Luke 1:68-79

INTRODUCTION:

Last week this time we were talking about how close it was to Christmas and now Christmas Day is here and gone for another year. We’ve all unwrapped our presents. Some of us have already been to the store to exchange our gifts or cash our gift certificates. By the end of next week everybody will be sick of turkey. Cold turkey sandwiches, turkey casserole and finally turkey soup.

And for those of you who have a real tree the needles from the Christmas tree are beginning to fall on the carpet, making a big mess all over the place, and no matter how hard you try, un-decorating the tree is never going to be anything more than a chore that none of us really want to do. Nothing to look forward to now except the credit card bills…

But the good news is: there are only 363 more days until we can do it all over again. Correct me later if I’m wrong.

Do you ever get depressed after Christmas is over? Do you ever get those after Christmas blues?  If so you’re not alone a lot of people feel that way.

It’s been said that January is for a lot of people the most depressing month of the year. Records say that January has the highest suicide rate for the entire year.

It’s not easy when a big event, something we’ve been looking forward to and planned for and prepared for and anticipated, is over.  There is a “let down” feeling. For some of us it’s minor and we get on with life quickly, but for others it easily leads to deeper depression.

Sometimes I wonder if Mary and Joseph experienced that same feeling. What do you think it was like for Mary and Joseph most of after Christmas Eve? I mean, after the shepherds left, the visits from the angel stopped, the wise men had long gone.

Most likely they stayed in Bethlehem for the first year and a half or two, and then we know they left for Egypt.

But what was it like the rest of the time – day in, day out: raising a child, earning a living, keeping a home, spending time with friends, going to worship. I wonder how Mary and Joseph coped with the day to day routine. They knew their son was unique, they knew he was the Son of God, the Messiah who would save His people from their sins. Yet still for all in most ways Jesus was just like every other child around them. No doubt he had his friend; he had his favorite toys to play with. I wonder what it was like being Jesus parents.

Even for Mary and Joseph, life would have gotten back to normal. After Christmas Day. Joseph had a family now and he had to work to support his family.

Mary would have looked after the house work, cooked the meals and cared her son and other children as they came along. I’m sure there were moments of frustration, confusion, and uncertainty. Just like in any other family.

But when I look at Mary I see one of the keys to coping with the after Christmas blues:  Luke 2:19 tells us that she “treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.” (NIV)

Mary remembered everything that had taken place, everything she had experienced she took with her after the celebration was over and life got back to normal. She held her memories close and would imagine every so often she would sit and think about all the things which had taken place and this would give her comfort.

And that what we need to do as well. We need to step back and remember what God has done for us, and the things He’s promised to do for us. And where He’s taking us.

In the next week or so as we move away from the holidays we need to take a few things with us to. A few of those special memories and when we feel down and discouraged we need to look back and remember.

Today I want us to look at some things we can hold on to. Turn with me to Luke 1: 68-79. This is Zechariah’s Song. Zechariah’s son John had just been born this was nothing short of a miracle his wife was old, she was past the age of bearing a child and then John is born. John was to be the forerunner of Jesus. He was Jesus’ cousin and was around the same age of Jesus. Zechariah is excited and he praises God. In his song Zechariah gives us some things we can hold onto that will help us overcome those after Christmas blues. The first thing is…

                       I. WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US:

Zechariah focuses on a whole list of things that God’s done for us. The first is in Verse 68 – “He has visited and redeemed His people.” (NLT)

To redeem means to buy back, sometimes at a great cost. Redemption was a word which meant a lot to the Jews of Jesus’ day. They were under the oppression of a distant government Rome and they would give anything to be set free. Their freedom was important to them.

Being a Jew himself Zachariah would have felt the same and he may have looked at the Messiah as a political leader who would set the people free from Rome. Perhaps he didn’t really understand completely he may have looked at Jesus as being both a spiritual and political leader a Great King. After all that’s what the people were praying for. But today we know better and we can look back and see that the redemption God had in mind for us is completely spiritual.

 

The second thing is similar: Verse 69 “He has sent a mighty Savior.” (NLT)  Zechariah was prophesying about his own son, John, but as he begins he focuses first on Jesus. He wants to tell us that God is going to send a Savior.

 

We don’t have to go any further than that. I could end right there and let you all go home.

We already have enough in these few verses to praise God for. As we begin to look for things to hold on to, things we can “treasure in our hearts,” we don’t need to go any further. When God sent His son Jesus Christ to be our Savior He gave us the greatest treasure there was.

 

But Zechariah doesn’t stop there. There’s still more to come! As he continues on in Verse 70 he reminds us that God promised us this salvation long ago. Verse 71 talks about salvation again, and Verse 72 introduces one of the great characteristics of God which led Him to provide us with the incredible gift of “Mercy.”

I want to pause here for a moment just so that we don’t rush past this important point. God saved us because of His desire to show mercy to us. What is “Mercy”? Mercy means “to show kindness or concern to someone in great need”.

God saw our need, and He was concerned for that need. Because He cared, He helped us. When we look at everything God’s done for us, we need to remember that He did these things because He wanted to show us kindness when we were in need.

And not only do we need to thank God for the mercy He’s shown us in the past but we need to thank Him for the mercy He continues to show us today and will continue to show us in the future.

And along with His mercy, Verse 72 reminds us that God always keeps His promises, not like some of the people we’ve had dealings with. There are so many people who make promises they never keep. We’ve all had dealings with dishonest salesmen or friends who let us down. But we can depend on God to always keep His promises.

Zechariah remembers the promises God made to Abraham and how He kept that promise. Before that promise was fulfilled Israel went through some difficult times, they were slaves in Egypt for years and then they spent 40 years wandering through the wilderness before the reached the Promised Land. There were times as we all know that they had their doubts.

