A sermon preached on Sunday, January 10, 2010 at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs, Louisiana by Pastor Joe Alain.
Scripture Reading: Mark 1:1-13
Today, we’re going to begin looking at the Gospel of Mark. In your bulletin there is a brief overview of Mark’s Gospel (see related article online). The opening verse sets forth the theme of the book. For Mark, the “gospel” (Literally, “Good News”) is all about a person, described in verse one with the three-fold title, “Jesus” (“the Lord Saves”), “Christ” (“Anointed One” by God) and “the Son of God” (i.e., Jesus is divine). Mark is the Gospel of action and he presents the historical facts about Jesus in a brief way. He give us the facts so that we will commit ourselves to following Jesus without reservation. Mark’s Gospel also has a discipleship focus, to follow Him.
What evidence is there that Jesus is the Son of God and that this truth is able to change my life?
I. Evidence that Jesus Is the Son of God
In the opening verses, Mark presents various testimony to show that Jesus is the “Son of God.” There is the testimony of . . .
1. John the Baptist (v.8)
John was called by God to prepare people for the coming Messiah. He preached that “people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to Gd to be forgiven” (v.4, NLT). But John was a man who knew what his mission was and what it was not. John always deflected praise and attention away from himself to the only one who could save, God’s Messiah who he would clearly identify as Jesus (see v.8).
2. The Old Testament
Because John is writing to a non-Jewish audience, He does not go to great lengths to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament; however, he does give us some evidence that what is taking place is in line with what was expected long ago in the OT.
About John (See Is. 40:3; Mal. 3:1). The OT predicts John’s ministry prior to the coming of the Messiah.
About the Holy Spirit (See Is. 59:20-21; Ezek. 36:26-27; Joel 2:28-32). What does the entrance of the Holy Spirit mean? Why is this significant?
– The Holy Spirit here means that God is with us in a more intimate way than He was before. God is personal.
– The coming of the Holy Spirit means that the kingdom is now here, the kingdom looked for in the Old Testament.
– The coming of the Holy Spirit means that there is a new power for living that is available to us. The Holy Spirit will enable us to be changed on the inside so that we are able to follow God.
The Holy Spirit’s coming is now a reality with the coming of Jesus. This is why John would say what he does in verse 8.
Further evidence is found from . . .
3. God the Father Himself (1:11; 9:7)
The heaven “torn open” points to the reality that a new revelation is being given by God in Jesus. Furthermore, access to God is now open through Jesus.
Here the Father puts His stamp of approval on Jesus. The language here is reminiscent of Psalm 2, a coronation psalm. The baptism of Jesus is the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, it is His coronation. The Father is saying, “He’s the One!” The baptism of Jesus signifies the beginning of His public ministry, it shows that He is identifying with those He came to save, and it serves as a model for us His disciples to follow. In baptism we are openly declaring that Jesus is the “Son of God.” We are pledging our allegiance to Him.
4. Demons and Angels (See 1:12-13; 3:11; 5:7)
Satan and the demons certainly believed that Jesus was the Messiah and they came against Him because they knew who He was. The Jews came to believe that the desert was the haunt of demons. We have here pictured an epic battle going on in the desert between the forces of good and the forces of evil. The Bible says that the angels were there and they ministered to Him.
5. Believers (1:1; 15:39)
By addressing Jesus as the “Son of God,” Mark is making a statement that only came to be fully understood later on – that Jesus was fully God. So Mark is making a statement that came to be believed and a confessed by the early church. This was also the confession of the Centurion who was at the crucifixion of Jesus (15:39). He too came to realize that Jesus was the “Son of God.” The changed lives of believers then and now who have confessed Jesus as the “Son of God” stands as powerful evidence that Jesus is the “Son of God.”
II. Evidence that Demands a Verdict
If what Mark says is true in these opening verses and in his Gospel, what should be my response? What is the purpose of me knowing this information? How does this information change me? With this overwhelming testimony that Jesus is the “Son of God,” . . .
1. I Should Turn to God and Receive His Forgiveness and His Spirit
If forgiveness is available, if access to God is now opened through my turning to God, then I should do so immediately and without reservation. His Spirit is able to bring incredible change in my life that only He can do. However, having only information without application will not change my life. You have the information, now will you make the application?
2. I Should Openly Confess Jesus As My Lord
The practice of the early church was that those who followed Jesus openly confessed their allegiance, their participation with Him. Baptism is the way that we openly confess Jesus as our Lord. We should not be ashamed to do that, it’s a simple act of obedience. Baptism shows that we have turned to God, it shows that we are identifying with Jesus, that we belong to Him. We should not fear that, but openly declare that Jesus is my Lord.
3. As a Disciple, I Should Endure Testing with Joy
In this chapter you get the sense that following Jesus involves spending some time in the desert, meaning withdraw but also testing. Mark was in part written to encourage disciples who were beginning to experience persecution. We are able to endure testing times with inner joy knowing that Christ Himself faced times of testing and He walks with us through our testing as well.
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Monday, January 11, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Beginning Again in 2010 -- New Year's Sermon January 3, 2010
A Sermon Preached on January 3, 2009 at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs, Louisiana by Pastor Joe Alain.
“Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.”
2 Timothy 4:11
You have an opportunity to begin again in 2010. Today, you can make choices that will ensure that these are the best days of your life. With a new year comes new possibilities, new adventures, new opportunities to live up to your God-given potential. Sometimes it’s our past that keeps us from moving forward. We spend too much time focusing on our imperfections, our failures, our sins. Because of that, we feel that we don’t measure up, that God cannot use us, that a full and meaningful life is for someone else, not me.
At the outset of a new year, we need to remind ourselves that God is not looking for perfect people. He’s only looking for people who are willing, who are moldable in His hands, He’s looking for the broken and scarred and He wants to do something amazing in your life. As Natalie Grant sings,
“There’s no such thing as perfect people
There’s no such thing as a perfect life
So come as you are, broken and scarred
Life up your heart and be amazed
And be changed by a perfect God.”
If you feel that you’re not good enough or have made too many mistakes in life, you need only to look at the Bible to see the kind of people God used and uses. John Mark, or simply Mark as we know him, was one of those imperfect people who God used in a great way. Mark, the believer who defected had an opportunity to begin again. The one who ran away was restored. You too can begin again in 2010. That new beginning can begin right here, right now.
As we look at Mark’s story, we see how we too can begin again. Mark’s beginning might best be described as one of . . .
I. Faithfulness: A Promising Start
The first mention of Mark in the Bible is in Acts 12:12.
– It was a time of intensifying persecution. Herod had James the brother of John executed (12:2). This was probably around A.D. 44, 14 years after the death of Jesus.
– Peter was imprisoned (12:3).
– The church was praying for Peter’s release (12:5).
– Miraculously, Peter was set free. Afterwards, he went to the home of “Mary the mother of John, also called Mark” (12:12).
– Paul and Barnabas were also in Jerusalem on a relief mission from Antioch. Their mission completed, they returned to Antioch and they took with them “John, also called Mark” (12:25).
– From these early references, we can imply several things about Mark: (1) Mark grew up among the early Christians, he had a godly environment. (2) Early on we see him associated with Peter. This will play out more importantly later one. (3) He’s obviously helpful in ministry. He’s not an apostle, or evangelist, or pastor, he’s simply a faithful believer in Jerusalem. God uses people like Mark, like us, people who desire to be used by the Lord and are moldable in His hands.
– Faithfulness characterized Mark’s early life because when Paul and Barnabas were commissioned by the church in Antioch to go on their first missionary journey, they chose Mark to with them “as their helper” (13:5).
– Why take Mark to Antioch? Why on the 1st missionary journey? We do know that Mark was a cousin of Barnabas (Col. 4:10). So Barnabas knew Mark, he trusted him, he knew something about his gifts and usefulness in ministry. It’s also possible that Mark had a connection with the priesthood. Barnabas was a Levite and it’s possible that Mark was too. He might have even served in the Temple. Regardless, Mark had the heart of a servant, a helper. He was faithful and in that sense, Mark had a promising start.
But something happened to Mark. Because Mark fell away from the faith for a time. He went through a period of decline.
II. Falling Away: A Period of Decline
– That 1st missionary journey was difficult from the very beginning as they faced opposition from “Elymas the sorcerer” (13:8) and other difficulties as well.
– 13:13 tells us that “From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.” 15:38 is more specific when it says that Mark had “deserted them.”
– This is a sad moment. Mark deserted the missionary party and returned to Jerusalem. But why did Mark fall away and literally disappear from the NT for a few years? Was the work too hard? Was it too costly? Too much sacrifice required? Did the cross become too heavy to bear? Did he become disillusioned? Did he feel as if he wasn’t making a difference? Did he get discouraged? Burnt out? Was the persecution too much? Was the appeal of the world too much? Did Mark lose his faith along the way? Was he homesick? Did the separation from his family get to him? We don’t really know why Mark left but we know that he did and did so for apparently some years.
Fortunately, Mark’s story does not end at Acts 13:13. Mark, the man who had such a promising start and who had such a public falling away, finished well!
III. Finishing Well: A Profitable Restoration
– The next time we see Mark is in Acts 15. Paul and Barnabas are discussing a 2nd journey to strengthen the disciples in the areas that they had previously gone to (15:36).
– 15:37 tells us that “Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark with them.”
– But Paul has not forgotten Mark’s defection, his cowardice, his weakness (15:38).
– There was such a sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas that they parted company. On the 2nd journey, Paul took Silas while Barnabas chose Mark (15:39-40). This obviously says a lot about Barnabas who was willing to give Mark another chance. You may be exactly where God wants you to be, but you might know a Mark or two. I believe there are many Mark’s in the body of Christ, people who once walked fervently with God but who have now defected. Maybe this year you could be a Barnabas to a Mark, you could come alongside someone who has fallen away and restore them to usefulness in the kingdom.
– We don’t hear anything about Mark until 10 years later where he shows up in Colossians 4:10 and in Philemon 23. Paul is in Rome as a prisoner. This is Paul’s first imprisonment. It is there that he writes three letters: Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon.
– 10 years later Paul is a prisoner in Rome and who is his companion? The deserter Mark! Something dramatic has happened. He’s back in the good graces of Paul.
– How long did this restored relationship last? Paul wrote 2 Timothy from his second imprisonment. It is his last letter written around A.D. 66-67. It has been 22-23 years since the incident when Peter was released from prison. Paul knows that his death (his departure) is soon. It’s the end for Paul. Who does Paul desire to see? Paul tells Timothy to “Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry” (2 Tim. 4:11). From the time of his 1st imprisonment, he had Mark at his side. A few years later in his 2nd imprisonment facing death, he wants Mark by his side. What a testimony of a man who has been restored, who is finishing well.
– We should not be surprised at this. The Lord uses imperfect broken people all the time. God uses recovering sinners, deserters, recovered defectors.
– Mark finished well. Not only did Mark have this special relationship with the apostle Paul, but he also was very close to the apostle Peter. Peter calls Mark “my son” (1 Pet. 5:13). And most scholars believe that the Gospel of Mark accurately records the apostle Peter’s words. It is the memoirs of Peter.
Mark finished well because he began again. He did not let his failure be final. He did not let his past define his future. What about you? How will you finish? Perhaps you had a good start, a good home, a good environment. But somewhere along the way you defected, you dropped out. Maybe you didn’t cease doing the things you’ve always done, but you’re heart is not in it. You’re just going through the motions, you’ve lost your passion. You can begin again! It’s a choice that you have to make to get back in the race, to get back on the path. Where do I start? How do I begin?
1. Come to terms with your desertion.
Maybe you’re angry with God. Or someone has hurt you. Maybe it’s fear that has sidelined you. Maybe the appeal of the world has ensnared you. Maybe it’s a sinful action or attitude that is continually bringing you down. Whatever it is, it’s keeping you from finishing well. You need to see it as the barrier that is keeping you from experiencing God’s best. You don’t have to wander for years in the desert. You don’t have to waste your life. You were meant for better things. Somewhere along Mark’s journey, he came to terms with his defection. He didn’t want to stay a deserter forever. We too must come to terms with our desertion and desire God’s better life.
2. Start rebuilding your relationship with God.
Desertion is a heart issue, a relationship issue. Ask God to forgive you, He will! Forgive yourself and stop believing the lie that you cannot change, you cannot start over. Don’t listen to the unspiritual people in your life who only bring you down, who have no hope, who only bring condemnation. Begin daily walking with the Lord. Talk to Him, read His love letter to you, follow what He tells you to do. Worship Him regularly for worship feeds our soul. Connect with other believers in a small group where you can grow deeper in your walk with God. Develop your relationship with God. It’s that simple.
To begin again implies that there has first been a beginning. For some today, you need to have a beginning. Maybe I’ve described you today. Empty, lost, in search of something but you’re not sure what. If you’re willing, you can begin a personal relationship with the Lord your creator today. Will you give Jesus your sins, your life, and trust Him to save you today?
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
“Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.”
2 Timothy 4:11
You have an opportunity to begin again in 2010. Today, you can make choices that will ensure that these are the best days of your life. With a new year comes new possibilities, new adventures, new opportunities to live up to your God-given potential. Sometimes it’s our past that keeps us from moving forward. We spend too much time focusing on our imperfections, our failures, our sins. Because of that, we feel that we don’t measure up, that God cannot use us, that a full and meaningful life is for someone else, not me.
At the outset of a new year, we need to remind ourselves that God is not looking for perfect people. He’s only looking for people who are willing, who are moldable in His hands, He’s looking for the broken and scarred and He wants to do something amazing in your life. As Natalie Grant sings,
“There’s no such thing as perfect people
There’s no such thing as a perfect life
So come as you are, broken and scarred
Life up your heart and be amazed
And be changed by a perfect God.”
