SEASON of DEVOTION
In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was an aging priest named Zechariah who lived with his wife Elizabeth. Do you remember Moses and Aaron? Elizabeth was a direct descendant, a daughter of Aaron himself. See Luke 1:5. Serving God had been in their blood for generations. Devotion wasn't just a way of life. It was their heritage, a family legacy.
Zechariah was from the division of Abijah. During that time there were a total of twenty four priestly divisions. Some of the priests themselves lived in Jerusalem. But many of them lived in settlements throughout Judea or Galilee. Once every twenty four years, one of the divisions would be called to Jerusalem to serve in the temple of Yahweh, the God of Israel. And within each division only one priest would be allowed to enter the temple, burn incense, and offer a priestly prayer on behalf of the nation of Israel. So once every twenty four years, so long as you were the chosen out of dozens, hundreds, or thousands of priests in your division, you might get bestowed with that honor. It's not exactly the lottery, but it's close!
Luke tells us in Luke 1:6-7 (ESV) that Zechariah and Elizabeth, "... were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years."
Perhaps you can relate to Zechariah and Elizabeth. They had faithfully devoted themselves to God their whole lives. In whatever God asked, throughout their entire lives, they answered, "Yes, Lord!" Now, I suppose they felt blessed in every way imaginable. You live for God, and he will bless and enrich your life and marriage immensely! I doubt that Zechariah and Elizabeth complained about much. But there was this one tiny little question mark that hung over their heads. There was this tiny little matter in life where everyone around them seemed more blessed than they were. It was that they never knew the joy of having a child of their own.
Okay, maybe it wasn't a tiny matter. In fact, it was a point of embarrassment. In those times, it was felt to be a mark of failure for them. Now I'm sure that for most of their lives, people would say what well-intentioned people always say. "Oh, you still have time. It will happen." But those years were past. Elizabeth was now well advanced in years. It was probably a relief for her and Zechariah to be old. By the grace of God, they had learned to accept their personal tragedy while remaining deeply devoted to God.
As you grow older, I suppose you look back and can point to times when God's plan didn't match your plan. You supposed you would be blessed in one way, but God blessed you in another way. You imagined one kind of joy or hope, but God filled you with a different kind of joy and hope. It's part of life, and admirable, to continue in devotion despite tragedy, loss, or disappointment! Maybe right now you're in season of devotion.
SEASON of DISRUPTION
Zechariah continued serving as a priest when it came time for his division to serve in Jerusalem. And per the custom, Zechariah's name was entered into the lottery to be the one priest in all of Judea and Galilee to enter the temple, burn incense, and pray! And wouldn't you know it, but the lot fell to Zechariah! See Luke 1:9. Zechariah was a man who didn't know the joys of ordinary men, but who got to experience a joy few men could ever experience once in a lifetime.
Now when the day arrived for Zechariah to serve in the temple, a whole multitude of people stood outside the temple praying. But as Zechariah entered the temple, an angel of the Lord appeared, standing next to the altar of incense. See Luke 1:11. In a split second, his entire life was turned upside down on its head. Devotion gave way to disruption.
Maybe, like Zechariah, you're in a season of disruption. You were cruising along on autopilot when suddenly God made himself real to you. God was so real that you couldn't ignore him. He was so real that you had to contend with God and learn to draw nearer to him. God disrupted Zechariah and he disrupts us in order to wake us from our spiritual slumber.
SEASON of DREAD
Luke tell us in Luke 1:12 (ESV) that, "... Zechariah was troubled when he saw him (the angel), and fear fell upon him." If I saw an angel, I think I might be troubled too! This is that moment when more than being disrupted, you're filled with dread at the realization that God is putting a call upon your life.
These past few weeks I've been reading a book titled "Vocal Leadership" where the author names our two greatest fears. The first is a fear of abandonment. This is the fear that people won't love us, respect us, and accept us. The second is the fear of our own greatness, of fully being who we are. I would add the fear of being who God created us to be. It's a dreadful thing to stand apart from others and to be used mightily of God. Such dread overwhelms the vast majority of Christians, such that we never fully enter into the very best God has for us.
