
So would you come and would you teach us by your Holy Spirit?
May he make your holy word alive to us, we pray.
In Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
So I wonder what your favourite Christmas tradition is.
I heard mine already from one of the children.
I couldn't remember who it is.
One of my favourite Christmas tradition is the Advent calendar.
I don't know if anyone else is really into Advent calendars.
I must add, it's got to be chocolate.
And if I'm being really expensive, it's got to be Lindor.
But we've gone for Cadbury's this year.
So I love my Advent calendar.
Reduced to clear at Tesco if anybody fancies coming late to the Advent party.
I'm loving introducing my eldest daughter, Chloe, to the idea of an Advent calendar.
And what we're doing, we're helping her opening the doors each morning.
She seems to be a lot more interested in the chocolate than anything else.
But she's getting into this idea of Advent as well.
It's this thing we do, isn't it, as we build up to Christmas.
This thing called Advent.
And it helps us count down the days to the 25th of December.
The day that we've all been looking forward to.
Each morning we open a door.
And then we get up the next morning, we open another door.
And you can feel it, can't you?
That sense of excitement and anticipation.
As you're counting down the days to the 25th, you see the doors fly open.
Before you know it, there you are.
Your whole thing is open.
And you're at the 25th.
But here's what I want you to picture this morning and imagine.
Imagine how you would feel, consider how you would feel,
if you didn't know when the end date of your Advent calendar was.
You didn't know when that date was.
What if day after day you woke and you opened your Advent calendar and you said,
Is this the day?
No, it's not today.
And you got up the next day and you opened your calendar and you said,
Is this the day?
No, it's not today.
And you did the same thing day after day after day.
In fact, what if that waiting, it started as days?
And then it turned into years.
And then it turned into 10 years.
And then it turned into 100 years.
And then it turned into 400 years.
And you still didn't know when that day was coming.
How would you feel in the waiting?
How would you feel?
Because as we enter these events leading up to the first Christmas story,
the Christmas morning,
Luke introduces us to a people who are waiting.
They're waiting.
A people who have been waiting for 400 years.
It's been 400 years since God last spoke through the last of the Old Testament prophets.
Now, an awful lot has gone on in the world since then.
But God speaking, not one of them.
400 years of silence.
Here in Luke chapter 1 are people who are waiting on God to act.
Waiting for what?
For God to do what he said he would do.
And what did God say he would do?
He said he would rescue his people from their enemies.
And he said he would comfort his people.
And he said he would be merciful to his people.
And he said he would make his people a holy people.
And he said he would bring people, others,
from outside our people into our people to be part of our people.
And our number would grow and grow and grow and we would worship this God in his presence together.
And he said he would deal with our sin problem.
But they've been waiting and they've been waiting and they've been waiting.
And that day, that day has not yet come.
And all the while, here are people who are living their lives in darkness.
And so Luke chapter 1, he introduces us to two people.
Firstly, to a priest.
Verse 5 of chapter 1.
We've got it there.
Zechariah.
And to his wife, Elizabeth.
Now this came up in little Chloe's calendar this morning.
Zechariah and Elizabeth.
She, we're kind of doing the whole one syllable name thing just now.
So we went for Zech and Liz.
So here are Zech and Liz.
Zechariah.
And what are they doing?
They are waiting.
And do you see how Luke describes them in that chapter?
They are righteous in the things of God.
They are people who are diligent in keeping God's law.
They are a couple who love and who trust God.
But in their waiting and in their working, they are no doubt asking,
When is our God coming?
When is he coming?
We've heard the prophecies.
We've had them passed down to us generation after generation after generation.
We've heard the prophecies.
We've heard our God.
Our God, he makes promises.
But will our God keep his promises?
So as we pause just there, let's stand and let's sing this great carol that's going to help us,
I think, just reflect a lot of those sentiments.
O come, O come, Emmanuel.
Let's stand and sing this together.
So here we are.
Zech and Liz, they're playing the waiting game.
But little do they know that God is about to shake things up in hugely unexpected ways.
And we have to say that this passage is full of the unexpected, isn't it?
It's full of the unexpected.
Firstly, did you notice, do you see that there's an unexpected plan?
So here are an elderly and faithful and godly couple.
But what are we told?
They're unable to have a child.
That can't be in the script for how they saw their lives going, can it?
I mean, that's painful.
