Begin with Prayer for the Messiah

Posted: December 3, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Belief, Blamelessness, Christ, Christmas, Community, Disobedience, Fathers, Infertility, Jesus, Marriage, Prayer, Sacrifice, Sermons, Service | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Anybody here ever prayed and it seems like God is doing nothing? It could be an illness that you just can’t shake. It could be a wayward loved one. It could be for a provision of a job or just funding. Maybe it is finding affordable housing? It could be your desire for children or grandchildren. It could be prayer for peace during ongoing conflict. Maybe you have become skeptical of Christianity or even defiant because God has not come through for you?  If any of these things describe your thinking and feelings today, there is hope and there are some people who can relate to you, especially at Christmas time. However, they never stopped praying and neither should we. Let’s read and hear about them in Luke 1:5-25. Read Luke 1:5-25!

It is crucial we understand some background to the story in Luke 1. “Luke’s Gospel is principally about Jesus, but his name does not occur for the first 30 verses and Jesus himself is not born until well into the story.”[1] This is a reminder that prayer and patience create greater anticipation and thus greater potential joy in Jesus. This anticipation is what the Advent season is all about. The Gospel of Luke was written by Luke, a physician, which is another reminder that from the beginning smart and scientific minds have always followed Jesus. They also didn’t keep their beliefs hidden for protecting their profession. Luke writes a letter to a man Theophilus (which means “God lover”) so that Theophilus “may have certainty concerning the things he had been taught” (v. 4). What a reminder that we may believe in Christ and even be considered “excellent” (v. 3) and spiritually mature in our lifestyle by others, but we may have doubts from time to time. We need our faith reinforced by the facts. This is why today’s message is for the doubters, the skeptics, the discouraged, the mature and young in the faith along with the religious and spiritual. I believe it is a message for everybody, especially those who feel forgotten.

Why do I say that? Because this story picks up after 400 years of silence by God. “The people had no prophetic voice from God for 400 years.”[2] The last time God spoke to the people of Israel was in the prophet Malachi’s day. This is extremely important as we talk about prayer. If God had not spoken for 400 years that means there were multiple generations that had been praying and it seemed nothing had happened. But it was worse. For those who have tracked with us earlier this year through the Book of Daniel, you will recall that during that 400 years of silence, the Greek empire was predicted and actually rose to power. One of the Greek leaders was Antiochus IV. Antiochus defiled the Jewish Temple in 169 B.C. by sacrificing an unclean pig on the altar when only clean sheep and bulls were allowed to be sacrificed. Recall Daniel 8:9-11, “Out of one of them came a little horn, which grew exceedingly toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land. It grew great, even to the host of heaven. And some of the host and some of the stars threw it down to the ground and trampled on them. It became great, even as great as the Prince of the host. And the regular burnt offering was taken away from him, and the place of his sanctuary was overthrown!” “The little horn mentioned there is Antiochus IV, the 8th ruler of the Seleucid dynasty.”[3]  “He banned circumcision of the Jews, ended sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem and deliberately defiled the temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar and placing an object to the Greek god Zeus in the Holy of Holies. He burned the Scriptures and slaughtered those who were faithful to God.”[4] “It was a little more than 6 years from the time when Antiochus IV murdered the Jewish high priest Onias III in 170 B.C. until the time of Jacob Maccabeus’ revolt in 164 B.C.”[5] These 400 years were marked with the Jews being persecuted and then guerrilla warfare in return by the Jews. But there was no message from the Lord. Instead, it would have been like your great, great, great grandparents praying and nothing seemingly happened. And then your great, great grandparents praying and nothing seemingly happens. And then your great grandparents praying and nothing seemingly happened except for a sacrilegious and oppressive leader. And then your grandparents prayed and nothing seemingly happened. And then your parents praying and nothing seemingly happened. 400 years of praying and nothing. So please do not take what I am about to teach us as any type of formula or promise that if you pray, you will get immediate answers and all that you want. This is not a “name it and claim it, blab it and grab it” message. I hate the health and wealth gospel that promises all problems fixed on earth. Such false teaching is fixing our eyes on earth and not Jesus.

And yet, we are called to hope in God and there is always blessing (eventually) that comes with prayer. Some of you need to hear this because you are on the verge of losing hope. Please remember this – the Messiah is coming. He came once when there were corrupt and illegitimate leaders like King Herod as we read about in Luke 1:5. He came when God had been silent. And if the Messiah, Jesus Christ, came the first time, He will come again because He promised He would. He is preparing a place for us where there is no more heartache and prodigals and rejection and sickness and lack of housing and lack of family. There is only blessing. Look at these words from Jesus in John 14:3, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” What a promise! Don’t lose sight of Jesus. One thing that I haven’t done well is unpack our church’s theme for the year of having our eyes fixed on Jesus. It means a lot of things. When I say, “Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus,” I mean don’t get distracted by sin or comparing yourself to others. Instead, savour Christ as the most important, beautiful person in your life. Keeping your eyes on Jesus means remembering He will come back and we will live forever with Him in the new heavens and new earth that He will recreate. That will mean investing in eternity rather than the temporary. Like what we learned from Matthew 6:19-21 a month ago, our hearts always go where we stare at. This is why when we pray, it should refocus us back on the Messiah. Prayer is how we seek the Messiah. Prayer is how we seek Jesus!

