Word of Salvation – December 2017
Christmas Carols: Zechariah style
By Rev. John Westendorp
Text: Luke 1:76-79
Theme: Zechariah’s song of God’s saving work thru John the Baptist who prepares the way for Messiah..
Introd: Christmas carols don’t usually have any surprises in them. We Christians know them too well.
But a Christmas carol, “Zechariah style” – as we have it here in Like 1 – has several surprises.
Think about what happened earlier in this chapter.
The story is about an old man and his elderly wife.
They’ve waited all their lives, unsuccessfully, to have children but it never happened.
They have lived with the pain of infertility. No IVF programs back in those days.
And for a Jewish couple childlessness had a special stigma attached to it.
They had come to the point where they were resigned to the fact that it would never happen.
Zechariah expresses his unbelief and he is punished for it with nine months of silence.
But then in their old age Elizabeth does become pregnant.
There were probably some mixed feelings about that.
Old age isn’t the best time to rear children. Coping with a teenager as a 70 year old parent…?
Yet you can also imagine their joy… despite the difficulties and challenges.
Think of the excitement after all those years.
The pleasure of holding your own child in your arms.
You can understand why Zechariah bursts out into song.
Yet that is just where this Christmas carol has its first surprise for us.
Here is a Biblical advent song – but the author does something unnatural.
Rather than focusing on the child he and Elizabeth received
he focuses instead on God’s saving work through the coming Messiah.
What a surprise. Here in their old age… this unexpected child.
Who would have dared to hope for this?
No doubt both Zechariah and Elizabeth are ‘thrilled to bits’.
And yet… out of 12 verses in this song only 2 touch on the subject of this child.
It’s totally different to what new parents often do on Facebook – hundreds of pictures of Junior.
It’s all about “the kid”.
With Zechariah it’s not about “the kid”. He’s just touched on that briefly… in 2 verses out of 12.
And when the child is mentioned there is a second surprise: how he is mentioned.
Zechariah doesn’t even sing: “And you, my child…!” (as per our N.I.V. Bibles).
He actually sings this song in a very impersonal way: “And you child…!”
Zechariah is showing us that it’s not this child’s relationship to him that is important.
Rather it’s the child’s relationship to the coming Christ that is central.
He sings of this, his long-awaited child, ever so briefly.
And then almost as if divorced from any personal relationship to himself.
And he focuses instead on the miracle of God’s saving love… it’s all about God’s salvation.
Here is a Christmas carol / an advent song that points us beyond our own self interests.
Beyond what we feel… and what gives us pleasure… and what we enjoy.
And it puts all the emphasis on God’s great deeds… and God’s great love for us.
And that’s where we get yet a third surprise. It’s the way Zechariah talks about God’s salvation.
He talks about it as a “done deal…” – all the verbs are past tenses:
He has come and has redeemed His people.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David.
He sees the work of God saving His people as finished… and it hasn’t even started yet.
Why? Well because he wants us to have absolute confidence in the love of our God.
A] JOHN THE BAPTIST – MESSIAH’S HERALD.
- In vs.76 Zechariah sings of his son, John, as a prophet.
“And you child will be called a prophet of the Most High.”
When you read those words you shouldn’t take them too calmly.
It’s not as if Zechariah is singing something that is patently obvious to everyone.
No! Again there is something rather radical and surprising about those words.
We understand that a little better when we think of Malachi 4.
“See I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great & terrible day of the Lord comes.”
Four hundred years earlier God had promises a great prophet would come.
Four centuries ago it had been predicted.
But the years… and the decades… and the centuries had rolled by.
And the heavens had remained silent… no further messages from God.
No new prophet had arisen in Israel since Malachi.
Four hundred years of silence… in which God had said nothing new to His people.
So when Zechariah now sings of his son as a prophet of the most high
then he means no ordinary prophet but the Elijah who was to come.
A prophet in the tradition of Israel’s greatest prophet ever.
Because God is about to do something dramatic in the history of this world.
Something so great and so awesome
that it totally overshadows Zechariah’s joy at the birth of his child.
Notice too that as prophet this child is given a very specific task.
His will be a very special assignment: To prepare the way for the Lord… to go ahead of him.
There is a certain imagery here that is easily lost on us today.
Ancient kings would do the rounds and visit their people from time to time.
An occasional royal tour of various major cities. (Queen Elizabeth has done the same).
But when that happened a herald would go ahead of him.