If you feel that you’re not good enough or have made too many mistakes in life, you need only to look at the Bible to see the kind of people God used and uses. John Mark, or simply Mark as we know him, was one of those imperfect people who God used in a great way. Mark, the believer who defected had an opportunity to begin again. The one who ran away was restored. You too can begin again in 2010. That new beginning can begin right here, right now.
As we look at Mark’s story, we see how we too can begin again. Mark’s beginning might best be described as one of . . .
I. Faithfulness: A Promising Start
The first mention of Mark in the Bible is in Acts 12:12.
– It was a time of intensifying persecution. Herod had James the brother of John executed (12:2). This was probably around A.D. 44, 14 years after the death of Jesus.
– Peter was imprisoned (12:3).
– The church was praying for Peter’s release (12:5).
– Miraculously, Peter was set free. Afterwards, he went to the home of “Mary the mother of John, also called Mark” (12:12).
– Paul and Barnabas were also in Jerusalem on a relief mission from Antioch. Their mission completed, they returned to Antioch and they took with them “John, also called Mark” (12:25).
– From these early references, we can imply several things about Mark: (1) Mark grew up among the early Christians, he had a godly environment. (2) Early on we see him associated with Peter. This will play out more importantly later one. (3) He’s obviously helpful in ministry. He’s not an apostle, or evangelist, or pastor, he’s simply a faithful believer in Jerusalem. God uses people like Mark, like us, people who desire to be used by the Lord and are moldable in His hands.
– Faithfulness characterized Mark’s early life because when Paul and Barnabas were commissioned by the church in Antioch to go on their first missionary journey, they chose Mark to with them “as their helper” (13:5).
– Why take Mark to Antioch? Why on the 1st missionary journey? We do know that Mark was a cousin of Barnabas (Col. 4:10). So Barnabas knew Mark, he trusted him, he knew something about his gifts and usefulness in ministry. It’s also possible that Mark had a connection with the priesthood. Barnabas was a Levite and it’s possible that Mark was too. He might have even served in the Temple. Regardless, Mark had the heart of a servant, a helper. He was faithful and in that sense, Mark had a promising start.
But something happened to Mark. Because Mark fell away from the faith for a time. He went through a period of decline.
II. Falling Away: A Period of Decline
– That 1st missionary journey was difficult from the very beginning as they faced opposition from “Elymas the sorcerer” (13:8) and other difficulties as well.
– 13:13 tells us that “From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.” 15:38 is more specific when it says that Mark had “deserted them.”
– This is a sad moment. Mark deserted the missionary party and returned to Jerusalem. But why did Mark fall away and literally disappear from the NT for a few years? Was the work too hard? Was it too costly? Too much sacrifice required? Did the cross become too heavy to bear? Did he become disillusioned? Did he feel as if he wasn’t making a difference? Did he get discouraged? Burnt out? Was the persecution too much? Was the appeal of the world too much? Did Mark lose his faith along the way? Was he homesick? Did the separation from his family get to him? We don’t really know why Mark left but we know that he did and did so for apparently some years.
Fortunately, Mark’s story does not end at Acts 13:13. Mark, the man who had such a promising start and who had such a public falling away, finished well!
III. Finishing Well: A Profitable Restoration
– The next time we see Mark is in Acts 15. Paul and Barnabas are discussing a 2nd journey to strengthen the disciples in the areas that they had previously gone to (15:36).
– 15:37 tells us that “Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark with them.”
– But Paul has not forgotten Mark’s defection, his cowardice, his weakness (15:38).
– There was such a sharp disagreement between Paul and Barnabas that they parted company. On the 2nd journey, Paul took Silas while Barnabas chose Mark (15:39-40). This obviously says a lot about Barnabas who was willing to give Mark another chance. You may be exactly where God wants you to be, but you might know a Mark or two. I believe there are many Mark’s in the body of Christ, people who once walked fervently with God but who have now defected. Maybe this year you could be a Barnabas to a Mark, you could come alongside someone who has fallen away and restore them to usefulness in the kingdom.
– We don’t hear anything about Mark until 10 years later where he shows up in Colossians 4:10 and in Philemon 23. Paul is in Rome as a prisoner. This is Paul’s first imprisonment. It is there that he writes three letters: Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon.
– 10 years later Paul is a prisoner in Rome and who is his companion? The deserter Mark! Something dramatic has happened. He’s back in the good graces of Paul.
– How long did this restored relationship last? Paul wrote 2 Timothy from his second imprisonment. It is his last letter written around A.D. 66-67. It has been 22-23 years since the incident when Peter was released from prison. Paul knows that his death (his departure) is soon. It’s the end for Paul. Who does Paul desire to see? Paul tells Timothy to “Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry” (2 Tim. 4:11). From the time of his 1st imprisonment, he had Mark at his side. A few years later in his 2nd imprisonment facing death, he wants Mark by his side. What a testimony of a man who has been restored, who is finishing well.
– We should not be surprised at this. The Lord uses imperfect broken people all the time. God uses recovering sinners, deserters, recovered defectors.
– Mark finished well. Not only did Mark have this special relationship with the apostle Paul, but he also was very close to the apostle Peter. Peter calls Mark “my son” (1 Pet. 5:13). And most scholars believe that the Gospel of Mark accurately records the apostle Peter’s words. It is the memoirs of Peter.
Mark finished well because he began again. He did not let his failure be final. He did not let his past define his future. What about you? How will you finish? Perhaps you had a good start, a good home, a good environment. But somewhere along the way you defected, you dropped out. Maybe you didn’t cease doing the things you’ve always done, but you’re heart is not in it. You’re just going through the motions, you’ve lost your passion. You can begin again! It’s a choice that you have to make to get back in the race, to get back on the path. Where do I start? How do I begin?
1. Come to terms with your desertion.
Maybe you’re angry with God. Or someone has hurt you. Maybe it’s fear that has sidelined you. Maybe the appeal of the world has ensnared you. Maybe it’s a sinful action or attitude that is continually bringing you down. Whatever it is, it’s keeping you from finishing well. You need to see it as the barrier that is keeping you from experiencing God’s best. You don’t have to wander for years in the desert. You don’t have to waste your life. You were meant for better things. Somewhere along Mark’s journey, he came to terms with his defection. He didn’t want to stay a deserter forever. We too must come to terms with our desertion and desire God’s better life.
2. Start rebuilding your relationship with God.
Desertion is a heart issue, a relationship issue. Ask God to forgive you, He will! Forgive yourself and stop believing the lie that you cannot change, you cannot start over. Don’t listen to the unspiritual people in your life who only bring you down, who have no hope, who only bring condemnation. Begin daily walking with the Lord. Talk to Him, read His love letter to you, follow what He tells you to do. Worship Him regularly for worship feeds our soul. Connect with other believers in a small group where you can grow deeper in your walk with God. Develop your relationship with God. It’s that simple.
To begin again implies that there has first been a beginning. For some today, you need to have a beginning. Maybe I’ve described you today. Empty, lost, in search of something but you’re not sure what. If you’re willing, you can begin a personal relationship with the Lord your creator today. Will you give Jesus your sins, your life, and trust Him to save you today?
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Monday, December 21, 2009
An Uncluttered Christmas, Luke 3:1-6 (7-14)
A sermon preached on Sunday, December 20, 2009 at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs, Louisiana by pastor Joe Alain.
Scripture Reading: Luke 3:1-6 (7-14)
Background Scripture: Isaiah 40:3-5
John the Baptist’s ministry was one of removing the clutter so that people could prepare for the coming of the Lord and in that respect his message has a lot to say to us about how we can experience an uncluttered Christmas.
John the Baptist certainly is one of the most colorful and unlikely characters in the story of Jesus. Apart from sermons that deal with Zechariah and Elizabeth, we don’t usually invite the adult John to our Christmas celebrations. He seems too serious, too rugged, to harsh, to forceful with his message of repentance. John was a man who wore a camel hair coat before camel hair coats were cool and he lived on a lean diet of locusts and wild honey (how’s that for your new year’s resolution diet!). John never took a class on how to win friends and influence people and his marketing techniques would be considered all wrong today, but the power of God was upon John and the Word of God was in him. And even though he went into the wilderness of obscurity, he attracted great crowds.
I. CLUTTER
Our lives and hearts are often cluttered.
We can learn a lot from John’s ministry of uncluttering the message of Christmas because the Christmas season is often a very cluttered time. Our calendars are jam packed, the stores are crowded, the traffic is worse than usual, we’re busy gathering up gifts to give and receiving gifts that often end up in our garages or closets. On top of all that, it sure is hard to be good with all of the holiday foods and goodies around. The waistline gets a little cluttered around this time of the year. The truth is, our lives are cluttered but so are our hearts. The heart clutter threatens to crowd Jesus out. What we need in these few days leading up to Christmas day is to see beyond the clutter of living to the hope that was born many years ago in Bethlehem.
The challenge in John’s word in the wilderness came from the prophet Isaiah spoken at the time Israel was in exile in Babylon. Separating God’s people from their home was a wilderness, a barrier that seemed impossible for them to overcome. In their mind, the path back home was just too cluttered, cluttered with broken promises and broken idols. The way back seemed so rough, so insurmountable. The people of God had lost all hope of scaling the spiritual mountains to come back to God. We too sense that hopelessness at times. We look across the spiritual wasteland of broken relationships, broken promises, unfulfilled dreams, and we wonder, “is there any way back? Is there hope for my marriage? Can the clutter be removed so that we can restore what we once had? Can my relationship with my child be restored?” It seems that there is just too much clutter in our hearts, it’s too hard, it’s a barrier that seems impassable.
The promise in Isaiah 40:3-5, where we find the words John quotes, is that comfort will come to God’s people, that in the wilderness a way will be prepared for the Lord, much like the way was prepared for ancient kings to visit the remote parts of their kingdoms. A king would send out a party to go before him. They would prepare the way, even repairing roads if necessary, for the king’s arrival. John is saying that the way to the King of Kings (the Messiah) is being cleared! The ditches are being filled in, the clutter is being removed, the crooked paths are being straightened, and the potholes are being patched. So John’s messages was a message of incredible hope. God would make a way where there seemed to be no way. That way, John came to announce not only to Israel, but to us too. We too who feel hopeless and who have lost courage, who cannot get beyond the brokenness, we too can find the way home.
As we begin to look at this passage, the context is seen in 3:1-2a.
II. CONTEXT (3:1-2a)
Luke, being a careful historian gives us a wealth of information in his Gospel that helps us set forth the historical setting and accuracy of the New Testament. Here, the information dates John’s ministry and gives us information about the time in which he ministered.
Luke first gives us the political situation of the day.
1. Political Context (3:1)
John’s ministry occurred during “The reign of Tiberius Caesar.” Tiberias was the successor of Augustus and the second of the Roman Emperors. As early as A.D. 11 or 12 Augustus had made him his colleague in the imperial power but he did not become sole emperor until A.D. 14. The fifteenth year of his reign would therefore be around A.D. 28-29.
The next three people mentioned along with dates are connected with the political organization of Palestine. The title tetrarch literally means governor of a fourth part, but later on came to mean governor of any part. When Herod the Great who ruled Palestine from 37-4 B.C. (1:5; see Matt. 2) died, his kingdom was divided between three of his sons. Herod was the ruler during the time of Zechariah and Elizabeth and the birth of John.
Luke dates John’s ministry during the time of “Herod tetrarch of Galilee.” Herod Antipas (son of Herod the Great) ruled Galilee and Perea from 4 B.C. to A.D. 39. Jesus’ life was lived in Herod’s reign and mostly in the areas that he controlled.
“His brother Philip” (another son of Herod the Great) was “tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis.” He ruled from 4 B.C. to A.D. 33. Philip built Caesarea Philippi which was named after him.
Luke also dates John’s ministry during the time of “Pontius Pilate . . . governor of Judea.” Herod Archelaus (another son of Herod the Great) ruled over Judea, Samaria, and Edom from 4 B.C. to A.D. 6 but he was such a bad king that the citizens petitioned Rome for his removal. Rome impatient with all of the trouble that was in the area installed Pontius Pilate who ruled from A.D. 25-37.
“Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene.” He ruled in the region northwest of Damascus. We know practically nothing about him.
2. The Religious Context (3:2a)
Next Luke provides the religious context. “During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas.” Annas was the high priest from A.D. 7-14. The office had been hereditary and for life. When Rome came to power the office became political. From 37 B.C. to A.D. 26 there were no fewer than 28 high priests. Four sons succeeded Annas and Caiaphas (18-36 A.D.) was his son-in-law. Annas though was the power behind the throne (See John 18:13). For all practical purposes, the High Priest was the ruling power in Jerusalem. Along with the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Council, they controlled the daily life of the Jewish people.
Why does Luke spend so much time giving us these historical details? All of Luke’s careful historical analysis points out that The story of Jesus is firmly rooted in history. When some knew theory arises that challenges the historical accuracy of the story of Jesus, and they will continue to do so, always know that you have a reliable text in the Bible that you have. Peter writes in 2 Peter 1:16, NIV, “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” See also vv.20-21.
Paul warns believers to not be caught up in what he calls “myths” that “promote controversies rather than God’s work – which is by faith” (1 Tim. 1:4). Instead of following “godless myths,” “train yourself to be godly” (1 Tim. 4:7). There’s another new year resolution. Train yourself to be godly.
III. COMFORT (3:2b)
It is in this context that the Word of God comes to John.
