“Accepting and then Reflecting”
much of the inspiration for this sermon comes from Adam Hamilton's book: "Prepare the Way for the Lord."
Luke 1:57-64, 67, 76-79
Last week we left Zechariah in the Temple, speaking with the angel Gabriel.
Gabriel had told him that, although he and Elizabeth were getting up in age, they would have a child—and that he would prepare the way for Christ.
We didn’t read this part, but does anyone know how Zechariah responded to this news?
Was it with praise and thanksgiving?
No.
Instead, he was like: “How can I be sure of this?
I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
And Gabriel’s response was, basically, “You can’t be sure; you’re going to have to trust.”
And that’s what faith is: trusting even if you have questions and doubts.
I think that sometimes those gnawing questions we sometimes have are good.
I think they are meant to prompt us to explore things further—and when we do, we often realize that a particular person, belief or promise is not something we should believe or follow.
Cults demand absolute blind loyalty with no questions.
They claim to have all the answers.
And if you question anything they teach you don’t have enough faith.
This is dangerous.
And a lot of people get hurt…
…very hurt.
Think of Jones’ Town, Heaven’s Gate, David Koresh.
All of these demanded blind loyalty.
All of these ended in terrible destruction.
Often, when people get involved in a cult they will eventually, Lord willing, come out of it.
But they will have been broken and damaged by the experience.
Sometimes, because they had been so lied to by the leaders, they are unwilling to allow themselves to ever believe again.
When things go wrong, it is often because people have faith in someone or something when they should have paid more attention to their doubts.
We are meant to ask questions.
God gave us a brain.
And we are to love God with all our heart, MIND, soul and strength.
Sometimes our doubts are well-founded.
But when our faith is in a good position, our doubts or questions should lead us to a deeper faith.
Frederick Buechner once wrote: “Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.”
We all struggle with doubt; it’s a normal part of our spiritual lives.
Martin Luther once said, “only God and certain madmen have no doubts.”
Our brains were wired for critical thinking which causes us to dig deeper, to search for answers.
It’s worth remembering that when Jesus called His first disciples, He didn’t say to them, “Set aside all your doubts and uncertainties.
Don’t ask any questions, and come follow me.”
Nor did He try to answer all their questions and explain away all their doubts.
He simply invited them on the journey of a lifetime saying, “Come follow me.”
And that is still Jesus’ invitation to every one of us today.
The older I am, and the more life I’ve lived, the deeper my faith and trust in Christ becomes.
It’s also true that the older I get the less I feel that I have to have all the answers to every single question in life.
It’s just not possible.
On this earth, our relationship with God is not yet complete.
As Paul says in 1st Corinthians 13: “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.”
So, belief is a decision we make.
God offers us the gift of faith; it is our responsibility to decide whether or not we will accept it, open it and dive in.
(pause)
When Zechariah questioned what Gabriel was telling him, he said in verse 20, “you will remain silent, unable to speak until the day when [John is born].”
What was this about?
Was it a punishment?
I don’t think so.
I think God was asking Zechariah to talk less and to listen more.
And I think there is something for many of us in here as well.
(pause)
Several years ago, I went on a silent retreat.
And you’d think it would have driven me crazy, given how much I talk, but I actually enjoyed it.
One reason I liked it is because I found that as I was silent I began to listen.
Sermon ideas started to fill my head.
I had dreams and visions for the future of the church I served, and for my family and my life.
When I turned off the noise and became silent I could hear the Holy Spirit.
Maybe God was silencing Zechariah for a few months so that he would be able to listen, to pay attention to this amazing thing God was doing.
We’ve probably all heard the saying: “God gave us two ears and one mouth in direct proportion to how much He wants us to use them.”
In our polarized world, silence and listening is especially important.
Do you take enough time for silence?
It can be difficult and we often have to be intentional about doing this.
When my sisters and I were young, I would find my mother already awake and reading her Bible and praying long before we were up and rattling about.
It’s a beautiful memory and a lesson about listening to God.
(pause)
In our Gospel Lesson for this morning, Zechariah and his family apparently tried to learn sign language to communicate.
We are told that they “made signs” to Zechariah “to find out what he would like to name the child.
He asked for a writing tablet, and he wrote, ‘His name is John.’”
Gabriel had told him the name God had chosen.
In Hebrew, the name John means: The Lord is Gracious.
The Greek word behind gracious is charis which appears more than 150 times in the New Testament.
It translates into English as kindness, favor, undeserved blessings that are extended simply due to the goodness of the giver, not because the recipient deserves it.
It’s what we embody when we help a complete stranger.
And it’s one of the defining characteristics of God.
God is gracious.
God seeks to show kindness and mercy to the human race, which is why God came to us in Jesus Christ.
And John the Baptist was sent because of God’s grace, to prepare the way for the coming of Christ by inviting people to repent and believe the good news.
Preparing the way for the Lord is to both receive and give grace.
It’s meant to be the rhythm of our lives as Christians.
We accept God’s love, and we are to reflect God’s love.
We receive God’s kindness, and we are to live that kindness to others…
…receiving and then giving, accepting and then reflecting.
Does this define your life?
Does it define mine?
There is no way any of us are perfect at this, but it is to be our goal—the path to Christian Perfection or Sanctification—Perfectly reflecting the love and grace of God to others through our lives.
Paul wrote: “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one can boast.
For we are created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God has prepared in advance to be our way of life.”
I’d say that’s my favorite passage in the Bible—Ephesians 2:8-10.
We are saved by God’s grace—by God’s undeserved kindness.
But we are also saved for a purpose: to share and live that kindness toward others, to pass on God’s love and grace to others.
Jesus said that He came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.
That is the picture of grace, living our lives more concerned with serving others than with being served.
It is the most beautiful thing in the world.
It is the Truth, the Way, the Life.
After Zechariah wrote the name “John” on the tablet we are told that “his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.”
And when the people asked “What then is this child going to be?”
Zechariah is filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesies.
What he says is written down in Luke 1:67-79.
It summarizes what Advent is all about and gives us a preview of things to come.
Zechariah’s prophesy contains allusions to 18 different Old Testament texts from the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings—all three major parts of the Old Testament.
Apparently, Zechariah had been listening very closely to God during his nine months of silence.
In verses 76-79 Zechariah speaks of John the Baptist: “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
This is Advent, when the dawn from heaven breaks upon us, shining God’s light in a very dark world.
And it is because of God’s grace that this Light shines.
And Jesus is the Light.
And as His light shines on us we are to reflect it back to a dark, lost and broken world that so needs to know about the grace and love of God found in Christ Jesus our Lord.
May it be so.
Amen.
