Introduction
In the musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” Tevye, a man devoted to tradition, finds his thinking challenged when his oldest daughter wants to marry for love, instead of having her marriage arranged by her parents. It had never occurred to him that one would marry for love, and one night he cannot help but ask his own wife the question (in song, of course!): “Do You Love Me?”
T: Golde, do you love me?
G: Do I what?
T: Do you love me?
G: You’re a fool!
T: I know! But do you love me?
G: Do I love him? For twenty five years I’ve cooked for him, cleaned for him, starved with him. Twenty five years my bed is his. If that’s not love - what is?
There are times when going through the motions just doesn’t cut it. There are even times when a commitment to “going through the motions” can cause us to miss what’s most important. For 25 years, Tevye and Golde had been going through the motions of a loving marriage, without ever thinking about whether they loved one another or not.
I think Zechariah has found himself in a similar place.
He was a good, a faithful, and a religious man. He was a priest, and had served God all the days of his long life. He was the kind of guy who would fit in well at our church (had he been Baptist instead of Jewish!)
The Jewish priests were divided into 24 groups. Each group would serve at the Temple for a week at a time, twice a year. And they all would serve during the major festival weeks. Every day, one of them would be chosen by lot to burn incense in the Holy Place. There were so many priests, that they were only allowed to burn the incense once in their life. Many of the priests never even got the chance to do it once. For a priest, to receive the honor of burning the incense was the greatest day of his whole life. What a thrill it must have been for Zechariah! It would definitely have been the most important moment of his career – very likely, it was the most important moment of his long life.
It was probably a bit frightening, too. The Jews had such a sense of the holiness and awesomeness of God, that the idea of coming into His presence was a sobering thing. I bet he wanted to make sure he did everything just right. What a terrible thing it would be to make a mistake on such a day!
But despite his best efforts, something happened that wasn’t supposed to happen. Something happened that was so outside of Zechariah’s thinking that it was just too much for him. While Zechariah was busy worshipping and serving God, God pulled a fast one and actually showed up (or at least, one of his personal messengers did)!
What was Zechariah’s reaction? Did he say, “This is wonderful! Praise the Lord!” Our version says, that when Zechariah saw [the angel], “he was alarmed and felt afraid” That is a gross understatement. He wasn’t just startled. He was terrified at the sight of the angel Gabriel.
The conversation is almost comical. We’re not told what Gabriel looked like, but if Zechariah is terrified just looking at him, it must have been pretty obvious that it wasn’t just some guy sneaking into the temple. A messenger from the throne room of Almighty God was standing in front of him. Gabriel makes this incredible pronouncement about how Zechariah and Elizabeth are going to have a baby and how that baby will bring great joy and will prepare the way for the Savior of the World.
And how does this faithful servant of God respond? “How do I know that’s going to happen?” Zechariah demands proof! But God doesn’t have to prove anything to anybody. Gabriel tells Zechariah that he will be unable to speak until that Word comes true.
I’ve often thought God was a bit harsh on Zechariah
After all, was his question, “How shall I know if this is so?” all that different from Mary’s question, later in this same chapter, “How can this be?” Maybe it was the tone, maybe it was the attitude behind the question. But I think it was also because Zechariah should have known better.
Think about the two of them: Mary was a young girl, probably in her early teens. And being a woman, she was not taught the Scriptures to the same degree as a man – and certainly not to the same degree as a priest
Then there’s Zechariah. A priest; An old man. Someone who has read and studied and probably even taught the Scriptures for decades. “To whom much is given,” Jesus said, “much is expected.” Zechariah’s training and experience should have caused him to have greater faith than a teenage girl, but it didn’t.
I think Zechariah illustrates one of the most startling truths we see in the New Testament. It is something we see Jesus confront over and over, and it continues on through the book of Acts. What is amazing about this fact is that, as often as we see it, as well as we know it, we almost never believe it.
So what is this startling truth that we refuse to believe? Are you ready? Religion can turn us away from God How can that be? Isn’t our religion supposed to bring us closer to God? Well, yes, it is. But think about it. Who were the ones who were MOST hostile to Jesus? – the scribes and Pharisees, the ones who knew the Scriptures and devoted their lives to obeying & serving God. They were the very ones who, when God actually showed up in the person of Jesus Christ, wanted to kill Him.
Why is that? This is something we need to figure out –
Because we’re religious people. Most of you here are here most every week. Many of you are here during the week, studying, working, serving God and seeking to know Him. And this passage, as well as many others in the NT warn me that: Religion can turn me away from God. It can turn me 180 degrees from where i want to go
OK, so we admit that we’ve seen it, especially in the way the scribes and Pharisees treated Jesus – but why??
Maybe we’ve been to church so often and it’s always been so much the same that we figure we “know the drill.” It’s a ritual with which we are comfortable.
And so when we cease to feel comfortable, if God actually arrives and yanks our chain, we think something’s very wrong. After all, “I’ve gone to church all my life and if something happens I’m not comfortable with, it must be wrong!” But reread the Bible and look to see how often God throws people off guard, how often he takes them by surprise, how often, when God arrives, the religious people just can’t accept Him
My mother once said to me that she thought the saddest verse in the Bible was John 1:11 (KJV) “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” Why did “his own” refuse to receive Him? Because He wasn’t what they expected. He wasn’t what they were comfortable with. Isn’t it funny how we complain about reruns on TV because we don’t want to watch the same old thing
But if God wants to do a new thing, we complain that things aren’t the way they used to be! God doesn’t want to repeat yesterday, He wants to give new expressions of Himself today. And if we are not open to them, we will miss him.
Jesus told his disciples that if they went into a town and the people wouldn’t listen to their message, that they were to “shake the dust off their feet” and go somewhere else. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want God’s messengers to have to shake the dust off their feet and leave First Baptist.
In order to guarantee that doesn’t happen, we must cultivate a culture of openness to whatever new thing God would do. We need to look for Him in the unexpected. And follow Him into uncharted territory. We have to be willing to let God break through our rituals and our comfort zones to do a new thing.
How many of you want that? Think about it before you answer! Remember Zechariah: Having God arrive can be a terrifying experience. When God arrives, it may leave you speechless. And these verses only tell the beginning of the story. Yes, it was a miracle that this little old couple were able to have a baby. But that means that this little old couple had to RAISE a baby. They say to be careful what you pray for, you just might get it!
Being willing to let God break through and move freely among us is like writing a blank check, saying to God, “Ok, I’ll sign it and you fill in the numbers, Lord” That’s faith. And it’s the only way this church will be transformed & renewed. It’s the only way we can receive what God has for us. Some of you really want that; others probably don’t. You may be totally comfortable where you are.
But I’m going to ask you to do something radical here,
If you want to see God arrive, to break through and move in this church, no matter what it takes, I want to pray with you. I’m going to ask those of you who never want to let their religion turn them away from God, who are willing to give a blank check to God, to come forward, to stand together up front and hold hands together while I close this sermon with prayer.
PRAYER: Laying down ourselves opening ourselves to the Spirit.
