God with Zechariah, the Skeptic

Focus Statement

There are moments when circumstances in life or deferred hopes and dreams

may feel like a heavy weight that we carry around with no relief in sight –

from the uncertainty of tomorrow to deeper concerns.

While all of us face the mystery of what the future may bring,

we can be assured that when we pray, God is with us.

Point of Relation

Anyone who has ever taken any interest in the music I listen to...

knows that, while I love to rock and headbang,

I have a very eclectic ear.

I love all styles of music, really.

Yes, I listen to a TON of rock and Heavy Metal. I love it

But I also listen to soft rock, pop, electronic, dance, industrial, R&B, some Hip Hop, Goth, Classical…you name it.

Now, I admit, I have never been much of a country music person.

I mean, I am a country boy, no? I have lived in the country my whole life...

But that is a genre I don’t listen to too much of. I just don’t get it.

Still, there are a few country artists I love…Garth Brooks is right up there at the top.

Why? Because he is basically a rocker in a cowboy hat. The guy is one of the best live acts ever...

I know, because I saw him live in Central Park back in the late ‘90s, which drew nearly 1 million people.

Hard to fathom that crowd in this pandemic era, right?

One of my favorite albums by Garth is his album No Fences.

On that albums is one of my favorite songs by him, Unanswered Prayers, and I want to read you those lyrics.

Just the other night at a hometown football game My wife and I ran into my old high school flame And as I introduced them the past came back to me And I couldn't help but think of the way things used to be

She was the one that I'd wanted for all times And each night I'd spend prayin' that God would make her mine And if he'd only grant me this wish I wished back then I'd never ask for anything again

Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers

She wasn't quite the angel that I remembered in my dreams And I could tell that time had changed me In her eyes too it seemed We tried to talk about the old days There wasn't much we could recall I guess the Lord knows what he's doin' after all

And as she walked away and I looked at my wife And then and there I thanked the good Lord For the gifts in my life

Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs That just because he may not answer doesn't mean he don't care Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered

Some of God's greatest gifts are all too often unanswered... Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers

Things to Consider

Unanswered prayers are a common struggle for believers.

They can lead to skepticism, doubt, despair, and even hopelessness.

We are told by Jesus that all we need to do is ask and we shall receive, right?

And I am not talking about material gain.

People are praying for all sorts of really important things....

Like cures for disease, and for loved ones to find happiness and joy...

and for oppressive systems to be lifted off of the backs black and brown communities.

Zechariah had been praying too.

As a faithful priest, he was praying for the deliverance of Israel…he was praying for God to send help to God’s people!

Zechariah had also spent a lifetime praying for a child for him and his wife.

All of those prayers, throughout his lifelong, faithful service of God,

Went unanswered year after year after year.

As a church, like Zechariah, we have also prayed for much…and some of those prayers have come up unanswered

Where might the we be feeling doubtful and skeptical about God’s care?

Many have prayed for the youth to return, for pews to be filled, for the offering plates to be overflowing…

So that we can continue on being the Newton Church and doing the work of Christ in our community.

Year after year, pastor after pastor, the church as basically seen the opposite of that.

Decline in youth, decline in attendance, decline in giving. SEEMINGLY ALL UNANSWERED PRAYERS.

What Scripture Says

So let’s look at what Scirpture has to say about this.

Today’s passage shows three different reasons Zechariah may have begun to lose hope

and become skeptical that God would answer his prayers.

Then in one day, all three prayers are answered.

FIRST: Zechariah was a priest.

Once a year his division of priests would take their turn serving in the temple.

Each day they would draw lots.

If you were chosen, you were given the privilege BY GOD’s CHOOSING to enter into a holy place and offer prayers for the people.

This was such a sacred privilege, you were only allowed to do it once in your lifetime,

and many priests never got to do this at all.

By this time at his older age, Zechariah may have despaired of never being chosen for this sacred duty.

Then one day, he was chosen!

SECOND: Zechariah and Elizabeth prayed fervently for many years that God would bless them with a child.

Imagine how they must have felt seeing family and friends being “blessed”

while their prayers seemed to go unanswered.

They maybe lost hope and stopped believing God would provide.

It must have been a shock to receive the news of the blessing of a child

when both he and Elizabeth were beyond an age where they thought it possible or likely.

FINALLY: For generations, the prophets of Israel foretold the coming of a Messiah.

There was an expectation for the Messianic hope that would bring peace and restoration for the people of God.

As a priest, Zechariah was knowledgeable about these prophecies in Scripture.

How extraordinary that prayers for the Messiah were now being realized before his eyes.

Even more, God was using him and his family in God’s plan for the world;

his child would prepare the way of the Lord!

Zechariah had good reason to be skeptical,

but it led to him doubting when and how God would provide,

when God did visit him with a message (see verse 18).

This doubt led him to be speechless for a period of time.

Yet, even still, God was with Zechariah,

working on him to restore his hope and the hope of the world.

God was working in unexpected ways and on an unexpected timeline that Zechariah could have never imagined.

Yes, even when Zechariah was skeptical.

What This Means For You

Church, let me ask you: where have you seen hope within the congregation or in the community?

When I was looking for a job all those years ago...

I prayed and prayed and the prayers just kept coming up unanswered.

I knew I had to answer the call, and I was going to…but I needed a job....surely God saw that!

Well, yes, God saw that for sure. But it wasn’t God’s time for me to have one…no matter how skeptical or angry or frustrated I might have been.

Then one day, after surrendering to God’s timing, I not only got one job as a youth pastor, but I also picked up a gig as a much wanted substitute teacher.

There were two jobs that would help me become a better pastor and would work around my seminary and family schedules.

Friends, when we pray, God is always listening.

When God is with us, God answers prayers in a way that not only changes our situation but also changes us.

Those prayers don’t always come the way we ask…and sometimes the things we ask for don’t come at all.

God is the one who TRULY KNOWS what we need…even more than we do.

When we pray, we do so because we know God knows what is best for us. We pray because we know GOD IS WITH US and that God does hear us.

But we do need to approach prayer humbly and put our trust in God, even if that seems hard.

God is with us regardless, but wouldn’t it rock to be WITH GOD? To be on the same page as GOD? That is the power of prayer...

As it molds our hearts even closer to the shape of GOD.

What This Means For Us

Friends, we can be a church community that prays not only for change but to be changed.

We can be a church that grows in its prayer life , growing deeper into relationship with God.

I know that our church has prayed for youth to come to church.

We are now in a season where our youth have moved to college...

And we would love to see kids from the community come.

Well, friends, I am here to remind you that we just baptized two young ladies who are now baptized members of this church.

THAT’S AN ANSWERED PRAYER.

Oh, and they have siblings who are attending Sunday School with other kids who have been a part of our children’s ministry. ANSWERED PRAYERS.

Now, they won’t be in a youth group for many years…but this is GOD’s timing, not ours.

How do we invest in them, nurture them, make disciples out of them…so that the future of the youth in our church is as strong and vibrant as it always has been?

And that is just one vision on one prayer that we’ve prayed.

Let us boldly vision together how we can join God in what God’s doing here at First UMC of Newton. Amen? Amen!