Good morning. Yesterday, we learned about the birth of John, and how it was that Zechariah was given his voice and his hearing back at John’s circumcision and naming ceremony. The people around him knew that John must be a special child because of what they had seen God do that day. Upon God restoring his voice, he also filled him with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was already upon Elizabeth and his son John, since before John’s birth. We think of the Holy Spirit only being active after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, but here we have it. He’s always been around and active, and always will be. The verses immediately following that tell us what Zechariah’s focus now was. He immediately had this to say:
67 Then his father, Zechariah, was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy: (When we encounter God in a personal way, we will open up our mouths and speak. Our hearts will be full and will overflow and we can’t help but talk about it.
)
68 “Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has visited and redeemed his people.
69 He has sent us a mighty Savior
from the royal line of his servant David,
70 just as he promised
through his holy prophets long ago.
71 Now we will be saved from our enemies
and from all who hate us.
72 He has been merciful to our ancestors
by remembering his sacred covenant—
73 the covenant he swore with an oath
to our ancestor Abraham.
74 We have been rescued from our enemies
so we can serve God without fear,
75 in holiness and righteousness
for as long as we live.
It sounds like to me the time of quiet had done Zechariah a lot of good. He wasn’t calling his son, John, the savior, but rather was acknowledging that God had indeed done what he told him he would, and that it was all a part of the plan for the Savior’s imminent coming, within six months actually! The same Zechariah that Gabriel had prophesied to and responded with doubt, now prophesies himself over the people around him that day! This day, as Zechariah stared into the face of his one-week old little baby boy, he stared into the physical manifestation of God’s promise to him. It had now come to be. Faith had become sight. The years of waiting for a child had passed, nine months of waiting for the pregnancy had passed, a week of waiting after his birth had passed, and now on this special day, Zechariah saw the fullness of what the Lord was doing. It was almost as if his eyes were fully opened along with his mouth and ears. I’m sure that Zechariah had listened quietly around Mary and Elizabeth as the spent time together talking of what their God had done in their lives and the miracles and the angels, and things that were nothing short of divine. And when we are left in silence as he was, there is a lot of thinking and pondering time.
Join Zechariah at this overwhelmingly precious and tender time as he holds his son and begins to speak this prophecy over his son.
76 “And you, my little son,
will be called the prophet of the Most High,
because you will prepare the way for the Lord.
77 You will tell his people how to find salvation
through forgiveness of their sins.
78 Because of God’s tender mercy,
the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
and to guide us to the path of peace.”
I think Zechariah’s time of reflection prepared him to be the father John was going to need to be this man God called him to be. John became a strong man, full of purpose, not wavering, very focused, and very different from his peers. That happens when God has a calling on someone’s life, and also when those around him, nurture him in that calling.
80 John grew up and became strong in spirit. And he lived in the wilderness until he began his public ministry to Israel.
If you are a Christian and a parent, what do you see as God’s vision for your child? Do you truly see his truly everlasting eternal vision and purpose for your child and those whose lives he will touch to be soccer on Monday, dance on Tuesday, music lessons on Wednesday, karate on Thursday, football on Friday, tournaments on Sunday, and every other imaginable kind of busyness during any available free times? Do you see it as making sure they get as much as everybody else under the tree this year? Do you see it as making sure they “succeed, achieve, compete, win, get a great job, go to the right school”? Do you see it as making life as busy and performance oriented as possible, and to look out for themselves above everything else? Some of you might. It is, after all, a rampant epidemic in our self-focused, achievement-oriented culture, enslaving our children with a spirit of busyness and self-satisfaction. Or do you let them see you pray on your knees, let them catch you reading your Bible, choosing church over those endless Sunday travel teams, watch you give away what you have instead of hoard it, watch you spend time building relationships, watch you parents loving each other, who sit and play games with them and do puzzles and spend time with them, not a computer screen, not a TV screen, not in shuttling them to the next activity while driving through McDonald’s.
God as our Father is totally about relationship with us. “Be still and know that I am God” is only one of countless verses in the Bible where God stresses quietness and alone time with him, relationship, friendship with him. Are you passing that virtue on to your children? What is it you are speaking over them with every action you take or every word you say to them? As as always, I ask myself the same questions, because once your children are grown as mine are you have a lot of regrets and see what you wish you’d done differently.
How can we pass onto our children wisdom unless we have attained it, lessons learned from life experiences unless we have chosen to learn them, the importance of a close walk with God unless we ourselves have a close walk with God, the vision for their future if we do not have one for them or ourselves, faith to be our provider when our true faith is in our job and our Visa card, hope for eternity if we do not even have hope for making ends meet, true joy in living unless we have found the author of true joy? The answer is we can pass no abundant life, nothing of value onto our children if that virtue doesn’t already reside in us. You cannot give what you do not possess. God allowed Zechariah to grow in virtue so he could raise a virtuous young man. And when he again had his voice, he from that point began a life of speaking over John God’s purpose for his life. His manner of speech changed from doubt to faith and prophecy. And John then as an adult pointed people to Christ everywhere he went. Just like God wants us to. Just like he wants our children to.
The absolute three best gifts you can give your son or daughter this Christmas are first of all, Jesus himself, secondly you can give them you, thirdly you can give them your time.
Take one step today to center your life and the life of your family in the middle of purpose – God’s purpose.
Teresa
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