1. The Person: “to John the son of Zechariah”
Luke tells us that the “word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert.” John lived an uncluttered life – a life of focus. Luke seems to contrast the powerful political and religious rulers over against the humble man who is the “son of Zechariah.” The word of God comes not to the worldly and powerful, but to the lowly and humble, like John.
2. The Place: “in the desert”
John has been in the wilderness for many years. The last time you see John is in Luke 1:80. Several reasons have been suggested why John was in the desert. (1) Some of suggested that John’s parents, being old, died while he was young. It’s possible the Essenes, a Jewish group living by the Dead Sea, may have taken him in. (2) As a son of a priest, he would have taken up training for the priesthood. Perhaps he left to prepare for His priestly work. It’s obvious that John’s desert experiences are tied with his training. He was there to prepare for his mission. A great work is always preceded by grave (serious) preparation. The desert is symbolic of testing and preparation. All great men and women have been to the school of the desert. God has been preparing John for his ministry.
Before God can use you, He wants to know if you’re willing to serve in obscurity.
3. The Proclamation: “the word of God”
The word used here for “word” is not the “logos” but it is the “Rhema.” This word denotes a particular word or message that is spoken or proclaimed. This speaks to the fact that John’s message was sharply focused, clear, uncluttered. John had a focused message. Point 1 – Repent! Point 2 – Repent! Point 3 – Repent! Each of us seeks meaning in life. Each of us want direction, focus, a word from God for the particular situations that we face in life. That word of God that speaks to the particulars of our lives is what we receive from Him, when we listen and hear. The Word of God speaks to the particulars of our lives.
The word “came to John.” The force of the (language) preposition is that of pressure from above. It came upon John. It inspired him, burdened him, spoke clearly to him, effected him. The “rhema” will do the same for us.
There is much that John has to say concerning how we can experience an uncluttered life and an uncluttered Christmas. So what does it mean to have an uncluttered heart?
The Uncluttered Heart . . .
1. Hears God’s Word
John was able to hear God’s Word. God’s word comes to the uncluttered heart. Is our life cluttered? Do we try to focus on too many things? Do we make wise choices so we are able to focus? Clutter in our lives and hearts keeps us from hearing God’s Word. Determine that in the new year you are going to make a conscious effort to spend some quiet time with God so that you can hear His Word and His voice.
2. Receives God’s Forgiveness
After the Word of God pressed upon John, he went to the area surrounding the Jordan and he preached “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” The NKJV has “remission” which means “forgiveness.” The NLT says it best when it reads that John preached “that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven.” John was saying, “get ready, and to show that you are ready, change the direction of your life. Show that you’re making a break with your past and you are going in God’s direction.” John made it clear that the day of obstacles was over. No more excuses could be made. Every obstacle had been demolished between sinful man and a holy God. The highway to heaven had been cleared, John says – get ready!
Forgiveness by its nature is the divine action that unclutters our lives and opens the way for a new kind of life. Forgiveness opens the way to God. Forgiveness is the act of removing the sin, taking it away never to return. Forgiveness is a new start. Repentance, turning to God, prepares our heart for the Lord to come and bring his forgiveness. Daily, we need the clutter removed from our lives.
The uncluttered heart hears God’s word, receives God’s forgiveness, and . . .
3. Embraces God’s Mission
John’s life was changed by the Word of God and in response to that change and in obedience to the Lord, he embraced his task of sharing the “Good News.” Repentance means that we now have a new purpose and a new power to break down the barriers that keep others from coming to the Lord. We too are able to help others see God’s salvation. But to embrace God’s mission is costly for it requires that we be . . .
– Undivided in our loyalty to Christ. John’s loyalty was undivided – it was uncluttered. What about my loyalty to Jesus? If we are to embrace God’s mission, we must live uncluttered lives before God, we must be loyal to Him.
– To embrace God’s mission is costly because it requires that we be undivided in our commitment to breaking down every barrier, every hindrance to the Gospel. Embracing God’s mission means living a changed life. Every response that John gave to the people he shared with who wanted to know, “how shall we live?” was centered on living a new ethical life (see vv.7-14). John was saying, “live a life that shows you have turned to God.” And so as I embrace God’s mission, I commit to embrace a new kind of life. My pride, my prejudices, my unforgiveness, my unloving and hurtful words, all of the clutter must be removed from my heart and life. We must seek to live uncluttered lives so that we can unclutter the pathway for others to journey on. We must in the language of the Msg paraphrase spiritually,
“Make the road smooth and straight!
Every ditch will be filled in,
Every bump smoothed out,
The detours straightened out,
All the ruts paved over.”
Why do all this? We must prepare the way of the Lord. The king is coming, He’s on His way. Are you ready? The clutter has been removed – it’s time to trust Him and for us to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Scripture Reading: Luke 3:1-6 (7-14)
Background Scripture: Isaiah 40:3-5
John the Baptist’s ministry was one of removing the clutter so that people could prepare for the coming of the Lord and in that respect his message has a lot to say to us about how we can experience an uncluttered Christmas.
John the Baptist certainly is one of the most colorful and unlikely characters in the story of Jesus. Apart from sermons that deal with Zechariah and Elizabeth, we don’t usually invite the adult John to our Christmas celebrations. He seems too serious, too rugged, to harsh, to forceful with his message of repentance. John was a man who wore a camel hair coat before camel hair coats were cool and he lived on a lean diet of locusts and wild honey (how’s that for your new year’s resolution diet!). John never took a class on how to win friends and influence people and his marketing techniques would be considered all wrong today, but the power of God was upon John and the Word of God was in him. And even though he went into the wilderness of obscurity, he attracted great crowds.
I. CLUTTER
Our lives and hearts are often cluttered.
We can learn a lot from John’s ministry of uncluttering the message of Christmas because the Christmas season is often a very cluttered time. Our calendars are jam packed, the stores are crowded, the traffic is worse than usual, we’re busy gathering up gifts to give and receiving gifts that often end up in our garages or closets. On top of all that, it sure is hard to be good with all of the holiday foods and goodies around. The waistline gets a little cluttered around this time of the year. The truth is, our lives are cluttered but so are our hearts. The heart clutter threatens to crowd Jesus out. What we need in these few days leading up to Christmas day is to see beyond the clutter of living to the hope that was born many years ago in Bethlehem.
The challenge in John’s word in the wilderness came from the prophet Isaiah spoken at the time Israel was in exile in Babylon. Separating God’s people from their home was a wilderness, a barrier that seemed impossible for them to overcome. In their mind, the path back home was just too cluttered, cluttered with broken promises and broken idols. The way back seemed so rough, so insurmountable. The people of God had lost all hope of scaling the spiritual mountains to come back to God. We too sense that hopelessness at times. We look across the spiritual wasteland of broken relationships, broken promises, unfulfilled dreams, and we wonder, “is there any way back? Is there hope for my marriage? Can the clutter be removed so that we can restore what we once had? Can my relationship with my child be restored?” It seems that there is just too much clutter in our hearts, it’s too hard, it’s a barrier that seems impassable.
The promise in Isaiah 40:3-5, where we find the words John quotes, is that comfort will come to God’s people, that in the wilderness a way will be prepared for the Lord, much like the way was prepared for ancient kings to visit the remote parts of their kingdoms. A king would send out a party to go before him. They would prepare the way, even repairing roads if necessary, for the king’s arrival. John is saying that the way to the King of Kings (the Messiah) is being cleared! The ditches are being filled in, the clutter is being removed, the crooked paths are being straightened, and the potholes are being patched. So John’s messages was a message of incredible hope. God would make a way where there seemed to be no way. That way, John came to announce not only to Israel, but to us too. We too who feel hopeless and who have lost courage, who cannot get beyond the brokenness, we too can find the way home.
As we begin to look at this passage, the context is seen in 3:1-2a.
II. CONTEXT (3:1-2a)
Luke, being a careful historian gives us a wealth of information in his Gospel that helps us set forth the historical setting and accuracy of the New Testament. Here, the information dates John’s ministry and gives us information about the time in which he ministered.
Luke first gives us the political situation of the day.
1. Political Context (3:1)
John’s ministry occurred during “The reign of Tiberius Caesar.” Tiberias was the successor of Augustus and the second of the Roman Emperors. As early as A.D. 11 or 12 Augustus had made him his colleague in the imperial power but he did not become sole emperor until A.D. 14. The fifteenth year of his reign would therefore be around A.D. 28-29.
The next three people mentioned along with dates are connected with the political organization of Palestine. The title tetrarch literally means governor of a fourth part, but later on came to mean governor of any part. When Herod the Great who ruled Palestine from 37-4 B.C. (1:5; see Matt. 2) died, his kingdom was divided between three of his sons. Herod was the ruler during the time of Zechariah and Elizabeth and the birth of John.
Luke dates John’s ministry during the time of “Herod tetrarch of Galilee.” Herod Antipas (son of Herod the Great) ruled Galilee and Perea from 4 B.C. to A.D. 39. Jesus’ life was lived in Herod’s reign and mostly in the areas that he controlled.
“His brother Philip” (another son of Herod the Great) was “tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis.” He ruled from 4 B.C. to A.D. 33. Philip built Caesarea Philippi which was named after him.
Luke also dates John’s ministry during the time of “Pontius Pilate . . . governor of Judea.” Herod Archelaus (another son of Herod the Great) ruled over Judea, Samaria, and Edom from 4 B.C. to A.D. 6 but he was such a bad king that the citizens petitioned Rome for his removal. Rome impatient with all of the trouble that was in the area installed Pontius Pilate who ruled from A.D. 25-37.
“Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene.” He ruled in the region northwest of Damascus. We know practically nothing about him.
2. The Religious Context (3:2a)
Next Luke provides the religious context. “During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas.” Annas was the high priest from A.D. 7-14. The office had been hereditary and for life. When Rome came to power the office became political. From 37 B.C. to A.D. 26 there were no fewer than 28 high priests. Four sons succeeded Annas and Caiaphas (18-36 A.D.) was his son-in-law. Annas though was the power behind the throne (See John 18:13). For all practical purposes, the High Priest was the ruling power in Jerusalem. Along with the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme Council, they controlled the daily life of the Jewish people.
Why does Luke spend so much time giving us these historical details? All of Luke’s careful historical analysis points out that The story of Jesus is firmly rooted in history. When some knew theory arises that challenges the historical accuracy of the story of Jesus, and they will continue to do so, always know that you have a reliable text in the Bible that you have. Peter writes in 2 Peter 1:16, NIV, “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” See also vv.20-21.
Paul warns believers to not be caught up in what he calls “myths” that “promote controversies rather than God’s work – which is by faith” (1 Tim. 1:4). Instead of following “godless myths,” “train yourself to be godly” (1 Tim. 4:7). There’s another new year resolution. Train yourself to be godly.
III. COMFORT (3:2b)
It is in this context that the Word of God comes to John.
1. The Person: “to John the son of Zechariah”
Luke tells us that the “word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert.” John lived an uncluttered life – a life of focus. Luke seems to contrast the powerful political and religious rulers over against the humble man who is the “son of Zechariah.” The word of God comes not to the worldly and powerful, but to the lowly and humble, like John.
2. The Place: “in the desert”
John has been in the wilderness for many years. The last time you see John is in Luke 1:80. Several reasons have been suggested why John was in the desert. (1) Some of suggested that John’s parents, being old, died while he was young. It’s possible the Essenes, a Jewish group living by the Dead Sea, may have taken him in. (2) As a son of a priest, he would have taken up training for the priesthood. Perhaps he left to prepare for His priestly work. It’s obvious that John’s desert experiences are tied with his training. He was there to prepare for his mission. A great work is always preceded by grave (serious) preparation. The desert is symbolic of testing and preparation. All great men and women have been to the school of the desert. God has been preparing John for his ministry.
Before God can use you, He wants to know if you’re willing to serve in obscurity.
3. The Proclamation: “the word of God”
The word used here for “word” is not the “logos” but it is the “Rhema.” This word denotes a particular word or message that is spoken or proclaimed. This speaks to the fact that John’s message was sharply focused, clear, uncluttered. John had a focused message. Point 1 – Repent! Point 2 – Repent! Point 3 – Repent! Each of us seeks meaning in life. Each of us want direction, focus, a word from God for the particular situations that we face in life. That word of God that speaks to the particulars of our lives is what we receive from Him, when we listen and hear. The Word of God speaks to the particulars of our lives.
The word “came to John.” The force of the (language) preposition is that of pressure from above. It came upon John. It inspired him, burdened him, spoke clearly to him, effected him. The “rhema” will do the same for us.
There is much that John has to say concerning how we can experience an uncluttered life and an uncluttered Christmas. So what does it mean to have an uncluttered heart?
The Uncluttered Heart . . .
1. Hears God’s Word
John was able to hear God’s Word. God’s word comes to the uncluttered heart. Is our life cluttered? Do we try to focus on too many things? Do we make wise choices so we are able to focus? Clutter in our lives and hearts keeps us from hearing God’s Word. Determine that in the new year you are going to make a conscious effort to spend some quiet time with God so that you can hear His Word and His voice.
2. Receives God’s Forgiveness
After the Word of God pressed upon John, he went to the area surrounding the Jordan and he preached “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” The NKJV has “remission” which means “forgiveness.” The NLT says it best when it reads that John preached “that people should be baptized to show that they had repented of their sins and turned to God to be forgiven.” John was saying, “get ready, and to show that you are ready, change the direction of your life. Show that you’re making a break with your past and you are going in God’s direction.” John made it clear that the day of obstacles was over. No more excuses could be made. Every obstacle had been demolished between sinful man and a holy God. The highway to heaven had been cleared, John says – get ready!
