Burdens Are Lifted (Luke 1: 5-17)

You know, I think. When I preach I thought a lot about my preaching Ministry. I just want to make sure that I'm doing everything that I can do to bless the body of Christ through the teaching that God has allowed me to do and I just thought I'd start off this morning with a little inside baseball some things I say about preaching that I don't normally say for instance every time I preach I almost always have three goals almost always have three goals. I'll always mention the first and sometimes I mentioned the second but I never mentioned I just thought I'd tell you what I'm shooting for and why this is an appropriate morning to mention that The first goal of every sermon is to get a better understanding and application of the text were looking at so last week. The stated goal was to understand 1st Peter 5:7 how that relates to elders and The Honorable life that we are called to live. The first goal of the sermon is always to illuminate the text that we're studying. The second goal if you're in a series is to always put the text this morning's text in the larger context. So last week the goal was to understand 1st Peter chapter 5 the first goal in relation to the message of 1st Peter. So we not only walk away with an application of that text but an apple and understanding of the broader attacked the broader passage it comes from but the third the goal I never mention is. I'm hoping that when people listen to our sermons. They themselves learn how to study the Bible.

I'm hoping that as we listen to the sermons and see how we built them in the things we observe that we say I could do that. This is a clue on how I should be reading the scripture. The first goal is a cheat if you do it, well is achieved in the Sunday you're preaching. It's a Sunday goal the second goal. If you do it well is achieved in the series not The Sunday, but the series 1st Peter for instance Advent for instance. But the circle can only be achieved not in the Sunday not in the series but in a season. You have to come to the church for several years before it begins to percolate in on how we study the scriptures know. Why am I mentioning this all this morning? Because I think for some of us for the for the for some of us here this morning, they'll notice that this sermon is very different than last week's it's a different style. It's a different Tanner. It's a different pace last week. I'm showing the words and I'm circling the words and I'm drawing your attention to pronouns. They look everybody pronoun plural. These ones are singular and this morning. I'm not going to do any of that. This morning. I'm not going to put the text up on the screen. I'm not going to circle any words. We don't talk about any pronouns the whole idea of singular or plural doesn't even show up. And I'm hoping someone says why is that why would he preached so it wasn't in a different mood when he built the sermon it's not that at all a good preacher follows the Contour of the passage. I don't get to pick the style the text pixiz the style last week. We were in an epistle. The meaning of the epistle is in the actual words. It's in the teaching and send a tenses of the verbs and the plural or singular of the pronoun. That's where the meaning is this week. We're in a very different portion scripture. It's not an epistle. It's a narrative. And when you preached a narrative you have to preach at a different style because the the meaning is not primarily in the order of the words. It's in the story itself. And so I'm hoping that if you came to a church for a year or two years or 5 years that you would see how preaching follows the Contour of the text and that's a clue on our own personal reading. We read Epistles very different than we read narrative and this morning were in a narrative and so we're going to look at the story. Evan the story we see actors Herod. He's just mentioned in our passage, but we know from experience that Herod really plays big. He's the one that received the wise man. He's the one that killed the babies in Bethlehem. He has a big role to play. We see Zachariah. He's the priest that walks in and our story this morning. We see the angel. He's the one that he ain't the angel was the one that Zacharias he's when he's in the holy of holies in the he's having a conversation with his Angel. The angel is telling them self. We learn about another character Elizabeth. That's zechariah's wife. We see the characters the actors in the story and as they move through the story there appear to be forces. The move the story along and cause it to play out the way it does. For instance. We see acts of men men and women making decisions that make the story play out the way it does Herod. For instance. We don't read too much about him in this passage, but we know from history that he was a ruthless man. He was a cunning man. It was a murderer. He murdered his own wife. He murdered many of his own children because he was paranoid about them trying to take over. The throne his active made him the person he is and he enters the story as that person. We see the acts of man. We also see the acts of man when we see that Zechariah is married to Elizabeth. I don't know whether Zacharia got down on one knee. I don't know whether it was arranged marriage, but people made decisions and it resulted in Zechariah and Elizabeth being married and that's necessary for the story to roll out the way it's going to roll out. We see coincidence. We see that Zachariah was selected by lot. They just threw a dice they just drew straws and Zacharias number came up Zacharias straw was pulled. It was just a coincidence that he was in the temple serving in this way on that day. We see God's command. The angel doesn't appear because he felt like appearing doesn't appear because he had a blind spot on his calendar and he was looking for something to do he appears because God told him to appear.

