Listen to Sermon
Pastor Tom Johnson, June 24, 2018
The story of the John the Baptist begins earlier in the Gospel of Luke. John’s father Zechariah was a priest serving the temple. One day the angel Gabriel appears to him. He tells him his prayers have been answered. He will have a son. His name will be John, which means “Yahweh is gracious” or “The Lord graciously gives.” But Zechariah doubts the promise and power of God. He asks, “How can I be since my wife and I are old and advanced in years?” Gabriel said he was a servant of God and sent to tell Zechariah this good news. And because Zechariah did not believe this good news of John’s birth, he was unable to speak—he became mute. He could not speak for the entirety of the time his wife Elizabeth was pregnant. So, probably at least 9 months! God does not punish Zechariah. He disciplines him. He brings about his repentance. He takes away his ability to speak to make him wiser and more open to God. Just as wisdom says we should be quick to listen and slow to speak (James 1:19). God says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts. My ways are not your ways, says the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8). Zechariah knew the story of Abraham and Sarah and how God promised, and graciously gave, them their son Isaac in their old age—or as the Scriptures say, “even though their bodies were as good as dead”!
There is something so very believable and so human about this story. We also have a hard time trusting God at his word. We also fail to understand God's ways. We do not believe the potential we have to become servants of God. We doubt what God can do through us. That is not wisdom. Nor is it humility. God knows that we are flesh and blood. He knows our weakness. It is not about us. It is not about you or me. It is about the power of God at work in us and through us. Like Zechariah, we question God’s ways. Curiosity about God and a teachable spirit are good. We are open to what God is able and promises to do. But it is not for us to understand everything. Sometimes we must simply trust that God knows better. His ways are mysterious. But he is always good. As Scripture says, “It is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil 2:13). And “All things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28). His desire is to mold and shape us into his faithful servants—and discipline us if he must.
God wanted Elizabeth and Zechariah to participate in God’s plan. He graciously gave them a son whose name John means “Yahweh graciously gives.” John will also be a servant of the most high, preparing the way for his cousin Jesus—the true Messiah. And John will also have his own moments of doubt and struggle. God wants us to also participate in his plan. He wants us to prepare the way for those around us to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. He wants us to grow in humility, wisdom, openness, and service to him. God graciously gives us this opportunity as stewards of the Gospel and as partners in ministry together. We do not need to be a priest like Zechariah or a prophet like John to be useful in his kingdom. We do not need a visit from an angel.
We may not think of ourselves as good enough or gifted enough to make a difference in this world or in the Kingdom of God. This story reminds us that is not humility. That is unbelief! Scripture says God “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). God uses this couple advanced in years and then he will use this newborn child calling him a prophet of the most high—full of the Holy Spirit from the womb and from birth.
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| Zechariah Writes Down the Name of his Son Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494) |
The song of Zechariah that we heard read—and will sing at the end of our worship service is a celebration of what Zechariah learned through this experience. And that is another beautiful truth of what it means to be a servant of God. We do not just pass on information about God. We experience Christ and share him with others. Zechariah celebrates the birth of his own son but immediately directs us to John's cousin Jesus, the true Messiah: “He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David.” He saves us and shows mercy to us so that we might serve him without fear. He emboldens us to worship, sing, and tell others about him.
God opened Zechariah’s mouth and freed his tongue to speak about coming into a relationship with God through the Messiah and the forgiveness of sins. God will open his son John’s mouth and free his tongue to also point to Jesus. He will say of his cousin, “Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world!” And so God wants to open our mouths and free our tongues to worship, sing, and tell the world about the one who rescues us from our sin and guides us into way of peace now and into all eternity. “The Lord graciously gives”! Many believe that the peace prayer of St. Francis of Assisi was inspired by this story and song of Zechariah, John the Baptist, and the Messiah. The 13th century deacon and preacher prays to be a servant of the Most High without fear:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.
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