And that, in that culture, that's got to be, that is, that's shameful for them.
So here are a couple wondering in their own lives, where is God in all of this?
But God has his plan.
For secondly, do you notice that there's an unexpected job?
Zechariah, if you see it, verse 5, his day job, well, he's a priest.
And he normally serves somewhere in the Judean hills, but twice a year for one week,
his division are on duty in Jerusalem at the temple.
And within his division, there would have been something like 800 priests.
And we're told, Luke tells us, that Zechariah, he hits the jackpot.
He's selected by, what are we told, random lot,
to be the priest who tends the altar of incense.
Where is that?
Well, it's right in the temple.
He is going to get within feet of the most holy place,
the place where God dwells.
What a privilege for Zechariah.
What an honor for this man.
And make no mistake, this inner temple visit
would have been the absolute highlight.
It would have been the absolute pinnacle of his professional career.
And I just think about, in your own line of work,
what is it you do day on day?
What would that look like for you to reach the pinnacle?
What does it look like?
Where would you go?
What would you do?
Who would you meet?
How would you feel?
Because this is Zechariah's pinnacle moment right here.
In fact, so prestigious was this honor,
we're told that once you had your turn,
it's likely that that was you for your lifetime.
Never again.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
And it's on this unexpected job that,
thirdly, Zechariah gets an unexpected visit.
So there he is.
He's in the temple.
He's going about his duties.
He's offering incense.
There he is praying.
He's probably praying for his nation.
He's praying for his people.
And there he encounters an angel.
Verse 12, how does he react?
Cute and cuddly angel?
No.
Verse 12, how does he feel?
He is terrified.
Oh, what a panic in thy bristy.
This is how he's feeling.
What does this mean?
Why are you here?
What have I done?
What does the angel Gabriel tell him?
Fourthly, he tells him about an unexpected boy.
Now, this couple may be getting on in life,
but here is Gabriel,
and he's telling Zechariah,
there's a child on the way for you and Elizabeth.
Now, I wonder, I was thinking about it this week.
Why did God wait until Zechariah and Elizabeth
were really old before he sent them a child?
You wondered that as you've read this passage before, perhaps?
Why does God wait?
I'm just trying to picture it this week.
Imagine an aging Zechariah trying to play catch
with John the Baptist in the backyard.
He's old.
Why is God waiting until they're old?
Well, surely it's to teach them,
and it's to teach us that our God is God over all,
that our God, he is God who is in control,
that our God is sovereign,
and he's purposeful in what he does and in his ways,
and our God has a plan that will unfold
in his perfect timing for his glory,
and for his glory alone.
And so Liz and Zech, what are we told?
They're reunited, he comes home,
and as they come together,
here is a heavenly guarantee
that Liz, against all the odds,
is going to conceive.
And they're not going to have to wait
to the 20-week scan to find out the gender.
Do you notice that?
It's a boy.
And they are going to have to go through that process
of trying to write down every possible name
for a boy and a girl
until actually the birth happens.
What is he going to be called?
He's going to be called John.
Verse 13.
And you see, immediately we see
that there's a plan
and there's a purpose for this bairn.
And they're not left to wonder
and to think about what he's going to grow up to become.
Is he going to grow up to be a physician,
do you think, Liz?
Do you think he's going to grow up
and he's going to be a musician?
Do you think he's going to grow up
and he's going to play center forward
for a united?
Do you see how there's a plan
and there's a purpose from heaven for this boy?
There's a plan.
He's already been assigned his job
from heaven's quarters.
And do you notice the language
that Gabriel uses here?
It's language from the prophet Malachi
about one who will come
before the day of the Lord,
before he comes to his temple.
And he will come in the spirit of Elijah.
That's how John is described.
That is who John is going to be.
And what will he do?
Look at verse 17.
He will prepare the way of the Lord.
And if you're on the ball,
you'll notice in the surrounding verses there,
the word turn used twice.
Look at it there.
See if you can see it.
Use twice.
Because that's John's role here
in salvation history.
To turn people from their sin
and to turn them back
to the Lord their God.
He's a turner.
And he's going to get people sensitized.
He's going to get people ready.
He's going to get people prepared
for the coming of Jesus.
And John will be great.
It sounds brilliant, doesn't it?
Verse 18.
How does Zechariah react?
He doubts Gabriel's message.
