A Tender Voice in the Night

St Timothy Presbyterian Church in Toronto: Sermons

Scripture Passage

Luke 1:68-79

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Sermon Script

INTRODUCTION

I enjoy buffets. There is a sequence, method.

Purpose of first round: whet the appetite, get me going for the main courses and proteins.

Luke is about Jesus – the main course.

But Luke 1 is about things that take place before Jesus is born. The set-up to what God does through Jesus.

Central character in chapter 1 is Zechariah. Today's passage – Benedictus. Last part of chapter 1.

Chapter 1 begins with Zechariah and ends with him.

Luke is communicating something important. Zechariah is a set-up story for the main course of Jesus.

It's a substantial appetizer – so much good material. God has something amazing to say through story of Zechariah.

MOVEMENT 1: ZECHARIAH'S ISSUE – BARRENNESS

Luke's introduction of Zechariah and Elizabeth:

In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. (Luke 1:5-6)

Zechariah and wife Elizabeth descended from Aaron.

Bloodline survived the whole history of Israel up to now.

Faithful to that heritage, faithful to God. Righteous, blameless.

But Luke introduces issue:

But they had no children because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years. (Luke 1:7)

Barrenness.

Whole future is in doubt. Rich past coming to an end. No future.

God makes promise to Zechariah through angel:

Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. (Luke 1:15)

Not only that, but great purpose through this promise:

Even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. (Luke 1:15-17)

Stories of barrenness are a common starting point for God's action. Abraham and Sarah. Hannah.

God gives promise that addresses the barren situation.

But something different in Luke's story of Zechariah: He goes silent upon receiving the promise.

When he did come out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable to speak. (Luke 1:22)

MOVEMENT 2: THE REAL ISSUE – ZECHARIAH'S SILENCE

Zechariah became silent. An alternate title to this sermon was Zechariah's Silence .

He remained silent until the prophecy we read as today's passage.

What made him go silent, and what does this silence represent?

Last thing that Zechariah said:

How can I know that this will happen? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years. (Luke 1:18)

Angel's response:

I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur. (Luke 1:19-20)

Many scholars believe this is punishment for Zechariah's lack of belief. This may be true, but I believe there's a lot more here.

When the angel communicated God's promise, it brought to the surface the pain he had been feeling for years.

He stated the facts as he experienced it: I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.

These were irrefutable facts. These facts were his reality.

The gap between that reality and God's promise was so vast. It was a wide chasm.

There was nothing more that Zechariah and Elizabeth wanted than a child.

In their younger years, they probably prayed very fervently for one. They probably kept hope for many years.

But as each year went on, that hope slipped away.

Their prayers probably stopped. They resigned themselves to the facts as they were.

The promise reminded Zechariah of the wide chasm between what he really wanted and the reality he experienced.

That gap was so painful. The pain silenced him.

More than the pain, it was his loss of hope that silenced him.

Hopeless pain makes one silent.

The wide chasm between your heart's desire and facts that are the complete opposite leaks hope.

The longer this chasm remains, the more hope dissipates.

The chasm hangs in the air like a great weight. The weight squeezes out hope. It silences prayers and cries of the heart.

Hopelessness renders you mute, silent and unable to move.

It makes you resigned to reality as it is.

Zechariah and Elizabeth resigned themselves to life as a barren couple. They remained faithful, righteous and blameless in their actions.

But underneath those actions were empty hearts.

They were empty of joy. Empty of purpose. They had no future to live for.

I wonder how many people today live like this. No future to live for. No hope that fuels them.

Human beings are born to dream. We're born with desires that are unique to our hearts.

But the facts on the ground often make that desire seem impossible.

At first, we hold on with hope. We try what we can. But in the end, we resign ourselves to reality as it is.

We come to believe that this is as good as it gets. So we try to make the best of life as it is.

We try to enjoy what we can. We forget about the pain of unfulfilled promises.

The pain of the gap between promise and reality becomes more and more silent over time.

Do you truly believe that your life right now is as good as it gets? Do you believe your situation is the final conclusion?

MOVEMENT 3: GOD MOVES IN THE SILENT HOPELESSNESS

Zechariah went home. We don't know what else we did.

But the scene in chapter 1 shifts from Zechariah to other things.

Luke makes clear that while Zechariah is silent in hopelessness, God is on the move.

God makes Elizabeth conceive. God speaks to Mary that she will give birth to the Saviour of the world.

Mary goes to visit Elizabeth, and Elizabeth's baby leaps in her womb. Things are happening.

Finally, a son is born, and he is named John. Zechariah is able to speak again at this point.

Luke's message is clear: even in our silent hopelessness, God is on the move.

More accurately: it is especially in our silent hopelessness that God moves.

While Zechariah was silent, God began his plan of salvation for the world.

How many of you have experienced hopelessness, and somehow came out of it for reasons that had nothing to do with you?

That has been my experience.

Post-articling experience. Until then, charmed life. Things went well on the surface.

But underneath, always a tightrope. Tricky balance between doing what I felt I needed to do, and what I really wanted to do.

That tightrope broke, things came to a head. Not hired back – only one in my class. Darkness of next 8 months.

Look back: period of silence. Nothing positive, no good lessons learned, no real growth.

Just sheer silence and darkness. Didn't grit it out and fight my way out of it.

How did I come out of it?

Very random. Partner from old firm. No reason for her to really.

Didn't solve things – many ordeals to come. But it stirred me out of the darkness. Put me back on my feet to get moving again.

MOVEMENT 4: ADVENT AND LUKE 1 REAWAKEN HOPE

Advent: beginning of new Church year. Meaning: arrival or coming.

Lectionary passage for this season: Luke 1. Purpose: to stir the heart, reawaken the hope that has been lost.

Appetizer: stirring up of hope, so we can wait eagerly for the main course – what God will do for you.

As the people sat in darkness, they began to await the arrival of a Saviour. That happens in chapter 2 of Luke.

When hope is stirred, it transforms the pain. From silent pain to pain that cries out.

Pain retrieves its voice – it cries out to God. It seeks God. It waits for God.

CONCLUSION: HEAR THE TENDER VOICE OF GOD IN THE NIGHT

When the Israelites were exiled in Babylon, during their darkest time when all hope seemed lost, God pierced through the silence through the prophet Isaiah:

Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. (Isaiah 40:1-2)

These are the opening words of Handel's Messiah.

These words stirred up hope in the people.

It made them open to what God might do. It made them look once again to God.

During this Advent season, open your ears to the tender voice of God in the night.

The final words of Zechariah are the final words of chapter 1 before Jesus is born:

Because of the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. (Luke 1:78-79)

Press these words on your heart.

Let them awaken hope in you.

Lift up your heads and wait for what God is about to do for you.

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