OBSERVING GOD At WORK-I—Luke 1:57-80
Bob, a Federal Government Employee sits in his office & out of boredom, decides to see what’s in his old filing cabinet. He pokes through the contents & comes across an old brass lamp.
While polishing the lamp, a genie appears & offers to grant him three wishes.
"I wish for an ice cold Pepsi right now!"
POOF!
A Pepsi appears before him on his desk, so he picks it up & guzzles it all at once.
Now that he can think more clearly, he states his second wish. "I wish to be on a tropical island with my wife & kids surrounded by beautiful clear blue ocean waters, white sand beaches & a hammock attached to palm trees that swaying in the breeze"
POOF!
Suddenly he is on the tropical island he just described, with his entire family.
He describes his first 2 wishes to the family & tells them that he only has one more.
They all decide that they want to remain on the island together but Dad having to work, would have to leave. So they get Dad to ask the genie for his last wish.
Dad says excitedly, "I wish I’d never have to work ever again."
POOF!
He’s back at his desk in the office.
Observing the genie at work revealed some interesting things about Bob’s job.
Likewise, Observing God at work reveals the needs in our own lives.
John the Baptist’s parents knew with certainty the implications of their son’s birth.
The events surrounding the birth of John the Baptist have implications for God’s people.
What implications arise for God’s people from seeing God at work?
Implications drawn from seeing God at work.
1—Observing God at work implies a need for...
Expanded SATISFACTIONs(:57-59)
Explanation:(:57-59)Pleasures
:57—“Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, & she brought forth a son.”
Mary had stayed with Elizabeth for 3 months(:56), until Elizabeth’s 9th month of pregnancy(:26, 37). Mary returned home just prior to Elizabeth’s delivery.
:58—“And her neighbors & her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed His great mercy toward her; & they were rejoicing with her.
Elizabeth’s neighbors & relatives heard of the mercy which the Lord had lavished upon her(:25). Though she had been in seclusion for the 1st 5 months(:24), others(those immediately around her; as well as extended family) knew that her pregnancy was of the Lord. Others were rejoicing with Elizabeth.
Their joy arose because 1)She was pregnant(in her old age—:18, 36-37) & because 2)She was pregnant with the herald to Jesus(:17)?
:59—“And it came about that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, & they were going to call him Zacharias, after his father.”
It was customary for Zacharias & Elizabeth to circumcise their newborn child on the eighth day(after John’s birth).
“They” were going to name the boy ‘Zacharias’ after his father. Who are “they”? The priests/Sanhedrin/Family, etc./All..?
This is ‘what we’ve always done’.... traditionally—Why would it be any different now? Do we live like this?....Shocked when God shows us a different non-traditional way?
We are Shortsighted/Ignorant & Live in Darkness...Thus we need God’s living word
1Cor. 13:11-12— “When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known.”
CELEBRATION—Joy
In God’s work even when we don’t catch the fullness of it.
Living for the moment only. Not allowing God to speak thru it.
LIMITATIONS— on sight.
By our separation from God...by our own devices, desires & expectations.
*Isa. 59:2— “But your iniquities have made a separation between you & your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.”
RESULT—Oppose God (:59)
Why?
Not thinking we are opposing God but nevertheless, Directing our own steps—
Ignorance—Not looking beyond the present.
Not looking behind the fruit. Not looking for uses of the fruit.
Not wondering why God brought about this miraculous birth.
John the Baptist’s birth shows us that Despiritualized Satisfaction severely restricts our Christian celebrations.
1Tim. 1:12-14— “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service; even though I was formerly a blasphemer & a persecutor & a violent aggressor. And yet I was shown mercy, because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; & the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith & love which are found in Christ Jesus.”
Argumentation:
Jer. 10:23— “I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not in himself; Nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.”
Ezek. 16:23-30—““Then it was so, after all your wickedness--‘Woe, woe to you!’ says the Lord GOD-- that you also built for yourself a shrine, & made a high place for yourself in every street. You built your high places at the head of every road, & made your beauty to be abhorred. You offered yourself to everyone who passed by, & multiplied your acts of harlotry. You also committed harlotry with the Egyptians, your very fleshly neighbors, & increased your acts of harlotry to provoke Me to anger. Behold, therefore, I stretched out My hand against you, diminished your allotment, & gave you up to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. “You also played the harlot with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; indeed you played the harlot with them & still were not satisfied. Moreover you multiplied your acts of harlotry as far as the land of the trader, Chaldea; & even then you were not satisfied. How degenerate is your heart!” says the Lord GOD, seeing you do all these things, the deeds of a brazen harlot.”
Rom. 16:17-19—“Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions & hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, & turn away from them. For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; & by their smooth & flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good, & innocent in what is evil.”
Php. 3:17-19—“Brethren, join in following my example, & observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, & now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, & whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.”
Jn. 16:1-2— ““These things I have spoken to you, that you may be kept from stumbling. They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.”
Illustration:
Handbells/Enjoying the presentation/But Missing—1)Work involved & 2)Purpose or intent & expectation of it/Expanded SATISFACTIONs
If you come to listen & run, then you will not go home filled.
The old Rolling Stones song—‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’/ “I try, & I try & I try & I try-y-y...”/A theme shared(but not always admitted) by all secular music!/No true satisfaction in serving flesh!/Expanded SATISFACTIONs
Fellowships for practicality/But Missing—1)Work involved & 2)Purpose or intent & expectation of it/Expanded SATISFACTIONs
If you come to eat & run, then you will not go home filled.
