Burden Lifting Day
Series: Christmas Through Their Eyes
Chuck Sligh
December 8, 2019
NOTE: A PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon by request at chucksligh@hotmail.com. Please mention the title of the sermon and the Bible text to help me find the sermon in my archives.
TEXT: Turn to Luke 1
INTRODUCTION
In Luke 1 we see that the curtain opens in God’s prophetic timetable: Prior to the actual birth of Christ, we see preparation for this extraordinary event. Before God does something, He always paves the way beforehand. God is a mighty God—And He’s also a God of order and foresight.
We see this preparation played out for us in the first chapters of Matthew and Luke. God prepared Joseph and Mary, and then just before the birth, He prepared the angels and the wise men, for the glorious event about to unfold. But before any of this is the story of the birth of the last and greatest prophet of the Old Testament age—John the Baptizer. John would be part of this preparation, for it was he who would prepare the way for the Lord’s ministry on earth about thirty-three years later.
John was born to a couple named Zacharias and Elizabeth. Verse 5 tells us that Zacharias was a priest. – “In the days of Herod,…king of Judaea, there was a certain priest named Zacharias, who belonged to the priestly division of Abija: and his wife was of from daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.”
Verse 6 tells us the wonderful testimony and spiritual integrity of this couple: “And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord blamelessly.”
Why is it that Luke chose to tell us this story before telling us the story of the birth of our Lord? Well, part of it was to tell us who John was and the fascinating things that revolved around his birth, and how they show us God’s hand on him even at his birth. But there is also a very human drama; one that many couples face.
Let’s look into this human drama this morning:
I. FIRST, NOTICE A HEAVY BURDEN THEY CARRIED – Luke 1:7 – ”And they had no child, because…Elizabeth was unable to conceive, and they both were now well advanced in years.”
Sadly, for them, they had no children, could not conceive, and now they were too old to have children (from a human standpoint). Only a few verses after we meet them in this passage, Luke singles out this fact. This must have been paramount in their thoughts. This was a burden they carried with them.
I’ve known several childless couples down through the years of my ministry. Though most come to a quiet acceptance of God’s will in this matter, they often struggle for a long time to come to terms with not being able to bear children. Every Mother’s Day is an ordeal; every child dedication brings tears of anguish; and every birth announcement is a mixture of joy for the expectant mother and sadness that the expectant mother isn’t her. I’ve talked with and comforted several these couples over the years—listened to their yearnings, wept as they wept, and prayed with them for children.
These yearnings and the stress it creates was even more pronounced for Zacharias and Elizabeth, for in that day, there was a stigma attached to being childless. But now all hope of having a baby was gone, for the last part of verse 7 tells us that they were now “well advanced in years.”
Now, again, remember that verse 6 tells us that both Zacharias and Elizabeth were righteous people, and obeyed God’s laws and statutes blamelessly. Even though they were believers and loved and followed God, they were still childless. God had not granted them their request. They carried a heavy burden for years, and God never, up to this point, saw fit in His infinite wisdom to lift it from them.
Let me ask you a question: Did you walk into this sanctuary today carrying a burden? Like Zacharias and Elizabeth, has your burden eclipsed your blessings in your mind?
What is your burden today?
• Is it a physical infirmity?
• Do you have a broken heart?
• Is there a broken relationship?
• Are you experiencing loneliness?
• Are you defeated?
• Have you experienced a great financial setback or a disappointment?
• Have you lost a loved one, or perhaps a precious little one in your womb, or even worst of all, a child after birth?
If you have a burden today, then take heart, for Zacharias and Elizabeth, and many other good people in the Bible, have walked in your shoes.
II. BUT NOTICE NEXT THAT ZACHARIAS AND ELIZABETH EXPERIENCED A BURDEN-LIFTING DAY! – Luke 1:8-11 – “And it happened that while he was serving as priest before God 9 According to the custom of the priest’s office, he was chosen by lot to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the time of the incense offering. 11 And…an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right side of the altar of incense.”
Today the answer to their prayers would come. Today the longing in both of their hearts would be satisfied.
But you know, up till then, that day was an ordinary day preceded by an ordinary yesterday. They went about doing their ordinary duties. Zacharias went to the temple as usual. It was a regular, routine, same-as-always day of prayer.
But shortly Zacharias and Elizabeth were going to experience the long-sought answer to their prayers. It was their burden lifting day!
I think about other burden-lifting days in the Bible:
Illus. – There’s the story of blind Bartimaeus outside of Jericho, who had the burden of PHYSICAL INFIRMITY.[ Mark 10:46-52] He was blind and a beggar, but when he heard that Jesus was passing by, he cried out “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
The crowd tried to hush him up, but the more they tried, the louder he cried out.
