By Rev. Dr. Brent Russett – Asbury Free Methodist
November 27th, 2022
Zachariah and Fear
Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Advent looks forward to Christmas when we celebrate the coming of Jesus. It is a season where we prepare our hearts to meet Jesus in fresh and new ways. I am hoping that this season encourages you to connect with Jesus in some deep and significant ways.
Over the next four Sundays of this advent season, I want to talk to you about fear. We are going to look through the eyes of different characters around the Christmas story and how they dealt with fear.
You heard Zachariah’s story read. The Bible records that he was gripped with fear. In future weeks we will look at Mary, to whom the angel had to speak the words fear not. Then there was Joseph, who the angels said, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife. Then there were the Shepherds who – I love this phrase, were sore afraid.
Fear is one of the themes that runs through the Christmas story. It has a way of running through the story of our life as well. Think of how much fear surrounded the season of Covid. My guess is that you have to deal with fear regularly. Yet, in the Christmas story, we see God explaining his perspective on life. He seems to always be reiterating, fear not. Don’t be afraid; do not fear.
Back a number of years ago, I graduated from the Arrow Leadership Program. There were 27 people in our class, selected from among the top 10% of Christian leaders from across the country. As we were leaving the program, we were gathered together and asked to state one word that we would like God to speak into us, one thing that we needed God to do in our lives. What is one word that would describe something that, if God were to do it, would make us more effective leaders for the kingdom of God
As we went around the room, and people spoke their words and were prayed for, almost half the words were about dealing with fear. Trust, faith, courage, boldness, peace, God-sized release. At the basis of many of those words was a war against fear. Fear of conflict, fear of people, fear of failure, fear of fear itself.
Here you have people in the top 10% of Canadian Christian leaders, and fear is their predominant hurdle. But fear isn’t just an issue amongst leaders. I talk to a lot of people, and fear is a constant theme. In fact, it is so prevalent that it is rarely noticed. We have learned to live with fear. We think it is normal to live with fear.
It comes out in different ways. At the base of worry is fear. Many kinds of stress are fear-based. Much apprehension, suspicions, and angst have their bases in fear. I suspect many of you know what I’m talking about. Maybe we have learned to live with it, but it still impacts a lot of our lives.
I want to take you to the story of Zachariah this morning. I suspect, upon contemplation, that you might find yourself in this story.
Come with me to Luke 1
As we enter into this story, we find that Zachariah and Elizabeth are great people. They come from good families. They weren’t people who played at church; they really walked the walk. The Bible tells us that both of them were “righteous in the sight of God.”
Luke 1:6 (NIV)
6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.
But they had one major hurt in their life. They were both “well on in years,” and they had no children.
I don’t know if you have ever been with a couple who wanted to have children but, for whatever reason, couldn’t. It is a hurt that goes to the very core of who they are. People who walk through this unique hurt question their identity, their worth, they question God, and there is a deep grief for what could have been.
Elizabeth and Zachariah would have felt all of that and more. In their culture, it was a disgrace to not have kids. Children are a blessing from God and if you couldn’t have kids, you must not be blessed. Verse 25 says that Elizabeth felt disgraced because she couldn’t have kids.
Luke 1:25 (NIV)
25 “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”
They had been looked down upon. They felt the loss, the hurt, the sense of not really belonging in community. And they had prayed. But God hadn’t answered their prayer. And time went by. There was nothing they could do. They couldn’t change their situation. They couldn’t beat their situation. They couldn’t pray their way out of their situation. All they could do is live with the grief, the hurt, the disgrace.
For those of you who are hockey fans, it’s like having to live life in the penalty box – for a bad call. They didn’t deserve this. They didn’t bring this on themselves. It just was.
Some of you know what it is like to live life in the penalty box. You have issues in your life that go to the core of your identity. Maybe it is that abuse that happened to you as a kid. You can feel its impact as you relate to people. You can feel the fear every time you find yourself in certain situations.
Maybe it is a bad self-image. The truth of the matter is that you don’t really like who you are, and you haven’t accepted who you are. You know that you carry that with you into almost every interaction you have with people.
Maybe the issue is depression, or a physical limitation, or a divorce, or a wound from a parent or teacher or friend. And you know that your soul is bleeding. The wound never seems to heal. Maybe it is issues of addiction or other kinds of mental illness. Maybe it is something that you can’t quite put your finger on, but you know, on the inside. you are reacting to something. Whatever it is, it goes to the core of your identity.
