The “Wonder” of Christmas: A Contrast Between Zechariah and Mary
Luke 1:5-20; 26-38
November 28, 2010
NOTE: THE ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE FORMAT IS FROM ANDY STANLEY’S BOOK, "COMMUNICATING FOR A CHANGE."
Me: Well, it’s the Christmas season, and it’s pretty obvious all around, isn’t it?
I love the Christmas season. I’m not too big on the weather that comes with it, but hey – we live in NE South Dakota, and that’s the weather we get, right?
One of the things I love about Christmas is the “wonder” of it all.
The thought that God took on human flesh, and how we celebrate that with the Christmas trees, presents, food, and all that, brings me some “wonder” that I enjoy.
We: Christians by and large have no problem believing the Christmas story – the virgin birth in the stable, magi, and all that stuff.
But often they have problems believing other things in Scripture, particularly the idea that God grants the greatest happiness and blessing to those who live for Him instead of themselves.
The “wonder” of Christmas doesn’t translate into wonder of God’s working in their lives. They see God as being just “out there” somewhere, not caring about them, or worse, just looking for an opportunity to knock them down.
They don’t live in the wonder of God, they live wonderING if God is really out there.
They live a life where doubt about God and His care for them is a reality.
And I’m not talking about unbelievers – those outside of Christ.
I’m talking about Christians – people who we think should “know better.”
Maybe that’s someone here today.
I know it’s been me before.
And I’m here to tell you that even in the midst of doubt, God can speak, and God can bring us back to the point where we stop wondering and live in wonder.
God: Our time in God’s Word today focuses on two individuals: Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and how they responded to the announcements of the angel Gabriel about the coming bundles of joy they were about to receive.
We start with Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist.
Luke 1:5-20 (not on the screens, p. 723) –
5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. 7 But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.
8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. 16 Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
18 Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years."
19 The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time."
And that’s just what happened. He couldn’t speak until John was born and circumcised.
Zechariah gives us a lesson here:
Even the most devout believers can have doubts.
What does it say about him and his wife back in verse 7?
Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly.
This wasn’t some guy who was nominal in his church involvement or just hung out at the synagogue on the occasional Sabbath day when they had a pot-luck or Hanukkah children’s program.
This guy was devout – he loved God and obeyed His commands blamelessly.
He was in tune with God and His Word enough to recognize an angel when he saw one and know that this was a message from God Himself.
This was a guy who believed in God Almighty who had rescued Israel from the Egyptians and the Philistines and had brought them back from exile in Babylon.
He believed in God and all His promises.
But he doubted – not really doubting that God could do it, but probably doubting God would do it, fulfilling this promise through an old man and woman.
Zechariah is a great example of someone who loved God but was faced with something that caused Him to doubt God.
Later, when Jesus was about to ascend to the Father, we find that even some of Jesus’ followers doubted – again, we’re not sure really what they doubted, but here was Jesus standing in their midst, dead but now alive, and some people weren’t quite getting it.
The point here is that having a strong relationship with God doesn’t necessarily immunize you from the occasional doubt – the occasional wondering about God and His Word.
I wish I could promise you it would be different, but it’s not the case.
We sometimes find ourselves asking God questions we’re not comfortable asking, and we wonder if God is angry at us for doubting.
The question is what we will do with the doubts you experience.
You can let your doubts carry you away from God, or you can take hold of them and say, “God, I need some help here. Please help me to understand this. I don’t want to doubt, but that’s where I’m at right now. Open my mind, send someone to explain it to me, whatever. But I want to believe You and Your Word.”
You know what? I think that if that that’s your attitude, God says, “You got it. I’ll give you what you need.”
The key is to remain humble about our doubts when coming to God about them.
You know what the wrong thing to do is? Ask for a sign.
I think that so many people do that, and then when God doesn’t pony up, they continue in doubt because they don’t see God performing for them like they want to.
In Zechariah’s case, he didn’t give ask for a sign, but God have him one anyway – muteness.
Anybody up to asking for that for a sign? And I don’t mean asking for that for your spouse, especially this time of the year.
But Zechariah remained humble, even after he was made mute. How do we know that? Because the Bible goes on to say that he continued in his service to the temple until his turn was over.
I think that’s amazing. He didn’t get angry at God or let his doubts carry him away. He continued to serve God, in spite of his muteness, and then trusted God to fulfill His word, which he did a few months later.