Then Mark tells us that Jesus suddenly stopped and called for Bartimaeus to come to him. When they brought him, Jesus said, “What would you have for me to do for you?”
“That I may receive my sight,” he replied.
And Jesus said to him, “Go your way, your faith has made you whole,” after which he immediately received his sight. Oh, what a glorious burden-lifting day that was for Bartimaeus!
Illus. – I think of the crook ZACCHAEUS up in a sycamore tree, who had the burden of A GUILTY CONSCIENCE because of dishonesty and exploitation [Luke 19:1-10] Jesus was passing by, and the crowd was so great, he couldn’t see over the crowds because he was short. So, he climbed up into a sycamore tree.
But when Jesus walked by, he stopped, looked up into that tree and said, “Zacchaeus, come on down, for today I’m going to your house.”
Down from the tree he scurried and over to his house they went, with a curious crowd following behind. Luke doesn’t record what Zacchaeus and Jesus talked about, but when they were finished, a thoroughly converted Zacchaeus stood up and said that he was giving half of his possessions to the poor! As a tax collector, he had cheated people he had collected taxes from, and he apparently felt he could no longer in good conscience live on the proceeds he had received through extortion and cheating. Furthermore, he said that he would restore to any person he had cheated four times what he had extorted from them.
No wonder Jesus said after Zacchaeus had made these promises, “Today, salvation has come to this house…for the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:9-10) What a glorious burden-lifting day it was for Zacchaeus, when he received forgiveness of his sin and got a clear conscience.
Illus. – Another burden lifting day is described in John 4 when the woman at the well experienced the lifting of her burden of IMMORALITY. [John 4:1-30] Jesus was traveling to Galilee, passing through Samaria. The disciples went off to buy some food, and as Jesus entered the Samaritan city of Sychar, He went to a well—the very same well Jacob had dug two thousand years earlier. Weary from his journey, he sat on the well to rest.
A Samaritan woman arrived and when she did, Jesus asked her for a drink. Jews looked down on Samaritans because they had intermarried with the Canaanites, so she asked why he, being a Jew, asked a Samaritan for a drink since Jews looked upon the Samaritans as unclean and had nothing to do with Samaritans.
His mysterious reply caught her attention. He said, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who said this to you, you would have asked me and I would have given you living water.”
“Sir,” she said, “You have nothing to draw water with and the well is deep, so where did you get this living water? Are you greater than Jacob, who gave us this well, and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock?”
Jesus said, “Whoever drinks this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst again.”
This was the beginning of a longer conversation in which Jesus exposed her history of marrying one man after another and living in fornication with a man at that very time. Long story short is that she longed to have this living water that comes through knowing Jesus Christ. Her burden-lifting day was so powerful that she went and told the whole town and they were so amazed at her witness of what Jesus had done for her that John tells us that the whole town came out to see Him.
What a wonderful burden-lifting day for her as she experienced not only forgiveness, but the water that never runs dry.
It’s true that we share burdens in this life, but God has a way of lifting burdens.
III. NOTICE LAST THAT WHEN ZACHARIAS AND ELIZABETH’S BURDEN WAS LIFTED, THE BLESSINGS WERE FAR GREATER THAN THEY HAD EXPECTED – This is seen in verses 12-25 and 58-66.
We won’t have time to read such a long portion of Scripture, but let me summarize.
They had hoped for a baby—one to whom they could shower their love; in whom they could see themselves; who could carry on the family name for future generations. The angel said that Elizabeth would bear a son and they were to name him John. The angel told him that John was to live as a Nazarite and that he would play a pivotal role in the preparing the way for the Messiah. Understandably, Zacharias was doubtful, so the angel struck him mute and told him that he would he would not be able to speak until these things came to pass.
Shortly afterwards Elizabeth became pregnant, to the astonishment of everyone! Finally, when the time had come, Elizabeth gave birth to a son.
On the day of his circumcision, the eighth day, the family was going to name him Zacharias, after his father, but Elizabeth said, “No, he shall be called JOHN.” They said, “But none of your relatives is named John,” and they made signs to Zacharias asking him what HE wanted him to be called. He wrote on a tablet, “His name is John.” At that moment, his tongue was loosed and he was able to speak again and he began to give joyous praise to God. The family was astonished about the whole thing!
