Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.1UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.05UNLIKELY
Fear
0.1UNLIKELY
Joy
0.68LIKELY
Sadness
0.54LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.41UNLIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.52LIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.81LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.86LIKELY
Extraversion
0.07UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.73LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.63LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
The Mercy of God in the Birth of the Prophet - Luke 1:57-80
As we celebrate this week of advent we turn to the joy of Christmas.
But that may not be where we are at this morning.
Or maybe this week wasn’t marked by joy.
Are our lives characterized by joy in Christ or is something else filling our minds and hearts?
10 months before these verses we find barren Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah.
Luke began in Chapter 1 verse 6 that they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all God’s commandments!
But Elizabeth was barren and on top of that, they were old!
We all know it get’s a lot harder to have kids when you’re old!
Not speaking from experience.
They had no reason to expect God to answer their prayer and turn around their circumstances.
Perhaps that’s where you find yourself this morning.
The trials of life have bogged you down, your life’s circumstances is not where you thought you would be right now
Perhaps the holidays bring about challenges in your family or friends, perhaps the sting of death or sin or conflict is far more common than joy.
Perhaps some of us are struggling with our mental health or others with our physical health.
Perhaps our struggle with sin hasn’t gone well this week and we’re discouraged and unnecessarily staying under the guilt that Christ has already taken on.
Perhaps our parenting failures or insecurities are causing us to wonder where we’ve gone wrong.
Perhaps we’re at a loss for how to help those who are close to us and are experiencing suffering.
This morning, Luke provides a solution to our discouragement, to our questioning.
He points us to the Faithful, Tender Mercy of God in the birth narrative of John!
So I have titled this message: The Mercy of God in the Birth of the Prophet.
We’ll walk through the verses together and see 2 important aspects of God’s mercy.
First that his mercy is personal verses 57 - 66
Second, that his mercy is Promised is verses 67 - 80
You’ll see these two main movements in this section, first the birth narrative of John and Second the song of response from Zechariah.
Each section ends with a meditation on the child being born.
The first section with the question: Who will this child be?
And the second section answers that question beginning in vs. 76
Throughout these 2 movements the theme of God’s Mercy is brought up again and again.
My hope this morning is that we would all walk away with a renewed confidence in God’s Mercy and rejoice at the work he has done, the work he is doing and the work he has promised he will do!
As I went outside early this morning, I couldn’t help but feel the peace of a fresh snow fall.
Just a thin layer of Snow with large snow flakes slowly falling and yet the busyness and chaos of normal life fell silent and things were still.
As see see the nature of God’s mercy and take our eyes off of the temporary circumstance to focus on the eternal work of God, our hearts can experience that peace, that calm and quiet and we can rest in God’s faithful mercy!
The first thing we see about God’s mercy is that it is…
SLIDE
1. God’s Mercy is Personal, Trust That it is Purposeful (vs.
57-66)
The Passage begins rather mercilessly, the time comes for Elizabeth to give birth and to no surprise she gives birth to a son.
The neighbours and relatives gather around and rejoice with Elizabeth.
God had heard their prayer and answered their heart’s longing and given them a baby boy.
Elizabeth and John and their community are rejoicing together.
Notice what Luke highlights as what God was doing in vs. 58.
Luke says they heard that God had shown her great mercy!
It’s God’s mercy that their desires would be fulfilled.
a Personal mercy that God has shown to Zechariah and Elisabeth
as part of God’s plan of mercy to the whole world he’s showing mercy to an individual couple.
It was typical of the time to name the child when they are born but Luke notes that the baby isn’t named until the 8th day when he was circumcised.
This later became a common Jewish practice but John and Jesus are the first recorded example of this happening in this era.
Luke is showing and emphasizing their link to the work God was doing at another significant point in Israel’s History.
Abraham was given his name at the timing of his circumcision and so Luke is highlighting their link to the promises and covenant with Abraham which he’ll explicitly mention later.
