When God Broke His Silence
Luke 1, 2
INTRODUCTION:
Do you know what the last verse of the Old Testament says?
Malachi 4: 5-6 “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”
After this word from God, there was 400 years of silence. 400 Years with no message from God. No prophet arose to give God’s word. No Angels visited with a word from God. Silence. Until God broke His silence.
1. Receiving a Word from God
When God next spoke it was to announce the fulfillment of the 400-year-old prophecy in Malachi 4:5-6. An Angel came down at last and made this prophecy to a Priest named Zechariah: “Your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. … And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Luke 1:13, 17
In my Bible, there are just 2 pages between the Old and New Testament. But in reality, those pages represent hundreds of years of silence. Generation after generation had waited to hear a word from God. To them, it seemed like forever … because in their lifetimes, they heard no word from the Lord. That was reality in the “lower story.” But from God’s “upper story” viewpoint it makes complete sense.
God spoke through Malachi and said, “I will send the prophet Elijah to you …” And then God’s next message was to announce the fulfillment of that promise. In the Lower Story it was a very long wait. In the Upper Story, God’s timing was perfect. But we have to notice that God’s timing and our timing are not the same!
Have you ever felt like God has gone silent? You pray but see no answer. You wait for things to improve but they get worse. You wonder, “What is God doing?” There are times when God is silent. But God is never absent. God is always with us. God is always working. And God will always keep His promises.
At Christmas we celebrate the day when God fulfilled His greatest promise. After hundreds of years of waiting for a Word from the Lord … “The WORD became flesh and entered our world.”
Today we’re going to look at the first three pronouncements God made when He broke His silence. One prophecy was given to the priest Zechariah. One to the young virgin, Mary. And one to shepherds in a field outside Bethlehem.
On all three of these occasions, these folks were just going about their normal routines.
1) Zechariah was making an offering of incense in the Temple when the Angel told him his son would be the prophet foretold by Malachi.
2) Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph … and was probably making wedding plans when an Angel announced she would be the mother of God’s own Son.
3) The Shepherds were … watching their sheep … when the sky was filled with Angels announcing the birth of the King of all Kings.
There’s a lesson here for us. While we’re waiting for God to break His silence, we don’t have to hold our breath … or climb up some mountain and sit there singing “Cum Ba Yah.”
If you’re waiting for God to break His silence, you don’t need to neglect your responsibilities. If you have a career, keep doing a good job. If you are in school, keep attending class and studying. If you have a family, keep taking care of home and family. If you’re a Grandparent … good for you! Me too!
The secret is to keep your mind and heart tuned to God even WHILE you take care of your daily responsibilities. Be ready to hear from God, because God may break His silence at ANY time!
2. Responding to a Word from God
Listen to how Luke describes the initial reaction of each person when they heard a Message from God.
They responded with fear
1) When the angel appeared to Zechariah, he “was startled and was gripped with fear.” Luke 1:12
2) Mary “was greatly troubled at his words and wondered.” Luke 1:29
3) The Shepherds “were terrified.” Luke 2:9
The initial response was “shock and awe” --- and understandably so! Most of us have never encountered anything approaching the glory and power that an Aangel of God would have. Notice the FIRST response of the Angel in each case.
1) “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard.” Luke 1:13
2) “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.” Luke 1:30
3) And to the Shepherds: “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” Luke 2:10
It is only right that we should fear God. He is all-powerful. He is our creator and giver of all life. But God’s purpose is never to terrify us. His purpose is always to bring us hope.
God’s message to you and me is the same message he gave to Zechariah, Mary, and the shepherds: “Do not be afraid. I have heard your prayers. I hold you in great favor. I bring you a message of great joy!”
Once God calmed their fears, these folks also responded the same way you and I would respond. They responded with doubts and questions.
They responded with doubts and questions
1) Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this?” Luke 1:18
2) Mary asked the very understandable question, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” Luke 11:34
3) And after the finale of the angel concert, the shepherds simply had to check this out for themselves. “Let’s go to Bethlehem!” they said.
The main thing we see here is that these people were normal human beings. They didn’t try to pretend they had no doubts or worries. In the same way, we can be completely honest with God. It’s actually good to express the concerns and questions. In fact, we’re better off to express our doubts than to suppress them.
When these folks brought their questions to God, the Angel gave them the answers they needed … not everything they wanted to know, maybe … but enough that they could move on to the next step.
God will always answer genuine questions with exactly the amount of assurance we need to move forward in obedience. And that is what happened in each case … they responded with obedience.
They responded with obedience
1) Zechariah went home and spent quality time with his wife … (if you get my drift.) Luke 1:23-24 When His promised son was born, all the friends and neighbors expected him to name the boy Zechariah Junior. Instead, Zechariah obeyed the Angel and named the boy John. Luke 1:63
2) Mary gave a beautiful response to the Angel: “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.” Luke 1:38
I want to mention that God also had a message for Joseph. God spoke to Joseph in a dream, assuring him that he should take Mary as his wife because the child born to her truly was from God. Joseph also responded with obedience when he received a word from the Lord.
And this shows how much God values marriage. Jesus could have been born without Joseph’s involvement, but God saw to it that His Son was born into a family where both Mom and the Dad were committed … not only to each other, but also to living in obedience to God’s word.
3) The Shepherds hurried off and “found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.” Luke 2:16
When these folks heard from God, they responded with obedience. The RECEIVED the message, they RESPONDED with obedience and then they REJOICED!
3. Rejoicing in a Word from God.
1) Zechariah exclaimed, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.” Luke 1:68
2) Mary said, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Luke 1:46-47
3) “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” Luke 2:20
Any time God breaks his silence is a time of rejoicing because the message God has for us is one of grace and forgiveness and power and peace.
CONCLUSION
The announcement of Jesus’ birth came after 400 years of silence. For 400 years there had been no word from the Lord.
Hebrews 1 says, In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. Hebrews 1:1-3
The 400 years of silence led up to God’s FINAL Word.
God’s final word was not in any particular human language … God’s final Word to us is in the form of a person.
The Gospel of John explains: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. …
… The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1, 14
This is what we celebrate at Christmas. God has broken the silence.
The Word has become flesh and made his dwelling among us.
How will we respond to this Word from God today?
