Sermon Cloud

Welcome- Dustin
Advent Reading- Brian and Sarah
Song-
At the risk of being labeled a Scrooge, I wanted to start this morning with a fairly Grinch-like question: What parts of the holiday/Christmas season do you hate. Which pieces could you really live without?
 You know what it is for me? Preparing Advent sermons. 
Now- don’t get me wrong- I love these stories, and I love teaching. The problem is, special times of the year like Christmas or Easter present special problems in that 1. Everyone has already heard these stories- and chances are you’ve heard similar if not the SAME sermons multiple times. Even if church isn’t your thing- the one sermon you’ve probably heard is a Christmas sermon, right? 
So- our over-familiarity makes it hard- but there’s also high expectations. It’s a “special” time of year, and there’s a script- certain things that need to be included or else people will be disappointed. 
Honestly, that just feels like a lot of pressure. So- I really wanted to preach on something other than Luke 1 today. But I can’t…
There’s just this one story I can’t get away from. I seem to come back to it time and again- I think I’ve preached on it at one point or another for the last 3 Christmases. And I found myself this week, in spite of my best efforts going right back to it. I think… To be honest, I think this story isn’t done with me yet. Or us. 
The story of Zechariah, the father of John is very much like the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus. In fact, I think Luke goes to great pains to parallel the two stories. And yet- it’s different. Particularly in one critical detail… 
But Zechariah’s story really begins 400 years earlier. 
These are the last words in the Hebrew Bible- the last words God had spoken to his people: Mal 4:1-6 (ask someone to read)
Throughout their history God had spoken to the people of Israel- and through them, to the whole world. At one point early in the OT, He said to them, I’m holding out two things in front of you- blessings and a curse, and it’s entirely up to you- love each other, don’t run after false gods, take care of the poor- down that road lies blessing. Treat each other poorly, exploit or ignore the poor, worship/run after false gods… down that road lies nothing good. And God told them- choose life. 
1000 years later, in that passage we just read in Malachi, God gives them the same options, the same chance… 
So we come to Luke 1… it’s 400 years later… and the last thing God had said to them was a promise that if they were careful to obey Him, He would send a savior, someone who would come bringing healing to the world. God also promised that before that savior, someone would come to set the stage- a prophet like Elijah. 
And then… nothing. So the people waited. And waited. And waited.
And the people had waited so long.

