Behold: The Sunrise- Luke 1:57-80

Psalm 119:18 “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.”

God that is my prayer for us all this morning. That you would open our eyes, to behold. I can’t do it Lord. There is no communication, or preaching, or reason that I can employ to open people’s eyes to the wonder of your Love. In fact, the word that I intend to preach this morning is foolishness. That God became a man, to live a sinless life, to die a sinners death, and be resurrected so that all who believe in Him can experience eternal life… that’s foolish. Yet, God it has pleased you through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.

So this morning Lord, I come proclaiming to this church the story of God. Not with lofty speech or wisdom, but Jesus christ. So Father, I implore you. Open our eyes. Dawn on us like the sunrise, and illuminate the wonderful news of Salvation in Christ. Amen.

Introduction

Sunrise

How many of you have ever been miserably cold? Like, painfully cold?

I have referenced this experience before, but in 2019, I took a once in a lifetime Trekking Trip in the Himalayas with 4 of my bestfriends.

We spent 5 days and 4 nights surrounded by some of the most majestic beauty this world has to offer.

Our goal was to summit a mountain named Moon Peak

It was 15,500 feet, and summit day was going to take about 16 hours of climbing.

So at about 3am our guides woke us up, got us harnessed up, and we began the push to the summit.

Now the first 4 hours or so was spent trekking up a glacier, and with it being in the middle of the night freezing doesn’t even begin to describe the temperature.

Ya’ll I have never experienced cold like that in my life. I was genuinely concerned for my fingers and toes.

Just pens and needles, and no matter what I did I couldn’t get my hands warm.

It was misery. I was anxious. Helpless. And in pain. A night I felt would never end.

But all of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, the Sun finally began to appear and with its first rays, immediate relief!

I mean, without talking to one another, everyobdy at the exact same time, we all just stopped walking and let the sun soak us in its warmth for a little while.

It was glorious.

That morning I experiened the power of a sunrise.

That picture I just described to you, is much like what our text describes.

Context

Beginning in vs 57 what we see is that time for Elizabeth to give birth had come, and she bore a son.

And remember she had lived the days of her pregnancy in seclusion (1:24), so all the neighbors and relatives gather to her home hearing that God had shown her mercy.

And in typical Jewish fashion, they gather for a big circumcision & naming party assuming the boy would be given a name from the family,

but Elizabeth insists on the name John.

And flabbergasated, they look to the Zechariah, because the father usually had naming rights, but they remember that he’s good for nothing becuase he hasn’t been able to speak or communicate in about 9 months.

But he asks for a writing tablet, and affirms… vs 63, “His name is John”

And as soon as he held up that writing tablet, his tongue loosed, and he spoke.

Well he didn’t really speak, he sang,

Because what follows from vs 67-79, and where we will spend all of our time this morning, is the song of Zechariah, traditionally known as the Benedictus.

Benedictus being Latin for the word Blessing.

Becuase that what this is, as verse 64 says, “he spoke, blessing God.”

It even begins with the word, vs. 68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel.”

He is singing a song that Blesses God

Church, this is the right response for Zechariah, because over the previous 9 months, Zechariah was able to put 2 and 2 together.

You see, for 9 months Zechariah had known!

For 9 months, as he has sat in silence, unable to talk, he’d been able to connect the dots.

You see as Priest in Israel, Zechariah was aware of the promised benefits that God had made to his people, but he also knew that in their present reality, they weren’t experiencing any of those benefits.

Instead of a story of sunrise, the people of Israel had been on a journey like mine.

inthe middle of the night on that Himalayan glacier.

Dark, cold, miserable, full of anxiety, and full of pain.

A journey that had them believing that it might never end.

But then, in those dark days, in divine ways, God visited old Zechariah in the Temple and told him that he would have a son

A son who will precede the Messiah.

The Messiah who will rid them of the darkness, and dawn on them much like a Sunrise.

Zechariah knew.