I'm here to tell you that although it looks like all these forces are at play and in some way they are. God uses them to bring his plan on time and on target. You would say it appears to me that herod's making independent decisions head appears to me that Zakaria just happened to Mary Elizabeth. It appears to me that his lot just came up. It appears to me that the angel appeared because God command I'm here to say that God is in control of everything the stuff that appears to be coincidence that the stuff that appears to be the the natural result of a active man the stuff that appears to be just random acts of his. Oh, I forgot random acts of history turn. Zechariah and Elizabeth are Baron not because of an active man not because of an actor coincidence. But because whatever the DNA the bile out biology just isn't working for them. Why did that be well some men are infertile some women are in for Thailand when I don't know it just happened. No, it didn't just happen. This is not a conflagration of Acts of men and random history and coincidence and the command this is history rolling out exactly the way God has caused it to God is always on time always on target from his point of view. The plan is executing perfect from our point of view. It appears that people are acting in crazy ways. And it appears that there's some coincidence going on with a beers that you don't some people have car accidents. Some people are Barren some people don't some people aren't whatever it just works out that way. No, this is all part of the plan of God, which is on time and on target. And you know, sometimes it doesn't feel that way because God's plan from our from his point of view. It's executed perfectly at exactly the right speed from our point of view. There are wild variations in the speed with which God executes. Sometimes God's plan appears to be on the slow plan. I'm thinking of is inside Egyptian. God says, don't worry. I'm going to deliver you and you know what God did twenty years after he made that promise. Nothing. I'm 20 years is a long time like 20 years is from 2000 to now or from now to 24 deep I said, hey, I got some really good for you. You just have to wait to 2040. How long how interested would you be? How excited would you be 20 years is a long time and God didn't wait 20 years or 40 or 80 or 160 / 320 400 years. Call Generations many generations have born than born lived and died. No movement known we started off my life enslaved in Egypt. I'm just about time for me to leave the scene. Guess where we are. Enslaved in Egypt. What are we to make of God's promises? Or even this morning story Zechariah walks into the temple and he sees the angel friends. That's the end of 400 years of waiting God promises a messiah but he's communicating. He's communicating by inspiring people to write the Old Testament and then the Old Testament closes. Probably Malachi was one of the last books read or written. By the way. The Old Testament is not strictly in chronological order. However, the last book Malachi probably was one of the last books written and then guess what God Said after Malachi. awesome 20 years a whole life time goes by God says nothing then not 20 40 + 80 + 160 and 300 years. God says nothing. Not we're in one but when we're in one of these slow times, we think God has lost interest. We think the plan has failed. We think that God has forgotten. No. No, it is executing at exactly the right pace. Sometimes the pace seems quite quick to us right after the 400 years of captivity Moses is on the scene. And when Moses is alive after he goes to Ferrell more happens in a week than happened in a generation like there's plagues and we're walking across the Red Sea woke up is on the fast print exactly the right pace I say that because that's what's happening in this morning's text. We've had 20 years of Silence 40 Years of Silence 80 years of Silence a hundred and sixty years of Silence 320 years of Silence 400 years of Silence. God is on this load plan. He's never going to speak again. But this morning it slips into gear and man. Does it Move Along? 33 years from this reading priced will have lived pot died and resurrected. We waited 400 years and then boom everything happens in 33 and for the first 30 years, but Jesus didn't have a Teaching Ministry at all kind of happened in 3 years. so is God's plan on the fast plan or on the slow plan it's just on the plan slow and fast are just our perceptions of it but I'm here to tell you God is always on time he is always on Target and God's plan from our point of view is about to slip into fast gear he is about to bring the Messiah and Daya substitutionary death by the way many people got it but next week we're going to talk about a group of people that didn't get it God's lips from what we would call slow gear in the fast gear the wise men got it The shepherd's got it. John the Baptist got it. The disciples got it the leaders of Israel missed it. Totally missed it will talk about that next week. So let's talk about the story. Kind of in three acts here at the one is vs. 527. I just called it the burden of Our Lives. An 527 were introduced to Zechariah and Elizabeth. We learn several things about them. They were righteous. But one of the things we learn straight off is that they were barren. And that's no accident. This is the burden of their lives. This is the thing that colors everything. They're on a keto diet. They drive a Chevrolet. Yeah, those are things but that isn't the thing the thing that they're big thing is they're bearing. comes up in almost every conversation everybody that knows them knows that that's the thing. This is the burden. This is the thing they think about everyday. They don't think about what they're going to eat. They don't think about what they drive. They don't think about the balance of their bank account or how the stock markets doing the burden of their life. Would they have been born into Is the fact that they are bearing and they desperately want a child. This is the burden of their lives. That is versus. 527 and just by way of application not ask you. What's your burden? What's the last thing? Yes, you drive a Toyota. Yes. You're going to Swiss Chalet for lunch. Those are both true, but that's not the thing. What's the burden? What's the thing that has marked us? What's the burden that we think about everyday? What's the thing that hurts so much? We can't stop hurting. What's the thing we want so much that we could just taste it. Everybody has a burden. And for Zachariah and Elizabeth the burden was baroness. And then we go into Act 2 of the story which is burden lifting day. You see how the story plays out Zacharias chosen by lot for some special duties. By the way, this is pretty amazing. You might think that there's a lot of coincidence in here. You know, we were talking with the forces Zachariah just happened to be know. There's five priests on duty. You knew that right there by 3. So he that 20% chance and he just know that's not true. We know a little bit about the priesthood in those days. There wasn't five. There was 18,000. And on average one of those 18 if you're one of the 18,000 on average you would be chosen to serve in the ceremony in the temple probably twice in your entire life.