Forgiveness by its nature is the divine action that unclutters our lives and opens the way for a new kind of life. Forgiveness opens the way to God. Forgiveness is the act of removing the sin, taking it away never to return. Forgiveness is a new start. Repentance, turning to God, prepares our heart for the Lord to come and bring his forgiveness. Daily, we need the clutter removed from our lives.
The uncluttered heart hears God’s word, receives God’s forgiveness, and . . .
3. Embraces God’s Mission
John’s life was changed by the Word of God and in response to that change and in obedience to the Lord, he embraced his task of sharing the “Good News.” Repentance means that we now have a new purpose and a new power to break down the barriers that keep others from coming to the Lord. We too are able to help others see God’s salvation. But to embrace God’s mission is costly for it requires that we be . . .
– Undivided in our loyalty to Christ. John’s loyalty was undivided – it was uncluttered. What about my loyalty to Jesus? If we are to embrace God’s mission, we must live uncluttered lives before God, we must be loyal to Him.
– To embrace God’s mission is costly because it requires that we be undivided in our commitment to breaking down every barrier, every hindrance to the Gospel. Embracing God’s mission means living a changed life. Every response that John gave to the people he shared with who wanted to know, “how shall we live?” was centered on living a new ethical life (see vv.7-14). John was saying, “live a life that shows you have turned to God.” And so as I embrace God’s mission, I commit to embrace a new kind of life. My pride, my prejudices, my unforgiveness, my unloving and hurtful words, all of the clutter must be removed from my heart and life. We must seek to live uncluttered lives so that we can unclutter the pathway for others to journey on. We must in the language of the Msg paraphrase spiritually,
“Make the road smooth and straight!
Every ditch will be filled in,
Every bump smoothed out,
The detours straightened out,
All the ruts paved over.”
Why do all this? We must prepare the way of the Lord. The king is coming, He’s on His way. Are you ready? The clutter has been removed – it’s time to trust Him and for us to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Monday, December 14, 2009
Sharing Christmas Joy, Luke 1:18-25, 57-66
A sermon preached on December 13, 2009 at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs, Louisiana by Pastor Joe Alain.
Scripture Reading: Luke 1:18-25, 57-66
The birth of a child brings great joy, it is a joyful event that you want to share with others. But imagine not being able to share your joy? Imagine having been blessed with such good news but you were unable to share your great joy.
Because of unbelief, Zechariah was unable to share his joy in the news that his wife was going to have a son, he would become a father! Zechariah’s privilege of sharing his joy was postponed. Unbelief, fear, doubt, robbed him of the blessing of accepting God’s plan and sharing his good news. Unbelief causes us to miss out on what God is doing in our lives and the blessings of joy that He has for us. On the other hand, trust in Christ and in God’s Word enables us to participate in God’s plans for our life and to share the “Good News” that He’s at work in our world. Faith in Jesus frees us to live a life of purpose, gratitude, and praise.
Jesus and John – Comparison and Contrast
When you look at how Luke unfolds the story of Jesus in these opening chapters, he obviously wants his readers to compare and contrast Jesus and John the Baptist. When you compare the two, we see that both children are announced in advance by the angel Gabriel (1:11, 28). Both births are unnatural or miraculous (Elizabeth is past child-bearing age and Mary is a virgin). And in both cases the angel tells what the name of the child should be (1:13, 31).
But there are also contrasts made between John and Jesus. John was born to an aged woman who was barren, Jesus was born to a young virgin. John was given a name which means “God is gracious,” Jesus was given a name which means “Savior.” John was to prepare the way of the Lord, Jesus was the Lord!
God broke 400 years of silence when the angel Gabriel came to Zechariah and promised that his wife Elizabeth would bear a son (v.13). Zechariah, although a devout believer (v.6) doubted that God would bring this promise to pass. You see his skepticism in verse 18 when he says, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man.” Zechariah is looking at things from the human viewpoint. Zechariah is saying, “from where I am standing, this is impossible, things like this don’t happen.” But from God’s viewpoint, “nothing is impossible” (1:37). And of course, if you noticed Zechariah being a gentleman referred to his wife as “well advanced in years” not an old woman! In that respect, he obviously was a very wise man.
Zechariah and Mary – Evidence Vs Explanation
John Piper reminds us that there is one more contrast, between the announcement of John and Jesus’ birth that is worth noting; that is, how each of them responded to the angel’s message. How did Mary respond to the angel when she first heard the news? Mary said, “How can this be, since I have no husband?” (v.34). Do you see the contrast? Zechariah says, How can I know this – Mary says, How can this be? Zechariah is essentially asking for more evidence, Mary is asking for an explanation. Zechariah says “I cannot be sure;” Mary says “I cannot understand.” There’s a difference between the two responses. God does honor the humble and sincere plea for understanding. It’s not wrong to want evidence for our faith, but Jesus tells us that there is an evil in demanding signs beyond what sincere hearts would require (see Luke 11:29).
It was not that Zechariah “could not” believe, he “would not” believe the good news that Gabriel had brought, although he should have believed considering the fact that Gabriel came straight from God Himself! “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God” (1:19). It’s almost as if Gabriel cannot believe that Zechariah cannot believe. You can almost hear Gabriel saying, “Did you not pray for a child? Your answer is hear.”
Zechariah is experiencing a crisis of faith. Would he believe God or not? He and Elizabeth had prayed for a child, now would he completely trust God to bring it to pass, even if it did not happen as he might have thought it would. When you pray, it is not always the “asking” that takes faith, it is the “receiving.” Why is this? Because God gives us the answer often in a different form than what we would have come up with. They prayed for a child and figured that God would answer them in the usual manner. But God often answers our prayers in a way that stretches and tests our faith. His answers to our prayers come in unlikely ways.
Why does God do that? Why surprise us? For one thing, I think God has a better sense of humor that we do. Zechariah and Elizabeth had to wonder, “you’re kidding, right?” Why surprise us? It’s more than the fact that God does indeed have a sense of humor, who do you think created humor? He does things like give senior saints a baby because he is more interested in making us like Himself for eternity rather than simply satisfying our immediate needs. Remember, his answered prayers are always related to His kingdom purposes. He answers prayer in a way that is always consistent with His purposes and not necessarily ours. God often asks us to simply believe, to trust Him to do the humanly impossible. He wants us to learn to trust Him and live by faith (Heb. 11:1). And the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth reminds us that you never outgrow the need to learn the lessons of living by faith.
From Faithless to Speechless
Because of his unbelief, his stalling for more evidence (v.20), Zechariah would be struck “speechless,” silent, unable to speak, unable to share a word of testimony concerning what God was doing. Think about it. The 400 years of prophetic silence were broken with this revelation to Zechariah (see Mal. 4:4-6), but the good news that the silence was broken would have to wait 9 more months.
Zechariah’s judgement corresponded to his sin. God’s plan and promise was one of great joy (v.14) – you’re going to have a son! But now, because of unbelief, he is unable to share the one thing that means the most to him right now – the incredible news that he is going to have a son, he’s going to be a dad. I think that part of his judgement is that he must watch while others do the rejoicing. Who is doing the praising, the sharing, the rejoicing? It is the neighbors, not Zechariah. He’s missing out on being able to share his joyful good news.
There is a warning to us in this passage, a warning to not demand too much evidence before we will believe God’s promises, because if we do, we might just miss out on God’s blessings. We too need to remember that “With God nothing is impossible” (1:37). God wants us to completely trust Him.
From Speechless to Ceaseless
The judgement would not remain on Zechariah forever. Nine months later, true to God’s promise, Elizabeth brought forth a son (v.57). In Palestine the birth of a boy was an occasion of great joy. When the time of the birth was near at hand, friends and local musicians gathered near the house (v.58). It was customary to name the son after the father (v.59), so the neighbors were amazed when both Elizabeth and Zechariah said that his name will be John (v.61-62). On the supplied writing tablet, Zechariah confirmed Elizabeth’s words when he said, “His name is John” (v.63), which means “Jehovah’s Gift” or “God is gracious.”
Immediately, Zechariah was able to speak, and what did he say? Praise was the first thing that came out of his mouth. His joy that had been bottled up now explodes into praise to God (v.64). Unbelief had kept Zechariah bound up and silent, faith had freed him to praise God. When we believe God’s Word for our lives, we are able to participate fully in God’s plans and to share the “Good News” that He’s at work in our world.
The people were in awe of the events that were taking place (v.65). “What will this child turn out to be?” the neighbors wondered (v.66). The people knew that this miraculous birth was the work of the sovereign God, and that God was up to something special.
Trust in Christ and in God’s Word really does enable us to participate in God’s plans for our life and to share the “Good News” that He’s at work in our world. Do we have preconceived ideas that hinder us from receiving God’s good news? Do we live thinking “this could never happen to me?” Our we open to God’s surprises? Will we believe God for the humanly impossible to occur in our lives? Our family? Our church? Our country? Our world? Faith in Jesus frees us to live a life of purpose, gratitude, and praise. I think you and I have some extraordinary Christmas joy to share this season!
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Scripture Reading: Luke 1:18-25, 57-66
The birth of a child brings great joy, it is a joyful event that you want to share with others. But imagine not being able to share your joy? Imagine having been blessed with such good news but you were unable to share your great joy.
Because of unbelief, Zechariah was unable to share his joy in the news that his wife was going to have a son, he would become a father! Zechariah’s privilege of sharing his joy was postponed. Unbelief, fear, doubt, robbed him of the blessing of accepting God’s plan and sharing his good news. Unbelief causes us to miss out on what God is doing in our lives and the blessings of joy that He has for us. On the other hand, trust in Christ and in God’s Word enables us to participate in God’s plans for our life and to share the “Good News” that He’s at work in our world. Faith in Jesus frees us to live a life of purpose, gratitude, and praise.
Jesus and John – Comparison and Contrast
When you look at how Luke unfolds the story of Jesus in these opening chapters, he obviously wants his readers to compare and contrast Jesus and John the Baptist. When you compare the two, we see that both children are announced in advance by the angel Gabriel (1:11, 28). Both births are unnatural or miraculous (Elizabeth is past child-bearing age and Mary is a virgin). And in both cases the angel tells what the name of the child should be (1:13, 31).
But there are also contrasts made between John and Jesus. John was born to an aged woman who was barren, Jesus was born to a young virgin. John was given a name which means “God is gracious,” Jesus was given a name which means “Savior.” John was to prepare the way of the Lord, Jesus was the Lord!
God broke 400 years of silence when the angel Gabriel came to Zechariah and promised that his wife Elizabeth would bear a son (v.13). Zechariah, although a devout believer (v.6) doubted that God would bring this promise to pass. You see his skepticism in verse 18 when he says, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man.” Zechariah is looking at things from the human viewpoint. Zechariah is saying, “from where I am standing, this is impossible, things like this don’t happen.” But from God’s viewpoint, “nothing is impossible” (1:37). And of course, if you noticed Zechariah being a gentleman referred to his wife as “well advanced in years” not an old woman! In that respect, he obviously was a very wise man.
Zechariah and Mary – Evidence Vs Explanation
John Piper reminds us that there is one more contrast, between the announcement of John and Jesus’ birth that is worth noting; that is, how each of them responded to the angel’s message. How did Mary respond to the angel when she first heard the news? Mary said, “How can this be, since I have no husband?” (v.34). Do you see the contrast? Zechariah says, How can I know this – Mary says, How can this be? Zechariah is essentially asking for more evidence, Mary is asking for an explanation. Zechariah says “I cannot be sure;” Mary says “I cannot understand.” There’s a difference between the two responses. God does honor the humble and sincere plea for understanding. It’s not wrong to want evidence for our faith, but Jesus tells us that there is an evil in demanding signs beyond what sincere hearts would require (see Luke 11:29).
It was not that Zechariah “could not” believe, he “would not” believe the good news that Gabriel had brought, although he should have believed considering the fact that Gabriel came straight from God Himself! “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God” (1:19). It’s almost as if Gabriel cannot believe that Zechariah cannot believe. You can almost hear Gabriel saying, “Did you not pray for a child? Your answer is hear.”
Zechariah is experiencing a crisis of faith. Would he believe God or not? He and Elizabeth had prayed for a child, now would he completely trust God to bring it to pass, even if it did not happen as he might have thought it would. When you pray, it is not always the “asking” that takes faith, it is the “receiving.” Why is this? Because God gives us the answer often in a different form than what we would have come up with. They prayed for a child and figured that God would answer them in the usual manner. But God often answers our prayers in a way that stretches and tests our faith. His answers to our prayers come in unlikely ways.
Why does God do that? Why surprise us? For one thing, I think God has a better sense of humor that we do. Zechariah and Elizabeth had to wonder, “you’re kidding, right?” Why surprise us? It’s more than the fact that God does indeed have a sense of humor, who do you think created humor? He does things like give senior saints a baby because he is more interested in making us like Himself for eternity rather than simply satisfying our immediate needs. Remember, his answered prayers are always related to His kingdom purposes. He answers prayer in a way that is always consistent with His purposes and not necessarily ours. God often asks us to simply believe, to trust Him to do the humanly impossible. He wants us to learn to trust Him and live by faith (Heb. 11:1). And the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth reminds us that you never outgrow the need to learn the lessons of living by faith.
From Faithless to Speechless
Because of his unbelief, his stalling for more evidence (v.20), Zechariah would be struck “speechless,” silent, unable to speak, unable to share a word of testimony concerning what God was doing. Think about it. The 400 years of prophetic silence were broken with this revelation to Zechariah (see Mal. 4:4-6), but the good news that the silence was broken would have to wait 9 more months.
