Well, we’ve made it through Thanksgiving, which means that we’re two thirds the way through the holiday trifida that comes at the end of every year. I mean, although it seems like yesterday, at least it does to me, Halloween was twenty-eight days ago. And since Thanksgiving is now a lot of leftovers, we’re left with just Christmas, the granddaddy of all holidays coming up in just twenty-eight days or about six hundred, sixty-two hours, if that makes you feel any better.
And with that in mind, during three of the four Sundays leading up to the big day and the Sunday that follows, we’re going to look at some of the different characters that play a part in the Christmas story, and I’m not talking about Ralphie and Randy and Flick. You see, during five different worship services, we’re going to talk about characters like Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and the wise men. And for each one, we’ll focus on the faith they showed given the situation they faced. And then, we’ll relate their experiences to ourselves, you know, to our own lives and our own attempt to be faithful.
And this morning, we’re going to start by looking at a guy you’ll probably never see in any Christmas pageant, at least I haven’t, and I’m talking about the priest, not the prophet, Zechariah. You see, he’s going to be our first Christmas character. And to do that, we’ll use what the Evangelist Luke wrote about him in the first chapter of his gospel. And as we go through the story, we’ll focus our attention on three questions: first, who was Zechariah, and second, what happened in his story, and third, how did he show faith. Of course, as you can see by the sermon title, as I read it, it’ll have something to do with faith and doubt. And then, after talking about Zechariah, we’ll simply take what we see in his story and relate it to our own. Now, that’s the plan.
And it starts with question number one: who was Zechariah? Well, as to his background, the Evangelist Luke was really clear. I mean, this was what he wrote:
When Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest by the name of Zechariah from the priestly group of Abijah. His wife Elizabeth was from the family of Aaron. Both of them were good people and pleased the Lord God by obeying all that he had commanded. But they did not have children. Elizabeth could not have any, and both Zechariah and Elizabeth were already old. [Luke 1:5-7, CEV]
Now that’s what Luke said; Zechariah was a priest, which meant that he was from the tribe of Levi and the family of Aaron, you know, Moses’s brother. And so was his wife, Elizabeth. And even though they were examples of dedication and obedience, they faced two interrelated problems: one, they were childless and two, they were both very old. Now that’s part of who Zechariah was.
Which leads to something else we know about Zechariah. You see, he was also a guy who was confronted by something pretty amazing as he was just doing his job. Again, listen to what the Evangelist Luke wrote:
One day Zechariah’s group of priests were on duty, and he was serving God as a priest. According to the custom of the priests, he had been chosen to go into the Lord’s temple that day and to burn incense, while the people stood outside praying.
All at once an angel from the Lord appeared to Zechariah at the right side of the altar. Zechariah was confused and afraid when he saw the angel. But the angel told him:
Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayers. Your wife Elizabeth will have a son, and you must name him John. His birth will make you very happy, and many people will be glad. Your son will be a great servant of the Lord. He must never drink wine or beer, and the power of the Holy Spirit will be with him from the time he is born.
John will lead many people in Israel to turn back to the Lord their God. He will go ahead of the Lord with the same power and spirit that Elijah had. And because of John, parents will be more thoughtful of their children. And people who now disobey God will begin to think as they ought to. This is how John will get people ready for the Lord. [Luke 1:8-17, CEV]
Now that’s what Luke wrote. And so, here was the scene. We’ve got a priest who was doing what priests did; he was working around the Temple in Jerusalem, you know, that one special place where the Jews believed God was always present. And when it was his turn to go into that special part of the Temple where God dwelt to burn a little incense all by himself, right there by the altar, Zechariah was confronted with an angel. Pretty dramatic, right? But then, the tension was sort of dialed up to about eleven when the angel started to speak. I mean, after saying what all angels seems to say when talking to a person, “don’t be a afraid,” the angel started to tell this old priest about the son he didn’t have and assumed he never would have, you know, about who he would be and what he would do and how he would affect his people. And right at the beginning of his little speech, the angel told Zechariah exactly what he was expected to do; he would name his son “John.” Now, according to Luke, that’s what happened. And you know, all this really points to Zechariah’s identity, doesn’t it? I mean, he was simply a good, moral, hard-working man who was confronted with something that was biologically impossible. That’s who he was, the answer to the first question.