And although they chose who goes into the holy of holies to burn the incense by lot. So you can't predict it but on average probably you would be chosen once in your life once in your life and wouldn't you know it and it just happened that today is the day for soccer right now. It didn't just happen. It didn't just happen. It appears to us as coincidence. It was not coincidence. It was burned lifting that he was chosen by lot, but he was chosen by God for this special meeting with an angel and when he sees the angel he's troubled and the angel promises to lift the burden and this is burden listing day. Today is the day and Zacharias life where that empty spot is going to be filled. Where that lifelong request is going to be answered. Where that deep longing is going to be satisfied.

And just as we entered a burden lifting day was Zechariah want to notice a couple of things is that it was a normal day. It was a normal 250 was no special prayer meetings. That was no special emphasis Zachariah woke up on this day. Just like any other day. It was special in the fact that there would be a ceremony was special in the fact that he would be selected but he was just acting out of a normal faithfulness until the angel. He had no idea that this was special Burden Burden lifting day. He had no idea. God often works out of routine. We just live our normal faithful lives and we wake up everyday thinking it's going to be pretty much like the others and often it is but sometimes it isn't there's no clues that today is or is not burden lifting day. We just need to be faithful. Zechariah and Elizabeth woke up on that day They carried out their normal duties. He went to the temple as net as usual. God interrupted the ordinary and made surprise today is burden lifting Day, by the way, that's a pattern in Scripture. Bartimaeus was just a beggar outside Jericho. And he woke up on a certain day and said well, I'm a big roadside Jericho. I guess I'll sit outside Jericho and beg he had no idea that today was going to be burden lifting day that Jesus was going to walk by and cure him. Give him site. Zacchaeus also curious new is it some big shots traveling through town pretty interesting and short I can't get the good look on him. I'm going to climb up a sycamore tree. He had no idea when he got out of bed that morning. He had no idea that. Was burden listing day. The woman at the well, she didn't go to the well because it was burned lifting day. She went to the world because we're out of water and is your job to go get the water and out of a normal faithfulness to her surprise. It became a day like no other it became burden lifting day.

and after burden lifting day It was a day of unexpected blessings. The burden is where Baron we don't have a child. Can you please give us a child? God listed that burden. And went so much further.