Zechariah’s judgement corresponded to his sin. God’s plan and promise was one of great joy (v.14) – you’re going to have a son! But now, because of unbelief, he is unable to share the one thing that means the most to him right now – the incredible news that he is going to have a son, he’s going to be a dad. I think that part of his judgement is that he must watch while others do the rejoicing. Who is doing the praising, the sharing, the rejoicing? It is the neighbors, not Zechariah. He’s missing out on being able to share his joyful good news.
There is a warning to us in this passage, a warning to not demand too much evidence before we will believe God’s promises, because if we do, we might just miss out on God’s blessings. We too need to remember that “With God nothing is impossible” (1:37). God wants us to completely trust Him.
From Speechless to Ceaseless
The judgement would not remain on Zechariah forever. Nine months later, true to God’s promise, Elizabeth brought forth a son (v.57). In Palestine the birth of a boy was an occasion of great joy. When the time of the birth was near at hand, friends and local musicians gathered near the house (v.58). It was customary to name the son after the father (v.59), so the neighbors were amazed when both Elizabeth and Zechariah said that his name will be John (v.61-62). On the supplied writing tablet, Zechariah confirmed Elizabeth’s words when he said, “His name is John” (v.63), which means “Jehovah’s Gift” or “God is gracious.”
Immediately, Zechariah was able to speak, and what did he say? Praise was the first thing that came out of his mouth. His joy that had been bottled up now explodes into praise to God (v.64). Unbelief had kept Zechariah bound up and silent, faith had freed him to praise God. When we believe God’s Word for our lives, we are able to participate fully in God’s plans and to share the “Good News” that He’s at work in our world.
The people were in awe of the events that were taking place (v.65). “What will this child turn out to be?” the neighbors wondered (v.66). The people knew that this miraculous birth was the work of the sovereign God, and that God was up to something special.
Trust in Christ and in God’s Word really does enable us to participate in God’s plans for our life and to share the “Good News” that He’s at work in our world. Do we have preconceived ideas that hinder us from receiving God’s good news? Do we live thinking “this could never happen to me?” Our we open to God’s surprises? Will we believe God for the humanly impossible to occur in our lives? Our family? Our church? Our country? Our world? Faith in Jesus frees us to live a life of purpose, gratitude, and praise. I think you and I have some extraordinary Christmas joy to share this season!
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Serving in the Silence Luke 1:5-17
A sermon preached on December 6, 2009 at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs, Louisiana by Pastor Joe Alain.
Scripture Reading: Luke 1:5-17
Focal Verse: “...But they had no child...” Luke 1:7
Background Passage: Malachi 4:4-6
The story of Zechariah and Elizabeth is one of great faith and hope. We find their account recorded in Luke chapter one. Verse 5 provides the setting for the story. The reference to “the days of Herod” reminds us that this was a dark time in the world. Herod had been appointed as King of the Jews by the Roman Senate in 40 B.C. Herod the Great was an evil man (see Matthew 2) and a paranoid tyrant who held on to his throne at all costs, even executing family members he felt were a threat to his power. His paranoia led him to kill one of his ten wives and three of his children! This is the same Herod who had the children two years and younger in Bethlehem put to death.
Lights In The Darkness
In contrast to such a wicked person was a “priest named Zechariah...and his wife...Elizabeth.” They were two shining lights in a dark and crooked world. Zechariah was one of many priests in the days of Christ. From the time of David, in the Old Testament, the priests were divided into 24 courses or divisions, approximately 20,000 priests. All of the priests served during the three great Hebrew festivals: Pentecost, Feast of Tabernacles, and Passover. The remainder of each year each division served two periods of one week each. Zechariah was only one of many in “the division of Abijah.” Abijah was one of the heads of the priestly families (see Neh. 12:17 and 1 Chron. 24:10). Elizabeth, a descendant of Aaron, was also of priestly lineage. Luke 1:6 provides two glimpses into the character of Zechariah and Elizabeth which allowed them to shine in the darkness.
1. Righteous (On how a person is made righteous, see Gal. 2:16; 2 Cor. 5:21)
First, “they were both righteous before God.” To be righteous means to be just, to be in a right relationship with God. God declared them righteous by faith.
2. Obedient
Second, they walked in “all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” They “remembered” God’s law (see Mal. 4:4). The word walk in Scripture has to do with a person’s life, especially their conduct. Zechariah and Elizabeth conducted their life according to God’s Word. They patterned their lives after the divine standard. Biblical righteousness is an inward quality that manifests itself in obedience to God’s word
Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in their character, they were obedient to God’s word in their conduct, and they were steadfast in their confession of faith. They were committed to living out (expressing) their faith. What a testimony of faithfulness! Do we stand righteous before God? Right with God and right in our character? Are we patterning our lives after God’s standard? Do we give consistent and visible expression to our faith?
"But They Had No Child"
3. Childless
Verse 7 provides the first hint of tension in the story, but with it’s revelation we have a theological bombshell dropped which shatters the otherwise perfect world of Zechariah and Elizabeth. “But they had no child.” For a Jewish couple to be childless was thought to be a sign of God’s displeasure. At the very least, it resulted in shame and reproach (Lk. 1:25). To be barren was considered to be a tragedy, personally and socially. Why did they have no child? Elizabeth was barren (lit. sterile) and they were both beyond the age to have children, humanly speaking.
We can be sure they tried to have children for many years. It was probably always on their minds. It was a desire of their hearts. It was their constant prayer request. They tried, they longed for, and they prayed, but all they heard was SILENCE.
Some of you have known that kind of heartbreak. Longing for a child. Praying. Waiting. But only hearing SILENCE. What do you do when God is silent? How do you respond to God’s silence? Zechariah and Elizabeth could have reacted in anger and bitterness. Certainly all their friends had little ones running around. They watched their neighbors kids grow up while they grew old. While their friends counted their kids birthdays, Zechariah and Elizabeth counted wrinkles and saw their dreams of a family fade into time.
What do you do when your dream dies? What do you do when Tragedy strikes? What do you do when you stand on God’s word and nothing happens? Did not God say that he would give us the desires of our heart? What do you do when He does not? You can get angry, bitter, and jealous. You can even give up on God.
“But they had no child.” Insert your situation here. “But he had cancer.” “But they had a divorce.” “But they had big dreams that didn’t come to pass.” Do you know what Zechariah and Elizabeth did? They continued serving God even in the SILENCE.
Nothing had changed except the passage of time. Zechariah and Elizabeth still were steadfast in their devotion to God. Why? They did not let their personal tragedy keep them from loving and serving God. Nothing had changed. They were still right before God. They were still patterning their life after God’s Word. They were still worshipping God! They refused to let God’s SILENCE become a stumbling block.
"But If Not" Faith
Sometimes we inwardly long for a faith that will move mountains. Perhaps we should long for a faith that will keep praying when we can’t see the answer? How about a faith to be content when you have been dealt a hardship? Or a faith to be satisfied when all around you people are getting the things you desire? How about a faith that will hold to God’s word even when years go by? Or a faith to keep serving in the SILENCE? That is faith!
1. Daniel’s Three Friends (Dan. 3:18)
“But if not faith.” That is what three young Hebrew men had. You remember their story from the book of Daniel? Daniel’s three friends were about to be thrown in the fiery furnace. They were given a chance to recant their confession, but this was not an option for these young men of God. They told the king “our God is able to deliver us, but if not, we will still praise God anyway!” That is “but if not faith.”
2. Job (Job 13:15)
Job had that kind of faith. Here was a man who lost his home, his family, and his health. He lost it all. His friends forsook him. Even his wife! After all that he could say, “though He slay me ,yet I will trust in Him!” That is “but if not faith.”
There is a certain “Rose-Colored-Glass” theology today that has left many people disillusioned. The godly do suffer. Christians are not immune from life’s difficulties and heartbreaks. We serve Him in the tragedies and disappointments of life. We serve Him in our suffering, our sickness, and in the SILENCE. Why? Because he is our God! We are inseparably joined to God in Christ! There is a purpose in the silence and the silence won’t last forever.
3. The Heroes of the Faith (Heb. 11:39-40a)
Hebrews 11 is overflowing with people who served in the SILENCE. We often forget that it says about them that they never received their full reward. They died in faith. “And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better” (11:39-40a). Some of them died with their prayers unanswered. They served in the SILENCE.
Does it require more faith to trust God and be delivered from the fire then to trust God and go through the fire? All around and in every church there are living flesh and blood epistles that bear the engravings of deeds of great faith and perseverance. The pages of their lives may be tattered but their bindings have been sewn with God’s enabling grace. Some of you have experienced great personal tragedy. You have had every human excuse to give up on God a long time ago but you haven’t. You still keep serving in the SILENCE. Zechariah and Elizabeth were people of great faith. They stuck to it. They learned to serve God in the SILENCE.
Silence Doesn’t Last Forever
Faith knows the SILENCE doesn’t last forever. “While he was serving” (verse 8). Don’t miss what is happening. Zechariah is getting ready to hear from God. What if he had quit? What if he had given up? What if he had said, “God, there is nothing happening.” It was while he was serving that God spoke to him. God broke the SILENCE.
Perhaps our dullness of hearing is due to the fact that we are not in a position where we can hear from God? God speaks in the suffering and the serving. How often do we miss out on hearing God because in our trial we cease serving and worshipping God? It is difficult to steer a car when the engine is not running. Keep your ears open to heaven. The latter rains are coming! Trials are not the time to drop out. They are times to press in even closer to Christ.
One of the highest honors for a priest was to offer incense (Lk. 1: 9). This was done twice a day, when morning and evening sacrifices were made. This represented the prayers of the people. The priest who was to offer the incense was chosen by lot. Since there were probably around 1,000 priests in each division, being chosen to burn incense on this day was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Being selected for this honor would be about as likely as winning the power ball this week! However, when God wants to speak and act he opens doors that no man can shut. Zechariah means “God remembers” and Elizabeth means “God’s oath.” On this day, God was not only remembering Zechariah and Elizabeth, He was remembering His eternal covenant of redemption.
While Zechariah was worshipping and serving, the angel of the Lord (Gabriel, Lk. 1: 19) appeared. Zechariah was understandably afraid. Gabriel announced that they would have a son. Their SILENCE would be broken.
Luke 1: 14-17 emphasizes John the Baptist’s role in God’s redemptive plan. However, there was even a larger purpose at work. God was breaking into the SILENCE of the world and John would be the forerunner who would announce the coming Messiah - Jesus! The fullness of the time had arrived (Gal. 4:4-6).
It is encouraging in our trials to remember that the Lord is working out His eternal purposes. His answered prayers for us are ultimately for His kingdom purposes. The story is always bigger than us. God broke the SILENCE of Zechariah and Elizabeth. But more than this, God broke 400 years of SILENCE. He was about to fulfill the longing of the people for the Messiah!
Zechariah and Elizabeth were willing to be used by God, they learned that God’s “No” is not forever, and they were faithful to the Lord in spite of their circumstance. What about us? Will we continue to serve God no matter what? Will we serve Him in our suffering and in our sickness? Will we serve Him when things are not going the way we thought? Will we serve Him in the SILENCE? That is faith! That is the kind of faith needed today. The kind of faith that will serve in the SILENCE, knowing that the SILENCE will not last forever. What breakthrough could be just ahead to end your SILENCE and bring glory to God? You may never know until you learn to serve in the SILENCE.
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Scripture Reading: Luke 1:5-17
Focal Verse: “...But they had no child...” Luke 1:7
Background Passage: Malachi 4:4-6
The story of Zechariah and Elizabeth is one of great faith and hope. We find their account recorded in Luke chapter one. Verse 5 provides the setting for the story. The reference to “the days of Herod” reminds us that this was a dark time in the world. Herod had been appointed as King of the Jews by the Roman Senate in 40 B.C. Herod the Great was an evil man (see Matthew 2) and a paranoid tyrant who held on to his throne at all costs, even executing family members he felt were a threat to his power. His paranoia led him to kill one of his ten wives and three of his children! This is the same Herod who had the children two years and younger in Bethlehem put to death.
Lights In The Darkness
In contrast to such a wicked person was a “priest named Zechariah...and his wife...Elizabeth.” They were two shining lights in a dark and crooked world. Zechariah was one of many priests in the days of Christ. From the time of David, in the Old Testament, the priests were divided into 24 courses or divisions, approximately 20,000 priests. All of the priests served during the three great Hebrew festivals: Pentecost, Feast of Tabernacles, and Passover. The remainder of each year each division served two periods of one week each. Zechariah was only one of many in “the division of Abijah.” Abijah was one of the heads of the priestly families (see Neh. 12:17 and 1 Chron. 24:10). Elizabeth, a descendant of Aaron, was also of priestly lineage. Luke 1:6 provides two glimpses into the character of Zechariah and Elizabeth which allowed them to shine in the darkness.
1. Righteous (On how a person is made righteous, see Gal. 2:16; 2 Cor. 5:21)
First, “they were both righteous before God.” To be righteous means to be just, to be in a right relationship with God. God declared them righteous by faith.
2. Obedient
Second, they walked in “all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” They “remembered” God’s law (see Mal. 4:4). The word walk in Scripture has to do with a person’s life, especially their conduct. Zechariah and Elizabeth conducted their life according to God’s Word. They patterned their lives after the divine standard. Biblical righteousness is an inward quality that manifests itself in obedience to God’s word
Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous in their character, they were obedient to God’s word in their conduct, and they were steadfast in their confession of faith. They were committed to living out (expressing) their faith. What a testimony of faithfulness! Do we stand righteous before God? Right with God and right in our character? Are we patterning our lives after God’s standard? Do we give consistent and visible expression to our faith?