Which leads us to question number two: What happened? In other words, what did he do and what were the results? And remember, I think all this is related to faith and doubt. Well, after telling us about what the angel promised, this was what Luke wrote:
Zechariah said to the angel, “How will I know this is going to happen? My wife and I are both very old.” [Luke 1:18, CEV]
Now, I’ve got to tell you; personally, I think this was a very reasonable question. Good night, you can take it to the bank that, if a angel had appeared to me this morning as I was all by myself, practicing my sermon, and told me that Debbie and I were going to have a little bundle of joy, I think I would have been a little more blunt than just asking, “How will I know this is going to happen?” I mean, in terms of the facts, man, Zechariah was spot on. Both he and his wife were very old, certainly too old to have a kid. My gosh, in his mind it was impossible. But remember, a little bit later in this same chapter, when confronted with something even less possible, a young girl will hear this same angel say, “Nothing is impossible for God!” [Luke 1:37, CEV] And I’ll tell you, that was something the priest must have forgotten. And so, instead of trusting in what the angel said, Zechariah doubted.
And this was the result. According to Luke,
The angel answered, “I am Gabriel, God’s servant, and I was sent to tell you this good news. You have not believed what I have said. So you will not be able to say a thing until all this happens. But everything will take place when it is supposed to.”
The crowd was waiting for Zechariah and kept wondering why he was staying in the temple so long. When he did come out, he could not speak, and they knew he had seen a vision. He motioned to them with his hands, but did not say a thing. [Luke 1:19-22, CEV]
Now, let’s talk a little bit about what the angel said, because, personally, I find his response interesting for two reasons. I mean, on one hand, he was clear that Zechariah was going to face the consequences for his lack of faith. He wasn’t going to be able to speak, a real curse for any preacher but probably a blessing for his wife. On the other hand, his doubt wasn’t going to change the will of God. I mean, the angel didn’t say that, because he doubted, God was going to find a more worthy person to father John. No, God was still going to use a less than faithful priest to accomplish his plan. And so, even though he doubted and paid a consequence for his doubt, God’s will was still going to be done. You see, that’s what happened; the answer to the second question.
And question number three: How did Zechariah show faith? I mean, how did he demonstrate that, in spite of his initial doubt and the consequences he faced, how did he demonstrate that he was still dedicated to God? Now this was what Luke wrote,
When Zechariah’s time of service in the temple was over, he went home. Soon after this, his wife was expecting a baby, and for five months she did not leave the house. She said to herself, “What the Lord has done for me will keep people from looking down on me.” [Luke 1:23-25, CEV]
Now do you see what’s happening here? Zechariah faced and endured the consequence of his doubt. He didn’t turn away from God. He didn’t leave the priesthood. And he didn’t abandon his responsibilities. Instead, he simply went home in silence. And because of that, he had the opportunity to see God’s promise fulfilled. Now I think that’s one way he showed his faith.
But I believe the second way was even more dramatic and important. This was how Luke described it:
When Elizabeth’s son was born, her neighbors and relatives heard how kind the Lord had been to her, and they too were glad.
Eight days later they did for the child what the Law of Moses commands. They were going to name him Zechariah, after his father. But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is John.”
The people argued, “No one in your family has ever been named John.” So they motioned to Zechariah to find out what he wanted to name his son.