Zacharias and Elizabeth wanted a baby so that they could shower their love on this baby. Did they get a baby where they could shower their love? Yes, they did. But more than that. They got a baby that allow God to shower his love on the world. The scene burden was lifted with so much beyond that. We were just thinking it'd be nice to have a baby the week of Love turns out that this baby is a baby you can love and will also be the signal of love to the world that the 400 years of Silence has ended the Messiah has come the day of atonement is at hand.

Zacharias and Elizabeth one of the child that they could see themselves in. You know what? I don't want to embarrass anybody, but Dana was singing this morning and I was enjoying that and looking at her and I thought she looks a lot like her mom. What that's that's normal, you know, we're having grandchildren now and we say and we're digging out our baby pictures of our kids. I just looked exactly like Becca Zacharias and Elizabeth want someone who they can see themselves in and did they get that? Yes, but they got so much more. They got a baby that people could see God in.

That was catapulting God's plan to bring a savior To The World God lifted the burden that they saw but he lifted so much more unexpected blessings.

It's lost in our society, but at that time it was very important to continue the family name so important but it was critical then was Zacharias and Elizabeth see the line ending their married their older. No babies their line is going to end with them. They want someone that will carry their line on give their family significance. Did they get that? Yes, Jon was a male. He was in there family care either lying on but that's so much more. This is December 6th, 2020 and were talking about their family. What a Heritage in the Plan of Salvation that they have. It was burnt enlisting day. No more ring. I'm just being normally Faithful is just a day like any other surprise know what isn't today is burned lifting de Paul. You mean you're going to give me the baby I want yes and so much more OU going to meet the needs that I feel. Yes and so much more.

That's the story you don't have to go into tenses of pronouns to see that what's the meaning of the story was the application of the story by the way, it burn lifting date Ordinary Day unexpected blessings extraordinary blessings. I would just encourage us to think through four things one burdens are normal. Burdens are normal. Zacharias and Elizabeth were good people They were faithful people. And God bless them beyond belief with no problems. They came down off the Golden steps. Every morning lived a perfect life and then retired to their golden step. No no, no, no things didn't work out. They have realized dreams Burns or normal. Second thing I think we see in the story is the burdens are lifted in the midst of normal faithfulness very often without warning. You just wake up and you do your thing and you just keep on being faithful and today is burned lifting Day surprise. He'll never believe it but there's an angel in there waiting to talk to you and where do you hear what he has to say burdens and normal? And burdens are listed in the midst of normal faithfulness not because we normally have to seek them. Because we have been ceremonies that kind of compel God to do what we tell him to do. We're just living our life. We're just being faithful sometimes God surprises us and lifts burdens on a day that we thought was just a normal faithful day. The third thing I think we see in the story is the birth often listed in a way that blesses Beyond expectation. Be faithful in your burden friends be faithful don't give up don't give in. Be faithful because when God bless those burdens he very often list list them in a way that brings blessings that are not only greater than we anticipated there in a whole different category than we it's not like we wanted a baby and we got twins that's more in the same category. It's we wanted someone that we could see ourselves in and God said y'all give you that and I'm going to give you a baby that people could see God in amazing. And then the fourth thing we don't see in this story, but the preacher always needs to make sure that the that the text is in context and this is the context of the entire scripture sometimes burdens are not lifted. It would be a real mistake for the preacher to say what's your burden. Doesn't always do that. There are many burdens God chose not to lift because the greater blessing was in not lifting them.

let me give you two that I can think of Paul you may have heard of Paul he wrote oh I don't know half the New Testament faithful faithful and God worked in his life one time you was bitten by a poisonous snake. Just prevented from harming him he had miraculous escapes from jail visits from angels too and so when you think he could when he comes into God's office and said hey I got this Thorn In the Flesh a real burden to Ministry I could do so much more for you if you just take this burden God says no