And you have prayed about it. You have cried about it. You have read books. Some of you have talked to people about it. Some of you, well, it’s just too close to your core; the wound hurts too much to talk about.
If that is you, then you are right in this story with Elizabeth and Zachariah.
Back to our story – Zachariah gets chosen by lots to go into the holy of holies to burn incense. Essentially, they threw dice or pulled straws, or pulled names out of a hat to see which priest would have the honour. But it was not chance that selected Zachariah that morning.
Luke 1:8–9 (NIV)
8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
Here is the thing that you need to know. God has a way of getting you to where he wants you to be. Some of you think you found this church by chance, but God has a way of getting you to where he wants you to be. There are some of you who are in tight spots and are worried that you might miss God. Don’t worry; God has a way of getting you to the places he wants you to be. Ecclesiastes says that “time and chance happen to us all.” But if God wants to get you somewhere – he will make it happen.
Zachariah goes into a room where the altar of the Lord is. This room was only entered infrequently and then only by a priest. No one is supposed to be in this room, but all of a sudden, the angel appears in front of him.
Luke 1:12 (NIV)
12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear.
Of course, he was startled. Nobody was supposed to be there. Then it started to sink in who this person was – An angel of the Lord – and he was gripped with fear.
God’s perspective on Zechariah and Elizabeth was that they were righteous and blameless (vs 6), but Zechariah’s perspective on himself wasn’t that clear. Maybe the reason they couldn’t have children is that they were being judged for something. – That is bad theology, by the way – but it is often our first thought when we get thrown in the penalty box.
And now Zachariah was in a room where he was supposed to be holy, and if God wasn’t pleased, he could be toast. No wonder he was gripped with fear.
But the angel says, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah.” Don’t fear. The angel goes on to say your prayer has been answered. You are going to have a son. He is going to be wonderful, and a delight to you. He is going to be a very special child.
Good news, right? – But then fear really set in. God, if you would have answered my prayer 30 years ago or 20 years ago, that would be great. But now, I’m old, my wife is old, and we have given up.
Luke 1:18 (NIV)
18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
Some people take Zachariah’s questioning as a lack of faith. But you haven’t been there until you have prayed so many prayers; there are no more prayers to pray. You have cried so many tears that there are no more tears to cry. You have hurt so deeply that your heart has been numbed. And now this angel comes along and says, you are going to have what you have been praying for.
It’s about core identity. We’ve grieved it, we moved on, and we now think of ourselves as a couple without kids. And you are trying to tell me that we are going to have kids now.
Think about that wound at the core of who you are. You have worked with it long enough for it to scab over. And now some messenger from God says, next year, God is going to deal with the wound.
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You know what Zechariah was really afraid of. He was afraid of hope.
Proverbs 13:12 (NIV)
12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
It is better not to hope when there is no hope because hope that doesn’t come about is painful; it is heart-sickening.
Have you ever been there? Maybe it’s a marriage that doesn’t get any easier. Maybe it’s a wound from the past. Maybe it is your self-image or a relationship difficulty. It has been so painful for so long that you have given up hope.
People, I wish I could stand up here and give you 4 easy steps to get your miracle. But I can’t. I can’t guarantee you anything except that Jesus will come and stand with you in the middle of your brokenness.
But what I do want to do is open you up to the possibility of seeing your angel. Now I don’t mean a literal angel, although I wouldn’t put that past God for some of you. But however, God wants to communicate to you and say now is the time I want to answer that prayer.
It could be a still voice, or you hear something and it has the ring of the voice of God in it. You sense God wants to do something, but you are afraid to step into it because you too are afraid of hope.
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I’m reminded of how a trout behaves. You can put a trout in a tank and then throw a minnow in the tank, and he will strike and strike hard and eat the minnow. But if you take a plate of clear glass and divide the tank with the trout on one side and then throw the minnow into the other side, the trout will strike and strike hard, but it will run into the glass really hard.
He will try to strike again but not quite as hard. Soon he hardly notices that the minnow is there. You can then remove the glass, the minnow can even swim around the trout, but he won’t touch it.