Here is how we can refocus on the Messiah when we are praying. None of these actions will be the magic trick to get God to do what we want. They only put us in the position for God’s grace and blessing. We could call them postures for seeking the Messiah. Here is the first posture for seeking the Messiah: Walk blamelessly! (v. 6) This is what we read in Luke 1:6, “And they (the priest Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth) were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.” Before we can move, we need to define blameless. It is a word that has tripped me up before and maybe you too? When I first read the word “blameless,” I confused it with sinless and perfect. I know that there is no one who has not sinned or is perfect besides Jesus, so how could one be called blameless. Then I learned that blameless means that the person may still do wrong, but not intentionally. It has the idea of innocence. One Bible Scholar writes, “Blameless” people are those who cannot be accused of wrongdoing before people or God. When applied to Christians, the quality of blamelessness is both a positional benefit of salvation and a moral character to be achieved. Each person is worthy of accusation in the sight of God. The blameless character of Christians, however, is the intention of God, who “chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight” (Ephesians 1:4). Christ’s love and sacrifice for the church were such that He could present her to Himself “without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:27).”[6] On a side note, this is why I am shocked when people are so critical of the church and even more shocked at Christ’s restraint. If someone talked about my wife like people talk about Jesus’ Bride, I would have a hard time not using a lightning bolt on them. But we are to walk blamelessly. Blamelessness is a required trait of Elders (1 Timothy 3:2).

How are we to walk blameless? We seek God and His ways in all our relationships. One of those foundational relationships is marriage. Zechariah was blameless in choosing a wife. He wanted someone godly. Elizabeth was a daughter of Aaron according to Luke 1:5. Bible scholar Mark Strauss explains, “Marrying a priest’s daughter was considered highly pious.”[7] I’ve used this illustration before to explain how we should seek a spouse. We simply seek Christ and then God brings that person in our life. Imagine you are driving on the 401 highway behind the church. Your destination is heaven (and sometimes you come close to going to heaven while driving on the 401.) As you are going fast down the 401 eyes fixed on Jesus and then a godly potential mate pulls up beside you. You should be going at the same pace towards heaven as you are, maybe even a little faster. You shouldn’t have to slow down or take an exit ramp to find your spouse. They surprised you and don’t distract you because they too are following the Lord and focused on Him. 

Zechariah and Elizabeth were focused on the Lord. Even their names conveyed blamelessness. “Zechariah (“Jehovah remembered”) and Elizabeth (‘God is my oath’) were a godly couple who both belonged to the priestly line.”[8] To walk blameless is to pursue both righteous relationships and righteous rules found in God’s Word. This is why verse 6 helps ground the blamelessness in obeying “the commands and statutes of the Lord.” 

…But walk blamelessly does not mean walking without pain! (v. 7) Look at verse 7, “But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.” In that culture, “Child bearing was viewed as the highest calling for a woman and infertility brought social stigma and shame.”[9] Please let me speak to those who are struggling to have children. We love you and acknowledge that this pain is almost unbearable. May the church family always be a place where you are loved and not judged or treated like second class. This story provides hope that God could do a miracle in giving you a child as He opens and closes the womb no matter how long your struggle, but more importantly, (listen carefully), this story provides hope that in seeking the Lord for a child, you have the opportunity to find the Messiah in a special way. The miracle was only the medium to the Messiah. Our hope and satisfaction cannot be in our kids alone. It has to be in our Christ! The pain is a pathway to discovering Jesus. Not the pathway (that is Buddhist thinking), but pain is a pathway to discovering Jesus. So walk blamelessly! Take that pain to Jesus. I think Zechariah and Elizabeth did. It is a safe bet not because we find this in the text, but because every godly couple wanting a child seeks the Lord in prayer.  “Zechariah and Elizabeth would have been no different and made their lack of children a matter of constant prayer.”[10] Recall, Zechariah kept praying because as his name means Jehovah remembers and Elizabeth kept praying because God was her oath – her commitment. The first posture for seeking the Messiah is to walk blameless. Don’t bail or wane in your belief because God hasn’t answered YET!