No, I'm not going to. Burton. Paul says a second time. I really do have the sort of The Flash and all does it ever get in the way and I just kind of it's just a pain. If you I know we love each other. I know that you're all-powerful just take the

No, no, I decline. 1/3 time power comes to the Lord and says look, we really got to talk about this Thorn In the Flesh it is all I can think about is just a huge burden and you are after all God and you say let your requests be made known to God and I'm making it known please take this burden and God says no and we will never talk about this again

no and we never talk about this again the greater blessing That You Don't See Is In You owning the burden I would not be working in your best interest or the churches to relieve the burden those four messages And if I didn't have 6 minutes left, I could say well it's called it a day. That's the sermon that's how you preach a narrative Passage. But there are certain details in the text that if you wanted to take them home and look at them more clearly. I just want to I won't be teaching on any of those. I just want to point the way. Hey, I think I'd like to take 15217 home. That was kind of interesting. What else? Can I find? Here's something she'll find Verse 6 personal righteousness mean something. We saw this in 1st Peter many times, but when he's talking to her husband's a door and serve your wife. Are you listening to me husbands adore and serve your wife, that your prayers may not be hindered. God is Not passive. God Is Watching and he's taking names and keeping score a righteous life will not get you to heaven. It will not reconcile you to God, but when you've been already reconciled to God Faithful, holy service mean something. You'll notice when Zacharias described it the burden is in there cuz it's the burden of his life. It's what he constantly thinks about. But that's not what God leads with what God leads with is. This is a righteous man. This is a godly man. God notices your faithfulness personal righteousness mean something live righteous lives not because it'll reconcile us to God. It won't not because it'll earn salvation. It won't. But because it glorifies and honors our savior. First date I would just point out that Zachariah was serving as a priest with the burden.

Did you notice.

God won't give me the baby of it is not unreasonable to want a child everybody. Give me a child.

That's not Zacharias game. I made my request. He said no. Oh look at that. It's time for me to serve him and so are you off to the temple he goes? Zachariah didn't serve because the burden was lifted. He serve before the burden was lifted before he could even know that the burden was going to be lifted. He didn't serve for what he could get out of God. He serve because he love the Lord. Don't live a personally righteous life so that you'll have more leverage with the almighty. You have no leverage. I have no libridge. You're not going to negotiate him. We live a holy life is because we love them.

First nine. Did you notice that the lot falls on Zechariah? What a coincidence not a coincidence.

The lot is cast into the lap. That's the human point of you while I just I had the dice and I threw it. Is that true? Yes from your point of view. The many of the verses in Proverbs are doublet. So they have a phrase, another phrase that takes the opposite or reinforces. The first race here here is two different points of view the lot is cast into the lap. Yeah, I see that but what you need to know is when what you don't see with your eyes is that every decision is from the Lord?

What appears random to you is not random. part of my plan I'd encourage you to take another look at first 12 where he sees the angel and he's filled with fear here's what I want to point toad our society has given us a false view of the Unseen Realm a false view of Heaven a false view of Satan I don't have time if you're home of the summer but let me just say quickly Heaven is the place where we sit on clouds and play Harps that sounds like dead boring to me that is not heaven and angels are the little cherubs with little arrow you seen them and they have little arrows and they Cupid Angels aren't like that when you actually see the Unseen realm when people actually encounter Angels they are frightening they are massive they are strong they they make me feel at risk I would just take verse 12 and say do I have a Biblical view of the Unseen realm cuz everytime I get a glimpse they don't react he doesn't say all this another cute little baby with an arrow he says are you I'm out of here do we have a accurate view of the Unseen Realm

I would point you to vs 14 the angel says I'm going to give you a baby the God is about to do a work and noticed the results joy and gladness joy and gladness when God works it always brings joy and always brings gladness