I think specifically we're intended to understand
that he wants some kind of sign.
He wants to know that God will actually do this.
How does he know?
And so he's temporarily sentenced to muteness.
And so Zechariah, there he is.
He serves the rest of his time at the temple
and then he returns home to the hill country.
He returns home to his wife.
Now I would think about it this week.
I love getting into passages
and trying to imagine them.
I'd love to have been a fly on the wall
when Zechariah returned home to Elizabeth.
Would you not?
Presumably she knows nothing of the fact,
firstly, that he's been selected
for that temple duty.
And second of all,
what he's actually seen
when he was in the temple.
Imagine that scene as they get home.
Zechariah can't speak.
I like to think that what happened
as he returned to the house
was the most energetic game of charades
the world has ever seen.
As he tries to describe,
communicate to Elizabeth
what he's seen
and what's happened to him.
Kind of angel, baby, right?
Do you see?
He's trying to communicate this,
but he can't.
But this is what's going on
in this man's life.
This couple's life.
God is moving
and God is acting.
And so fast forward
nine months or so
to verse 57
and we read the actual birth
of this boy.
And we see fifthly
to the gathering
and the watching crowd at least
that he's given
an unexpected name.
Now local custom of the day
was that the son
would be named after
either the father
or the grandfather.
So the bookies favorite here
for this boy
is that he will be called
Zechariah.
And so when you can understand
as Elizabeth suggests
that no, no, no,
he will be called John,
that the surrounding crowd
are puzzled
and they're questioning
her choice
and they turn to Zechariah
and what are we told?
They motion to him.
Again, two-way charades here.
They motion to him
and they say,
are you going to step in
and do something about this?
And Zechariah,
the man who doubted
as he's thought upon
the things of God
over the time period
before the birth of his boy,
as he thinks about it,
what do we see?
That he is a man
who now trusts in God
and his plan
and he now sees
what God is up to
in these events,
that God has come
to visit his people.
And what are we told?
He takes his tablet,
that's where Apple
got the idea from presumably,
he takes his tablet
and what does he write?
You can feel the drama.
John.
His name will be John.
John's name,
what does it mean?
The Lord is gracious.
He is gracious.
So fitting
for what's going on here.
That's exactly what Zechariah,
he understands
to be going on
in these events.
The Advent calendar
that he's been opening
day after day
is today the day
God's going to come?
No.
Is today the day
God's going to come?
No.
And now he understands
that God is coming
and God is going to make good
on the promises
that he made
to his people.
That day
is on the horizon.
And on a side note,
isn't it
interesting
that we're told here,
Luke tells us
just how much
this whole episode,
it grabbed the attention
of their neighbors
in passing.
Do you notice that?
They looked in
and they looked
into this couple,
they looked into this house
and they saw
that God was up to something.
They looked in
and they saw
that God was working
in marvelous
and mysterious ways.
And as they saw
that the worship
and the wonder
that filled
that household,
and as they hear
Zechariah now unmuted
and with his tongue
unloosed,
praising God
like he's never
praised God before,
what are we told
at verse 65?
The people were filled
with awe.
And the news
of what God was doing
in these events,
it spread wide.
It spread everywhere.
Now it made me think.
What do my neighbors think?
As they look into my life?
As they look into our house?
Or flat?
Neighbors both physically
up in the stairwell,
yes,
but neighbors,
the people who we rub
shoulders with every day,
what do they see
as they look into our lives?
Does the joy
of this couple,
of this family,
about what God is doing
at Christmas,
do I share
that thrill and joy?
Is that joy
my joy?
Is I understand
what God is doing here?
And does that joy,
does it spill out
from me
to the rest
of this community?
It's a big challenge
for us,
isn't it?
I wonder how
you feel
as you feel
that challenge
this morning.
Wouldn't it be great
as we look forward
to next Sunday
or our Christmas events?
Wouldn't it be fantastic
if we all took
the opportunity
to try and share
something this week?
Share something,
just maybe to one
or two people
share something,
maybe share an invite,
but particularly share
something of the joy
of what Christmas
means to you?
I was really challenged
on that this week.
How often do I just
never think about that?
Here are a couple
and they are filled
with joy.
Here is Zechariah
filled with joy.
His tongue
loosened to employ
the praises
of his God.
Why?
Because God
makes promises
promises
and God
keeps promises
and prays him
that that is true.