A forerunner to make sure the king would be suitably welcomed.
This person would warn everyone: Get ready, the king is coming.
Today we still make a big fuss about royal visits (republicanism not withstanding).
If you are my vintage you’ll remember the Queen’s visit in 1954 – the busyness and preparation.
I recall a foreign dignitary once visiting the factory where I worked in my late teens.
For weeks beforehand the painters were busy sprucing things up.
Junk that had accumulated for years suddenly had to be cleaned up.
Everyone went out of their way to make a good impression.
Today with visits of royalty/heads-of-state similar things still happen.
Only we don’t have forerunners – or heralds – calling people to get ready.
Instead the media gives the event the big build-up.
In a sense that’s how God is going to use this child of Zechariah and Elizabeth.
Someone to prepare for the arrival of royalty.
To get people ready for the visit of a Head-of-state.
He has the great task to focus people’s attention on the coming of the King of kings.
- We’re talking of course about the work of John the Baptiser.
(I prefer to call him John the Baptiser rather than John the Baptist – because he wasn’t a Baptist).
But in this song Zechariah mentions just how John the Baptiser will do that work of preparation.
I can imagine that in ancient times such a herald would have very strict orders.
Certain royal protocol would have to be strictly adhered to.
Suitable accommodation for the king. No two-bit motel on the slum end of town.
Details plans on how and where the king would travel.
Minute instructions about his provisions for food and safety.
No sloppiness or carelessness would be tolerated.
So in a similar way Zechariah states just how John will prepare the way.
But his preparations have nothing to do
– with a fresh coat of paint on the town hall…
– or with cleaning up the parks and gardens and the litter by the roadsides…
all so that the royal visitor will be suitably impressed.
John’s work of preparation has nothing to do with those kinds of external things.
At least – not just on outward appearances.
John’s preparations have to do with inner attitudes.
And with behaviour that arises from those attitudes.
Because when this King comes to call, the heart and mind have to be ready for Him.
Preparation for this royal visitor consists of this:
To make sure people have a knowledge of salvation… of them being rescued from hell.
They need to know that this salvation comes through forgiveness of their sins.
John the Baptiser is the prophet who will call men and women and young people to repentance.
– To stop their lying and cheating.
– To end their deceitful business practices and their fornicating.
– To encourage people to seek God’s forgiveness for their deceitfulness.
Because men and women and young people
are not ready to meet Jesus… if they are unrepentant.
It was absolutely essential for Israel to have such a prophet like John to prepare them like this.
Because the people in those days had very earthly expectations of the coming Messiah.
They wanted an earthly king to deliver them from the Romans.
They were looking for a hero figure to restore Israel’s former glory.
Someone to make things the way they once were when King David had ruled.
And then John – when he begins his work – comes among them and he says:
Listen people… your biggest problem isn’t the Romans…
Your worst headache is not our national insignificance…
Your worst problem is that you always go your own way… do your own thing…
Your biggest problem is your sinfulness.
And if you don’t repent of that and find forgiveness…
Then you are not ready for the Day of the Lord.
Then you will be caught out… unprepared.
John’s task was to prepare people for Jesus… morally, spiritually.
- Maybe you’re inclined to ask this morning: What’s all this got to do with me?
Zechariah sang in preparation for the first Christmas.
In these weeks we’re looking back and celebrating that it did happen.
Silent night, holy night… in the little town of Bethlehem.
Okay… but let’s not forget that for us it is the season of advent.
And ‘advent’ means ‘coming’.
And we’re thinking today not only of Jesus’ first coming.
We are also living in expectation of His second coming on the clouds of heaven.
We too are people who are facing the coming of the great day of the Lord.
Today the prophetic message of John the Baptiser is still going out.
So you are again being asked this morning whether you are ready for His coming.
Ready…not just by tidying things up a bit here and there.
But ready… morally and spiritually to meet the King of kings.
Today that message is basically the same message John preached.
What is it that needs to change in your life?
Your biggest problem isn’t the financial problem of keeping up the house payments.
Your worst headache is not your health problems… or unemployment…
Our worst problem is our rebelliousness against our God…
Our biggest hassle is our sinfulness… our stubborn pride… our anger… our lust… our lies.
And the way we are to deal with that is by confession and repentance.
In the certainty that as we repent God forgives.
Because as Zechariah sang in His song: “Because of the tender mercy of our God.”
