“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 Saintly Seed-Sowers,
Advent is here! We have 4 Sundays ahead! Let’s start now and prepare our hearts and our homes for our holidays. I read a post the other day saying it’s okay to have a simple holiday; the first Christmas was simple. Simply divine! Sometimes we can get lost in all the extra wrapping of what we’ve made Christmas out to be. This year, let’s go simple. You can still give all the gifts and presents but let’s remember the real meaning of Christmas: Christ.
Advent means coming! Advent is all about preparation. Sometimes we forget that before God sent his Son into the world, God prepared the way for His one and only Son. Did you know that Jesus arrived on the scene after 400 years of silence from God? It’s true. The angel, Gabriel, appeared to a priest named Zechariah. And Jesus arrived after Gabriel visited numerous people. The idea was simple: preparation. God even saw fit to prepare the way for his Son by sending a baby named John to Zechariah and Elizabeth. This baby would call people to repentance. Even God is into preparation. Do you believe that God is preparing us during this time of Covid-19? Let’s explore the church season of Advent.
Are you prepared for Christmas? I am not asking if you have your tree up, or if you have your shopping completed but are you personally prepared for the birth of the Savior? Are you prepared for the arrival of God’s Son? One might wonder how to get prepared. Dr. Luke can help us; he tells us the story of an old Jewish priest and his wife.
I encourage you to read the birth announcements found in Luke 1 & 2 and Matthew 1 and 2 during this season of Advent. I believe if we spend a little time sitting with God’s Word we will be prepared for the Advent of the Christ child in our hearts and homes for our holidays.
Zechariah was a priest–a faithful priest who was out performing his duties even though God had been silent for 400 years and had not answered his own lifetime of prayer to have a child. We also read that Zechariah was fearful when the angel Gabriel appeared in the Holy of Holies. Zechariah was also faithless when he did not believe what Gabriel was telling him–that Elizabeth would soon become pregnant and bear a son named John. We also read that Zechariah was favored. The Lord had, indeed, remembered Zechariah and had heard his prayer. Zechariah had to be at least 80 years old by now. I wonder if Zechariah had ever lost hope.
I wonder as we are going through this harrowing time of Covid-19 if many of us have lost hope. Will this pandemic ever end? Will we ever get back to our lives as we once knew them? Has God forgotten us? Why does God not hear our prayers?
The name Zechariah means “The Lord Remembers.”
The name Elizabeth means “My God Is Absolutely Faithful.”
The angel said to Zechariah, “Your prayer has been heard.” What prayer? This passage does not mention a prayer. The angel must have been talking about Zechariah’s prayer for a child. God had not forgotten Zechariah’s prayer. Here’s a good point: We need to remember that “GOD REMEMBERS”.
We are told by Gabriel that Elizabeth would soon became pregnant and stay in seclusion for five months. We do not know why she did this. Some scholars say she was afraid of losing the baby. Luke does not tell us the reason for the seclusion (sounds familiar) but he does tell us Elizabeth spent the time thanking and praising God. During this time, she was thinking and talking about how God had worked in her life to bless her and how God took away her disgrace. Elizabeth remembers that “God is absolutely FAITHFUL.”
Makes me think of all the opportunities we have during this Covid-19 to be in seclusion. While Elizabeth is secluded, she spend her time thanking and praising God. Wow! How would our lives be different if we took time every day during our seclusion and quarantine to thank and praise God? Every day I walk by Alexa and I say, “Play Christian music”, “Play Christian piano music”, “Play Christian hymns” and all day long our laundry room is filled with praise! (Our bedroom is next to the laundry!)
This priestly couple reminds us that it does not matter how long you have known God, or how well you’ve obeyed God, or how faithfully you’ve served God, you always have room for growth. God is committed to stretching and growing the faith of people; 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 is: How do these words written so long ago about the Advent of the Christ-child change me and bring to me the hope I need?
Zechariah was not prepared for the Advent of Christmas because he did not believe God could step into his life and answer his long-forgotten prayers. But God. But God did in ways old Zech had never dreamed. 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. As always, put yourself into this story and don’t just put yourself into it in one character–but into as many as you can think of: Zechariah, Elizabeth, the other 17,999 priests who serve in the temple, the neighbors, the family. What can you learn this week from the first Advent candle of hope? I have a good acronym for HOPE: Heaven’s One Promise–Eternity, Emmanuel. Do you believe that? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is your one hope, your one promise? Emmanuel, God with us? I do. I believe it with all of my heart, mind, soul.
Many of you know that this year has been hard on so many. With the quarantines, lockdowns, shut-downs and Covid-19 infecting so many of us. We have members of our church who have lost loved ones during this time. Some have not had the opportunity to celebrate the lives of their loved ones with a memorial service because of the quarantine. I have lost my mother-in-law, my brother and my dad this year. My wife and I have been taking care of my 88-year-old father-in-law who has severe dementia. We have been caring for him for 24/7 for the past 10 months. There are times when hope seems to be elusive–even to me, an ordained pastor of 22 years and a youth pastor for another 15 years before that and 3 years of seminary where God answered my prayers almost daily with blessings through others in our community.
As I was flying home from Illinois this past week after we celebrated my dad’s life, I spent some time looking out the airplane window and reflecting and my life. I grieve the loss of my dad and the time we had together. I am so thankful for my stepmom, mama Sue, who loved my dad into heaven. As Christians, we have a hope that will never disappoint us. We have a hope that will sustain us through hard times, hard times exactly like Covid-19. We have a hope that conquerors death. We have the hope and the power of the resurrection. Don’t just glance by and not see the wonder of HOPE. Yes, Christ came to earth as a helpless baby but don’t miss that Jesus Christ walked out of that tomb of death. HE IS RISEN! Talk about HOPE!
God has a way of sending signals of hope to remind us that life is stronger than death. Light is more powerful than dark. God is more powerful than Satan. Good will overcome evil. Joy is stronger than disappointment. Hope is answered prayer—no matter how long it takes. This is the message of the first Advent candle of Christmas: just as God meticulously prepared the way for Jesus to be born, God is painstakingly at work in each of our lives—preparing our hearts, and minds, and souls for Christ’s arrival. And–not just once but Christmas comes every year. Christmas is time to marvel at the wonder of HOPE. Advent is a time to prepare. Week one of Advent: am I prepared? Do I believe that God is at work—answering our prayers–in ways I cannot imagine? Do I dare to trust God enough–to take away my defects, disgrace, and my disappointment? It’s been a dark year for me but hear me when I say: I HAVE HOPE!
But the angel said to (your name here), “Do not be afraid, (your name here), for your prayer has been heard.”
What prayer is it that you need to be heard? Don’t be afraid. PRAY IT! God hears you.
· From faithful to fearful to faithless to favored.
· Am I open to God answering my prayer in ways I have never dreamed of?
· Am I prepared for Christmas?
This week spend some time reading the gospel story of Christ’s birth in Luke. Tell God where you need a blessing in your life. Pray. Maybe you need to feel forgiven. Every night at about 7 pm, I walk my father-of-love down the hallway to his bedroom. Every night as we make that trip he says, “Thank you, David, for teaching me about forgiveness. I can forgive others because I’ve been forgiven.” Every year Christmas comes on December 25. Every year we have a STOP/GAP opportunity to STOP and take a serious look at our lives. I’m praying this is a simply divine year of Christmas for you.
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 come into our world to redeem, restore, and reconcile—do this in me this Advent Season. In the precious name of Jesus, I pray. And, just like Zechariah, let me know you hear my prayer! Amen.
See you Sunday!
God loves you and so do I,
Pastor Dave
www.theseedchristianfellowship.com
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