So when his lips are miraculously unsealed, he being full of the Holy Spirit SINGS

Luke 1:76–79 “ whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.””

After thousands of years of darkness. Zechariah, full of the Holy Spirit.

Sings of a sunrise.

Church my prayer for you this morning, is that if you’ve never felt the warmth of the Son (S-o-n) than today would be the day of your salvation.

So what we’re going to do is look at Zechariah’s song in 3 parts. Because he actually outlines this song, by referencing 3 Covenants.

And the first reference is to the Davidic Covenant.

Davidic Covenant

Luke 1:68–71 ““Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us;”

Now the first thing Zechariah says, is that God is to be blessed and praised for he has visited his people. He has sent us salvation.

A horn of salvation— that’s just a reference to strength. As the horns are the symbol of might and power to the animal, God has sent a symbol of His might and His strength that will visit us and bring saalvation

… from the house of David!

So the First verse of Zechariah’s song references the Davidic Covenant

We’ve talked alot about covenants this year, as we’ve worked our way through Ezra and Nehemiah, but real quick let me review.

A covenant is a relational contract that God establishes with his people.

Church, God wants to have a personal relationship with you!

And from that desire, God establishes covenants.

A Contract that defines the terms of the relationship.

And this is an oversimplification, but for the most part here’s how God’s Covenants go:

YOU be my people, follow me, walk before me, worship me…

And I will be YOUR GOD, and I will bless you, multiply you, protect you, provide for you, be a source of peace, hope, and love for you.

You just walk before me… that’s all you gotta do. And I will bless you, and you will have all the benefits that come from nearness to me.

And here in our text Zechariah is referencing a specific covenant that God made with King David and His decendants.

That covenant is found in 2 Samuel 7:9-11 and I’m going to read it to you, and as I read just listen to the benefits David will experience as he honors the covenant.

2 Samuel 7:9–11 “And I have been with you wherever you went and have cut off all your enemies from before you. And I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. And violent men shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel. And I will give you rest from all your enemies.

DAVID… WALK BEFORE ME. FOLLOW ME. LET ME BE YOUR GOD.

And what are the Benefits?

And I will be with you, I will protect you from your enemies

I’ll make you famous! I’ll give you lasting land.

I’ll give you rest, so that you won’t be disturbed by violent men.

Some extraordinary benefits.

Then he goes on to say

2 Samuel 7:16 “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ””

So here’s another benefit!

There will be a King from your line, that will be enthroned forever.

This is why Zechariah sings,

He Knows. He knows that what Gabriel has announced in the coming Jesus is a fulfillment of the Davidic covenant.

He knows. That Jesus will be the King that sits enthroned forever.

But he continues singing, and in the second stanza he references the Abrahamic Covenant

Abrahamic Covenant

Luke 1:72–75 “to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”

Here Zechariah is referencing a specific covenant that God made with Abraham in his decdents

And the Abrahamic Covenant is found in 8 different places in the book of Genesis alone, but let me quote for us from Genesis 17.

And as I read, listen for the benefits to be experienced as Abraham and his descendents honor the covenant.

Genesis 17:1–8 “When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.””

ABRAHAM… WALK BEFORE ME. FOLLOW ME. LET ME BE YOUR GOD.

And what are the benefits?

I will bless you. Multiply you.

Make your name great.

Make you fruitful and famous to the point where kings will come from you.

I’ll give you prosperity and a land forever.

This is why Zechariah sings,

He Knows. He knows that what Gabriel has announced in the coming of Jesusis a fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant.

He knows. That Jesus will be the blessing that comes to all nations.

The means to their enjoyment of the benefits forever.

Alright, let me slow down for a moment, and make sure we are all on the same page regarding the significance of the Christmas Story.

Because, it is way too easy to come up in here once a year, hear some dumbed down talk about a nativity or candy cane, enjoy some hot chocolate, and say… ah, now I remember wehy I don’t come here more often..

