A Call To Greatness

“On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: “You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.’

“So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, ‘All that the LORD has spoken we will do.’ And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.” [1]

The future is built on the decisions we make today. A child was born to a barren couple, Zechariah and Elizabeth. When the angel of the Lord announced that Elizabeth would bear a child, he delivered a great announcement. Doctor Luke writes, “While [Zechariah] was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared’” [LUKE 1:8-17].

Note two facts about this account. Zechariah and Elizabeth were presented with instructions meant to assure that the child would fulfil his destiny. The child was to drink neither wine nor strong drink. The couple would have to choose to instruct the child from earliest days. They could either obey the Lord’s instruction, ensuring that the child would fulfil the destiny God intended, or they could ignore God’s expectation, in which case the intended destiny would go unfulfilled. If the parents chose to obey the Lord’s instruction, the child would be “great before the Lord.” Whether John would be great would depend upon the obedience of Zechariah and Elizabeth during the child’s formative years, and it would depend on whether John would likewise be obedient.

God instructs all parents,

“Train up a child in the way he should go;

even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

[PROVERBS 22:6]

The command anticipates the Apostle’s instructions delivered in the Ephesian Encyclical: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’ (this is the first commandment with a promise), ‘that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land’” [EPHESIANS 6:1-3]. And yet, despite the divine instructions given in the Word, a tragic number of contemporary parents effectively allow children to raise themselves in this day, with disastrous results. All parents need to take to heart the truth that the future is built on decisions we make today.

The example of the instructions given the parents of the Baptist is but one example of the point with which I begin the message this day. Underscore this example in your mind: the future is built on decisions we make today. And the text we shall explore in this message provides an earlier example of this same truth. It is critical that the people of God seize upon this truth, incorporating it into daily life. It is especially critical that we incorporate this truth into the life of the congregation, taking care to ensure that we understand how important this is each time we make a decision as a congregation, each time we implement an action as a church.