So let's stand
once more.
This is the
last hymn
of this section here.
Let's stand once more
and let's sing
this great Charles Wesley hymn
that picks up
in a lot of these things.
Come,
thou long-expected Jesus,
born to set
thy people free.
Let's stand
and sing this together.
And we've already
thought about the fact
that so much
of this account here
in Luke chapter 1
is unexpected.
Unexpected.
But as we come
to verse 68,
we actually see
that everything
that is happening here,
everything that is
going down,
is going down
exactly
as God said
it would go down.
We might look at this
and think everything
is unexpected,
but actually
as we look
beyond
and above,
everything
is going down
as expected.
Why?
Because God
makes promises
and God
keeps
his promises.
And it's here
as we read
of Zechariah's,
his spirit-filled,
burst into praise,
that we begin
to see the true
significance
of what is unfolding
here,
of what is happening.
Now,
what is he
praising God for
in these verses?
Scan your eyes
over it.
What is he
praising God for?
What does he
understand
that God
is doing
in these events
in his life,
in the life
of his people?
I think the big
theme of his
prophecy,
his words of praise,
is salvation.
You'll see him
mention it
in verse 69,
that God
has raised up
a horn
of salvation.
That's language
representative
of God
raising up
a strong king
who's going to
rule and reign
for his people.
Again,
at verse 71,
what does he speak
of?
Salvation
from our enemies.
And then
verse 77,
Zechariah's son,
what will he be?
Well,
he will be the one
who will give
the people knowledge
of what?
God's
salvation.
Zechariah
is,
he's singing
about salvation.
salvation.
Zechariah
is praising
God that he
is coming
to save
his people.
After years
of silence,
years of silence,
God is visiting
his people again
and that
is cause
for copious
amounts of
rejoicing.
And as you
follow his words,
there appear to be
two aspects
to this
salvation.
It's salvation
from something
and it's
salvation
for something.
From something
and for something.
Notice it.
Firstly,
God is coming
to save
his people,
to redeem
his people
from their enemies.
It's
Exodus language
that Zechariah
is using here.
That's what's
happening.
It's the language
of rescue
and deliverance,
redemption.
It's the language
of the slave market,
of buying,
paying a price
and buying
somebody back.
And I think
ultimately it's
speaking about
the great rescue
that God will do,
the great deliverance
that God will win
for his people
over their great
spiritual enemy,
their sin
and their separation
from God.
And you'll notice
that Zechariah,
he sees this event
not as a random
birth,
not as a
something that's
happened out of the blue,
but he sees it
as the very
fulfillment
of what God
had promised
and God
had said
he would do.
So here
do you notice
that Zechariah,
he's looking back
down the corridors
of time
and he's connecting
the events,
sorry,
the ancient promises
that God made.
He's connecting them
with what he's seeing
playing out in front
of him,
especially the ancient
promises made
to David
and to Abraham.
That God would send
a rescuer.
That God would send
a mighty king.
That God would send
one who would bring
blessing to the nations
and he would do it
through one of their
descendants.
And so he's connecting
that
with these events.
Zechariah is celebrating
the truth
that should thrill us
this morning,
that our God,
he makes promises
and that our God
keeps his promises.
And do you notice
that Zechariah
clarifies
the express purpose
of this rescue mission?
God is coming
to make a way
for his people
to be saved
from their sin
and save them
for a life
of obedience
and worship
with him.
Second half
of verse 74,
look at it there.
God saves,
what does he say?
To enable us
to serve him
without fear
in holiness
and righteousness
where?
Before him
all are days.
Now there
is the cry
of a heart
that has been
electrified
by God's word
and by God's truth.
And is that not
a wonderful truth
if we think about it
in our Christian lives?
The purpose
of the gospel,
what God was doing?
That he hasn't
just saved us
from our sin
and let us loose
to wander around
life aimlessly.
that he saved us
in order that we
might have
and live
in fellowship
with him.
Knowing him
as our God
and knowing him
as our King,
Lord,
and Savior.
To live the life
that we were designed
to live
with the one
who designed us
in the first place.
That is what salvation
is all about.
That God is coming
to save his people.
the answer
to the darkness
is that
the light
is coming
from heaven.
The answer
to the captivity
is that
the rescuer
is coming
from heaven.
Christmas
is all about
the gospel.