You know sometimes we look at serving God as more of an obligation. It’s a job we do! It’s a requirement sort of a payment for what God has done. We pay our dues and we go to heaven. We look at it as a chore.

No wonder so many of us are reluctant to serve. Chores aren’t any fun. Just ask your children. How hard is it to get them to clean their room? That’s why it’s so difficult to get people involved in helping out in the church. It’s a chore for them. 

But serving God was never meant to be a chore, it was meant to be a joy. Zechariah’s tells us that enabling us to serve is something God has done for us, in other words it’s a gift! Something we can enjoy. And considering who we are serving, we should consider it a privilege and an honor.

 

Zechariah looked at serving God in the temple as a great privilege. There wasn’t anything better he wanted to do. To be able to serve God with an offering of worship. To be allowed to go to the temple, to participate in the service, to go into the inner rooms and bring an offering, these things were considered great privileges. Of course back then everyone didn’t have that privilege only those who were selected.

But today unlike in Zachariah’s time we all have the privilege of worshipping God. We can worship anytime we want, any way we want or anywhere we want. When Jesus was raised from the dead all the boundaries were torn down.

But the sad pat is that we’ve begun to take God for granted. A lot of us don’t look at worship as a privilege It’s tragic that where we once were amazed at the privilege of serving God, we now respond reluctantly if at all.

 

I wish we were all like Zechariah. God’s done a great thing for us by allowing us to serve Him; we should gladly take advantage of opportunities that are available to serve God and His church. We should recognize that in bringing an offering of worship we have an amazing privilege.

The things we do which sometimes feel like drudgery are in fact great privileges given to us by God Himself. They are acts of service to our Lord.

 

In the next few days as we move away from the Holidays let’s not forget these things. As we go back into our normal everyday routine. Remember everything God’s done for you. Secondly we need to remember:

 

II. WHAT GOD HAS PROMISED US:

In Verse 76, Zechariah moves his focus towards his son, John, and prophecies about him. And although he’s talking about his son John, these promises apply to us as well. And so besides remembering all that God has done for us in the past, I want to encourage you to keep in mind the things God has promised to us in the present.

Zechariah lists two specific promises in Verse 77: the knowledge of salvation and the forgiveness of sins.

 

Obviously John didn’t bring salvation or forgiveness; they come from Jesus. But Zechariah makes it clear that John would point to those things, that he would prepare the way, that he would proclaim the promises of God to save and to forgive. And that’s exactly what John did.

 

The message of salvation and of forgiveness still needs to be told today. We live in a world that is searching for peace and hope; People are looking for meaning in life, a sense of purpose and fulfillment.

Today we in this service know about that Hope, we hear it preached and sung about every week. But there are many out there in this Community who live without hope, they need to hear about that hope from us who know the way. They need to know about God’s forgiveness. John would bring that message of hope to the people of his day, the same message we need to preach today.

 

It’s our privilege as believers to spread the good news wherever we go.

What has God promised us? What are the things we hold on to as we leave Christmas behind and prepare to return to “business as usual”?

We can hold on to the promise of salvation and of forgiveness. We can hold on to the promise that God has sent His Son for us, and that He has given us the power of the Holy Spirit to guide us and keep us. And that thought leads directly into the last thing that I feel we need to remember as life gets back to normal following the holiday:

                        II. WHERE IS GOD TAKING US:

 

The last part of Verse 79, right at the very end of the prophecy, reminds us that God isn’t finished with us after He saves and forgives us. Yes, there’s still more. His desire is “to guide us to the path of peace.” (NLT)

 

Do you find comfort in these words? You should!  But there’s more. All the good is not in the past. There are great things ahead. God still wants to guide us, to lead us into a path of peace and effective service to Him.

God has great things in store for us. Great opportunities to serve Him, to witness for Him to our friends our neighbors and the people we work with or go to school with. He wants us to experience Him close during times of joy and times of frustration. Through everything that lies ahead, God’s desire is to guide us into paths of peace.

God has done great things for us, that we can remember. God has made wonderful promises to us. And God will continue to guide us.


 

                                    CONCLUSION:

 

After the holidays are over sometimes we wonder what it was all for what was the purpose of all the fuss, all the rushing around? Let me ask you this: What are you going to remember from this Christmas?

Chances are it won’t be the presents you got, or of how good the turkey was, or how well decorated the tree was. Can you remember what you got for Christmas two years ago, or even last year? No I don’t think so.

You see it’s not the gifts or the tree that we remember. What I remember about Christmas a year ago is my daughter visiting from Ottawa and Attending the Christmas Eve Candlelight service with my family.

I’m sure you’ll all agree that it’s time spent with family and friends that we remember – the things we did together, not the things we got or gave or ate. The things we got or gave will likely wear out or be replaced, but the memories we create will last.

And we must never forget that because of Christmas Jesus Christ is here. He has come, His light is shining. Because of Christmas things are different. Because of Christmas we can experience freedom and forgiveness and change. Now we can live daily in the light of Christ’s coming.

Often we tend to go through the holiday season and “get through it” like it’s something that starts and then ends – when what we are celebrating is really only the beginning. Only stage one. Only the runway the journey.

It’s like getting on a plane, yes, you have to get tickets and pack and get to the airport and check the bags and go through security and sit on the runway. But when the plane finally leaves the ground, and you can put your head back into the seat, that isn’t the end of the trip! It is only the beginning.

 

The after Christmas blues are normal, but let’s remember that the journey has just begun. God has come among us; He has changed things, now we can walk with Him. We can be encouraged by all the things that He has done for us in the past, by the promises He has made to us, and by the fact that God is taking us forward, guiding us into the future that He has for us.

I believe that if we remember and thank God for these things that we will experience his joy and peace in our lives. May God bless you everyone.