Sermon Tone Analysis

Got Faith?

According to Jay Leno formerly of The Tonight Show, a Christmas tree is the perfect houseplant.

His rationale, “Because it’s already dead,” he explains, “you cannot mess it up more than that.”

Well actually we did once.

In one appointment, we bought a beautiful 10’ tree for the chapel.

It was gorgeous and it wasn’t cheap.

We didn’t realize the heater vents were in the floor and inadvertently placed it right over one.

By the 2nd Sunday it was losing its needles.

That’s why we prefer artificial trees.

Speaking of artificial trees, I read a story about the perfect Christmas tree.

It was tall, full and lush, and with no bare spots.

The couple who bought it had their grown children over one evening and even they were impressed.

As a matter of fact, one of them said, “Wow if you didn’t know it was real, it could easily pass as artificial.”

Happy Advent!

This is the time of year that we recall the wonder, the excitement, the marvel, of the incarnation.

God sent His Son…

But before God sent His Son, He sent His Cousin.

Perhaps you’ve never wondered why the Christmas Story always starts in chapter two of Luke…well that’s because the story of the birth of Jesus’ cousin John, takes up most of Chapter One.

John’s story starts out like this.

His Father was from the family or priestly division of Abijah.

The reason for the divisions was simply that there were too many priests for all of them to serve at the same time.

So 14 generations earlier, King David divided them into 24 divisions.

Each week a different division would serve in the Temple.

When the division was preparing to serve, the leaders would cast lots (throw dice) to determine who would perform which of priestly tasks.

That week of that year, it fell on Zechariah to burn incense on this particular Sabbath.

Since he only got to serve in the temple once or twice a year and only for a limited number of years…and since tasks were assigned by the throwing of the lots…it is completely reasonable to believe that Zechariah had never done this before…nor would he ever do it again.

Now Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were righteous people, well along in years and—to their heartache—without children.

Oh, do you see the hand of God at work yet?

They longed for a son…prayed for a son and had long since decided that God had not heard their prayers.

But when God sets the stage for something to happen He has a flare for the dramatic - that they might know He is God.

And so, Zechariah is burning incense when an angel suddenly appears…friends, this temple had been a place where God had manifested His presence countless times…but it had been 400 years since anything dramatic had happened in the temple…or out of it for that matter.

No prophetic utterances, no angelic visits.

I suspect that Zechariah nearly jumped out of his skin when the angel appeared.

What would you do?

Pray with me…

Expect or Neglect

Then the angel speaks…

"Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard.

Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.

He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.

He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth.

Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God.

And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous — to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

Every parent, I think, wants their children to grow up and do things that make them proud.

Here, Zechariah gets told he’s going to have a son and his son will be great!

And his awesome response to the angel?

“How can I be sure of this?

I am an old man and my wife is well along in years."

How incredible is his question?

“I’m gonna be needin’ some kind of assurance that what you’re saying is true.”

Adam Clarke writes, “…it is impious, [it is arrogant] when we are convinced that it is his word, to demand a sign or pledge for its fulfillment.”

The angel turns to Zechariah and says, “…you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time."

It’s kind of like the Angel’s mouth dropped open in disbelief.

I mean this angel had been chosen for this assignment from the beginning of time.

He had prepared his entrance; he had rehearsed his speech.

His was the job to get the incarnation rolling.

And Zechariah didn’t believe him.

It’s almost like the angel stood back in disbelief and said, “Shut up!

You don’t believe me?

Shut up…I have a sign for you buddy…you’re not going to say another word until your son is born!”

Friends, God expects us to trust what He says, after all it’s not like it never happened before…a couple well along in their years having a child because God promised they would.

Ask any Sunday School kid and she can tell you about Abraham and Sarah or Hannah and her husband.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

The subject is faith…and the writer of Hebrews says since we are surrounded by so many witnesses to God’s faithfulness…lets have a little faith!

Trust or Bust

But… before we get too hard on Zechariah, let’s consider his situation for a minute.

My guess is that Zechariah was tired of the issue of his barren wife.

He had already spent years with his wife in tears; hoping and praying for child, and always disappointed.

Zechariah had hoped that the issue of his barren wife was behind him.

Childbearing years had come and gone.

Hope had been abandoned.

This angel…despite all his good intentions had opened an old wound.

I know a little of Zechariah’s pain.

A couple of years after Pam and I were married, Pam told me she wanted to have a baby and so we set about to start a family.

But it took four years.

I say I know a little of Zechariah’s pain because he went a lot longer than four years.

And in his culture a barren wife was considered a judgment from God. Zechariah may have been troubled by the angel for a moment—but he had been troubled by childlessness for years.

And he had given up on God’s help.

Friends, says, “Those who know your name will trust in you,” NIV

Those who know your name…that really means those who know your character!

Those who know your ability!

Those who know about you!

They will trust in You!

Zechariah was a righteous man…but he didn’t know the name, the character, the ability of God.

But he would.

Do you know the Name of God?

If you do…then when you have troubles…have a little faith.

Use It or Lose It

You see, God expects us to have a little faith and our troubles require us to.

On top of that…if we fail to exercise the faith we have…if we fail to use it…we end up the big losers.

John Ortberg, pastor and popular author, wrote a book called, If You Want To Walk on Water, You Have to Get Out of the Boat…

In his book, he tells the story of his paternal grandfather whose wife passed away and after a few weeks he’s going through her stuff and he comes across some dishes.

He thinks about them for a bit and then calls his daughter-in-law, John Ortberg’s mom, Kathy.

“I came across a box of old dishes,” he tells her, “and I was going to get rid of them, but I noticed that they’re blue—your favorite color.

Why don’t you take a look at them, and if you want them, they’re yours, otherwise, I’ll give them to The Salvation Army.”

So, Kathy went through the box and what she saw was the most exquisite china she had ever seen.

She asked her father-in-law about them, but he had never seen them before.

It took a little work, but the history of the china was finally sorted out.

Through some older family members, they learned that John’s grandmother had been given this china a piece at a time beginning while she was still a young child.

The china had been handcrafted in a Bavarian factory that had been destroyed in WWII, making them literally irreplaceable.