Luke 1:5-25 – Christmas Time is Fear
Today we are beginning our Christmas series. We are looking, for the next 4 weeks, at the issue of fear. Four times in the Christmas story, someone is told, “Do not be afraid.” It makes me think that the Christmas song that says, “all is calm” might not have painted the whole picture.
I wonder how many of us are fearful this season. How many of us are afraid of what the future holds, or afraid of how we can go on? I’d like to open up today with a quote by E. Stanley Jones, a famous missionary of yesteryear. He said, “I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is. I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil. I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath—these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely—these are my native air.”
Now, we’re going to start with Zechariah. He was the father of John the Baptist. He was an old man, and he was married to an old woman. They had both been faithful to God for many years, and he had been a priest all his life. Let me tell you about the time he was afraid. Read Luke 1:5-25.
So the one day of his life that he got to offer incense, an angel showed up there, too. He would have been in awe of the privilege to offer the incense, but then an angel showed up and added to the excitement too.
Well, I must say that most times in the Bible, when a person knew that it was angel who was talking, the person was terrified. I don’t mean, “Oh, it was an angel and I had no idea.” I mean, knowing that the being talking to you is an angel – that brought fear.
Let me tell you a story about a small island in the South Seas inhabited by a group of people who had very little contact with the outside world. Theirs was a beautiful island – lush vegetation, wonderfully sweet-tasting fruit, and many domesticated animals good for eating. It was a tropical paradise.
But many others took advantage of the beauty. Over the years, many ships would land on the shores, unload its decks of pirates and thieves, and would fill its holds with plunder, looted from the island. Many beautiful island ladies found themselves stolen for pirates’ pleasures, many young children kidnapped to become pirates’ servants. Many animals, much fruit found their way uninvited to pirates’ galleys, leaving a terrorized people behind in the wake.
For many years this went on, until the islanders moved inland. Every set of sails on the horizon brought fear to the hearts of the natives, and they eventually moved their homes inland, away from thieving eyes.
Well, it turns out that the island was not an island – it was a dormant volcano, unknown to the natives. Seismologists from around the world picked up small tremors on their instruments, and discovered that the volcano would soon erupt. The volcano would send lava over the whole island, dooming everything there. Rumors had been heard years before of a hidden tribe of people on that island, and the scientists rushed to save the lives of the tribe.
Soon, a ship was sent to pick up the islanders and move them to a safe island. But when the ship arrived, they found no-one. The ship sailed away with no islanders on board.
Then a helicopter was sent. It flew over the island, but it too saw nothing, and flew off.
Each time a contact came from the outside world, it left empty-handed. Because, each time the islanders, very much alive and well, heard or saw something, they ran and hid in their well-concealed village. Years of visits from wicked outsiders brought such a terror into the hearts of the islanders, that they hid at even the peaceful outsiders.
And it’s sad, that even the messenger, meant to bring news that would save them, was still rejected due to fear. Such was the case with Zechariah. He was afraid of the messenger, the angel, bringing good news to him and to the rest of the world.
The good news brought fear to some. The mighty and powerful King Herod was so scared of the newborn baby king, that he ordered a mass execution of all baby boys in Bethlehem. It’s no wonder that Simeon said that Jesus would be “destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.” It’s scary to think you might be replaced, at work or in a relationship. It’s scary to think you might fall. It’s scary to think that all your thoughts will someday be revealed.
You see, it wasn’t just that an angel showed up that made Zechariah shiver in his boots. The angel quickly says, “Do not be afraid; your prayer has been heard.” You see, it wasn’t just the angel’s appearance in the room that made Zech tremble; it was the fact that God was at long last revealing Himself. Zechariah had served faithfully for many years, but He had never seen God, nor, I’m assuming, ever heard a voice from heaven.
And then he found out that God was going to answer his prayer. That prayer was probably long-forgotten. How often do senior citizens ask for children of their own? Elizabeth had been infertile all her life, and assuming that the change of life - menopause - had come, they probably had given up all hope of having children.