All about
the gospel.
That the baby
in the manger,
get your heads
around the incarnation
by the way,
I still can't
get my head
around it.
The baby
in the manger,
God
in the flesh,
the creator
of all
in a crib,
came to be
the king
who would go
to the cross.
And what would
he do there?
He would
reconcile
all those
who believe
and trust
in him
to their gods.
It was Charles Spurgeon
who famously
said that
Jesus may well
be the cause
of the greatest
division,
but he is also
the cause,
the medium
of the greatest
union.
This is what
God is doing
here.
He is reconciling
God and man.
And you see
how it's a wonder
for Zechariah
that his son
John
will go before
Mary's boy
and get the stage
ready for him
so that when
he appears,
what's he going
to do?
He's just going
to shine the
spotlight on him
and say,
don't look at me,
don't look at you,
look at him.
Come
to him.
Come
to him
and repent
of your sin.
Be forgiven
through him
and have life
in him.
John really
is the great
preparer.
The one who
will say,
come
and look
at Jesus.
Praise him,
says Zechariah.
Praise
our God
that he makes
promises
and he keeps
promises.
And so
as we leave
Zech and Liz
this morning,
let me just ask
you two questions.
Two questions
I think
were challenged
from this passage.
First of all,
how are we
waiting?
How are we
waiting?
These two
individuals here
in Luke 1,
they might at
first glance
seem so irrelevant
to us.
But when you
think about it,
what an example
they are
of what it
means to
wait well.
Here they are
waiting for the
first coming
of Christ.
Trusting
and hoping
and clinging
in the midst
of their doubts
and questions,
trusting God's
words and
living by faith
in what God
has said to be
true rather
than what they
can see around
them.
You know,
we might not
be waiting
for the
first coming
of Christ
anymore,
as we
celebrate
his coming.
But here
we are today
and we're
waiting for
his second
coming.
When this
mighty king,
the Lord
Jesus Christ,
will return,
this time not
as a helpless
babe,
but this time
will return
as a mighty
king who
will judge
and who
will win.
And so the
question I think
from this passage
for us is,
are we waiting
like Zech and
Liz?
How are we
waiting this
morning?
And secondly,
as we gaze
upon the joy
of these two
individuals,
I think Luke
quite purposefully
asks us his
readers,
have you
entered into
this joy?
The joy alone
that God can
give?
Do you see,
do you understand
what cause for
celebration this
baby in the
manger was going
to be?
Do you see
that the hopes
and fears of
all the years
really were met
in Bethlehem
that night?
Do you see
the one who
gives joy?
Have you
entered into
the joy this
morning of
knowing the
salvation that
God offers
Christmas time
in his son
Jesus Christ?
Do you know
the joy of
sins forgiven?
Do you know
the joy of
conscience
cleansed?
Do you know
life to the
full?
Life that is
found in this
baby in the
manger?
What is Luke
saying to us
here?
Come and
enter into the
joy of knowing
this baby in the
manger as your
king, as your
saviour, and as
your lord.
And praise him,
praise him
eternally that
our God, he
makes promises,
and our God, he
keeps his
promises.
The chorus of
the great
carol we
sang earlier,
joy to the
world, the
Lord is
come, let
earth receive
her king, let
every heart
prepare him
room, and
heaven and
nature sing,
and heaven and
nature sing, and
heaven and
nature sing.
What we're
going to do
just before we
pray and
close and
stand to sing
our last
song, let's
just have a
time of
quiet.
We're so
busy, aren't
we, running
around and
we'll run
around upstairs
at the
lunch.
Let's just
use this
time just
to be quiet
and let's
come before
our Lord
and our
king and
our saviour
this morning
before we
pray.
And so
gracious
father, we
thank you for
this morning.
And we
thank you as
we look at
Luke chapter
one, that we
see in
glorious
technicolor
that you
are a God
who makes
promises, and
you are a
God who
keeps his
promises.
And we
remember at
this time of
year, this
Christmas time
of year, that
you are a
God who has
acted to
save his
people from
their sin, from
their darkness, and
to the light, and
to yourself.
So would you
help us at this
Christmas time to
rejoice, to
rejoice, and
what it means to
be your
people.
Oh, Father, help
us to marvel at
the Christ.
Help us to
wait well.
Help us to
love you, we
pray.
In Jesus' name,
Amen.