"But They Had No Child"
3. Childless
Verse 7 provides the first hint of tension in the story, but with it’s revelation we have a theological bombshell dropped which shatters the otherwise perfect world of Zechariah and Elizabeth. “But they had no child.” For a Jewish couple to be childless was thought to be a sign of God’s displeasure. At the very least, it resulted in shame and reproach (Lk. 1:25). To be barren was considered to be a tragedy, personally and socially. Why did they have no child? Elizabeth was barren (lit. sterile) and they were both beyond the age to have children, humanly speaking.
We can be sure they tried to have children for many years. It was probably always on their minds. It was a desire of their hearts. It was their constant prayer request. They tried, they longed for, and they prayed, but all they heard was SILENCE.
Some of you have known that kind of heartbreak. Longing for a child. Praying. Waiting. But only hearing SILENCE. What do you do when God is silent? How do you respond to God’s silence? Zechariah and Elizabeth could have reacted in anger and bitterness. Certainly all their friends had little ones running around. They watched their neighbors kids grow up while they grew old. While their friends counted their kids birthdays, Zechariah and Elizabeth counted wrinkles and saw their dreams of a family fade into time.
What do you do when your dream dies? What do you do when Tragedy strikes? What do you do when you stand on God’s word and nothing happens? Did not God say that he would give us the desires of our heart? What do you do when He does not? You can get angry, bitter, and jealous. You can even give up on God.
“But they had no child.” Insert your situation here. “But he had cancer.” “But they had a divorce.” “But they had big dreams that didn’t come to pass.” Do you know what Zechariah and Elizabeth did? They continued serving God even in the SILENCE.
Nothing had changed except the passage of time. Zechariah and Elizabeth still were steadfast in their devotion to God. Why? They did not let their personal tragedy keep them from loving and serving God. Nothing had changed. They were still right before God. They were still patterning their life after God’s Word. They were still worshipping God! They refused to let God’s SILENCE become a stumbling block.
"But If Not" Faith
Sometimes we inwardly long for a faith that will move mountains. Perhaps we should long for a faith that will keep praying when we can’t see the answer? How about a faith to be content when you have been dealt a hardship? Or a faith to be satisfied when all around you people are getting the things you desire? How about a faith that will hold to God’s word even when years go by? Or a faith to keep serving in the SILENCE? That is faith!
1. Daniel’s Three Friends (Dan. 3:18)
“But if not faith.” That is what three young Hebrew men had. You remember their story from the book of Daniel? Daniel’s three friends were about to be thrown in the fiery furnace. They were given a chance to recant their confession, but this was not an option for these young men of God. They told the king “our God is able to deliver us, but if not, we will still praise God anyway!” That is “but if not faith.”
2. Job (Job 13:15)
Job had that kind of faith. Here was a man who lost his home, his family, and his health. He lost it all. His friends forsook him. Even his wife! After all that he could say, “though He slay me ,yet I will trust in Him!” That is “but if not faith.”
There is a certain “Rose-Colored-Glass” theology today that has left many people disillusioned. The godly do suffer. Christians are not immune from life’s difficulties and heartbreaks. We serve Him in the tragedies and disappointments of life. We serve Him in our suffering, our sickness, and in the SILENCE. Why? Because he is our God! We are inseparably joined to God in Christ! There is a purpose in the silence and the silence won’t last forever.
3. The Heroes of the Faith (Heb. 11:39-40a)
Hebrews 11 is overflowing with people who served in the SILENCE. We often forget that it says about them that they never received their full reward. They died in faith. “And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better” (11:39-40a). Some of them died with their prayers unanswered. They served in the SILENCE.
Does it require more faith to trust God and be delivered from the fire then to trust God and go through the fire? All around and in every church there are living flesh and blood epistles that bear the engravings of deeds of great faith and perseverance. The pages of their lives may be tattered but their bindings have been sewn with God’s enabling grace. Some of you have experienced great personal tragedy. You have had every human excuse to give up on God a long time ago but you haven’t. You still keep serving in the SILENCE. Zechariah and Elizabeth were people of great faith. They stuck to it. They learned to serve God in the SILENCE.
Silence Doesn’t Last Forever
Faith knows the SILENCE doesn’t last forever. “While he was serving” (verse 8). Don’t miss what is happening. Zechariah is getting ready to hear from God. What if he had quit? What if he had given up? What if he had said, “God, there is nothing happening.” It was while he was serving that God spoke to him. God broke the SILENCE.
Perhaps our dullness of hearing is due to the fact that we are not in a position where we can hear from God? God speaks in the suffering and the serving. How often do we miss out on hearing God because in our trial we cease serving and worshipping God? It is difficult to steer a car when the engine is not running. Keep your ears open to heaven. The latter rains are coming! Trials are not the time to drop out. They are times to press in even closer to Christ.
One of the highest honors for a priest was to offer incense (Lk. 1: 9). This was done twice a day, when morning and evening sacrifices were made. This represented the prayers of the people. The priest who was to offer the incense was chosen by lot. Since there were probably around 1,000 priests in each division, being chosen to burn incense on this day was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Being selected for this honor would be about as likely as winning the power ball this week! However, when God wants to speak and act he opens doors that no man can shut. Zechariah means “God remembers” and Elizabeth means “God’s oath.” On this day, God was not only remembering Zechariah and Elizabeth, He was remembering His eternal covenant of redemption.
While Zechariah was worshipping and serving, the angel of the Lord (Gabriel, Lk. 1: 19) appeared. Zechariah was understandably afraid. Gabriel announced that they would have a son. Their SILENCE would be broken.
Luke 1: 14-17 emphasizes John the Baptist’s role in God’s redemptive plan. However, there was even a larger purpose at work. God was breaking into the SILENCE of the world and John would be the forerunner who would announce the coming Messiah - Jesus! The fullness of the time had arrived (Gal. 4:4-6).
It is encouraging in our trials to remember that the Lord is working out His eternal purposes. His answered prayers for us are ultimately for His kingdom purposes. The story is always bigger than us. God broke the SILENCE of Zechariah and Elizabeth. But more than this, God broke 400 years of SILENCE. He was about to fulfill the longing of the people for the Messiah!
Zechariah and Elizabeth were willing to be used by God, they learned that God’s “No” is not forever, and they were faithful to the Lord in spite of their circumstance. What about us? Will we continue to serve God no matter what? Will we serve Him in our suffering and in our sickness? Will we serve Him when things are not going the way we thought? Will we serve Him in the SILENCE? That is faith! That is the kind of faith needed today. The kind of faith that will serve in the SILENCE, knowing that the SILENCE will not last forever. What breakthrough could be just ahead to end your SILENCE and bring glory to God? You may never know until you learn to serve in the SILENCE.
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Sunday, November 29, 2009
"Don't Miss the Party!" Luke 15:25-32
A sermon preached at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs, LA on Sunday, November 29, 2009 by Pastor Joe Alain.
“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him” (Luke 15:28)
Scripture Reading: Luke 15:25-32
The older brother. On the outside he was everything a father could want in a son. But on the inside he was sour and hollow. Overcome by jealousy. Consumed by anger. Blinded by bitterness. He is the real prodigal son. And yet who would ever have known it? He looked so right. He played by the rules and paid all his dues. He kept his room straight. He kept his nose clean, he was the loyal and dutiful son. While his brother was sowing his wild oats, he stayed home and sowed the crops.
The younger son had broken his father’s heart. He had squandered his inheritance in prodigal (wasteful) living. But he came to his senses (v.17) and he came back home where his father welcomed him with open arms. The father threw a thanksgiving feast, one to remember (v.23).
But the older brother was not all too happy that his little brother was welcomed back by dad with open arms and given a homecoming party, a thanksgiving feast. The older brother meticulously followed his father’s rules. He never ran away from home. He never blatantly asked his father for his share of the future inheritance. He never squandered the family farm on sinful living. By all appearances he was the model son. However, appearances can be deceivingly deadly. The older son never left his father’s house but his heart had.
Remember, the Pharisees (religious rulers) are hearing Jesus tell this story (Lk. 15:1). The older brother, like the religious rulers, is religious but lost, meticulously observant but joyless, outwardly churchgoing but inwardly a hypocrite. The religious people of Jesus’ day, like today, thought that they could make themselves righteous before God. They majored on the external matters of religion but their hearts were cold and indifferent. Jesus said about the Pharisees and Scribes that they “honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matt. 15:8). What a shock it was to them when Jesus said that tax collectors and prostitutes were entering the kingdom (being saved) while they were shutting themselves out (Matt. 21:31).
The real prodigal of the story is the older brother. There is more hope for a prodigal son or daughter who knows that they have sinned and need God’s forgiveness than there is for the self-righteous religious person who has never sensed their sin, guilt, and helpless estate before God (Lk. 15:7; Mk. 2:17; Matt. 9:10-13). You have to know that you’re lost before you can be found – saved! The younger son knew that he was lost, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you” (v.18). Because he repented of his sin, he was restored by the father – he was found. However, his older brother never saw how his heart was filled with anger, bitterness, self-righteousness, pride, and a loveless and legalistic spirit.
Let’s be honest, from a human standpoint, it’s not to difficult for us to understand why the older brother was angry (v.28). We can easily identify with him. “So this is how a son gets recognition in this family! Get drunk and squander all of the family money and you get a party!” The older brother is furious and refuses to participate in the homecoming thanksgiving feast, so he sits outside and pouts and misses the party.
We are told that the day the younger son came home, the older brother had been working out in the fields. When he came home that evening “he heard music and dancing” (v.25). It was obvious that a party was going on and he didn’t know anything about it. He had to ask one of the servants “what was going on” (v.26). This story intimates the distance between the older son and his father. The older son was in the father’s house, but he didn’t know the longing of his father. He didn’t have the father’s heart. The older son was a son but a son from a distance.
You can be a Christian like that. In the Father’s house, having access to Him and all that He has, and yet knowing Him from an impersonal distance. Not really knowing Him, not knowing His longings – His will. Not really knowing His heart. How can this be? Because like the older son our relationship with our Father can be superficial at best or non-existent at worst. In the Father’s house, but not knowing the Father. Serving the Father out of duty rather than delight. Obedient but not joyful. Proper but not pure. Religious but having no relationship.
The younger brother did not deserve the Father’s love. He did not merit a party! What he deserved was punishment for his waywardness. What he deserved was a stern rebuke from his father. He deserved naked shame not a robe; he deserved a whip not a ring; he deserved bread and water not a fatted calf; he deserved probation not restoration.
The younger son did not get one thing that he deserved! And of course that’s the whole point of grace. You do not get what you deserve, but you do get what you need! It appears that both sons spent some time in the hog pen. One in the pen of rebellion – the other in the pen of self-pity. The younger brother has come home, the older brother is still in the far country. He’s bitter and he’s pouting and he’s shouting inside “It’s not fair!”
How inviting are the self-made dungeons of bitterness. The call from the dark caves beckon us daily to enter. The truth is, we have all had enough hurt to be bitter. We have all had enough trials to turn us away from God. We have all had enough disappointments to detour us from walking with God. We have all had enough people to hurt us to become angry and bitter. Bitterness often comes from the various trials that we all experience simply because of our humanity. “Why me Lord?” “Why did my loved one have to die?” “Why my child, Lord?” “What went wrong in my family?” “God, why do you not answer me?” “Lord, do you even care?” “Lord, will things ever be normal again?”
Bitterness often sets in because of our imperfect human relationships. Others let us down, betray our trust. People do not always meet our expectations, we become hurt.
The older son is a prisoner, a prisoner of his mind. Bitterness and broken dreams hold him captive. He has the key but he’s not free. His father pleaded with him to come out of his dungeon and to join the party – but bitterness keeps you from enjoying God’s party of grace. Bitterness says “I have a right to be mad. I am going to just sit here and sulk. I’ll throw my own party – a pity party and the guest list will be me, my and I.”
What is the cure for this curse of bitterness? It has everything to do with what we are celebrating today. In the Lord’s Supper we are celebrating the sweetness of God’s grace demonstrated to us in the cross of Jesus Christ. This is what we celebrate today in the Lord’s Supper. The cross of Christ makes the bitter sweet again! The cross of Christ has the power to redeem us from our self-imposed prisons of sin and bitterness and make us free.
There is an interesting account in Exodus 15:23-25. The people of God have been freed from Egypt but they are not yet in the promised land. They have traveled for three days without finding water (v.22). They eventually came to some water but they could not drink it because it was bitter, this is why the place was called Marah which means bitter (v.23). God gave Moses some unusual instructions, to place a tree branch into the bitter waters. When he did the water became sweet and pleasant (v.25). The cross of Jesus Christ plunged into the pool of sinful humanity makes the bitter sweet.
God’s grace is able to wash away a life of bitterness (“many years,” v.29). The tragedy of bitterness is that bitter people forget what they have. Instead they focus on what they do not have or what they lost. The father reminded the older son that he had everything he’d always wanted. He had his job, his place, his name, his inheritance – he had it all. Bitterness makes you remember things you should forget and forget the things you should remember.
Today, God says remember what you should remember and forget that which you should forget. Today is a day of celebration of God’s grace. It’s a time to remember what God has done in Christ and rejoice. And God says to you, “Don’t Miss the Party! You are invited.” God invites you to bring Him your hurts, your anger, your bitterness, your sins. When you do that, the cross of Christ sweetens the bitter soul. Why continue to drink the waters of bitterness when you can be refreshed today by God’s sweet grace?