And I don’t want that for you, because what Zechariah is singing about is so much more significant than a jolly ole nativity.

So let me make sure we’re on the same page, and I want to do that by asking you a question.

Why had the people not experienced the promised benefits of relationship with God up to this point?

Like why was a Messiah even neccssary?

Why were they walking in the dark and cold on that proverbial glacier, instead of basking in the warmth of relationship with God?

Well it’s simple: it’s because they didn’t hold up their end of the bargain.

They were guilty of breaking covenant. They had SINNED. They didn’t walk with God. They didn’t follow God. They broke covenant.

And ya’ll, like it or not, but the benefits of the sunrise only grace those who sit in its warmth.

And ya’ll, like it or not, but the benefits of the sunrise only grace those who sit in its warmth.

And if you continue to live and walk in darkness, don’t get mad when you’re cold and miserable.

What I’m trying to say, is that you CANNOT HAVE THE BENEFITS WITHOUT THE BENEFACTOR

They are a package deal.

Benefits without the Benefactor

But the history of the people of Israel can be defined as wanting, pursuing, and seeking the Benefits, just divorced from the Benefactor.

Right?

Give me all the Kingdom has to offer, but I just want the right to rule and reign myself … so give me the Kigndom, but you can keep the King.

Give me the gifts, and protection, and safety, and prosperity, and fame.

Give me the promised happiness, and joy, and hope, and justice.

Give me all the Benefits. The Benefits sound great!

They just didn’t want the Benefactor.

Just like the Prodigal found in Luke 15.

He went to his father and said, give me the inheritance that is coming to me. And as soon as he had it, he rejected his father and went into a far country to relish in the benefits of his freedoms.

And boy did he.

He pursued anything and everything that he believed would benefit him. Anything that would make him happy, prosperous, famous.

He wanted the Benefits, AND he was finally free from the Benefactor.

So he exercised his freedoms.

So He slept around. He spent around. He lived Vegas before Vegas existed.

But one day on his journey, he realized that instead of standing in the warmth of the sun he was instead

anxious and miserable in the cold and the dark of the glacier.

Overflowing with his freedoms, but totally empty of the benefits.

Overflowing with his freedoms, but totally empty of the benefits.

Why!?

Because you CANNOT HAVE THE BENEFITS WITHOUT THE BENEFACTOR

They are a package deal.

So this was the story of the people of Isarel for centuries!

Seeking benefits, divorced from the Benefactor.

But this isn’t just their story.

It’s yours. It’s mine. It’s everyone’s story.

You see we all want the Benefits God promises.

We all want peace and rest, and meaning and purpose.

We all want happiness and hope, prosperity and joy.

We all want health, and success, freedoms.

We just want it from God, not in God.

We just want it from God, not in God.

We want the Benefits… just don’t give me the Benefactor

So we are just like the Prodigal, we reject God and live our lives searching for the benefits that can only be found in God.

Their called counterfeit affections.

Counterfiet, because they try and promise you the benefits of the real thing.

But their fake. They are a mirage.

And many of us spend our entire lives walking in circles on the glacier of counterfeit affections.

Some look for it in:

Possessions— you take the path of consumerism. As happiness and meaning, and satisfaction evade you, you think and believe that if you can just have enough, possess enough then you can finally be happy. Finally possess meaning. You’ll be free from the dark and the cold that accompanies you.

Some look for it in:

Pleasures— you take the path of Epicurianism. The ancient philosophy that teaches the experience of pleasure is your highest good.

So you feed your sexual addictions, and eat to fill your emptiness, and drink to numb your hollowness.

You scroll and scroll and scroll, and bingewatch show after show.

But once that quick hit of dopamine or pleasure is gone, darkness comes rushing in overwhelming your mind, and your conscience and your life.

Leaving you hollow.

Some look for it in:

Personal Progress— the path of expressive individualism. Oh how this pathway to believed benefits is on a steep rise here in America.

here you believe that your highest happiness is found in being your most authentic self.