And when that son was born, God returned Zechariah’s speech, and what’s the first thing that happens? The Holy Spirit filled him and he prophesied about his son and the Messiah he would proclaim.
Zechariah is a great example of that fact that your doubts can bring you to an even deeper relationship and trust in (“with” in notet-aking guide) God if you’ll remain humble in the midst of them.
Let’s move on to Mary.
Mary was another devout believer in God, but her response to the invitation to believe the impossible was very different.
26-38 –
26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end."
34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"
35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God."
38 "I am the Lord’s servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
Mary says, “How will this be?” Not, “How can this be?”
That’s an important distinction because it shows that Mary had no doubt that what Gabriel was saying would happen.
She simply wondered how a virgin could bear a child. She wondered how God would make that happen.
So to summarize:
Zechariah expressed doubt. He wondered if God would do it.
Mary expressed faith. She wondered how God would do it.
Mary didn’t ask for proof, even silently in her heart.
She simply said, “Okay, God. Your will be done in my life.”
You: So what does that mean for you and me? What does this have to do with us, as we move into the Christmas season?
Simply that the wonder of Christmas doesn’t have to make us wonder if God is real and active in our lives.
Here’s the application point:
Choose to take God at His word, even when
it seems impossible.
God became a baby. That’s impossible. Except for God.
If God can do that, then God can fulfill all the promises He has in His Word for us.
Why can we believe that?
Why should we
Because of what Gabriel said to Mary in verse 37 –
“Nothing is impossible with God.”
Let me tell you a few things that are hard for some people to believe:
God loves you – in spite of who you are or what you’ve done.
So many people go through life thinking God can never love them because of their background or what they’ve done.
But God not only can love you – He does.
Maybe others have put you aside and said you’re unlovable. But God doesn’t do that.
He says that not only does He love you, He wants you to be in His family.
God wants to spend eternity with you in heaven.
He wants it so bad that He sent His Son to die a horrible death so that could happen. He made Jesus, who was God the Son in heaven with the Father, to take on human flesh and pay the penalty for your sins so you wouldn’t have to.
Only God could do that, and only God has the compassion and power to make that happen.
God offers forgiveness for all of your sins – no matter how great or small.
There is nothing you’ve done that God can’t forgive. Nothing. NOTHING.
God wants to live in you and transform you to be more like Jesus on earth.
God loves you the way you are, but He doesn’t want you to stay that way. He wants you to be transformed.
And He will do that through His Word and through prayer, service, and His Church.
God wants you to have a great life, lived in His care and protection as we live for Him.
Here’s one that people have a hard time believing, especially when they’re going through a hard time.
Once in a while I’ll hear someone tell me that God must hate them or must be punishing them or they must have bad karma or something because nothing is working for them.
The problem is that 99% of the people who talk to me like that claim to be Christians but aren’t living for Him – they’re living for themselves, pushing God aside for their convenience.
They think that living for God is living in handcuffs.
The fact of the matter is that living for God is freeing you to receive all the blessings God has for you.
But so many people – so many Christians – won’t take God’s Word for this stuff. And they miss out.
Instead of experiencing the wonder of God working in their lives, they experience the “I wonder” displayed by Zechariah.
Folks, as I’ve said numerous times in the past, God is not a liar. He says these things in Scripture, and He wants you to believe them.
And not only does He want you to believe them, He wants you to act on them.
We act on them by trusting Him to do His part as we do our part of obeying Him.
Mary said – “I am Your servant, Your will be done.”
The key is that first part: “I am Your servant.”
Mary was saying, “You’re the boss, and I’ll be available for Your work through me.”
And she was – and so God used her to bring our Savior into the world. She was blessed beyond measure because of her obedience.
Her “wonder” about how God was going to pull this off was based on her “wonder” of an amazing, powerful God.
We: Folks, my hope is that during the next few weeks, people will see in your eyes the “wonder” of our awesome God, who took on the form of a helpless baby, so He could grow up to die so you could spend eternity with Him in heaven.
I hope they hear it in your conversation, I hope they see it in how you interact with people at the stores, I hope they notice it as you work to think of others who might have needs you can meet.
But if you’re not there right now – if you’re still wonderING about God and wondering if He really cares and if He really is all Scripture says He is, then I hope that you’ll do what Zechariah did – humbled Himself, and let God show Him that He was more than capable of doing what He says He’ll do.
And He’ll do it for you. He promises to do that, and He always keeps His Word.
Let’s pray.