God invites you to join the celebration, to experience His grace in a meaningful way today. As you take of the bread and of the cup, remember the cross of Christ, remember the price that was paid, remember God’s amazing grace in your life. If you’ve never experienced God’s saving grace, God invites you to the cross, the cross which transforms our bitter lives into works of amazing grace.
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him” (Luke 15:28)
Scripture Reading: Luke 15:25-32
The older brother. On the outside he was everything a father could want in a son. But on the inside he was sour and hollow. Overcome by jealousy. Consumed by anger. Blinded by bitterness. He is the real prodigal son. And yet who would ever have known it? He looked so right. He played by the rules and paid all his dues. He kept his room straight. He kept his nose clean, he was the loyal and dutiful son. While his brother was sowing his wild oats, he stayed home and sowed the crops.
The younger son had broken his father’s heart. He had squandered his inheritance in prodigal (wasteful) living. But he came to his senses (v.17) and he came back home where his father welcomed him with open arms. The father threw a thanksgiving feast, one to remember (v.23).
But the older brother was not all too happy that his little brother was welcomed back by dad with open arms and given a homecoming party, a thanksgiving feast. The older brother meticulously followed his father’s rules. He never ran away from home. He never blatantly asked his father for his share of the future inheritance. He never squandered the family farm on sinful living. By all appearances he was the model son. However, appearances can be deceivingly deadly. The older son never left his father’s house but his heart had.
Remember, the Pharisees (religious rulers) are hearing Jesus tell this story (Lk. 15:1). The older brother, like the religious rulers, is religious but lost, meticulously observant but joyless, outwardly churchgoing but inwardly a hypocrite. The religious people of Jesus’ day, like today, thought that they could make themselves righteous before God. They majored on the external matters of religion but their hearts were cold and indifferent. Jesus said about the Pharisees and Scribes that they “honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Matt. 15:8). What a shock it was to them when Jesus said that tax collectors and prostitutes were entering the kingdom (being saved) while they were shutting themselves out (Matt. 21:31).
The real prodigal of the story is the older brother. There is more hope for a prodigal son or daughter who knows that they have sinned and need God’s forgiveness than there is for the self-righteous religious person who has never sensed their sin, guilt, and helpless estate before God (Lk. 15:7; Mk. 2:17; Matt. 9:10-13). You have to know that you’re lost before you can be found – saved! The younger son knew that he was lost, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you” (v.18). Because he repented of his sin, he was restored by the father – he was found. However, his older brother never saw how his heart was filled with anger, bitterness, self-righteousness, pride, and a loveless and legalistic spirit.
Let’s be honest, from a human standpoint, it’s not to difficult for us to understand why the older brother was angry (v.28). We can easily identify with him. “So this is how a son gets recognition in this family! Get drunk and squander all of the family money and you get a party!” The older brother is furious and refuses to participate in the homecoming thanksgiving feast, so he sits outside and pouts and misses the party.
We are told that the day the younger son came home, the older brother had been working out in the fields. When he came home that evening “he heard music and dancing” (v.25). It was obvious that a party was going on and he didn’t know anything about it. He had to ask one of the servants “what was going on” (v.26). This story intimates the distance between the older son and his father. The older son was in the father’s house, but he didn’t know the longing of his father. He didn’t have the father’s heart. The older son was a son but a son from a distance.
You can be a Christian like that. In the Father’s house, having access to Him and all that He has, and yet knowing Him from an impersonal distance. Not really knowing Him, not knowing His longings – His will. Not really knowing His heart. How can this be? Because like the older son our relationship with our Father can be superficial at best or non-existent at worst. In the Father’s house, but not knowing the Father. Serving the Father out of duty rather than delight. Obedient but not joyful. Proper but not pure. Religious but having no relationship.
The younger brother did not deserve the Father’s love. He did not merit a party! What he deserved was punishment for his waywardness. What he deserved was a stern rebuke from his father. He deserved naked shame not a robe; he deserved a whip not a ring; he deserved bread and water not a fatted calf; he deserved probation not restoration.
The younger son did not get one thing that he deserved! And of course that’s the whole point of grace. You do not get what you deserve, but you do get what you need! It appears that both sons spent some time in the hog pen. One in the pen of rebellion – the other in the pen of self-pity. The younger brother has come home, the older brother is still in the far country. He’s bitter and he’s pouting and he’s shouting inside “It’s not fair!”
How inviting are the self-made dungeons of bitterness. The call from the dark caves beckon us daily to enter. The truth is, we have all had enough hurt to be bitter. We have all had enough trials to turn us away from God. We have all had enough disappointments to detour us from walking with God. We have all had enough people to hurt us to become angry and bitter. Bitterness often comes from the various trials that we all experience simply because of our humanity. “Why me Lord?” “Why did my loved one have to die?” “Why my child, Lord?” “What went wrong in my family?” “God, why do you not answer me?” “Lord, do you even care?” “Lord, will things ever be normal again?”
Bitterness often sets in because of our imperfect human relationships. Others let us down, betray our trust. People do not always meet our expectations, we become hurt.
The older son is a prisoner, a prisoner of his mind. Bitterness and broken dreams hold him captive. He has the key but he’s not free. His father pleaded with him to come out of his dungeon and to join the party – but bitterness keeps you from enjoying God’s party of grace. Bitterness says “I have a right to be mad. I am going to just sit here and sulk. I’ll throw my own party – a pity party and the guest list will be me, my and I.”
What is the cure for this curse of bitterness? It has everything to do with what we are celebrating today. In the Lord’s Supper we are celebrating the sweetness of God’s grace demonstrated to us in the cross of Jesus Christ. This is what we celebrate today in the Lord’s Supper. The cross of Christ makes the bitter sweet again! The cross of Christ has the power to redeem us from our self-imposed prisons of sin and bitterness and make us free.
There is an interesting account in Exodus 15:23-25. The people of God have been freed from Egypt but they are not yet in the promised land. They have traveled for three days without finding water (v.22). They eventually came to some water but they could not drink it because it was bitter, this is why the place was called Marah which means bitter (v.23). God gave Moses some unusual instructions, to place a tree branch into the bitter waters. When he did the water became sweet and pleasant (v.25). The cross of Jesus Christ plunged into the pool of sinful humanity makes the bitter sweet.
God’s grace is able to wash away a life of bitterness (“many years,” v.29). The tragedy of bitterness is that bitter people forget what they have. Instead they focus on what they do not have or what they lost. The father reminded the older son that he had everything he’d always wanted. He had his job, his place, his name, his inheritance – he had it all. Bitterness makes you remember things you should forget and forget the things you should remember.
Today, God says remember what you should remember and forget that which you should forget. Today is a day of celebration of God’s grace. It’s a time to remember what God has done in Christ and rejoice. And God says to you, “Don’t Miss the Party! You are invited.” God invites you to bring Him your hurts, your anger, your bitterness, your sins. When you do that, the cross of Christ sweetens the bitter soul. Why continue to drink the waters of bitterness when you can be refreshed today by God’s sweet grace?
God invites you to join the celebration, to experience His grace in a meaningful way today. As you take of the bread and of the cup, remember the cross of Christ, remember the price that was paid, remember God’s amazing grace in your life. If you’ve never experienced God’s saving grace, God invites you to the cross, the cross which transforms our bitter lives into works of amazing grace.
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
Monday, November 23, 2009
Coming Home Again: A Thanksgiving to Remember Luke 15:11-22
“‘Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found’” (Lk. 15:23b-24)
A Thanksgiving sermon preached November 22, 2009 at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs by Pastor, Joe Alain.
Scripture Reading: Luke 15:11-24
Thanksgiving is a time of celebration and family and creating special memories. Sometimes those memories involve Thanksgiving disasters. Maybe it was your first Thanksgiving turkey and you left the giblets and the neck in the turkey, or maybe it was the time that you almost burned down the house when you drop kicked your bird in the deep fryer, or you may have had an experience like Sharlene’s daughter who decided to host thanksgiving at her house with all her relatives.
Sharlene writes we were just about to start the day with preparing the turkey. My daughter placed the turkey in the oven and accidentally pushed the self clean button, where the oven locks itself while it cleans the oven at blistering temperatures. No one noticed until we checked on the turkey a few hours later. When we did, we found that we could not get the oven open, nothing seemed to work. The men began to bring out their screw drivers and drills in an attempt to salvage the bird. But in the end when we finally did get it out, the oven was destroyed but we had a very clean turkey!
Thanksgiving is a time to make some memories, hopefully not tragic ones. Thanksgiving is a time to remember and a time to come home again, even if for some of us we can only do that in our minds eye. Coming home again is the theme of the parable of the prodigal son (Lk. 15:11-24). But the story might be more appropriately called the parable of the loving father. Here is a deeply moving story of tragedy and triumph, of guilt and God’s wonderful grace, of heartbreak and homecoming, and of brokenness and thankfulness. It’s a story that tells us of a God with open arms, a God who welcomes us back home into His house.
In the story we are told of a man who had two sons (Lk. 15:11). The youngest hit his dad up for the future college savings fund. It wasn’t long before the money was burning a hole in his pocket and he moved off to the big city (Lk. 15:12). You can sense the ingratitude of this young man when he says to his father, “give me” as if he is owed something. It was in the far country that the son wasted his inheritance with “prodigal (wasteful) living.” He was restless. He had no good reason to go. He had a good family, a loving father, and a faith, but he was ready to cast all that aside. Young and impatient, he had to have it now! The father gave him what he wanted but when he got it, it was not what he wanted. Why did the father give this ungrateful son the inheritance and just let him go?
The father knew he could not make an ungrateful and rebellious son stay home when his heart was already gone. The young man’s restless heart led him down a rebellious path. It is true that where your heart is your body will soon follow. He wanted out of his father’s house – no more rules, no more 10:00 p.m. curfews, no more chores, no more responsibilities. Young, arrogant, loaded with cash, but naive, he was confident that he was not going to stumble and fall. Maybe others would falter but he wouldn’t, so he thought. In the far country the beer was flowing, the dice were rolling, and the people in the far country were pretty friendly, they were the kind of friends that attach themselves like leeches to the inexperienced, the naive, the wealthy. I can imagine that they hung on his every word. He was a star in the far country. But it wasn’t long before the wine, women, and songs were all gone. Before he knew it, he had squandered his inheritance. He blew his 401K in a pleasure – crazed blink of an eye in the Vegas of his day.
Where were his friends now? When the money was gone, they deserted him like he had the plague. They didn’t return his phone calls. He had become “Unfriended.” If you did not already know this little tid bit of useless information, New Oxford American’s Dictionary word of the year for 2009 is “Unfriend.” The verb “unfriend” refers to the act of deleting someone from one’s list of acquaintances on Facebook. In his moral and economic collapse this man was unfriended, deleted out of existence. “If one falls down, his friend can help him up. [Solomon tells us] But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” (Ecc. 4:10).
On top of his financial collapse and moral failure there was a severe famine in the land (Lk. 15: 14). When it rains it pours. The progression downward had run its full course. What began with a restless heart led to rebellion which brought the young man into ruin. There’s always a price to pay when you go into the far country. He was destitute (Lk. 15:14); Without money, without food, without a home, without any friends. In an act of desperation he joined himself to a citizen of the far country and he found himself in of all unlikely and unJewish places, the pigpen. Trudging along in a hogpen is a vivid picture of sin’s degrading effects (Lk. 15:16). This child of God who is destined for the kingdom is floundering in hog slop.
Proverbs 14:14 reminds us of the awful effects of sin’s sowing: “The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways . . .” When we live independently from God, we get what we can do. It has been said that “sin will take you farther than you want to go. It will keep you longer than you want to stay. It will cost you more than you want to pay.” This young man never planned on ending up in the hogpen – no one ever does. Sin cost him everything! He lost his family. He lost his inheritance. He lost his friends. And he lost his own dignity. But then something wonderful happened – it was “Amazing Grace!”
There is nothing quite comparable to the beautiful words that were expressed by the son when the Bible says “he came to himself” (v.17) “He came to his senses” (NIV). How wonderful are these words for these are none other than the words of a man who is coming to terms with life as it can only be lived, in humility and in relationship with the creator God. This young man is right where he needs to be because “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Ps. 34:18). These are the words of a man who knows experientially both the brokenness of sin and the healing that comes through repentance. Perhaps the younger son’s greatest flaw was that he was stubborn and hard-headed. Like a horse that is useless until broken, so the rebellious son was recklessly out of control until broken by God.
What did it mean for the son to come to himself? For one thing it meant that he knew he had blown it – he had sinned, “I have sinned.” He knew that he was an ungrateful rebel. He took personal responsibility for his actions. He came to the place that we must all come to – the end of ourselves so that we can come to our selves. A once popular Christian song says “at the end of broken dreams He’s the open door.” Blessing comes to us in our brokenness. Brokeness is fertile soil for the fruit of repentance. There is a powerful warning in this simple story of ruin and redemption. It’s a warning associated with our free will. Because we are truly free, God will let us go into the far country. He will let you squander your days, weeks, and even years in prodigal living. He will let you go to the hogpen. Why? Because God is punishing you? Because He hates you? No, Because God really does love you.
God the Father knows that He cannot make a rebellious son or daughter stay when his or her heart is already gone. God wants us in His kingdom because of love. He wants us to freely love Him with all our heart, mind, and strength. He’s not assembling subjects to populate a celestial prison, He’s establishing a new kind of world, a world populated by those who have been redeemed by love.