The second posture for seeking the Messiah is: 2) Serve sacrificially (v. 8-9). Serve whom sacrificially? The community! This community is first the family of God (Galatians 6:10), but extends to the community you live, work and play in. And when I mean sacrificially, I am not talking just about giving your treasure, thoughts, time and talents. I mean sacrificially with a focus on the Messiah’s sacrifice – trying to turn the conversations to our atonement by God. This is what Zechariah was doing in verse 8-9, “Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.” Zechariah had essentially won the lottery in the draft of priests. This is because there were “Twenty-four orders of priests (1 Chronicles 24:1-19). With such a large number of priests, this privilege might come only once in a priest’s lifetime.”[11] And winning that lottery meant going on behalf of the people and offering a petition to God for the people’s sins. Don’t confuse this with the full-fledged Day of Atonement that only the High Priest performed, but it was significant. Listen to this description by one scholar: “There were, each day, about 50 priests on duty in the Temple. In the early morning, they divided into two groups to make a pre-daylight torchlight inspection of the Temple courtyards. The two groups then met and marched in two columns to the Hall of Hewn Polished Stones where the day’s duties were assigned by lot. The lot was used four times during the day: twice before the gate was opened, and twice after. Choosing by lot prevented personal ego or favoritism from having a part in the selections. The coals of the previous day’s fire still glowed on the altar of burnt offering. A priest, chosen by lot, stirred the fire into fresh flame. Then another lot was taken to designate:

  • Those who were to take part in the sacrifice itself
  • Those in the Holy Place who were to trim the wicks of the golden candlestick (Menorah) and to add oil, and
  • Those who were to prepare the altar of incense

By now, morning had broken and, before the worshippers were admitted, the sacrificial lamb was brought out and inspected for its fitness for sacrifice. It was given water from a golden bowl, and then it was laid on the north side of the altar with its face to the west, as tradition described the binding of Isaac. Then the gates were opened to the people. All of the priests and the people were present as the officiating priest, standing on the east side of the altar, sprinkled the lamb’s blood from a golden bowl on two sides of the altar, below the red line which marked the difference between ordinary sacrifices and those which were to be wholly consumed by fire. In the meanwhile, other chosen priests made everything ready in the Holy Place, where the most solemn of the day’s ceremonies was to take place – that of offering the incense, which symbolized Israel’s prayers being accepted by God. Again, a lot was taken to decide who was to be honored with this highest act of mediation between God and man. A priest could perform this task only once in his lifetime; and after that he was to be called “rich”, leaving to his fellow priests the hope that they would sometime be called upon to do the “incensing”. It was fitting that taking such a lot would be preceded by prayer and confession of their faith on the part of the priests. One of this group of priests was Zechariah, who was more than 60 years old. He had never been chosen to perform the incense ritual before, yet he was well-known in the Temple. Zechariah’s first task was to choose two friends or relatives to help him in the sacred service. Their duties were completely spelled out. The first helper removed what had been left on the altar of incense from the previous evening’s service; then, in prayer, he walked backward away from the altar. (One never was to turn their back on God.) The second helper now came forward and spread live coals taken from that morning’s burnt offering; then he, too, worshipped and retired. As the people and other priests waited outside, Zacharias now stood alone in the Holy Place, lit only by the seven-branched candlestick. In front of him at some distance, toward the heavy Veil that hung before the Holy of Holies, was the golden altar of incense, on which red coals glowed, as near as possible to the Holy of Holies. To his right was the Table of Showbread; to his left was the golden candlestick. Zechariah kept waiting until a special signal indicated that the moment had come. He walked forward and spread the incense on the altar. The priests and the people had reverently moved back from the altar in the courtyard, and prostrated before the Lord, offering unspoken prayer and thanksgiving for God’s mercies, provision, and deliverance, along with petitions for blessing and peace. A cloud of smoke from the incense was beginning to form and move upward in the Holy Place. Zechariah waited until he was sure that the incense was burning well. He would have bowed down in prayer and then reverently left the Holy Place.”[12] The takeaway is this: Take great care in serving God and His people! Serve sacrificially! It is a privilege.

… But to serve sacrificially doesn’t mean you won’t be surprised by God (v. 11-13). Zechariah as we just learned was blessing the nation, but it was God who wanted to bless Zechariah and ultimately the world including us sitting here today. If Zechariah was wearing socks, it would have blown them off. Zechariah was serving sacrificially on one of the biggest days of his life and God had so much more planned for him. I am wondering if some of you think God is a skinflint – that He doesn’t want to give you an amazing gift to serve God’s people – not your own self-fulfillment. Look at verses 11-13, “And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.” “John means ‘Jehovah is gracious.’”[13]“Zechariah and Elizabeth weren’t expecting any of this. They were simply devout people going about their regular business serving the Lord.”[14] They walked blamelessly and served sacrificially all the while praying. God noticed! God heard! What if when praying for the immediate, God gives the immense? The immediate meaning temporary atonement and forgiveness of sins when God was giving the immense – the forerunner of the Messiah who would provide forgiveness of sins eternally. 