Application:
?How do your ‘SATISFACTIONs’ effect your celebration of God’s Work?
?What are your ‘SATISFACTIONs’ for this Worship Service?...This Day...your Life...your Relationships...your Work...of Jesus?
?What will Satisfy you today?....Less Preaching...No emphasis on Giving...Attendance...Commitment...the Savior—No pressure to personally honor God...to reach out with the Gospel?
The events surrounding John the Baptist’s birth show us that Our Despiritualized SATISFACTIONs severely restrict our celebration of God’s work & our worship.
2—Observing God at work implies a need for...
Expanded BOUNDARIES(:59-63)
Explanation:(:59-63)Parameters/Walls/
:59—“And so it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; & they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias.
It was customary for Zacharias & Elizabeth to circumcise their newborn child on the eighth day(after John’s birth)....as was Jesus(2:21). This was also the time when the child was officially named.
There would have been a crowd of family & friends & priestly representatives as witness.
The rite of male Circumcision initiated by God as a sign of his covenant with Abraham(Gen. 17:7-14)
Gen. 17:10-14—““This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.””
:60—“His mother answered & said, "No, he shall be called John."
Elizabeth hotly protested the assumed naming of the child. She made it very plain that the child was to be named ‘John’—‘YaHoVeH is a gracious giver’—(:13). Evidently it was up to the father to name the child. Evidently family names were expected & followed from the paternal side. A means of carrying on the family designations of the original twelve tribes.
:61—“But they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name."
The people present at the circumcision called Elizabeth’s comment into question on the grounds that John was not a family name. ?How far back in the family’s history did the one’s present refer to?
Elizabeth didn’t call them a bunch of chauvanistic womanizers. She neither stepped outside of her role in society nor outside her role ordained of God. Her acceptance of authority did not make her a whipped puppy.
She allowed them to draw their own conclusions from her faithfulness & boldness in the Lord.
Feminism builds Walls & limits boundaries.
Macho/Chauvanism builds Walls & limits boundaries.
Empty Tradition builds Walls & limits boundaries.
:62—“So they made signs to his father— what he would have him called.”
Evidently crippled people were to some degree invalidated at the expense of tradition.
Discounting Elizabeth’s authority, the group asked Zacharias for final approval. They had to use signs to make him understand their question. I don’t believe this means Zacharias could neither speak nor hear, but rather that they wanted John’s direct input though it was impossible for him to respond verbally. Perhaps their tradition required a verbal pronouncement.
:63—“And he asked for a writing tablet, & wrote, saying, "His name is John." So they all marveled.”
Zacharias asked for a tablet so he could write the name to be given his son.
Zacharias then wrote on the tablet, “His name is John.” John— ‘God is a gracious giver’
All present at the circumcision were astonished at his response. Why? 1)It went against tradition; 2) It went against what was fully & unquestionably expected; 3)It recognized a woman’s authority over their own.
Elizabeth allowed her husband to confirm her conviction.
Disrespect for women—So enamored/starry-eyed/ with perks of position that out of touch & disregard those under us.
John the Baptist’s birth shows us that Despiritualized Boundaires severely restrict our Christian celebrations.
Ex.—The Lord’s Supper; Baptism; Worship agendas; Worship music; Preacher’s garb;
*I must Constantly test & either reject or reaffirm the BOUNDARIES...thru Christ.
Argumentation:
Ps. 119:59— “I considered my ways, And turned my feet to Thy testimonies.”
Ex. 3:7-9—“And the LORD said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, & have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, & to bring them up from that land to a good & large land, to a land flowing with milk & honey, to the place of the Canaanites & the Hittites & the Amorites & the Perizzites & the Hivites & the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, & I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.”
Deut. 4:1-2—““Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes & the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, & go in & possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you. You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.”
*1Chron. 4:10—“And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, & enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, & that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.”
1Tim. 6:17-19—“Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”
*2Cor. 13:5—“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?”
Illustration:
Our ¾ acre lot/Mostly wooded with grass bordering the house/Easy maintenance/My wife(bless her soul) takes the lawnmower & runs it thru the woods ‘chopping up the leaves’/Leaving the ‘natural’ part looking very un-natural/The leaves keep grass & weeds down/I don’t want more maintenance/She must Expand her BOUNDARIES to include something other than typical homeowner chores/I must expand my BOUNDARIES to include her needs/Expanded BOUNDARIES=Release!
Mail—I hope they got the Letter....the Note....the Bill....Invitation....Notice/vs. E-mail—Usually know within 24 hrs minimally!/Expanded BOUNDARIES=Release
Real Satisfaction is found by Expanding our BOUNDARIES to fully encompass & welcome Christ! They are BOUNDARIES of containment not exclusion.
Application:
?How do your ‘BOUNDARIES’ effect your celebration of God’s Work?
?What are your ‘BOUNDARIES’ for this Worship Service?...This Day...Your Life...for Jesus?
The events surrounding John the Baptist’s birth show us that Despiritualized BOUNDARIES severely restrict our celebration of God’s work & our worship.
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Free to see your world/self as it is.
?What are the implications of God’s work...for YOU!
Action:
Observing God at work implies a need for Expanded...
1. SATISFACTIONs(:57-59)
2. BOUNDARIES(:59-63)
Presented 03/06/2011am to:
Needmore Baptist Church
1620 Mt. Vernon Rd.
Woodleaf, NC 27054
1-4 Presented 12/10/00am to:
Providence Baptist Church
975 Providence Road
Whigham, GA 31797