I would point out to you first 15

his dad John's dad is set is told you're going to have a baby and he will quote be great before the Lord

that's what we need to email make 2021 the year where you became great before the Lord Luke 1 is a very long chapter the last versus like verse 8080 says that John would become Mighty and spirit that you know is there such a thing great before the Lord we tend to think of saved and unsaved of course that's true but within save there are those were great before the Lord there is always work Mighty in spirit that's what we're aiming at

I would just point out to you here's a great little personal Bible study look at verses 13 to 15 in there the angel says four things about John study each of them first of all he announces his name And if you're careful Bible reader, you know that's significant when God names a baby that's important. He named Ishmael. He named Isaac. He named John he named Jesus. This is this is a big deal when God himself names a baby. That means something specials happening while the angel brought a message from God and one of the names was one of the messages was as because what you going to name your baby. I'm not taking suggestions. This is what you're going to name your baby. First 13 verse 14. It's a response. I mentioned this before God is going to lift this burden. Then your response is going to be joy and gladness. By the way. This is really interesting to meditate on is going to be joining gladness. And you know, what happened? Of course, we'll John became a very wealthy business executive lived a life of luxury and had a wonderful family and no wonder joy and gladness. No, that's not it.

John lived in the wilderness and ate Locust never had a lot of money was the subject of persecution as a matter of fact John lost his life because he stood up for the biblical definition of marriage the biblical definition of marriage is being ruined in his day and he stood up and said this is how God defines marriage lost his head so where is the joy and gladness Oh, you have to take the longer view it sold it when I said joy and gladness. Did you hear Comfort? I didn't mean that so did you mean happiness the way you got? No, no. No, I meant the two thousand years later. Someone would be preaching on this because it was seeing the John was the Forerunner of the Son of God who took away the sins of the world and is going to come back and the government will that's the joy and gladness that I was talking about. We need to take a much longer of you. You know, I was going to be on time this morning, but just let me tell you this little story. About how selfish we can be in the subject of this selfishness is me six or seven weeks ago Bell wrote me a letter Bell Telephone wrote me letters at Hayward strolling 5 in your neighborhood going to dig up your lawn, but don't worry your pretty little head will fix it all when we're done. Well, I was out the day they came and I got back late afternoon when I come home to of my neighbors are sitting in lawn chairs on their front driveway. So I pull up a chair and say hey, can I join you? So we're talkin they said hey Belle was installing this they cut all the Rogers lines William A Rogers customer. So don't worry about it. We told them and they fix them all.

Well, I go into my house and my internet's not working. So the crew was still there and I say hey, I'm at 29 Calvin Court and my internet is not working. I'm glad you're here. You can fix it before you leave and they say I'm so sorry. Mr. Simon sisters are awful inconvenience. Here's $50 for your trouble and will fix it immediately. No, no, that's not what they said. I say my internet's out and they say when you're telling the snow. Yeah, I'm telling you now. Can you fix it? So snow are supervisors gone. Look, you got a shovel in your head you the shovel doesn't work when your supervisor is not here. I can't do that gets in his car and drives away. So I didn't have internet for a whole day. And then the second day and then Rogers came and fixed it and then 9 hours later. It went out again. And then I didn't have it for 4 days all those suffering. I can't control my online thermostat. I can't stream TV. I can't work from home. I can update the sermon slides from my home because I don't have an internet. We have such first world problems. John Leavitt hard life a very hard physical life and yet when God looks out of he says this is what I call Joy and gladness. 13 verse 13 the name verse 14 the response during Plaza 15 is the position of care physician in character notice how God describes who John is his character in position first 15 for he will be great before the Lord. He must not drink wine or strong drink and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. Even from his mother's womb. This is Amanda watch. 13 name 14 response 15 positioning character 16 Mission 16 and 17 mission And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. That's why he's being born. He's on a mission. He's got something to accomplish and you know what he's going to complish. He's going to turn many hearts towards the Lord and not only that he will also go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers to their children and to the disobedient of the width of the wisdom of the just and to make ready for the Lord of people prepared. I want to end there a people prepared many heard John's message.

And looked for the Messiah. And found him. But some didn't. They had every warning in the book and they still missed it. Who are these people and why did they miss it here? Just going to have to come to church next week.