Song- 

Of course, the real questions is: When God speaks… do we listen?
Look at VS 1:5-6
They were careful to obey all the Lord’s commands… I love that Luke tells us this. Regardless of where the rest of the nation was, here at least, were two people that had read Malachi, who in their waiting had not lost hope. They remembered the promise- and they remembered the warning. They wanted to see the savior. And like the rest of the people, they wanted to hear from God again. 
VS 7
How did this culture view childlessness? (But we’re much too advanced, too cultured to see it like that, right?)
What’s interesting to me is that regardless of how childlessness was viewed by the culture around them, whenever it becomes part of the plot of a story in Scripture, it usually becomes an opportunity for God to do some amazing things. Whether it’s Abraham and Sarah, Hannah, Samson’s mom, here… Anyone who had read the OT, and was now reading Luke for the first time would have seen the pattern here- Childless, getting on in years… Just like Abraham and Sarah, just like others… I wonder what God is going to do? 
VS8-9
There were thousands and thousands of priests- it was a whole class of the people- All the descendants of Moses’ brother Aaron. So, even by David’s time, there were so many that they began dividing them up into groups who each got to serve at the Temple twice a year for a week. And out of all the duties that all the priests had to do, one would be chosen to actually enter the Holy Place and burn the incense. And because of all that, and the way it was chosen by the roll of the dice, this may actually have been the only time in his life Zechariah was allowed to go in like this. His one chance to get this close to God’s presence in the Holy of Holies. 
VS10
The incense represented the prayers of the people- The smoke, the fragrance rising to God pictured the hopes and prayers of the people. So as the priest burned the incense, the people would stand outside, praying. Praying for redemption, for God to hear them, for God to act. At that moment, Zechariah was literally the focal point of the prayers of an entire nation. And they were waiting for the priest, for Zechariah to come out and tell them that God was listening, and give them a blessing.
VS 11-13
The first words from God’s messenger, the first words they had heard from God in 400 years… Don’t- - be- -afraid. God has heard your prayer… 
I read this and I wonder- is this still a prayer this man was praying? All those years, all that pleading with God… perhaps his one chance to stand before the altar of God, and as he prays for the people, for liberation from their Roman oppressors, for faithfulness to God and His commands, for God to send a Savior, I imagine Zechariah adding one last line- and God- if there’s any way possible, please… give us a child. 
And God says… Yes. The angel says- Don’t be afraid- God has heard your prayer. God is going to keep His promise. He’s not cursing you- He’s blessing you. 
VS 14-17
He tells Zechariah that though they are old, he and his wife will give birth to the prophet God had promised His people- the one who would set the stage, who would lead the way for the Lord Himself to come to His people. 
God has broken 400 years of silence. He has sent His messenger to talk to Zechariah, and tell him that God has heard the most heartfelt prayers of his heart, and is going to keep His promise… and Zechariah’s response?
VS 18-
He doesn’t believe it. He doesn’t listen. Yes, he heard… but he didn’t listen. When God finally speaks, Zechariah actually doubts what God is saying to him. 
Now, listen to the annoyance in Gabriel’s response…
VS 19-20
There’s something here… 
God breaks His silence of 400 years in a spectacular way- sending this angel to appear to the priestly representative of the people. God is silent, and then God speaks. Zechariah won’t listen. He questions. So God strikes him… silent. 
And now, all he can do is listen…
Zechariah didn’t listen to God when God spoke, so he lost the ability to speak himself.
Mary, was different, though… Mary listened.
Luke 1:26-38 (ask someone to read)
Mary listened. She heard what God said in a way that Zechariah didn’t. She accepted what she heard, even though she had no idea of what it might cost her, what it might do to her life. She just knew- If this is what God wants, I accept.
And that’s why I can’t seem to get away from this story… It’s because I know that if this were me, I’d probably be Zechariah. We all like to think- If God spoke to me that clearly, I’d listen. But you and I both know… God often speaks to us very clearly- through our consciences, in His word, through a sermon or a conversation with a friend… And we say no. Even in our “yes”s, we still manage in many ways to say no.
The truth is, I identify with Zechariah because there are things that I know, I know, God wants from and more specifically for me. Bob- make more of an effort with your neighbors. Bob- be patient with your children. Bob- pray with your wife more. 
And I like to think that I’m listening. But am I? I mean, I say “yes” a lot to those things. But when I won’t act, when I make excuses, when I say “yes” but don’t do what He says? 
Luke has an agenda in so closely paralleling Zechariah and Mary- Each without a child, each visited by an angel, each told Don’t be afraid- You are going to have a child. Each asking how that could be- and that’s where the crucial difference comes. How they ask, how, with what attitude, they listen.
In some ways, in Luke’s mind, I think Zechariah represents the people of Israel- John, in His Gospel says “He (Jesus) came to His own people, but they didn’t receive Him.” He was, in a very real way, God speaking to them- God in human flesh, God’s message to us- and they wouldn’t listen, they wouldn’t accept. Here, at the very beginning of the Gospel are two pictures- hearing, but resisting and  listening and accepting. And two very different outcomes pictured.
Mary listened. And then she did something Zechariah, because he wouldn’t listen to God, could not do. She sang. She sang to God with all of her heart, pouring out praise from the bottom of her soul. 
This is what she sang:
Luke 1:46-55- read by Katie
As I said- two pictures- hearing, but resisting and listening and accepting. And two very different outcomes pictured.
Luckily for Zechariah, it’s never too late to start listening. 
Luke 1:56-63- 
Last year when Chris took us through this passage, there was a little controversy here- He thought Zechariah was not just struck mute by the angel, but deaf as well. My theory is that people always think if you can’t speak, you must not be able to hear either and they started doing charades to Zechariah… In the Greek, what it actually says he wrote was “I’m NOT deaf, you idiots. His name is John!” 
VS 63-64
These two pictures stick in my mind. 
First, for those who have been praying and praying and praying… You need to know- God has not abandoned you. He hears you. The question has never been whether or not God is listening- the question is always whether or not we are. 
These two stories were a warning of sorts to the people of Israel, and I think they are the same for our community, and for us as individuals. God speaks to us- He’s working in the city of Portland and He’s calling us, our community OUT, out of the comforts of gatherings, familiarity, easy service, to some things which might be a bit more challenging. 
He’s calling us now more than ever to be a people who are present to the city of Portland, of prayer, of worship and of the Word. 
And when we know God has spoken to us, whether as individuals or as a community, there’s really only one response- the one Mary gave. God- where you are leading, we will follow. We are your servants, willing to do what you want us to do. And I think that attitude has the power to move us… to move us from silence to something better. And I think when we begin to listen, really listen to God, we gain not only the ability to speak, but to hear even more. 
There’s a time for silence… and as we see here, there’s a time to sing, to thank God, to praise Him from the depths of our souls. Let’s do what Mary did- let’s sing. 
2 Songs-
Prayer- Glad
Wrap up-

Blessing-