Zechariah's Christmas Chorus

 “Zechariah’s Christmas Chorus”

 Message @ Jericho Ridge Community Church – Sunday, Nov 29, 2015

Text: Luke 1:67-79 // Series: The Songs of Christmas

Good morning.  My name is Brad Sumner, I’m part of the teaching and leadership team here at Jericho Ridge and it is our privilege and pleasure to have you here with us as we launch into Advent. 

This year, as we move through the month of Dec and prepare our hearts to engage with hope and anticipation, we are going to stay rooted in a two chapters in a single gospel account and look at how the Christmas story is told by Luke.  We’re going to see that he weaves into his telling four songs by four different characters in the original Christmas story.  And so our advent series is appropriately titled The Songs of Christmas.  This morning, we’re going to see in Luke 1 that his Christmas story begins in a very unusual place.  Not with Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus in a manger…  He begins it with a unique story about the sound of silence. 

As we jump in, I want to invite you to reflect on the notion of silence.  What is the longest period of time you have ever gone without speaking?  Some of you are extroverts and are thinking “um, like 2 minutes – that’s a long time, right?”  Maybe for you it was a hunting or hiking trip.  Maybe you were mad at someone and weaponized your silence.  When I think about being silent, my mind goes back to growing up and my mom had something she called “Monk’s meals” Have you heard of this?  My parents convinced us that in a monastery, they ate their meals in silence and we should try it too.  And if my parents wanted to make something happen, they knew to turn it into a competition “who can make it through this whole meal without saying a word? I’ve tried it with my kids… it doesn’t’ work as well.  I’m not sure if it’s a generational thing or that my kinds lack any context for just how silent monks are at meals or whether they are just inherently loud.  But silence is at a premium in our world today, isn’t it?       

And so because of his unbelief, Zechariah enters his own personal silence.  9 months of being unable to speak.  Likely also unable to hear because we see that people have to sign to him to get his attention.  What would have been like to be enveloped in a world of SILENCE for 9 months?  (Those with toddlers have just added this to the top of their wish list for Christmas – “hon, what I need from you is nine months where your lips do no moving and my ears do no listening to you, you and you! J.”  This is the first theme of Zechariah’s Christmas Chorus – the theme of SILENCE

I can imagine 9 minutes or 9 hours or even 9 days but 9 months?!  I can picture Zechariah working this through.  I wonder if he started where I start when I make a mistake: Self-flagellation: “I knew I should have listened to that angel!  Why did I open my big mouth!  Stupid, stupid, stupid!”  Once you move past that, however, and by the time we pick up Zechariah’s story in Luke 1:57, we see that something has happened to him in silence.  Silence has done its work not only on Zechariah’s body, but also on his soul.  I love the way author Richard Foster talks about seeking out silence as a discipline because of what it does to our souls.  In his book the Freedom of Simplicity, Foster writes:

“Silence frees us from the need to control others. One reason we can hardly bear to remain silent is that it makes us feel so helpless. We are accustomed to relying upon words to manage and control others. A frantic stream of words flows from us in an attempt to straighten others out. We want so desperately for them to agree with us, to see things our way. We evaluate people, judge people, condemn people. We devour people with our words. Silence is one of the deepest Disciplines of the Spirit simply because it puts the stopper on that. When we become quiet enough to let go of people, we learn compassion for them. We can be with people in their hurt and need. We can speak a word out of our inner silence that will set them free.” (p72)

Psalm 46:10 says this in another way: “Be still and know that I am God”.   In his silence, Zechariah learned praise.  We see that he moves from being a skeptic to being a singer.  Here’s a challenge for you this month: Get alone with God and just be quiet.  Make a commitment to be still in the mornings.  Maybe on your drive to work or school instead of listening to talk radio, take time to be quiet and listen to God.  Spend time praying.  Maybe if it’s nice outside, walk the kids to school.  And on the way home, take your time.  Don’t rush into your TO DO list.  Just be quiet.  Take time to reflect and talk to God about what’s on your heart.  Deep, soulful things happen when we turn the noise level down in our lives so we can hear God.  This is a hard discipline for me but one way I am learning to practice it is that I wake up and put the coffee on, and I discipline myself that while it is brewing, that is my time of silence.  No reading. No checking e-mails. No music.  Just 13 minutes of kneeling. Praying. Listening. I’m learning to start my days in silence.  Try it.  Its hard work but worth the effort. 

