OPENING: "The Floating Ball" from "Heno Head’s Simple Science Object Talks."
Take a hairdryer and two ping pong balls. (Since we have a video projector and a long worship hall, we focused a camera on the demonstration and ran the image thru the projector onto the wall). Turn on the hairdryer and put first one ping pong ball on the flow of air. It will be suspended about 3 inches from the nozzle. Then put the 2nd ball lightly above the 1st and it also will remain suspended. Remove 2nd ping pong ball (so that only the 1st remains) and slowly tilt the hairdryer. The ball will continue to be suspended in air until you reach somewhere between the 1 and 2 o’clock position..
APPLY: In life, some things just need to be seen to be believed. What we did with these ping pong balls defies all seeming logic. BUT obviously, we can do exactly what you’ve seen. Ordinarily you wouldn’t have suspected anything like that could have taken place. Thus, some things simply need to be seen to be believed.
I. HOWEVER, while "seeing is believing" may make good sense… and good science, God’s Word seems to go against that very concept. God teaches us that He often wants us to BELIEVE in order to SEE. In fact, that is the very essence of faith:
Hebrews 11:1 “…faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
2 Corinthians 4:18 “… we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
This FAITH is so important to God, that many things can’t be done without it.
In Matthew 14, we’re told the story of Jesus walking out on the sea to the boat that held His disciples. Upon seeing Jesus, Peter declares: "Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water." So Jesus says "Come on ahead." So Peter steps out of the boat and actually begins to walk on the water like Jesus was. But then, he takes his eyes off of Jesus and begins to pay more attention to the wind and the waves and begins to sink. Matthew 14:31 then tells us: "Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "WHY DID YOU DOUBT?"
In Matthew 17, we’re told of the time when Jesus’ disciples had been approached by a man who’s son was possessed of a demon. They’d apparently cast out demons before, but for some reason they couldn’t heal this boy. About that time, Jesus arrived and the father complained to him that the disciples failed to heal his son. Immediately, Jesus rebuked the demon and the boy was healed. Matthew 17:19-20 tells us that "the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, ’Why couldn’t we drive it out?’ He replied, ’BECAUSE YOU HAVE SO LITTLE FAITH.’"
Matthew 13:58 declares that Jesus "did not do many miracles (in Nazareth) BECAUSE OF THEIR LACK OF FAITH."
James 1:5-8 says "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, HE MUST BELIEVE AND NOT DOUBT, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
Hebrews 11:6 goes even farther “ … without faith it is impossible to please God”
Now, if this is true - if faith is so crucial to pleasing God and receiving His blessing - then, we’re confronted with a very interesting story in Luke chapter one (REREAD 1:10-20).
At the time of this story, Zechariah is serving as a priest inside the Temple, offering incense on the altar of incense. Apparently no one else is supposed to be there. But suddenly there appears an angel. And he is so obviously an angel that Zechariah responds as most everyone does when confronted by angels: he’s startled and afraid. This angel gives him such a wonderful prophecy that any ordinary man would have been overwhelmed. But the 1st words out of Zechariah’s mouth are “How can I be sure of this?”
Now, with all due respect to Zechariah - that’s probably not the smartest thing he’s ever said.
His comment reflected an attitude of unbelief. In fact, the angel Gabriel even says: "And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because YOU DID NOT BELIEVE my words" (Luke 1:20).
II. But… if Zechariah is plagued by unbelief here, why would God use him?
We have just got done proving that without faith it’s impossible to please God. AND we’ve proved that God simply won’t do miraculous things in our lives if we doubt. Surely there had to be other individuals in Israel that God could have chosen: Men of stalwart faith, men of unquestioning hearts, men who - when faced with a message from angels - would have said “Oh, ok, I can believe that.”
But instead, God chooses an old priest who’s only response seems to be, “Oh, come on now, you REALLY can’t be serious!”
(pause) You know, this just doesn’t make any sense… for God to choose a man like Zechariah… particularly if faith is supposed to be so important to Him (pause). Unless God had a reason(s) to choose a man like that. What reasons would God have had to choose Zechariah to father John the Baptist?
III. Well, there are several very good reasons why God would have chosen this priest. For example:
Luke 1:6 tells us “Both of (Zechariah & Elizabeth) were upright in the sight of God…”
God likes to use people who are upright in His sight. God delights in working through people who listen to Him seek to follow Him in all that they do.
Another reason God might have chosen this couple is given in Luke 1:5. "Zechariah… belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron."
God likes to follow a pattern. Back in Old Testament, Aaron was the designated spokesman for Moses and when Moses appeared to Pharaoh, Aaron task was to prepare the way for him. In addition, Moses was promised (by God) that one day God would raise up a prophet like him – meaning Jesus (Deuteronomy 18:18).
So now, consider the imagery here. Moses led God’s people out of the slavery of Egypt, and his spokesman was Aaron.