Zechariah asked for a writing tablet. Then he wrote, “His name is John.” Everyone was amazed. At once, Zechariah started speaking and praising God. [Luke 1:57-64, CEV]
Now, personally, I think that was amazing; Zechariah did what God wanted him to do. He named his miracle son “John.” You see, along with enduring, Zechariah obeyed. And through this endurance and obedience, I think that’s how he showed his faith, his trust in God. And with this, I believe Luke has answered our third question. And that, brothers and sisters, was the story of Zechariah, a good man who, despite his doubt, ended up showing great faith.
And I’ll tell you, I think this is a story that can teach us a lot about ourselves and about living the lives we’ve been called to live. I mean, as we think about who we are, well, I believe I’m fairly safe in saying we’re fundamentally good, moral, hard-working people, aren’t we? And even though none of us are perfect, we’re all trying to do the best we can with what we’ve got. Like Zechariah, that’s part of who we are. But we’re also men and women who find ourselves face-to-face with something that sure seems to be impossible, and let me tell y’all what that is. You see, right here and right now, we’re confronted with these words from the Apostle Paul:
I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord! [Romans 8:38-39, CEV]
Now that’s what Paul said; he described God’s love for us, for you and for me. And right there’s the problem. You see, for good, moral, hard-working people like us, and I’m talking about men and women who’ve been taught that anything worth having has got to be earned, man, God just can’t love us without us doing something to earn it, right? That would be impossible. You see, this is who we are.
And what happens as we come face to face with this impossibility, well, sadly, I think we tend to doubt. We doubt God’s unconditional love. We doubt God’s irresistible grace. And we doubt the irrevocable promises he’s given to his children, you know, to us. You see, instead of trusting that Gabriel knew what he was talking about when he said to Mary, “Nothing is impossible for God!” [Luke 1:37, CEV], we doubt that God could love us that much. And so we try to fix it. I mean, we come up with all these conditions we have to meet and rules we have to follow in order to be loved by the Father and redeemed by the Son and filled with the Spirit. You see, we doubt that God is in charge and that he really does love us, because that would be impossible, right? And as a result, we face some pretty severe consequences for our doubt. For example, we end up feeling separated and isolated from the one whose compassion we don’t have to earn and whose grace we can never deserve. You see, like Zechariah, we end up facing the consequences of our doubt. But also like him, our lack of faith doesn’t change the will of God one iota. And even though we may not understand it or appreciate it or even accept it, just like God did with his doubting priest, he continues to do exactly what he decided to do. As Paul wrote to the Ephesians:
Before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with him and to be his holy and innocent and loving people. God was kind and decided that Christ would choose us to be God’s own adopted children. God treated us with undeserved grace because of the Son he dearly loves, and so we should praise God. [Ephesians 1:4-6, CEV]
Now, this is what happens; it happened to Zechariah and it happens to us.
And as it relates to how we might show our faith in the light of who we are and what has happened and is happening, well, the decision is really up to us, isn’t it? I mean, for Zechariah, showing faith involved enduring the consequences of his doubt and obeying God when he got the chance. And you know, I believe that’s also the case with us. I mean, even though God couldn’t love us more than he does right now, there may always be a part of us that struggles with accepting that, and I’m talking about accepting that everything that needs to be done to heal our relationship with God has already been done. And trusting that this is true, well, that may be what faith is all about. You see, because this truth about God may always be difficult for us to accept, we may always wonder if we’ve done and are doing enough. But you know, even if, from time to time, that happens, we can still obey God. We can still do what the person whose birth we’re going to celebrate in about a month taught us to do. You see, in spite of any uncertainty or guilt or even shame we might feel, we can still choose to love God with our whole heart and soul and mind and strength and to love others as much as we love ourselves. Endurance and obedience, that is how we can show our faith.
And this we can learn from the story of Zechariah, the first character of Christmas, a good man who, when confronted by God with something that seemed impossible, doubted and yet also demonstrated great faith through both his endurance and obedience. You see, as we write our own stories, this we can also do. And next week, we’ll look at Mary, another person who received an impossible message from the angel, but who responded with both faith and acceptance.
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