This is the first theme we see in Zechariah’s story.  But let’s look at his song – and there are two themes here I want to highlight today for us.  It is traditionally known as the Benedictus.  I’ll read it from Luke 1:67-79

[PHOTO of Zechariah and then 3 SCRIPTURE SLIDES]

It’s intriguing to me that most of Zechariah’s song is not about his son, John the Baptizer.  It’s about Jesus, God’s only son.  What struck me about Zechariah’s song was the theme of STRENGTH.  That God didn’t just send a Saviour, He sent a mighty savior.  This savior was a deliverer – mighty to save.  To rescue.  To redeem.  Zechariah focuses his song on

• The strength of God’s promises

When God says “I will do this”, it will be done.  I am struck by the fact that Zechariah is so confident in God’s work and His promises that he puts God’s actions in the past tense, even though they have not yet fully been realized.  Verse 74 – we have been rescued.  Notice that nothing has changed circumstantially but Zechariah is so deeply confident in God’s strength to fulfill His word that for him, it is as good as done.  This is the definition of faith.  Hebrews 11:1 “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it give us assurance about things we cannot see”.  Zechariah’s Christmas chorus reminds us that God’s is faithful to His promises. Even if they take longer to come to fulfillment that we like.  This is why pastor and author John Piper reminds us that “For the mind of faith, a promised act of God is as good as done.” – John Piper

God is strong and able to keep His word and His promise to you.  To us as a church.  To saints throughout history.  And I love how Zechariah’s understanding of God’s strength is not merely passive. 

• God’s strength is both defensive (protection) and offensive (rescue) us

We see this theme repeated not only in Zechariah’s prophecy but also throughout the Old Testament:  The Psalm writer says

“The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my saviour; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.” (Ps 18:2)  The power that saves.  Shield.  Zechariah’s prophecy is about the strength of God’s redeeming work in your life and my life and in our world. 

What does this look like?  Some of you today feel overwhelmed…  You look OK on the outside, but inside you are so consumed with fear and worry about finances, stress, health challenges in front of you.  Family dynamics you have to navigate this season.  Work situation that isn’t getting better no matter how much you pray about it.  You’ve been working at it and struggling and finding it is sapping all your strength.   You need a visitation from the Lord.  You need redemption and rescue.  When we move into our time of worship response at the end, our prayer team – today that is Curtis Cottrell, Ann-Marie and myself – will stand with you and invite God to show Himself strong on your behalf.  You may need defensive prayer you may need us to go on the offensive for you!   

Zechariah was a septic… he didn’t believe God could do it.  But God moved in his own personal life in a powerful way to demonstrate his salvation.  And that built faith in his life to see that God’s strength could break through into other areas of need beyond his own personal world.  And the image that occupies Zechariah’s mind here is in 1:69 is a “horn of Salvation”. 

When we hear the phrase “horn”, we tend to think of this [photo of a French horn].  But in Zachariah’s song, he is thinking of a very different kind of horn.  A horn of strength & salvation like this [photo of bull]. 

I grew up in a farming community and I would go a visit friends farms and there’s lots of cute things on farms.  Baby sheep or goats and chickens.  You can pick them up and play with and pet them.  You know what you never mess with on a farm?  A bull with BIG horns!  They can hurt you! 

This is what the Old Testament has in mind – in Micah 4:13 or in Psalm 18:2 the ESV translation says “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation.”  It’s not hard to imagine when you are up close and personal with a massive bull with horns to think of why ancient peoples understood the horn as a sign of raw strength and power! 

In Zechariah’s song, as in Psalm 18, God is specifically the horn of not merely strength for whatever I need Him to do for me, but Messiah, the sent one from the life of his servant David is described as the horn of salvation.  So it begs the question “If we need saving, what do we need saving from?  And what are we saved unto?  Or saved to do?”

This is the third theme in Zachariah’s song – Salvation.  

We talked a bit about this last week when we finished off our series in I Thessalonians and looked at heaven.  One of the questions to wrestle with is that if God’s only objective is for you and I to come into a saving relationship with Him, why don’t we immediately go to heaven once that occurs?  I think Zechariah helps to answer this is Luke 1:74-75.  Because the question should be asked  (?) What is the goal(s) of salvation?

