Sermon: “Christ of Salvation”
Luke 1:67-75
A sermon for December 20, 2020
Pastor John Bright - Harmony & Swansonville UMC
Luke 1 “67 Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
68 “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people,
69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
Who have been since the world began,
71 That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers
And to remember His holy covenant,
73 The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
74 To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.”
The Gospel of Luke has two birth stories – there is the most well know in Chapter 2 that we will all be reading on Christmas Eve and there is the other birth story in Chapter 1. John is born 9 months after the angel appeared to his father, Zacharias, in the Temple. For those months, he is unable to speak. He still does not speak at the miraculous birth of his son - being the first child these 60-something adults have ever welcomed into the world. It was eight days later – at the ceremony of circumcision – that Zacharias is able to talk. It was also the day that a child’s name is announced. Not 100% sure what is going on in this story because someone other than the parents suggest a name for the child. Maybe they were trying to step in for the suddenly silent father. They suggest the child be named after his dad, but Elizabeth tells them and Zacharias writes that his name is to be John.
Then we hear this prophecy of Christ – v.67-70
“Luke 1 “67 Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
68 “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people,
69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
Who have been since the world began,”
Luke continues to let us know that the Holy Spirit is at work when these women and men are speaking for God. I have tried to show you during these weeks how the filling of God’s Spirit was what set apart the Old Testament prophet apart. In those days, just like today, just because you claim to speak for the Lord, it did not make it so. Listen to this judgement from the prophet Micah –
3 “5 Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets
Who make my people stray;
Who chant “Peace”
While they chew with their teeth,
But who prepare war against him
Who puts nothing into their mouths:
6 “Therefore you shall have night without vision,
And you shall have darkness without divination;
The sun shall go down on the prophets,
And the day shall be dark for them.
7 So the seers shall be ashamed,
And the diviners abashed;
Indeed they shall all cover their lips;
For there is no answer from God.”
8 But truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord,
And of justice and might,
To declare to Jacob his transgression
And to Israel his sin.”
I love the internet!
I hate the internet!
There are so many false prophets today who claim to speak for God… and they can reach millions of people who don’t know any better. There are thousands and thousands of videos on YouTube from folks professing the truth of Progressive Christianity (like those in the UMC that have brought us to a time of schism). They make Jesus a hippie from the 60s that loves you enough to let you do whatever you want. It’s sad. It’s sadder, still that they have a platform to sell it.
What are we selling? – v.71-75
“71 That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers
And to remember His holy covenant,
73 The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
74 To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.”
There’s a whole new kind of commercial. You may have seen it on the tv or sandwiched between the videos on your streaming platform. Some commercials, you don’t know what it is they are trying to sell you until the very end. For example, you may see one or more women in a field or on a street or at a party. Finally, there is an image of them holding a perfume bottle. Hey, does anybody buy those really big bottles I see on the commercials?
There are other commercials now that never tell you what they are selling. They just show you a company logo at the end. Those commercials seek to make us feel the guilt and shame of our racism or use of fossil fuels. These woke companies are “virtue signaling.” They are making themselves look like they get it. Sorry guys… I just want you to show me your product. Make me laugh. You can even tug at my heart strings a little, but let me know – FOR SURE – what is being sold.
Zacharias was full of the Holy Spirit and telling them about the Messiah who would be born in just a few months. He proclaimed the Christ of Salvation who would be of the House of King David. This is very familiar language for us – and for them. They were seeking a Messiah King that would set the Nation of Israel free from oppressive rule by the Roman Empire.
We are 2000 years removed from those folks and we have been grafted into their covenant with God that was made through Abraham. We are some of those stars in the night sky and we are some of those grains of sand on the sea shore. So how do we make sense of this prophecy of deliverance from enemies and serving Almighty God?
Today – our ultimate enemy is sin. It’s just that simple. We are born into a sinful state – like I always ask you – “Who had to teach their kids to be selfish or mean or rude?” They come hard-wired for that and we have to teach them to share and be kind. As we grow up, we discover new ways to sin – new ways to disobey God’s Word and our parents. Sooner or later, we end up in bondage to the sin. It’s so easy to see if we are addicted to nicotine or alcohol but when our drug of choice is pride or perfectionism, it’s not so easy to see the chains of bondage.
Today – serving God has been permanently disconnected from things like “holiness and righteousness” or we re-define them to have no claim on us as Believers. We live in the days of “The Great Experiment” when you can claim to be a Believer of Jesus Christ and still do or say or believe whatever you want.
Let me share two scriptures that paint a picture of where we are today:
Jesus put it this way in John 8 “31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.”
And Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6 “9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Unless the Unchanging Creator of the Universe has changed, we have gotten something wrong!
What should we look like today? Romans 8:15 “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
And from 1 Peter 1 “13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
What we need to be selling
A baby in a manger in December and a bloody, beaten Jew on a Roman cross in the Spring are just the beginning. These events anchor us in human history and allow us to proclaim Jesus as a real person who walked on the earth about 2000 year ago. It is the supernatural nature of His birth and resurrection that make us take a step of faith, but we can’t stop there! We go on from the birth of the Church at Pentecost to the spread of the gospel by simple men and women filled with the same power that Jesus had for ministry.
Today, we still need to let folks know about forgiveness for the penalty of our sin. Jesus paid the price, just like someone paying our fine in court when we have no money. But that’s not the end of the story – thank God. That spiritual power the first Believers had, still comes to us today and that power is far greater than the power sin has to make a slave of you. We live in a day where more and more people feel trapped – they are without hope that anything will change because they have tried and tried… over and over... and like the dog chasing its tail… right back where you started. You can’t… but God can!
We are not selling the perfect life where nothing bad ever happens. We are selling the relationship with God the Father who has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. (Heb. 13:5) God will be with us in every valley of life and every stormy night. That’s true peace and we have it to offer this world that is thriving on chaos. When we are walking in freedom and true peace – God can use us in powerful and unexpected ways.
Imagine there is just one person in this world who can be reached by you – you, filled with Spirit – you, walking in freedom – you, experiencing true peace no matter what comes. Imagine that one accepts the gift of salvation – freedom from the power of sin. That one is set free and in service to God – that one shares the love of God in such a way that one person is reached. Is that crazy talk?
I believe each one of you can serve God in that way. Each one of you can walk in freedom and true peace. When you do (not if you do) – when you do, I believe there is one person you can reach. You see, we aren’t selling anything – we are each a light in the darkness. We offer the light that is promised to never stop shining so that others will believe. Let’s see how brightly we can shine for Christ and find that one. Amen.