That to find true meaning, and purposse, and freedom

“You just need to be you.”

“And follow your own heart.”

“And find yourself.”

And everyone that serves as a perceived obstacle to your journey gets A BOUNDARY. becuase they are robbing you of your benefits.

But every one of these common pathways will never satisfy you, because you cannot have the BENEFITS WITHOUT THE BENEFACTOR.

And the more the People of Israel, and ourselves, try to possess the benefits without the Benefactor the darker our world gets.

Because as 1 John 1:5 “God is light”

But although God is light,

John 3:19 “ people love the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.”

So we walk around in darkness, but its totally SELF-INFLICTED!

So let me take you to a pretty stark descriptor of this reality in the book of Isaiah.

If you will turn with me to Isaiah 59.

And don’t worry, Isaiah is actually the bridge back to Zechariah’s song in our text this morning. So I haven’t forgotton about that.

The prophet Isaiah in chapter 59 describes the bleak darkness that all people find themselves in.

Isaiah 59:2 “but your iniquities (sins) have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.”

And Isaiah goes on to list some of their deeds of darkness but look at verse 9.

Isaiah 59:9 “Therefore (therefore, because of your sins, becasue of these deeds of darkness) justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.”

Isn’t this exactly what we’ve been discussing?

That we are all hoping, all yearning for Benefits, for the Warmth and Healing of the Light… but BEHOLD because of our sin, it’s the darkness and gloom of the glacier.

Isaiah 59:10–13 “We grope for the wall like the blind; we grope like those who have no eyes; we stumble at noon as in the twilight, among those in full vigor we are like dead men. We all growl like bears; we moan and moan like doves; we hope for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities: transgressing, and denying the Lord, and turning back from following our God...”

This is it. When we deny the Lord, and turn our back to the Benefactor… we plunge deeper and deeper into darkness.

PAUSE

But that isn’t the end of the story.

Remember, Zechariah’s song is one of BLESSING. One of Praise. And let’s keep reading in Isaiah to see why this is actually a good thing.

Isaiah 59:15–16 “The Lord saw it (all of us groping around in the dark), and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede (no one to step in);

So what did he do!?

then his own arm brought him salvation,”

Isaiah is saying, that God sees it. He sees the darkness, and it grieved him. So he took matters into his own hands, and brought about salvation himself!

Isaiah 59:19–20 “So they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come like a rushing stream, which the wind of the Lord drives. “And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord.”

Isaiah 59:21 ““And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord:

Now, this is interesting. We know that word right.

What we have right here is one of a myriad of references the Bible makes to a NEW COVENANT.

Hebrews 8:13 “In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete.

He’s saying.... I see, I see that you CANNOT follow me. YOU CANNOT walk before me. Because you love the darkness, more than the light. You love the benefits, not the benefactor.

So You cannot honor the Old Covenant.

So guess what I’m going to do?

I’m going to take matters into my own hands, I’m going to take it upon myself and I’m going to make a NEW COVENANT

In which a Redeemer will come, and liberate you from the dark

And finally, you’ll see that

Freedom isn’t found from me, but in Me.

Let me show you how Isaiah describes this.

New Covenant

Isaiah 60:1–2 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.”

Here’s how Isaiah describes the New Covenant.

Thick darkness covers the people… because they want the darkness more than the light.

So what is God’s response.

To bring the light to you!

A light so strong and so warm that it will make the darkness flee.

It will melt your cold and forgive your sin. and overlook your vain pursuits.

An undeserved Sunrise.

This is what Zechariah sings of…

Luke 1:78–79 “ whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.””

Although we walk in Darkness, God has taken it upon himself and visited us like sunrise.

But why? Why would God do such a thing.

Go back with me to verse 78.

Luke 1:78 “because of the tender mercy of our God.”

His sunrise in the sending of His Son (S-o-n) is all because mercy is the essence of who God is.

At the deepest parts of His character, he is a God of love and compassion and mercy.

