Our Story Begins

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on the second Sunday in Advent, the 4th of December, 2022, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.]

Today is the second Sunday in Advent, that special time in our Christian calendar when we anxiously await the coming of our Lord into this world.  This is a time for love, and for introspection.  It’s a time to take an honest look deep within ourselves to see if we are truly ready for our Lord’s coming.

For He is coming – He came to us once and He will come again, just as He promised.  We celebrate His first coming as a little baby, pure and innocent and vulnerable.  When He returns, He will come as an invincible Judge who will set the world aright.

For now, though, over the course of Advent and then on to Christmas morning, I’d like to revisit the full story of our Christ’s birth, beginning this morning with an announcement to Zacharias.  We usually think of Christ’s birth starting with Mary and Joseph on the way to Bethlehem for the census.  But to get the full picture, we need to go back a bit further than that.  We need to prepare a little for the coming of our Lord.

The “good physician” Luke wrote two books that he dedicated to a gentleman by the name of Theophilus but that were definitely intended for Gentiles to read and understand.  We don’t know exactly who Theophilus was, but his name was Greek and we know Luke was Greek, so I like to think they were friends.

The second of these texts is what we call the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, and tells about the life of the early church after the death and resurrection of Jesus.  And the first became what we know as the Gospel according to the Apostle Luke.  This relates the life of Jesus as a mortal man.  And it is this account that contains the Christmas story.

Please listen and follow along to how Luke opened this beautiful story in his Gospel account, verses 1 through 25 of chapter 1, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.

5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.

8 So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. 10 And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15 For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 He will also 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 a people prepared for the Lord.”

18 And Zacharias said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”

19 And the angel answered and said to him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. 20 But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.”

21 And the people waited for Zacharias, and marveled that he lingered so long in the temple. 22 But when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned to them and remained speechless.

23 So it was, as soon as the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his own house. 24 Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”

--Luke 1:1-25 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for putting the arrival of Your Messiah into an order and a perspective that we mortals can understand and relate to.  You could have just sent Jesus as an adult, a conquering hero, a commanding figure surrounded by an angelic army.  But instead You brought Him to this world just as we come - as a small, innocent baby.  And even before that, You set the stage for His miraculous birth by seeing that another would come before Him, to prepare the way.  Thank You, loving God, for giving us Your Son, and such a wondrous story of His coming to us.  Forgive us, please Father, when we spend more time during this holiday season focused on gift giving and receiving rather than on the greatest gift we will ever receive: Your Son and the salvation He offers.  Father, please help us remember the true reason for the season.  And Father, please protect us from Satan and from those who so willingly do his bidding.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Help us put our hearts, our thoughts, and our lives in proper order so that we too might better prepare ourselves and the world for the coming of our Lord.  This we pray in the glorious name of Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

We are told that when John Huss was arrested and informed that he would be burned to death for his faith, he purposely practiced holding his hand over fire to prepare for his final test.  He burned himself in preparation.  He wanted to be faithful to the end.

Every ending had a beginning, and every beginning has an end.  A new beginning follows every ending.

Jan (or John) Huss was a Czech theologian who became a Church reformer, mostly influenced by Martin Luther and John Wesley.  In 1415, he was condemned as a heretic against the doctrines of the Catholic Church and burned at the stake.  Huss prepared himself for the new beginning that would follow the end of his mortal life on earth.  During his life, he had helped prepare the world for the coming of the Lord, just as another John had done, many years before.

Family, God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good.  God is also always faithful.

Luke tells us of an older couple named Zacharias and Elizabeth; “well advanced in years”, as Luke puts it.  He is a priest of the Temple, and she is a direct descendent of Aaron, the brother of Moses and arguably the best known priest.  So it follows that Zacharias and Elizabeth were both very religious and righteous in God’s eyes.

But they were also childless, with Elizabeth unable to conceive.  I’m sure they prayed for a child, but God had not answered their prayers and quite frankly they were getting too old for it to happen.  Well, I should say that God had not answered their prayers yet, for that was about to change.

