“But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.” Luke 1:13
Dear Faithful Seed Sowers & Hopeful Christmas Cheerers,
Here we go! I have to share that it’s been a wild Christmas season thus far. People need ministry. People are falling and going to the hospital—in droves. And, out here in Cucamonga, there are many hospitals to visit. I’m keeping up with my beautiful “shut ins” who so need a visit at this season. All this to say, I apologize for not getting this “Seed of Faith” out sooner but I do still believe that God knows no time, is not bound by time, and can still work in us. Despite it being almost time for the third candle of Advent Joy—we can go back and begin at the first candle; the candle of HOPE. So grab your cup of coffee, tea or water and let’s sit and ponder the coming of CHRISTmas.
Let’s open our living word to the birth stories of Jesus in Matthew 1& 2 and Luke 1 & 2. There are so many characters in these stories. As always, put yourself into the story. Look at all the people and places and try on a few of their costumes and sandals. Think of Zechariah and Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary, Simeon and Anna, shepherds & wise men, Herod and the people of Nazareth and Jerusalem. Try on an angel costume just for fun.
I like to say … put yourself in the story and then put the story in you. Don’t you date close the bible and just leave it on your desk, or kitchen table or bedside table! NO! Put this incredible story into your life; put it into your mind, heart, soul, spirit. Ask yourself, “Where can I be more like ______________ today, in 2023?” And go work it out as you live your crazy, busy schedule—always pondering and treasuring this Christmas story. Where can you bring Jesus Christ into your life today? How can you live Christmas every day? That’s the application the ancient words call you to make: from then to now. Read it. See it. Live it.
So what? Who do you identify with this Advent season? Why are these people mentioned?
Advent is about preparation. Sometimes we forget that before God sent his Son into the world, God had already prepared the way. Jesus arrived on the scene after 400 years of silence from God. Jesus arrived after an angel named Gabriel visited numerous people—preparation. God even saw fit to prepare the way for his Son by sending a man named John who would call people to repentance. God is into preparation.
Are we prepared for Christmas? I am not asking if we have our trees up, or if we have done our shopping, but are we really prepare?. Are we prepared for the arrival of God’s Son? One might wonder how we can prepare for this great event. Luke helps us by telling the story of an old Jewish priest and his wife.
I have been pondering old Zechariah this week.
FAITHFUL – FEARFUL – FAITHLESS – FAVORED
In Luke chapter one, we see that Zechariah was a priest. I would say that in this story we see Zechariah as a faithful priest preforming his duties even though God had been silent and had not answered his prayers during the many years of his lifetime. He and his wife had prayed for a child. Diligently.
We also see that Zechariah was fearful. Zechariah was fearful when the angel Gabriel appeared in the Holy of Holies. I love when an angel appears in the bible for they often say, “Do not be afraid.”
Zechariah was also faithless when he did not believe what Gabriel was telling him. He questioned the angel. What he wanted to say was something like this, “Gabe, Sara and I are really old now. We have asked for a child for many years. Never had a child. What you are saying is that now at our old age, you’re telling me that when we should become grandparents—we will become parents?” Zechariah was afraid, he was fearful and he was a bit faithless. That didn’t stop the angel from delivering God’s message, though. Old Zech was silenced until the birth of his son, John. Zech had plenty of time to treasure and ponder the miracle of God.
We also see at the end of our reading of our reading that Zechariah was favored. The Lord remembered Zechariah and heard his prayer.
I wonder if Zechariah ever lost hope.
I wonder as we are going through harrowing times if many of us begin to lose hope. Will this Covid stuff ever end? Will these wars in the Ukraine and Israel ever end? Will this inflation ever stop? Will we ever get back to our lives as we once knew them? My health is going south, help me. My finances are shot, help me. My relationships are a mess, help me. Over and over we cry out. Has God forgotten us? Why does not God hear our prayers?
It is interesting to note —-
The name Zechariah means “The Lord Remembers.”
The name Elizabeth means “My God Is Absolutely Faithful.”
Think about this for a minute! Zechariah is righteous. He is old. He is a priest. He knows God. He knows what it means to serve God. If there ever was a real saint, it is this guy. But he still had some growing to do. God sent the angel Gabriel to him to give him a marvelous promise. But what does Zechariah do? He doubts God. He underestimates God. Have you ever underestimated God?