The friends and families gather around and they want to name him Zechariah after his dad!
Have you ever had family interfere with personal decisions like this before?
Obviously their well-meaning and good intentioned but still you can imagine Elisabeth, not being too impressed and speaking up…
That’s my kid, i birthed him, not you… His name is going to be JOHN…
This comes as a shock so natualy they push back, but none of your relatives are called John!
They turn to Zechariah to see what he thinks of this crazy idea..
To their amaznement Zechariah grabs the writing tablet and decisively writes “His Name is John”
At this point, Zechariah and Elisabeth affirm their faith in God’s words to them earlier in Chapter 1 and they obey the commands of Gabreil to name the baby John.
DA Carson reminds us that the name John means the Lord is Merciful.
This baby now is a personal mercy to Elizabeth and Zechariah and is a greater sign of the mercy of God in bringing about the redemption of his people through his plan.
All the relatives and neighbours wonder at his name!
But all of the sudden before they’re even able to discuss it among themselves John’s mouth is immediately opened.
And he speaks!
Now fear comes on all the neighbours and everyone shares this new and exciting information around town.
This isn’t all that different from Exeter…
We learned fairly quickly upon moving here that when something big happens in Exeter it’s similarly talked about though the hill country of south huron!
Human’s always love to share exciting news With those around them!
In vs. 66 Luke return to the common language he uses throughout his gospel as all the people lay these things up in their hearts.
They wonder: “What then will this child be?”
And luke tells us the reason for their wonder - it’s because the Lord was with him!
It’s been hundreds of years since God was with one of his people in a unique way and working among Israel.
They realise the signficance of this new thing that God is doing and they have hope and joy in God’s mercy to Elizabeth and Zechariah.
This is where we find the words of our theme for advent.
What Child is This .. THe ESV has it as What then will this child be?
Obiously here the question is about John as the beginning of a new work of God and his Spirit uniquely working amidst His people.
But if the people wonder at the birth of John how much more should we ask What child is this in reference to God himself being born as a infant!
God becoming man, to save us from our sin in the greatest display of His mercy!
The sovereign king breaks into our lives to take us from death to eternal joy and life!
God’s mercy is expressed in these unique acts in the history of salvation but it is also at work in the day to day lives of his people.
As we reflect on God’s mercy let’s remmeber that his mercy is personal And tender!
God is not far off, removed, or distant from his people.
He cares for each one of us, in fact he knows us in a detailed and intimate way.
There is no running from his knowledge or presence we must accept the fact that he is accutely aware of us, our sin, our suffering, our needs.
And his heart isn’t hard toward us, he doesn’t behold our sin and wish he never created us like in the days of Noah.
Rather he see’s our rebeliion, our sin, and he longs to forgive us and reconcile us, Like Jesus expressed with Jerusalem.
Friend’s God is not absent from your life, he is not unaware of your longings that remain unmet.
He know’s your deepest cares, your deepest concerns and he cares!
We often don’t know why some prayers remain unanswered but we do know what God’s primary purpose is.
SLIDE
God’s primary goal is that you would know Christ and forsake all other loves in your pursuit of Him.
He wants this for us because it’s in that pursuit that we will find life!
It’s not in a spouse, not in the perfect family, not in a better job, not in relieving the trials and suffering of this world.
So this morning as we look for joy, rejoice in the mercy of God that just like Elizabeth’s barrenness was purposeful so your suffering is accomplishing an eternally significant purpose.
SLIDE
As Rom. 8:28 reminds us:
Freinds, God is mercifully working for your good in all things!
In These verses we also saw Zecharaih and Elisabeth resist the influence of the customs of their time in the naming of John.
Luke presents them as an example, defying the cultural norms, in order to be faithful to God’s call.
Likewise, Luke will call us to count the cost and to walk faithfully to God and his calling amidst opposition and suffering that will oppose us.
Elizabeth and Zechariah, beleive God and act it in faith.
Faith that God is doing something significant.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9