Jesus was going to lead God’s people out of the slavery of sin… and his spokesman was going to be a descendent of Aaron.
IV. In addition, there are a couple of other (not so obvious reasons) God might have chosen Zechariah for this job.
The first is this: Zechariah was an old man, and his wife – (to put it politely) was well beyond child bearing age. For Elizabeth to bear a child at her age would have required… a miracle. Well now, God’s big on miracles.
If what took place in story about John the Baptist could have happened naturally, what need would there have been for God?
AND, it’s not like God hasn’t done this before. Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, & Samuel were all born to women who were convinced they couldn’t have any children.
God delights in doing the impossible. And He does the impossible, in part, because God’s people need to be reminded: “…with God all things are possible.” Matt. 19:26
Or as God asked Abraham: “Is anything too hard for the LORD?" Gen 18:14
MIRACLES… THAT’S WHAT GOD DOES
In addition, imagine the power this miracle (that God performed for Zech. & Eliz.) had on John the Baptist. As John grew up, what do you think his parents talked about much of the time?
“John, do you realize you were a miracle child?” "Do you realize God has chosen you for a special task?"
And they’d have retold the prophecy the angel had declared, pointing out that this angelic prophecy was from Malachi, considered by many Jews to be Messianic in nature.
"See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.
He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse." (Malachi 4:5-6)
Because of all this, John would have understood (almost from day of his birth) that God had chosen him to prepare the way for the coming Messiah.
V. BUT, there is one more possible reason God would have selected Zechariah for his role. And I think this is perhaps the most important reason he was chosen.
I believe Zechariah was chosen to be the father of John the Baptist because - he doubted. He was precisely the kind of guy who’d look an angel dead in the eyes and say: "You can’t really be serious."
I believe God chose Zechariah because he was the type to doubt such a promise.
God seems to delight in choosing people who doubt. If you recall, Moses was offered the most significant role in all of the Old Testament and he tried to turn it down several times inferring that God had somehow made a mistake.
Or there’s Gideon. Also confronted by an angel, he doubted the message enough to ask for two different proofs.
Have you ever doubted God? I mean, have you ever been in the midst of such difficulties that you wondered where God was?
ILLUS: Back in the 70’s I read the story of a woman who’s husband was an Air Force pilot. On his last leave before going overseas she reminded him to keep his trust in the Lord no matter how bad the situation became. Upon his safe return a year later, her first words to him were:
"I told you that God wouldn’t let you down."
He grinned back at her and said, "I know you did honey. But, I have to admit, He sure left me dangling there a couple of times."
There are times (even in the lives of the most faithful Christians) when we get the feeling that God lets us dangle a little. And we’re tempted (at those times) to doubt God’s promises. And we struggle with our faith.
That’s part of the reason God chose men like Zechariah to do his bidding… because they were just like us. They had the same doubts, the same fears, the same struggles.
ILLUS: Mark 9:14-24 tells the story of the father who’s son could not be healed by the disciples. In his plea to Jesus, the father makes this comment: "… if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us" (Mark 9:22).
"’If you can’?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." (Mark 9:23)
At this point in the story, the father makes a very interesting and powerful statement: "I believe. Help my unbelief." (9:24).
Did you catch that? The man’s faith was being tested beyond anything he would have ordinarily expected. He wanted to believe, but he was being honest with Jesus. He needed help with his struggle with faith.
Did Jesus say to the man "Tough luck. You haven’t the faith, so I guess the boy isn’t going to be healed?" No. Jesus healed the boy.
My point is this… This series of sermons will be focusing on the promises of God.
But there will be times in your life (& mine) when those promises are going to be hard to believe. And you and I will struggle with our faith (I don’t care how good your theology may be). When those times come… I want to remember a few things
¨ We serve a God who is capable of doing great things
¨ We serve a God of miracles
¨ We serve a God who makes and keeps promises…
¨ BUT we also serve a God who understands that we will occasionally struggle with believing
¨ AND (this is important) - our struggles in faith WILL NOT stop God from keeping His promises
¨ Our struggles WILL NOT stop God from having mercy on us like he had so many in Scripture.
As Psalm 103:9-18 tells us
“The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children –
with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.”
God is compassionate with us because he knows how we are formed. He does not necessarily expect us to be perfect in our faith. He takes us from where we are in our believing and slowly transforms us into the men and women of faith that we really want to be.
It is the same way for those who desire to become Christians. There are those who believe they have to be perfect before they can be accepted by God. They have to clean up their lives and remove every bad habit before God will allow them to be His children. But God takes us "just as we are, without one plea, but that Christ’s blood was shed" for us. He takes us as we are and forms us into the children He wants us to be.
Other Sermons in this Series:
Believing To See Luke 1:5-1:25
Truth In Advertising Luke 1:26-1:38
The Exciting Promise Luke 2:1-2:20
The Gift Of The Warm Heart Luke 2:21-2:40