Zechariah is an example of a person who has known the Lord for a long time. He goes to church. He gives his tithes. He leads a small group. He goes on mission trips. He prays before meals. He reads the Bible every day. He does all the right things, in all the right places, in all the right ways but when God comes along and challenges him to a new level of faith, he is afraid.
This couple reminds us that it really does not matter how long you have known God, or how well you’ve obeyed God, or how faithfully you’ve served God; we always have room for growth. God is committed to stretching and growing the faith of people like Zechariah and Elizabeth and God is committed to doing the same in people like you and me.
SO WHAT?
The so what question for today: How do these words written so long ago about the Advent of the Christ-child change us and give us hope?
Zechariah was not prepared for the Advent of Christmas because he did not believe God could step into his life and answer long-forgotten prayers in ways he had never dreamed of. I wonder if some of us here today are secretly disappointed with God, but afraid to admit it. Like old Zechariah, we just do what we are supposed to do, never really believing that God is at work to bless us in ways that would totally overwhelm us and silence us in His presence.
We may believe that God would do this for someone else, but not for us. We think: You do not know what I have done. You do not know what I have gone through. You do not know how hopeless my situation is. Some of us have become so cynical and jaded by life that we no longer believe God is at work within us. We are stuck in our unbelief; we are not ready for God’s gift. But God has some interesting ways of getting through to us.
One verse that I would like for you to take home today is verse 13. Put it to memory Put your name into the verse instead of Zechariah’s. Like this: But the angel said to (your name here), “Do not be afraid, (your name here), for your prayer has been heard.”
We have the next three weeks to truly prepare ourselves for the Advent of the Christ-child. This is the beginning of week one: disappointed hope to appointed hope, disappointed hope to anointed hope. Here is the “so what?”
From faithful to fearful to faithless to favored.
Are we open to God answering our prayer in ways we have never dreamed of?
Are we prepared for Christmas?
This week let us get real with God. Spend some time reading the gospel story of Christ’s birth in Luke and Matthew. Tell God where you need a blessing in your life. Maybe you need to feel forgiven. Maybe you need to forgive. Maybe you need God to remove the sign from around our neck that says, “Defect,” “Imperfect,” “Sinner,” “Guilty,” “Grief stricken.” This first week of Advent, let us get into hopeful prayer.
Let us pray:
O God of HOPE, you come into our lives in such amazing ways. We ask and pray that You will come again this Advent season. Come and fill the hopeless situations in our lives with hope, touch the hurting parts of our life with Your healing presence. Remove our disgrace. Answer our prayers. Bless us, O God of Hope. Prepare in each of us, a heart with room to spare for the birth of the Christ child. The living Savior came into our world to redeem, restore, and reconcile—do this in us this Advent Season. In the precious name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.
A closing story of hope. One of our church members fell. We met her at the ER and spent the day with her. She had broken her eye orbital, and her cheekbone and she had a concussion. Her daughter spent the weekend with her and then my wife and I took over the doctor visits for the week. It was bleak news that included the word surgery. My friend is a recent widow and she was feeling fearful and afraid and vulnerable. On Wednesday night she came to “Get A Life” group. We were doing this very story. At the end of the bible study, she asked if she could share. Of course. Here’s what she said, “I came to bible study tonight afraid, alone and feeling so very vulnerable but as we’ve studied I actually heard the Lord speak to me and I feel like I need to share it from the rooftops!” We all wanted to know what she had heard. I have a feeling some of you need to hear it, too, so here it is: DO NOT BE AFRAID. My friend said, “No matter what—surgery, no surgery—God is with me and I do not need to be afraid.” You could tell she had had a moment with the Lord—kind of like Zechariah; all the people outside while she had a conversation with God!?
Truth is, a week later her surgeon who had told her surgery was a pretty done deal saw her and said, “I think you got divine intervention. There’s absolutely no need for surgery.” Cry out. Keep crying out. You are heard. And in His time, He will answer you.
A lifetime is not too long to wait. Trust me. There’s a few things I’m still waiting on.
HOPE: Heaven’s One Promise Emmanuel.
God loves you and so do I,
Pastor Dave
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