It was tough love that the father demonstrated when he released his son. It would take the far country to cure the son of his basic sinful condition – ingratitude. In the far country, far away from the Father and the comforts of home, he realized for the very first time what he had lost. In the depths of brokenness he realized that his father loved him and that life was pretty good after all. Sometimes loss can jog us out of our discontent, our ingratitude. And if it takes the crushing of the far country to cure us of our ingratitude, then the experience of the far country will do us well. The far country changed the son. We know that because when he came home again he came back not as an ungrateful rebel but as a grateful true son. That is true repentance. In his brokenness he experienced redemption and he discovered the incredible gratitude that comes when one is lost and found.
On his way back to the father’s house he rehearsed his acceptance speech, a speech he would never deliver (Lk. 15:18-20). When the son was still a speck on the distant horizon his father saw him. How many sunrises and sunsets played out while the father still looked for his boy to come home? The father never stopped waiting for his son to return. Every day was “maybe today” day. When he finally saw his boy come home he had compassion and ran and hugged his son. No speech here, just tears of joy – “my son was dead and is alive” (Lk. 15:24). What do you do when the lost son returns home? The son didn’t need a lecture, the Holy Spirit had already done a fine job of that. It’s amazing how God’s voice can be heard so clearly far from the Father’s home, in the mire of a hogpen. What he needed to know and what he discovered was that his father still loved him and would welcome him back.
Did the young son deserve to come back? No. It was the grace and mercy of the father that restored the son. The truth is, none of us deserves salvation. None of us deserves the attention that God gives us. What we deserve is punishment for our foolish trips to the far country – judgement – but what we receive is mercy – forgiveness and a fresh new start. God’s grace (unmerited favor) makes it possible for prodigals to come home. Maybe you need that assurance today, the assurance that God loves you just as you are. He does love you just as you are, but He loves you too much to leave you the way that you are. You belong back in the Father’s house.
If it is difficult for people to come to God and be saved it is only difficult because people cannot comprehend and receive God’s love. The difficulty certainly does not lie with God. He is more than willing to save. There are no impossible cases for God. “He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him [Jesus Christ], since He ever lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25). As more than one preacher has put it, “Jesus can save from the uttermost to the guttermost.”
When the prodigal son came back home it was “A Thanksgiving to Remember!” There is “joy in heaven over one sinner who repents” (Lk. 15:7). When prodigals come home heaven throws a party. The son who came home was fully restored by his father. He was given a robe, a ring, a new pair of shoes, and a party (Lk. 15:22-23). When you come to Christ God begins to remove the stain of the hogpen. When you come home to God just as you are He won’t leave you just as you came – He cleans you up and gives you a brand new start. God is the God of the second chance. Jesus Christ restores us, He redeems us, He makes us sons and daughters of the kingdom (Jn. 1:12; Gal. 3:26-29). The prodigal son repented (turned away from) his sin; he was redeemed by the father; and as a result there was great rejoicing.
If you have repented of your sin and been redeemed, every day is a cause for rejoicing. Every day is a day of thanksgiving.
“Grattitude . . . goes beyond the “mine” and “thine” and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.”
– Henri J. M. Nouwen
Every day is a gift from God and an opportunity to live out your life in gratitude to God. Christian service flows from a heart that has been touched by God’s amazing grace. Our life, our service is showing gratitude to the God who loves us and who has saved us.
But perhaps some of you today are like this prodigal son, you are still in the “far country.” Your life is a mess! You made some bad decisions along the way and now the path you have traveled has led you to the hogpen. Maybe you’ve lost your family. You’ve lost your job. You’ve lost your friends. You’ve squandered and you’re mired in debt. You’ve even lost your own dignity. You’re not too far gone. You can come home again! You can come back to the God who welcomes the prodigals back into the father’s house. Your Father waits for you with open arms. You can come home again. Back in the Father’s house there is a feast of salvation awaiting you and “A Thanksgiving To Remember.”
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
A Thanksgiving sermon preached November 22, 2009 at Hebron Baptist Church, Denham Springs by Pastor, Joe Alain.
Scripture Reading: Luke 15:11-24
Thanksgiving is a time of celebration and family and creating special memories. Sometimes those memories involve Thanksgiving disasters. Maybe it was your first Thanksgiving turkey and you left the giblets and the neck in the turkey, or maybe it was the time that you almost burned down the house when you drop kicked your bird in the deep fryer, or you may have had an experience like Sharlene’s daughter who decided to host thanksgiving at her house with all her relatives.
Sharlene writes we were just about to start the day with preparing the turkey. My daughter placed the turkey in the oven and accidentally pushed the self clean button, where the oven locks itself while it cleans the oven at blistering temperatures. No one noticed until we checked on the turkey a few hours later. When we did, we found that we could not get the oven open, nothing seemed to work. The men began to bring out their screw drivers and drills in an attempt to salvage the bird. But in the end when we finally did get it out, the oven was destroyed but we had a very clean turkey!
Thanksgiving is a time to make some memories, hopefully not tragic ones. Thanksgiving is a time to remember and a time to come home again, even if for some of us we can only do that in our minds eye. Coming home again is the theme of the parable of the prodigal son (Lk. 15:11-24). But the story might be more appropriately called the parable of the loving father. Here is a deeply moving story of tragedy and triumph, of guilt and God’s wonderful grace, of heartbreak and homecoming, and of brokenness and thankfulness. It’s a story that tells us of a God with open arms, a God who welcomes us back home into His house.
In the story we are told of a man who had two sons (Lk. 15:11). The youngest hit his dad up for the future college savings fund. It wasn’t long before the money was burning a hole in his pocket and he moved off to the big city (Lk. 15:12). You can sense the ingratitude of this young man when he says to his father, “give me” as if he is owed something. It was in the far country that the son wasted his inheritance with “prodigal (wasteful) living.” He was restless. He had no good reason to go. He had a good family, a loving father, and a faith, but he was ready to cast all that aside. Young and impatient, he had to have it now! The father gave him what he wanted but when he got it, it was not what he wanted. Why did the father give this ungrateful son the inheritance and just let him go?
The father knew he could not make an ungrateful and rebellious son stay home when his heart was already gone. The young man’s restless heart led him down a rebellious path. It is true that where your heart is your body will soon follow. He wanted out of his father’s house – no more rules, no more 10:00 p.m. curfews, no more chores, no more responsibilities. Young, arrogant, loaded with cash, but naive, he was confident that he was not going to stumble and fall. Maybe others would falter but he wouldn’t, so he thought. In the far country the beer was flowing, the dice were rolling, and the people in the far country were pretty friendly, they were the kind of friends that attach themselves like leeches to the inexperienced, the naive, the wealthy. I can imagine that they hung on his every word. He was a star in the far country. But it wasn’t long before the wine, women, and songs were all gone. Before he knew it, he had squandered his inheritance. He blew his 401K in a pleasure – crazed blink of an eye in the Vegas of his day.
Where were his friends now? When the money was gone, they deserted him like he had the plague. They didn’t return his phone calls. He had become “Unfriended.” If you did not already know this little tid bit of useless information, New Oxford American’s Dictionary word of the year for 2009 is “Unfriend.” The verb “unfriend” refers to the act of deleting someone from one’s list of acquaintances on Facebook. In his moral and economic collapse this man was unfriended, deleted out of existence. “If one falls down, his friend can help him up. [Solomon tells us] But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” (Ecc. 4:10).
On top of his financial collapse and moral failure there was a severe famine in the land (Lk. 15: 14). When it rains it pours. The progression downward had run its full course. What began with a restless heart led to rebellion which brought the young man into ruin. There’s always a price to pay when you go into the far country. He was destitute (Lk. 15:14); Without money, without food, without a home, without any friends. In an act of desperation he joined himself to a citizen of the far country and he found himself in of all unlikely and unJewish places, the pigpen. Trudging along in a hogpen is a vivid picture of sin’s degrading effects (Lk. 15:16). This child of God who is destined for the kingdom is floundering in hog slop.
Proverbs 14:14 reminds us of the awful effects of sin’s sowing: “The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways . . .” When we live independently from God, we get what we can do. It has been said that “sin will take you farther than you want to go. It will keep you longer than you want to stay. It will cost you more than you want to pay.” This young man never planned on ending up in the hogpen – no one ever does. Sin cost him everything! He lost his family. He lost his inheritance. He lost his friends. And he lost his own dignity. But then something wonderful happened – it was “Amazing Grace!”
There is nothing quite comparable to the beautiful words that were expressed by the son when the Bible says “he came to himself” (v.17) “He came to his senses” (NIV). How wonderful are these words for these are none other than the words of a man who is coming to terms with life as it can only be lived, in humility and in relationship with the creator God. This young man is right where he needs to be because “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Ps. 34:18). These are the words of a man who knows experientially both the brokenness of sin and the healing that comes through repentance. Perhaps the younger son’s greatest flaw was that he was stubborn and hard-headed. Like a horse that is useless until broken, so the rebellious son was recklessly out of control until broken by God.
What did it mean for the son to come to himself? For one thing it meant that he knew he had blown it – he had sinned, “I have sinned.” He knew that he was an ungrateful rebel. He took personal responsibility for his actions. He came to the place that we must all come to – the end of ourselves so that we can come to our selves. A once popular Christian song says “at the end of broken dreams He’s the open door.” Blessing comes to us in our brokenness. Brokeness is fertile soil for the fruit of repentance. There is a powerful warning in this simple story of ruin and redemption. It’s a warning associated with our free will. Because we are truly free, God will let us go into the far country. He will let you squander your days, weeks, and even years in prodigal living. He will let you go to the hogpen. Why? Because God is punishing you? Because He hates you? No, Because God really does love you.
God the Father knows that He cannot make a rebellious son or daughter stay when his or her heart is already gone. God wants us in His kingdom because of love. He wants us to freely love Him with all our heart, mind, and strength. He’s not assembling subjects to populate a celestial prison, He’s establishing a new kind of world, a world populated by those who have been redeemed by love.
It was tough love that the father demonstrated when he released his son. It would take the far country to cure the son of his basic sinful condition – ingratitude. In the far country, far away from the Father and the comforts of home, he realized for the very first time what he had lost. In the depths of brokenness he realized that his father loved him and that life was pretty good after all. Sometimes loss can jog us out of our discontent, our ingratitude. And if it takes the crushing of the far country to cure us of our ingratitude, then the experience of the far country will do us well. The far country changed the son. We know that because when he came home again he came back not as an ungrateful rebel but as a grateful true son. That is true repentance. In his brokenness he experienced redemption and he discovered the incredible gratitude that comes when one is lost and found.
On his way back to the father’s house he rehearsed his acceptance speech, a speech he would never deliver (Lk. 15:18-20). When the son was still a speck on the distant horizon his father saw him. How many sunrises and sunsets played out while the father still looked for his boy to come home? The father never stopped waiting for his son to return. Every day was “maybe today” day. When he finally saw his boy come home he had compassion and ran and hugged his son. No speech here, just tears of joy – “my son was dead and is alive” (Lk. 15:24). What do you do when the lost son returns home? The son didn’t need a lecture, the Holy Spirit had already done a fine job of that. It’s amazing how God’s voice can be heard so clearly far from the Father’s home, in the mire of a hogpen. What he needed to know and what he discovered was that his father still loved him and would welcome him back.
Did the young son deserve to come back? No. It was the grace and mercy of the father that restored the son. The truth is, none of us deserves salvation. None of us deserves the attention that God gives us. What we deserve is punishment for our foolish trips to the far country – judgement – but what we receive is mercy – forgiveness and a fresh new start. God’s grace (unmerited favor) makes it possible for prodigals to come home. Maybe you need that assurance today, the assurance that God loves you just as you are. He does love you just as you are, but He loves you too much to leave you the way that you are. You belong back in the Father’s house.
If it is difficult for people to come to God and be saved it is only difficult because people cannot comprehend and receive God’s love. The difficulty certainly does not lie with God. He is more than willing to save. There are no impossible cases for God. “He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him [Jesus Christ], since He ever lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25). As more than one preacher has put it, “Jesus can save from the uttermost to the guttermost.”
When the prodigal son came back home it was “A Thanksgiving to Remember!” There is “joy in heaven over one sinner who repents” (Lk. 15:7). When prodigals come home heaven throws a party. The son who came home was fully restored by his father. He was given a robe, a ring, a new pair of shoes, and a party (Lk. 15:22-23). When you come to Christ God begins to remove the stain of the hogpen. When you come home to God just as you are He won’t leave you just as you came – He cleans you up and gives you a brand new start. God is the God of the second chance. Jesus Christ restores us, He redeems us, He makes us sons and daughters of the kingdom (Jn. 1:12; Gal. 3:26-29). The prodigal son repented (turned away from) his sin; he was redeemed by the father; and as a result there was great rejoicing.
If you have repented of your sin and been redeemed, every day is a cause for rejoicing. Every day is a day of thanksgiving.
“Grattitude . . . goes beyond the “mine” and “thine” and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.”
– Henri J. M. Nouwen
Every day is a gift from God and an opportunity to live out your life in gratitude to God. Christian service flows from a heart that has been touched by God’s amazing grace. Our life, our service is showing gratitude to the God who loves us and who has saved us.
But perhaps some of you today are like this prodigal son, you are still in the “far country.” Your life is a mess! You made some bad decisions along the way and now the path you have traveled has led you to the hogpen. Maybe you’ve lost your family. You’ve lost your job. You’ve lost your friends. You’ve squandered and you’re mired in debt. You’ve even lost your own dignity. You’re not too far gone. You can come home again! You can come back to the God who welcomes the prodigals back into the father’s house. Your Father waits for you with open arms. You can come home again. Back in the Father’s house there is a feast of salvation awaiting you and “A Thanksgiving To Remember.”
For His Glory!
Pastor Joe
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