Today you are again hearing the message: Prepare for the King’s coming.
B] EVIDENCE OF GOD’S GREAT MERCY.
- Having spoken of this task of his son John, Zechariah returns to his favourite theme.
The theme that dominates this advent hymn: God’s great love for us.
He began with that in the opening lines of his song:
“God has raised up a horn of salvation for us.”
And then Zechariah puts John’s work and calling against that background.
Vs.78 “Because of the tender mercy of our God…”
John’s prophetic calling is evidence of the love of God for His people.
Think about it, and that makes a lot of sense.
When the King of kings came here on earth He did come quietly… unobtrusively.
But He did not come unannounced. Zechariah’s son was sent to prepare people.
When Christ Jesus returns on the clouds it will be sudden and unexpectedly..
But it will not be without warning because the call to repent and believe is still going out.
The point is that the Lord doesn’t sneak into our world.
To kind of surprise us and to catch us in our sin and wrongdoing.
No! He comes while the prophetic message goes before Him to warn us.
He comes into a world that already hears the message of salvation.
That prophetic message is always calling people to readiness.
Here is the evidence of God’s immense love for a rebellious world.
God’s great compassion for a lost world.
He doesn’t just appear on earth to condemn us to hell forever.
But He comes to visit us in blessing… provided…
…provided His people are ready.
And He wants to make sure of that with prophetic messages.
Zechariah’s son became the herald of the gospel… proclaiming forgiveness.
Through John the Baptiser God prepared for Himself a repentant people.
Wonderful evidence of the tender mercy of our God.
- All this becomes more evident in the closing words of Zechariah’s song.
There he pictures a great contrast.
OTOH there is our natural condition.
He paints a picture of what the world is like apart from the coming of Jesus.
“People living in darkness and in the shadow of death.”
The imagery here is of people who are on a journey… they’re travelling a long distance.
But the evening overtakes them out in the middle of nowhere.
And all the dangers of the ancient world threaten them.
Wild animals prowl around… bushrangers… and it’s bitterly cold.
People sitting there in darkness and the shadow of death.
Who knows whether they will even see the morning light.
Zechariah is saying: that’s what life is like apart from Bethlehem and apart from Calvary.
This is your natural condition…. apart from Jesus.
You are without light… and you are facing the sentence of death.
But then Zechariah puts that into sharp contrast with what God has done.
God has come – not to condemn and judge.
Instead He has come in Jesus to make the Sonrise shine upon us from heaven.
The light of Jesus shines into our darkness.
He removes the threat of death and gives us peace.
In Jesus God provides for those travellers in the night.
By His light He directs them back on the right pathway.
And that pathway is the path of His peace.
- So here’s this song in Luke chapter 1. A Christmas carol – Zechariah style.
It’s a song that was written almost 2000 years ago in preparation for the coming of Jesus.
And yet… surprisingly up to date for us who wait for the second coming of Jesus.
Zechariah wasn’t just describing the dark times under Roman rule.
Taking an honest look at our world and the darkness and the shadow of death is still very real.
Terrorism makes the headlines with monotonous regularity.
Some of the world trouble-spots seem to get worse instead of better.
We swap politicians and Prime Ministers around but they don’t have the answers either.
AIDS continues to baffle the scientists… on the news: maybe a cure by 2030… maybe.
Families and our social fabric is disintegrating as never before…!
We too are people living in darkness and in the shadow of death.
And it’s into that sort of environment the gospel message goes out again on this Sunday.
It’s the same message of salvation… the same message of forgiveness Zechariah sang about.
And that message is evidence of the mercy of God to us today as we wait for Jesus to return.
But today it’s not Zechariah… or John the Baptiser who is bringing that message.
God… in His grace and goodness… is calling us Christians to let the light shine in the darkness.
To tell others this Christmas season that our God is a saving God.
And that the rising Sonshine of Jesus will come to us from heaven.
Jesus is going to come and He is going to make all things new.
But people need to be ready for that great day.
In these days around Christmas we’ll be singing many Christmas carols.
All sorts of songs… even some that have nothing to do with Jesus whose birthday we remember.
But there will also be songs that tell the story; the story of forgiveness; the story of light in the darkness.
The story of a coming Saviour who leads our path into the way of peace.
Pray that this Christmas season many may be touched by that message.
So that they may be prepared for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
A royal Visitor is on His way… but we need to be ready to meet Him. Amen.