He so loves you that He gave His only begotten Son for you, to redeem you from your meaningless pursuit for benefits, and bring you near the Ultimate Benefactor from whom all benefits flow.

This is the story of Christmas.

This is the story of the gospel.

That on account of God’s Tender Mercy in sending Christ, HE takes the darkness we deserve, so that we may glory in the benefits that come from nearness to the Benefactor which we do not deeserve.

It is all because of HIM, which means that you must understand that it has nothing to do with you.

You have not nor cannot earn this, in the same way that I could not have earned that sunrise on that cold Himalayan glacier.

It is all because of HIM, and His tender mercy.

And Zechariah knew.

9 months of silently pondering these angelic visitations, he connected the dots.

He knew… that this boy to be born would be the Redeemer. The Savior. The undeserved Sunrise that will displace the darkness.

So when his lips are miraculously loosed, he bursts out in song blessing the Lord for his salvation in Christ.

But as we close, I hope by now you recognize that this song is largely about Jesus, but remember Zechariah is singing this 8 days after the birth of his own son, John.

And in verses 76-77, because he does make mention of his own son John.

Luke 1:76–77 “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,”

He sings, the DAWN IS ABOUT TO BREAK, so John, you must run ahead and tell everybody out there on that cold, dark glacier that salvation is coming, and make sure their ready.

And as John grew, that’s exactly what he did. He began to prepare the way, by telling the people to REPENT.

And it’s exactly the same thing you must do to step into the warmth of the SUN.

Simply stated, acknowledge that you have violated the relationship with God that you were created for.

That you have sought the benefits, yet rejected the benefactor.

Acknowledge that your futile pursuits of Possessions, Pleasure, or Personal Progress have only left you in deeper and deeper darkness.

Then Believe that Jesus Christ is your redeemer and Savior, and that you are in need of His forgiveness.

Believe that he bore in His body your sins on the cross, that he died the death you deserve, and has offered you a new life that you don’t deeserve.

And believe that this is all yours, becuase of his Tender Mercy.

And if you do… this morning, this moment you will begin to experience a thawing in your life.

A Warmth that can only come from the long-awaited SUNRISE.

And the BENEFACTOR will then Spread out the Buffet Table of Benefits declaring,

Luke 15:22–24 “‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’

That’s the power of a Sunrise.

Conclusion

So here’s how I’d like to close this morning.

As a church, you’re probably aware that we don’t do formal alter calls.

You know the every head bow, every eyes closed, let’s sing one more stanza, no one more stanza, one more, until somebody comes forward to receive the wonderful benefits of our benefactor.

So you know, that’s not a part of our liturgy here.

But Communion is actually a call to the alter. Here’s what I mean.

For some of you, you know that you’re a Christian, saved by grace, warmed by the Sunrise. But… those old habits of seeking the benefits apart from the benefactor die hard.

And this morning, you’re aware that you’ve been drifting. Beginning stumble back into the dark as you pursue possessions, pleasure, or Personal Progress again.

If that’s you, I want to call you to the metaphorical alter.

That before you put the bread and cup to your lips, that you would remember the Tender Mercy of Your God who will forgive you of your sin, and bring you back into the warmth of his Son.

For some of you, its different, you know that you’re NOT a Christian,

And this morning, for the first time by God’s Grace your heart is burning within you because you’re finally aware that that you have sought the benefits, and rejcted God.

And all that seeking, has left you hollow and empty.

And you may have a ton of questions, but you know deep down, just by how hard your heart is beating in your chest, that you need the Warmth of the Son.

That you need the Salvation, freely offered to you in Christ.

If that’s you, I want to call you to the metaphorical alter. To call you to a decision.

That before you take the bread and the cup, that you would confess your need for the Tender mercy of God, and walk out of here for the very first time thawed by the Warmth of God’s Love.

So as the elements are passed around, let today be a day of decision for you.

And in just a moment I’ll come back up and lead us in taking Communion Together.