Maybe you're in a season of devotion, faithfully serving in the face of tragedy, loss, and disappointment. Maybe you're in a season of disruption, where God is showing his face to you in a profound manner. But maybe you're in a season of dread, where you are dreading, fearing, or perhaps running from God's call on your life.
SEASON of DOUBT
In Luke 1:13 (ESV) the angel says to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard..." Now put yourself in Zechariah's shoes. As a priest, your prayer has been heard. Which prayer? The priestly prayer for consolation and forgiveness and salvation of your nation, or the personal prayer you stopped praying years ago when God seemed silent, and you settled for Plan B? Again, put yourself in Zechariah's shoes. "It can't be the personal prayer, because my wife and I are advanced in years! But if it's the prayer for the consolation of Israel, the coming of the promised Christ, the great and dreadful day of the Lord that's upon us--oh my!" Neither seemed conceivable.
Luke 1:13-23 (ESV) says, "But the angel said to him, 'Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."
"And Zechariah said to the angel, 'How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.' And the angel answered him, I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.' And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home."
God has a way of wrecking the tiny boxes we place him into. Our God is a God for whom all things are possible. And he makes possible things we've long lost the courage and faith to ask for. Zechariah went home with a lot to think about. God was infinitely good, infinitely bigger, and infinitely greater than Zechariah could ever imagine! If you're in a season of doubt, it's because you made God to be less than he is.
SEASON of DELIGHT
Luke 1:24-25 (ESV) says, "After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 'Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.' " We don't know what Zechariah thought because God had silenced him! But we can only imagine. He might have thought, "A baby changes everything." Or, "Great! We're senior citizens, and we're having a baby. We're having a party. Bring your great grandchildren to entertain our baby. Ah, better late than never?"
Now stay with me here. Really listen. This is so important. In Luke 1:39-45 Mary, the mother of Jesus and a relative of Elizabeth, arrives at Zechariah's house. Like mothers often do, Mary and Elizabeth shared pregnancy stories. And through their conversation Elizabeth realizes that Mary's child is the Christ-child. Mary's child is the promised Messiah of old, the Son of Man spoken of by the law and prophets. The baby in Elizabeth's womb leaps upon hearing Mary's news. And filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth cries out to Mary in Luke 1:42 (ESV), "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!"
There is something bigger happening here than you might suppose. For most of their lives, Zechariah and Elizabeth had longed for a child. "If only we could have this one delight." But now their delight was being eclipsed by an even greater delight! They were having a son, their one and only child. But even greater, God was bringing forth his one and only begotten Son. And God's Son, the Christ, was coming into the world to proclaim salvation to all men!
Friends, there is joy and there is JOY. There is delight, and there is DELIGHT. There is hope, and there is HOPE. It's sad that some might know one kind of joy and delight and hope this Christmas, but never know the JOY, DELIGHT, and HOPE of God. Zechariah and Elizabeth were blessed to know both.
So there is Zechariah. He hasn't spoken a word for nine months. His wife's had all these cravings for chocolate and odd foods. But when she calls out to him, she hears only silence. She's up vomiting every morning, and he just stands there with nothing to say.
But upon the birth of John, Luke 1:67 (ESV) tells us how, "... Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied..." I would say that Zechariah sang! When you haven't spoken for nine months and everything is bottled up, you don't just talk, you explode with a volley of rapid-fire words! You spontaneously sing!
Luke 1:57-79 (ESV) says, "Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, 'No; he shall be called John.' And they said to her, 'None of your relatives is called by this name.' And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, 'His name is John.' And they all wondered. And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, 'What then will this child be?' For the hand of the Lord was with him."
"And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, '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; 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. 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, because of the tender mercy of our God, 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."
What did Zechariah sing about? He sang about God's Son, the horn of salvation God was raising up. He sand about the forgiveness and deliverance God was bringing, not just to a nation, but to the whole world. And in regard to his own son? His son would continue the legacy of devotion and the family heritage of serving the living God. His son would make known the tender mercy of God, the forgiveness of sin, the knowledge of salvation, and the way of peace.
There is joy, but then there is JOY. There is hope, but then there is HOPE. There is delight, but then there is DELIGHT. There is the tragedy of you or I not having a son, but then there is the TRAGEDY whether we KNOW the SON of LIVING GOD. This Christmas is about learning to DELIGHT in the latter.