Now, here’s the thing I want you to see: As was the custom of that day, Zacharias would have wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and become a priest. But God gave them so, so much more! God gave them not only a priest, but a PROPHET. And no ordinary prophet!—Their son would be the herald of the coming King! Multitudes would come to hear him preach. Even wicked Herod would be in his congregation—and his crosshairs. John would go down in the annals of history as the last and greatest Old Testament prophet. His name would be revered and honored for all posterity.
Look at verses 15-17 – “For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and he will drink no wine or strong drink; and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 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 prepared people.”
It was John, often referred to as John the Baptizer—or simply, John the Baptist—who led a nation-wide revival in Israel, who prepared the way for Messiah, who got to introduce Messiah to the world, and who had the inestimable privilege of baptizing Messiah.
CONCLUSION
Now, what do all these things in this story mean for us personally? Of course, the most immediate application is that God was laying the groundwork for what He was about to do through His Son, Jesus. That’s the “BIG Story” behind Luke’s narrative.
But behind the Big Story of God weaving the magnificent tapestry of His grace through His Son is the real, human, personal drama of two ordinary human beings chosen to be one thread in that intricate tapestry. So, what can we learn in a practical way from that personal drama of Zacharias and Elizabeth? Let me share with you two thoughts:
First, God does care about our burdens and afflictions. God may not answer your request like He did for Zacharias and Elizabeth, but you can be sure that God knows your burdens and HE CARES! That’s why Peter exhorts us in 1 Peter 5:7, “Casting all your cares upon him; for he cares for you.”
The second thing I see is that God has His own timetable and His own master plan that is always on time and always best. Surely Zacharias and Elizabeth thought that they should have a baby when they were young. But God had a different timetable, and His plan encompassed so much more than one little couple’s desire to have a child. If God decides in His sovereign wisdom to grant a request you have, He’ll do it in a way that is best, even if you don’t see its goodness or wisdom.
Can I ask you today: What is your burden? What is bringing you sorrow and sadness? What is your area of defeat? What is weighing your heart down? God can meet your need today.
Do you have a burden because you know your sins have not been forgiven; God is not your heavenly Father; and you do not know for sure where you will go when you die? The whole Christmas story is about how God saw our need and provided a way to save us from sin; make God our Father; and assure us of an eternal destiny in heaven. God sent His son, Jesus, to live a perfect life, perfectly fulfill all the righteous demands of God’s Law; die on the cross for your sins and mine and rise from the dead.
And He gives this glorious promise: “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
That’s the simple promise of God. If you will just stop placing your trust to get you to God and heaven and forgiveness on your good works or religious activities or moral life and turn to Jesus and simply trust HIM as your Savior, you can have your burden of sin lifted today. I invite you to bow your head this morning, quietly confess that you are a sinner before God and are in need of God and His forgiveness and His grace, and confess to Him that you are trusting in Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on Calvary in your place.
If you’re already one of God’s children by faith, then I want you to know that whatever burden you’re carrying today, God can meet your need. He may not always take your need away, but He’ll be there for you and carry you through it.
Maybe you think your need is to have the burden lifted, but God knows that what you REALLY need is to carry the burden for a greater purpose, or to make you stronger.
Perhaps through your burden God will be glorified somehow. Maybe through your burden you’ll learn lessons that God can only teach you through bearing that burden.
Illus. – A biologist tells how he watched an ant carrying a piece of straw that seemed a big burden for it. The ant came to a crack in the earth which was too wide for it to cross. It stood for a moment as though pondering the situation, then put the straw across the crack and walked over it! What a wonderful lesson for life!—Your burden can be a bridge for your progress.
Maybe your need is not to have the burden lifted, but to learn to let JESUS CARRY YOUR BURDEN FOR YOU!
If you carry your burden all by yourself, then soon the way gets hard and weary.
Illus. – A preacher way back in the 1700s was busy in his study, while his little three-year-old boy looked at a book of pictures by the fireside. Often books were very large and heavy back then, bound with a thick, heavy leather cover.
The preacher wanted a book he had left upstairs and asked his son to go and get it for it for him, forgetting how large and heavy it was. His son was away for a long time.
After a while the preacher could hear his son sobbing on the stairs. He went out and at the top of the steps was his son crying, with the large book he had tried to lift and carry, lying at his feet.
“Papa,” he cried, “I can’t carry it. It’s too heavy for me.” The father walked upstairs and, swooping down, took up both the book and his son in his strong arms and carried them both to the room below.
And that, dear Christian, is how God wants to deal with us. He wants to carry you and your burden for you. Have you been trying to carry it all by yourself?
Why don’t you leave your heavy burden at the feet of the Savior today? Whatever your burden is, would you cry out to God and seek His solace and comfort?
And while you’re at it, this would be a good time to look honestly at your life and make things right between you and God.