Yes, Forgiveness &  Freedom – The text is clear on this.  1:77 – John’s role will be the declaration that people find salvation through the forgiveness of their sins.  That because of God’s ender mercy that those who live in the shadow of death can find “light and life to all He brings”.  That you can know peace with God through Jesus is the message of Christmas.  Friend, if you have not experienced that amazing gift, today is your day.  What joy and hope and peace is for those whose sins have been forgiven, who have been rescued from the consequences of wrongs done to you and by you!  That invitation is open for YOU today.  Before you leave, I’ll give the opportunity to pray and say yes to Jesus. 

Some of you here today have said yes to that invitation but the question still remains “why did God save me?”  What should I be doing with whatever amount of time I have left?  The answer is in Zechariah’s song: We have been rescued… so that we can serve God without fear in holiness and righteousness for as long as we live” (1:74-75).  One of the goals of your salvation is Sacrificial Service.

Friends, we have been saved to serve.  For some, this is serving in your neighborhood and school.  Serving family members driving them to chemo and sitting with them.  For some, you serve by giving time or money to various causes.  Some of you serve by praying faithfully.  I love the creativity that I see around Jericho. It’s reflective of the way I Peter 4:10 puts this “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.” (I Peter 4:10)

One of our core values at Jericho is glocal service – global and local service.  And today we wanted to feature one of our local opportunities for service you’ve been hearing about in 2015. 

I am going to invite Kym to come up.  Kym is the director of the House of Hope in S. Langley.  This is one of our local mission partners – you can see them in the People and Projects Guide – and we have been serving there monthly.  Including last week Saturday.  It’s important to understand the WHY behind service…  So Kym, can you explain to us a little bit about the House of Hope and why what Jericho does there to serve helps accomplish the vision and mission God has given to you? 

[HOUSE OF HOPE] – Media?

I want you to hear how simple acts of service can be significant, Jericho.  I love this about how so many of you live your lives.  There is a natural outpouring of service that happens to freely and frequently around this place.  It brings joy to my heart to bear witness to stories of it. 

Some are serving by going – globally.  We will hear next weekend from the McCarthys, JRCC’s 11^th global mission partner in 11 years.  So let me ask you “Where are you serving this Advent season? 

Maybe you are ringing bells with your kids for two hours for the Salvation Army to raise money for people in our city who are homeless.  Maybe today you want to connect with Kym and House of Hope and ask “how can I help?”  Might be linking up with the group here at Jericho that is working on refugee sponsorship - talk to Nigel, he is coordinating this.  Maybe you want to help here at Jericho – set up team needs your help, Kids @ the Ridge (see your info sheet) - So many creative ways to serve God by serving others!  We are saved to serve. 

I love how Zechariah ends his song – that the morning light from heaven is about to break up us.  The Morning Light from Heaven, meaning the person of Jesus, is about to visit us.  The purpose of that visitation from God is to give light to us who sit in darkness and to guide our feet to walk out the path that brings peace.  The team is coming to lead us in three songs…  That mirror the three themes of Zechariah’s song:

Theme1 - Silence – Maybe today this is where you need to begin.  In stillness.  In listening.  In repentance and rest.  In quietness and trust.  Waiting. Asking. Seeking.  Remembering.  If so, don’t sing.  Feel free to pray to listen.  To look at your calendar and block off some time for silence. 

Theme 2 - Strength – where do you need God’s strength to meet you today?  Where does trust need to grow?  Maybe for you, this is a brand new idea.  Trust and hope in Christ alone.  Friend, there is no place more certain and sure and strong to place your life.  You do this by praying – God, I place my full hope in you. Not only for the life to come, but for THIS life.  Right here, right now.  I want to say “I am yours.  I need your salvation – I need forgiveness of my sins.  I need to walk

Theme of salvation – A theme of thanksgiving: a declaration that God, because of your greatness and goodness to me, to us, we desire to serve you in whatever ways you ask of us.  We are yours.  We give to your our hands, our voices, our very lives! 

Let’s pray together as Jared comes and Ann-Marie, Curtis make their way to the side and back for you to pray with.  Lets’ stand together.