The time had come for Zacharias to enter into the innermost chamber of the Temple to burn incense as a sweet aroma offering to God.  While there, the angel Gabriel appeared before him and announced that he and Elizabeth would give birth to a child.  And not just any child, but one who would grow to serve a great purpose for God.  He shall be named John and he will turn a great many people to God.  And even more, he will prepare the way for the Lord to come.

Now of course, Zacharias doubted all of this.  He was an old man, Elizabeth was an old woman, they were both too old to conceive, bear, and give birth to a child!  So to prove that what Gabriel announced would indeed come to pass, God took away Zacharias’ ability to speak, leaving him mute until the son was actually born unto him and Elizabeth.  And indeed, Elizabeth conceived, just as promised.  Our God is ever faithful.

The Apostle Mark also wrote about the life of Jesus, but his account relates to a much later time, when the babe had grown into a man.  It does tie in very nicely to our backstory of Zacharias and Elizabeth, though, and more specifically to their son.  Please listen to how Mark opened his Gospel account, in chapter 1 verses 1 through 8…

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in the Prophets:

“Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,

Who will prepare Your way before You.”

3 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord;

Make His paths straight.’ ”

4 John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. 5 Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

6 Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, “There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. 8 I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

--Mark 1:1-8 (NKJV)

Mark quotes from the great Jewish prophets Malachi and Isaiah to show how God’s words are fulfilled in John, the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth.  The Apostle claims that John not only physically baptized people in the waters of the Jordan River, but that he also preached a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  We don’t normally think of preaching as a means of baptizing, but one of the definitions of baptism is “a purifying experience”.

So John baptized both by words and by water those who repented and confessed their sins.  And he proclaimed to all who would listen that One is coming, One who is far greater than he, One who would baptize them with God’s own Holy Spirit.  And Jesus came, and baptized those of us who believed in Him as God’s Messiah, who accepted Him as Lord, giving us God’s Holy Spirit to dwell within us.

The Christmas story ends with a new beginning for us.  Jesus gave of His mortal life that we might live forever with God in paradise.  And it all began with God laying the groundwork for His Son to come to the world by giving an elderly couple a son who would prepare the way.

But really, we’re not quite yet at the end of the story.  There is more yet to come, and we must be prepared.  For Jesus is coming again someday, and it may be soon.  To be ready for His return, we need to be righteous in God’s eyes, as were Zacharias and Elizabeth.  God is faithful, and just as He fulfilled his promise to them, He will fulfill the promise He made to us, through His Son Jesus, to forgive and forget our sins and give us life everlasting with Him in heaven.  And that will be the beginning of a story that will never end.

So let us prepare the way of the Lord, both within our own hearts and among our fellow man.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, You know what is best for us and everything You do is for our good.  You could have suddenly appeared among us in all Your glory, exacting justice according to Your law.  But instead You came into the world in the person of Your Son, born of a woman just like us.  Thank You, Father, for coming to us as one of us, in a form familiar to us.  Thank You for giving us this beautiful story we can relate to.  Forgive us, please Father, when we get caught up in the busyness and hype of the holiday season and forget that it’s all about You.  It’s all about Your Son Jesus coming to the world to save us from our sin.  Forgive us when we don’t recognize this greatest gift of all.  Please help us share the Good News with others and help prepare the way of our Lord’s return.  And Father, please help us remain strong, faithful, and true through all that we face in this age.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for the wonderful gift You offer, the gift of salvation.  Lord, You came to us in the most humble and vulnerable form, as a tiny baby.  Thank You, Jesus, for coming in a way that we can relate to.  Please help us remember that if we truly believe in You and follow You, then we will do as You command and carry out our mission of bringing others to You as Your disciples.  Help us show non-believers what this holiday season really means to us and to them.  And Jesus, please heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us remain trusting and obedient no matter what we go through.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.