It was a rather tricky choice as to which Sunday to preach a Christmas sermon on this year since it is next Saturday. But I decided to make it today so that you would have a reference point to think about as the event actually takes place.
When it comes to sermons like this I prefer to let the scriptures speak for themselves but given the dirth of truthful biblical thinking in our land I will interject thoughts from time to time to point you in the direction of the bibilical approach to what the word is saying. This year I am going to begin with the book of Luke chapter 1 verse 1.
Luke writes: Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
I want to stop there because these sentences put a stake in the heart of the postmodern philosophy our day and age. They do so by telling us something about truth. When Luke says that the things that he is going to write came from eyewitness testimony he is saying that truth is not simply a matter of interpretation. Truth is not simply your truth. You are not the determiner of truth there are things that are true for everybody whether they believe them or not. And that truth can be passed on and be a shared experience of reality. This biblical concept undermines both the modernist and post modernist points of view that say that truth is relative or the truth is simply a personal choice. The scriptures tell us that reality is real because God made everything that is and that we all share the same reality. Yes we may have different perceptions of reality but that is something totally different than saying that we are the determiners of reality. No one but God has complete perspective of all views of the truth. This is God’s world made by his word and we can trust that reality is real because the trustworthy God of all creation says that it is real. So much for philosophy class. Let’s move on to the text.
5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. 7 But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. 8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. 11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 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 call him John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. 16 He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” 19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
I want to put this in a historical context. There hadn’t been a prophet in the land for 400 years. Who knows how long it had been since an angel appeared to someone. You know Zechariah has got to be freaking out. We learn something else from this passage. If the scriptures are a true presentation of reality then we are not the only creatures in existence. There are other beings that are non- human in the world. We are not alone. We can also understand that there are miracles out there – things that are unexpected to us. But just because they are unexpected doesn’t mean that they weren’t planned before the foundation of the world. We are fools if we think that because unexpected happen to us that they are unexpected to God. Nothing happens that he has not planned. That is the essence of providence. It goes back to that idea of perspective. Things seem like chance and accident to us because we have limited perspective. Sometimes it is hard for us to see how God can work all things for his glory. It’s hard to understand some things that happen or for that matter even like them. But because this is God’s world and not ours we must learn to take all things that come into our lives as coming from the hand of God and then work hard to figure out why and still keep walking on the path of life. In other words we learn to ask what is a biblical, truthful response to this event that has happened to me? That is the essences of biblical faith applied.
In this passage we see a wonderful picture of faith applied in the real world. When I really think about what it means to be beyond the age of child birth, Zechariah calls he and Elizabeth old, it blows me away at the faith that he had. The ramifications of being told you were going to have a child at 80 even if you wanted one really badly had to be a shock. Not to mention that other than age this pregnancy was going to come about in a normal fashion. Quite a step of faith. They were both beyond being able to produce a child and God says you’re going to have a child. Now of course some of us here have access to Cialis but they didn’t back then. For them faith applied to the real world meant making love. So it is completely understandable that Zechariah has a certain amount of disbelief.
Here is note of comfort: if God wants to do a miracle your lack of faith isn’t going to stop him. God forced Zachariah into belief by giving him another miracle – he took away his ability to speak until the birth day. And that miracle gave him the gift of faith. It’s easy for us to forget that faith is a gift. It is not an intellectual exercise. Walking on the path of life has very little to do with your brains and everything to do with God giving you the faith to believe and walk.
All of this is taking place in the midst of his duties in the temple and it’s making him stay in the temple longer than usual. Out in the courtyard the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. 23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home.
Again the context: no cell phones, email, or even regular snail mail. He has to think about this for an extended period before he gets a chance to tell his wife and actually demonstrate that the word of God is true. He gets to explain all of this to his wife without being able to speak. Sure he could write but there’s something about vocal intonation that purveys our meaning just as much as the words we use. There are plenty of opportunities for unbelief here but Zechariah works through them all by the grace of God and does what is required of him.
24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25 “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.” Here is a woman whose heart’s desire was to have a child. It had been for a long, long time. She had been the subject of ridicule from her peers. The first thing that pops into my head when I think of that was one of those Foghorn Leghorn cartoons where the scrawny old hen who has never laid an egg and who is ridiculed by all the other hens suddenly lays an egg and has a chick. And of course that chick is a brainiac different from all the other chickens. That is very much like Elizabeth. She longs to have a child and then when she is given that precious gift he ends up living in the wilderness eating locusts and wild honey. I’d bet that on a bad day she probably said something like: Oh vie why couldn’t I have had a doctor or a lawyer? But she knew she was blessed and so most of the time I’m sure she rejoiced that God had given her a son no matter how he turned out.
Continuing on in the text: In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.” 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
I want to stop here because this is a foundation stone upon which our faith is built. There are many who point out that the word for virgin can also simply mean young woman and so it doesn’t necessitate that Mary was a virgin. And that is true. But it is not the use of the word virgin alone that causes us to believe in the virgin birth. It is the biblical understanding of sin and of covenant breaking. If the biblical view of the word is true then all children born by natural means since the fall are dead in their trespasses and sin. If Jesus were born by natural means then he would be no different than you or I. He would be dead in Adam’s sin because he was in Adam. But Jesus was not a physical descendent of Adam. He was the first born of a new creation. He was the second Adam of a new humanity – a covenant keeping humanity. That is why if the word of God is true there is only one way to the father- through Jesus Christ our Lord.
If the bible isn’t the word of God then don’t waste your time being good, certainly stop being religious. Do whatever you want to do: Because there is no need to be saved if there is no fall. There is no such thing as sin therefore everything is permissible and there are no consequences if the bible isn’t the word of God. The virgin birth is that important. It is not an option it is a necessity from a biblical point of view.
When Gabriel says: For no word from God will ever fail. That sets the stage for the conflict of the ages. That is why we hold on to the bible so tightly. We understand that it has been passed down through the ages because it is the word of God and it will not, cannot fail. God is big enough to pass down his word throughout the ages and keep intact what is important. That is why there are so many out there that want to down grade the bible from the word of God to just the word of men. If that can be done then we are free to do whatever we want to do whenever we want to. It breaks my heart that it is the church that is leading the way in destroying the foundation of the word of God.
I will finish by simply reading the rest of the story of both John and Joshua.
39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” 46 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me— holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. 51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. 52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. 54 He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful 55 to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.” 56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. 59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.” 61 They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.” 62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 All the neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66 Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him. 67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: 68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. 9 He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David 70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), 71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us— 72 to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, 73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham: 74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, 77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, 8 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven 79 to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” 80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the wilderness until he appeared publicly to Israel.
18Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly.
20But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." 22Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23"BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, "GOD WITH US." 24And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, 25but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
It is my prayer that you would all treasure up all these things and ponder them in your hearts. I pray that you would allow grace to permeate your hearts and let the good news be the good news in every area of your life. If still struggle with whether or not this is the word of God ask God to give you the gift of faith for it is not an intellectual process. It is a spiritual process.
Let’s pray. Father, Be our God and let us be your people. In Jesus name I pray amen.
Here the word of the Lord from Isaiah 61:
1The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; 2To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. 4Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, They will raise up the former devastations; And they will repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations. 5Strangers will stand and pasture your flocks, And foreigners will be your farmers and your vinedressers. 6But you will be called the priests of the LORD; You will be spoken of as ministers of our God You will eat the wealth of nations, And in their riches you will boast. 7Instead of your shame you will have a double portion, And instead of humiliation they will shout for joy over their portion Therefore they will possess a double portion in their land, Everlasting joy will be theirs.
Go in peace.
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