“The specific content of Zechariah’s prayer is not given, it most likely would have included at least two petitions: Zechariah would have been interceding on behalf of Israel as a nation and apparently also raised a second petition for a child. Zechariah must have prayed for a child hundreds of times over many years and now at last the answer has come.”[15] It was the grace and generosity of God. “Little did Zechariah and Elizabeth know that when God answered their prayers, He would give them, not a priest, but a prophet.”[16]Sometimes serving sacrificially for the community results in God answering us personally that will bless the world eternally. It is not about us!

The third posture for seeking the Messiah is: 3) Believe immediately (v. 18-25)! This is where Zechariah failed and Elizabeth passed the test, which is a reminder that even godly couples are not always at the same pace in their faith. To use the 401 highway analogy again, one spouse may hit the gas when God says, “Go!” and the other spouse, “Might say, ‘What did you say, Lord?’” This is an example of not keeping your eyes on Jesus. Zechariah turned his gaze to his age and his wife’s age (which always gets you in trouble). Look at verse 18, “And Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How shall I know this?’” Time out! What did the angel just say? Go back to verses 16-17, “He will turn many of children of Israel to the Lord their God and he will go back before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” Shouldn’t the news of this miraculous birth have turned the heart of Zechariah, the father-to-be, to his child rather than to being disobedient? Is that too harsh? I don’t think so. I was taught – delayed obedience is disobedience. Gabriel’s response in verses 19-20 proves this true, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God and I was sent to speak to you and bring this good news. And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” After 400 years of silence from God, now Zechariah will be silent himself for 9 months during his wife’s pregnancy. Friends, there are some of us who despite a vision from God and a miracle do not believe immediately. We need more proof! It is time to repent of this unbelief, even if you have walked blamelessly and served sacrificially in the past. “Unbelief is something God does not accept.”[17] It is the unpardonable sin.

Contrast this with Elizabeth. Look at verses 24-25, “After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, ‘Thus the Lord had done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.” This was Elizabeth going on a long “spiritual retreat to know God better after His answered prayer.”[18] Zechariah and Elizabeth were old when they had John and this means they avoided the suffering of watching their son be jailed and beheaded for providing wisdom for the disobedient. And maybe Elizabeth needed that time alone with God. Maybe you do too? To prepare your heart. You see, “Not only was she to have a son, but the birth of her son was evidence that the Messiah was coming.”[19]

Prayer is placed throughout the lead up to Christ and should for us too! The unrecorded prayers during the silent times. The prayers of the people for forgiveness of sins. The prayers of Zechariah and Elizabeth before, during and after the angel’s announcements. They all led to the Messiah who would take not just Elizabeth’s reproach, but all our reproach on the Cross when He died for our sins. God’s delays are often for His displays of power and salvation. God never is doing nothing. He is always up to something good. Let’s pray! Let’s walk blamelessly, serve sacrificially and believe immediately!            As we conclude, some of you have given up on praying to God because of God’s delays. Maybe after hearing this message you will start back up again? Maybe some of you are the ones delaying. Remember delayed obedience is disobedience and you need to start believing immediately by receiving Christ or getting baptized or getting married or whatever the Holy Spirit is prompting you to do. Others of you need to serve more sacrificially. Still others of you need to spend some quiet time alone with God. This Christmas seek the Messiah in prayer!

[1] Wright, 6.

[2] Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition – Volume 1 (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1989), 170.

[3] Edward J. Young, The Prophecy of Daniel (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1980), 178.

[4] Iain Duguid, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008), 1605.

[5] Timothy Paul Jones, The Rose Guide to End Times Prophecy (Carol Stream: Rose Publishing, 2011), 160.

[6] Source: https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/blameless/#:~:text=%22Blameless%22%20people%20are%20those%20who,Then%20will%20I%20be%20blameless%22%20(. Accessed November 30, 2023.

[7] Mark L. Strauss, The NLT Study Bible (Carol Stream: Tyndale House Publishers, 2017), 1699.

[8] Wiersbe, 170.

[9] Strauss, 1699.

[10] Wiersbe, 170.

[11] Strauss, 1699.

[12] Source: https://www2.gracenotes.info/topics/zacharias.html. Accessed November 30, 2023

[13] Wiersbe, 171.

[14] Tom Wright, Luke for Everyone (London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004), 7.

[15] Wayne Grudem and Thomas Schreiner, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton: Crossway, 2008), 1943.

[16] Wiersbe, 171.

[17] Wiersbe, 171.

[18] Strauss, 1699.

[19] Wiersbe, 171.