CERRO GORDO CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN
December 1, 2024
What Are You Waiting On?
Luke 1:5-25
Over the next three Sundays leading up to Christmas Sunday, we are going
to look at the stories of those God used to bring about the greatest gift, the
greatest miracle God gave to the world.
Today as we read in the scripture is the story of Zechariah, Elizabeth and
John. Other than another reference later in the first chapter of Luke, we do
not hear of Zechariah and Elizabeth again. These 20 verses we read this
morning have an incredible amount of detail about what was going on with
Zechariah in the temple and how he and Elizabeth were going to be used by
God to change the world forever. Let us look at who Zechariah and Elizabeth
are to begin with. The are both descendants of Aaron, which was the
brother of Moses. This shows a couple of things.
1. That Zechariah continued the tradition of priests that had first been
established through Aaron after the exodus from Egypt.
2. It also shows that even though over a thousand years had passed the
Jewish people tracked their ancestry very carefully. How many of you
here today can track your ancestors 1,000 years in the past?
Theologians say there were around 20,000 priests at this time and they were
divided into 24 groups. Obviously, the specific duties of going into the
temple and ministering for the people before God was only given to one
person at a time. The 24 groups took turns and they cast lots among the
priests of that group to determine who would enter the temple to minister
on behalf of the people. Scripture says they cast lots and Zechariah was
selected.
I ask your indulgence as I share all these details, but they are so amazingly
important to show how God’s hand directed all these events. In verse 6 we
are reminded that both Zechariah and Elizabeth were faithful followers of
God. At times many of us may fall into a rut of just going through the
motions in our worship of the Lord. Zechariah and Elizabeth, it seems, never
fell into that rut.
Zechariah went into the temple to offer prayers on behalf of the people and
after those prayers had been offered the priest would burn incense that
would rise toward heaven. When the priest was in the temple hundreds, if
not thousands of worshippers, would be outside the temple praying and
waiting to see the smoke of incense carrying their prayers to heaven. While
Zechariah was in the temple faithfully carrying out his priestly duties,
suddenly an angel appeared to him. In the Old Testament God spoke to
prophets most of the time in dreams or with visions. This time an angel
appeared to Zechariah in bodily form. God wanted to make sure no mistake
or misunderstanding occurred. Eventually the angel even told Zechariah his
name. Gabriel was there to tell Zechariah the prayer that he and his wife
had been praying for years was about to the answered. They were going to
have a son. Even though Zechariah and Elizabeth were faithful followers of
God, they had been unable to have children. At this time in history, most of
the Jewish people believed that meant some sin prevented them from
having God’s blessing of children. So, this stigma haunted Zechariah and
Elizabeth. When Gabriel made this announcement, Zechariah felt both joy
and disbelief because they were both beyond the normal childbearing years.
Gabriel gave details about their son including what his name should be. At
this time a son would be given the family name, but they were to call their
son John, which means “the Lord is gracious”.
Normally the priest was not in the temple for a very long time to offer
prayers and burn incense, but this time Zechariah was gone for a lot longer
than normal, which made the people wonder what was going on. As
Gabriel’s time with Zechariah was about to end, he told Zechariah that
because you did not immediately believe my words you will be unable to
make a sound until your son is born. With that pronouncement, Gabriel left
Zechariah.
Let us look at what kind of person Zechariah and Elizabth’s son would be.
Zechariah is told his son would be a delight to him and his wife, as well as
many more people before his life was over. John would be great in the eyes
of the Lord. He was never to drink anything that was fermented. And John
would be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. In many ways, John was
the greatest man of God born to a man and woman ever. No where else in
scripture is it said that someone was “filled with the Holy Spirit from birth”.
So here we have Zechariah and Elizabeth. They had been hoping and praying
for a child ever since they had been married. And when they had given up
hope that their prayers would ever be answered, God was there, which
brings us to you and me? Have you been praying for a long time to God that
a special need or answer would happen? Have you either quit praying or
simply conceded whatever t is you have prayed for is not going to happen?
Zechariah and Elizabeth remind us to never give up. God’s timing and ours is
not always the same. If we are truly seeking God’s will with our prayers and
our lives, God will provide. One the great messages of the Christmas Story is
that God answers the prayers of His people. Sometimes God wants us to
wait for our answer and sometimes the answer is not exactly how we
thought it would be, but God hears our prayers and wants the best for all of
His people.
So, to go back to the question asked in the sermon title, “What are you
waiting on?” The Lord says, “Don’t give up, don’t stop praying.” God’s
answer will come just like it did for Zechariah and Elizabeth and the whole
world. A new day was coming and God is never limited by time or space.
God will always keep His promises and we will always find it is worth the
wait when God is in it.
Pastor Larry
Announcements:
Sunday School 9:00
Tuesday 9:30 Bible Study
TODAY soup lunch after worship; decorate sanctuary and
fellowship hall
December 5 Board Meeting for new and current members:
6:00 Commissions; 6:30 Board; reorganize after board meeting
December 7 10:00 – 12:00 Pick up candy orders
December 8 Community Christmas Vespers here—we need a
special—either music or a reading—volunteers?
December 11 12:00 Women’s Lunch—reveal prayer
partners—all women invited; last name A-K salad or vegetable;
L-Z dessert; meat furnished (pork loin)
December 17 7:00 pm Christmas service
Angel Tree gifts are due December 8.
Pastor Larry Traxler (217) 454-2362
Donation Box for December: The Lord’s Storehouse
First Sundays: Food Bank donations
Keep in Your Prayers
Shirley Krall; Bobby’s father; Ruth Siburt; Dorthea Wood; Mike
and Kathy Gentry; Paul Kohler; Steve Needham; Larry Traxler;
Nancy Fansler; Stacie Warren; Nancy Gorrell; Nora Hanaver;
Ron and Kathleen Petersen; Doug Larrick; Shirley Clarkson;
David and Jan Bower; Debbie Garvey Leibrock; Mike and Carol
Seidenstricker; Adiline Young; Mayo and Darlene Hanaver;
many unspoken requests; victims of shootings and of natural
disasters; shut-ins; the Nigerian church; the Haitian church;
those in the middle of war and violence; military and other
services and their families; Brethren Volunteer Service workers;
Disaster project workers; victims of Helene and Milton
District Prayer Calendar: Pray for the Chicago First
congregation and for the work of Ecumenism Metro Chicago.
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