Some of you have hit the glass pretty hard. You have the scars on your heart to prove it.
People, there is a time to stop running into the glass. I don’t always understand why things happen the way they happen. For some of you, the best you can do is be like Zachariah and Elizabeth and become righteous people where you are, in the middle of your pain. God wants to do an incredible work in your heart right now. When you are able to see Jesus clearly in the middle of your brokenness, things are different.
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But here is what I believe for some of you. In the middle of your private pain, God is going to speak into your life and say, get ready I am about to do a new thing.
For some of you, it may have been feeling God drawing you to himself. But you know you are afraid. What is going to happen to me if I give my life to God?
For others of you, you have a sense that God wants to lead you into deep healing. But you have been afraid to go there because the hurt is deep.
Today when you hear the father’s voice, get ready to get on board with what God is going to do. Hear the angel’s voice, “do not be afraid.”
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You heard Zachariah’s response
Luke 1:18 (NIV)
18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
Here is how the angel replied.
Luke 1:19–20 (NIV)
19 The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”
What I like about this is the angel didn’t say, because you didn’t believe me, we will give John the Baptist to some other more deserving couple.
No, what God said, is you will have a sign of what I am going to do. You won’t be able to talk.
When we don’t get on board with Christ immediately, he doesn’t write us off. He calls to us; he gives us signs. Sometimes he makes life a little uncomfortable for us. In fact, what I have often seen him do in my life is that when I am not willing to take him at his word, life grows stagnant. And when I get disconnected from that, he often takes me back and says, I want to do a new work; in fact, I’m doing it already. Will you get on board with me?
There are some of you who are afraid to hope. You have prayed the prayers, and you have cried the tears. I want you to know that Jesus comes and stands with you in the middle of those fears.
He is going to teach you that he loves you as you are. No matter how broken you may feel you are. He is going to let you know how special you are to him.
But there may come a time when he says to you, I want to do a new thing. I want to get you out of the penalty box. Don’t discount that. Never write Jesus off. And I know it will be scary to actually think that he can do something and start believing again.
But the story of Christmas is that Jesus does come into the middle of darkness and brings light. He does come into hopelessness and brings hope. If he does that for you, get ready to respond. His first message to you is, “don’t be afraid.” His message to you is one of trust.
I have been where Zachariah was – afraid to hope. For I prayed for almost twenty years for God to do something. If felt like it was out of reach. But after 20 years, God did what only God can do. He answered prayer.
I don’t know where you are at. Here is what I am asking of you. Live faithfully where you are, and be open to God doing what you thought was impossible in your life.
If I had been Zachariah’s and Elizabeth’s pastor before the angel showed up, I would have talked to them about building strong roots into God. I would have talked with them about the fact that God is with them in their trouble and disappointment. I would have assured them that God is faithful. There are stretches in our lives where we just have to lean into the faithfulness of God. Sometimes that is all you can do.
Sometimes we just live with the grief, the hurt, and the challenges. But even when life isn’t what it should be – I want to encourage you to be open to God doing what he wants to do. When he starts to stir your heart, that he wants to do something new in your life – go with it. Because God is able to do exceedingly more than we can ask or think. Trust him. When God stirs hope, hope. When God leads, you follow. Put your trust in him.
Sermon Questions
Advent 1 – Overcoming Fear – Zechariah and Fear
Introduction
1. What are you giving thanks for this week?
2. What are you praying about this week?
Digging In
3. Name some things that have fear at their base. (i.e. worry)
4. Read Luke 1:5-25 – How would you describe Zechariah?
How would you describe Zechariah and Elizabeth as a couple?
What was their biggest hurt?
5. Verse 12 says Zechariah “was gripped with fear.” What was going on? Why do you think he was feeling that way?
6. Verse 13 – Gabriel told Zechariah, “Do not be afraid.” Do you think that helped?
7. Verses 13-17 – Gabriel tells Zechariah of the birth of John the Baptist. What does this passage tell us about John?
8. Read verse 18 – The sermon proposed that the reason why Zechariah responded this way was that he was afraid to hope. Do you agree/disagree? Why?
9 Proverbs 13:12 – says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” What is it about hope that does that?
10. If you were to encourage Zechariah and Elizabeth before the angel appeared, what would you say?
11. How can you live in a way where hope does not make your heart sick?