So, the fact that an angel showed up with an answered but long-forgotten prayer was probably just as scary seeing the angel himself. Zechariah was afraid because He saw that God was moving. Maybe he was afraid because he thought he was going crazy. And God’s moving would take Zechariah and Elizabeth into a brand new place in life, at a time likely when they didn’t want grand sweeping changes.
A person gets used to things. A person gets familiar with what they know and who they are, and so, changes upset that. You see, whether it’s an angel showing up or a forgotten prayer being answered or a new job or a new relationship or a new home, the unknown carries fear.
And this isn’t really about how spiritual a person is. I mean, Zech was “upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly”, but when it came down to it, he still lacked faith.
Despite what he saw, he still wanted to be sure. Despite his years of serving God, he still messed up. He still needed more than simple belief: he needed to see it. He needed proof.
I wonder if we ever get that way. Even those of us who have served the Lord for years, I wonder if we ever doubt He hears our prayers. I mean, we talk to Him, and we try to listen, but I wonder if what we hear is just what we wish God would say to us, or what we figure He will say to us, but not actually Him talking to us.
Zechariah was living what the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau called “quiet desperation”. Oh there’s a faith, but simmering under the surface are deep unanswered questions. We believe one thing, but sometimes feel another. We wonder if we’re the only ones who don’t get “it”. We’re told that we should get satisfaction with our jobs, but in the end they seem nothing more than the only way we know how to earn money ethically and legally. We’re told to love our families, but they drive us so crazy we wonder what it would be like with someone else’s kids.
And we come to church, and we figure we should because it’s the right thing to do, but we leave and we’re exactly the same. We wonder if others really are thankful. We wonder if other people really prayed. We wonder if anyone really got something useful out of the sermon. We know that we should live by faith, but we so desperately want to see something.
These are forgotten prayers. They were so scary when we thought them that we figured they’re sinful. “God, if you’re real, show yourself to me.” He doesn’t, we move on. We usually don’t fall away, but we lose some amount of hope in an attempt to be realistic. These gritty prayers begin to lie under the surface, popping up occasionally. But we tuck them under again quickly, feeling ashamed to have them.
I’m sure Zech felt that way. But God did answer Him. And when God did answer with a long-awaited response, it was far above what Zech would have expected. The angel said that Zech would not just have a baby, but one with a special purpose. The baby would be John the Baptist, the forerunner and messenger of the Messiah, the Anointed One, the One sent by God to bring salvation and liberty and healing to the people.
But Zech at first doubted. It had been so long since he prayed for a child, and now it was obviously too late. Now, you can see the irony here: for so long God was silent. But when He did speak, Zechariah didn’t believe it, and he became silent.
I wonder if from time to time God wants to undo our quiet desperation. I’m not saying He’ll always, or ever as far as we are concerned, show up or send an angel to let us know our prayers are answered. I’m just thinking, that God does hear our hearts. He does hear our prayers. Even the ones we “shouldn’t” pray. I’m thinking that God will help dispel our doubts but we have to be open to it when it happens.
So today, maybe you are afraid. Maybe you are afraid that you have been wrong all these years. That you’ve been serving God and doing the right thing for nothing. Maybe you’re afraid even to admit to your doubts. I mean, really good Christians don’t admit their doubts, right?
Maybe you’re afraid of never being happy or satisfied. Maybe you’re afraid that things will never be as good for you as they were in high school or college. Or, if they were painful, you’re afraid that things will never be the same as they were when you were an innocent kid. Like the singer once moaned: “Sometimes I wish to God I didn’t know now the things I didn’t know then.”
Maybe you’re afraid that you are too different. That you’re not “in” like everyone else. There’s something you don’t know or don’t do, and that makes you different.
Maybe you’re afraid that what you see is all there is. That those prayers are just too answerable. Or maybe the time to answer them has gone by. Maybe you’re afraid that God doesn’t care about you or He doesn’t love you or He doesn’t even like you, and He has no concerns about answering any of your prayers.
I tell you, hang on. Keep doing the right things, even when you don’t see much visible reward. Keep trusting that God sees and hears about you. The name “Zechariah” actually means “God remembers”. He has not forgotten any of your unanswered prayers. He knows exactly what you need. Keep looking and seeking and asking and hoping and believing. God does all things well in His time, and trust the results to your prayers and fears to His time.
