400 Years of Silence

I'm gonna get you to open to Luke chapter 1 this morning, and we are, in a sense, building on what Pastor Bob preached about last week. I won't necessarily repeat what he said because I won't be able to do it in the way that he did it, but we will hear the story again and we'll reflect on some other aspects of it as well this morning as we come into the Christmas time. Now before we read that again this morning, a tourist was visiting an outback country somewhere way, way deep in Queensland one day. And he, after a long day's journey, joined a small group of men sitting on the veranda of the local pub. And well, he had been driving by himself the whole day, so he was really dying for a little bit of conversation.

And so he tried to start a conversation with these hardened looking men. He said, good day. He got no response. So he tried asking a question. Still, no response.

Frustrated, he asked, is there a law against talking to a person in this town? Nah, replied an old bloke. There's no law against it. We just like to make sure that it's an improvement over the silence. We all have that one friend who gets uncomfortable in silence.

Hey, those people that they can't stand a silent car trip. They have to have either the music going or they have to have a conversation going as well. Ironically, they are the type of people that when they feel it's being too quiet, they'll say anything and just blurt something out. They are so awkward about that silence that in their panic, they'll just say something and ironically, it always ends up being more awkward.

Hey, how's your roof going? My roof? It's still up. It's still there. It's still protecting us.

How's my roof going? Now since it's Christmas tomorrow, we're going to look at the event just before the coming of Christ, and that is what we already started reflecting on last week in the story of Elizabeth and her pregnancy with John the Baptist. But we have to understand, and Pastor Bob alluded to it as well, the enormity of the silence of four hundred years that had led up to that announcement of this incredible pregnancy. So let's have a read this morning of exactly what happened again and we'll read from Luke 1:5. In the days of Herod, king of Judea, Luke chapter 1, verse 5.

In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years. Now while he was serving as a priest before God, when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, don't be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you shall call him John. And you will have joy and gladness and many will rejoice at his birth for he will be great before the Lord and he must not drink wine or strong drink and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from the mother's womb and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God and he will go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.

So far the reading this morning. Why do we call it silence? Why do we call that four hundred years between the Old Testament and the New Testament silence? Well, we know that the last Old Testament prophet, by the name of Malachi, wrote roughly in the year 450 BC, his great prophecy to the people of God. Chronologically, he was the last person in the Old Testament era.

But this morning, as we crack open into this story, I want us to quickly page there as well, this very last word from the Old Testament and just read powerfully what the last words that leave the cliffhanger for the New Testament period says. Malachi chapter 4, verses 5 and 6. The very last words of the Old Testament. Behold, says God, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.

And I don't know if you have in your Bibles, but it says New Testament right next to it. The last of the books, the last of the writings of the Old Testament. These words just hang in the air for four hundred years. I will send a prophet Elijah and he will go and turn the hearts of the sons to their fathers and the hearts of the fathers to their sons. Now during those many years, the silence of God was starting to take its toll.

People would have given anything to hear the powerful voice of God come through a powerful man of God like Elijah, like the prophets of old, to come and speak a true word, a meaningful word into the confusion that had set in among the people of God. In those four hundred years, the practice and the worship of God had become corrupted. We know that. The temple worship was a far cry from the temple worship of King Solomon and David. By the time of Jesus, the priesthood had become a joke.

The lineage of the Levites and the priesthood that came from it was something that was to be laughed at. There had been kings who had come and gone who promised to be the messiah, the one that was expected, the one that Isaiah 53 spoke about. Civil wars had broken out among the people of God. And we find this morning the Gospel writer Luke beginning his account of Jesus precisely where Malachi leaves off and he shatters four hundred years of silence. Did you pick that up when we read it in Luke?

The final words of the Old Testament speak of a coming of one who would prepare the way of the Lord. Someone great like Elijah. The story begins with a majestic announcement by the angel Gabriel, the angel who was the mouthpiece of God, and he speaks to an elderly man named Zechariah, an elderly man working in the temple as a priest. The angel says you will have a son. Now this is absolutely amazing to Zechariah because he and Elizabeth are old, the Bible says.

They never had a child because Elizabeth was barren. If God gave them a son, it would be a miracle. But this is not the point. The boy is going to be special, but his mission, his calling is what is significant. Let's have a look at what that says in verse 16 and 17 of Luke.

This will be his purpose, his mission. Verse 16, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to their God. And he will go before Him in the spirit and the power of who? Elijah. And what will he do in this power?

He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. Does that ring a bell? It's Malachi's prophecy. It's the one who we've been waiting for for four hundred years. He will turn many of the children of Israel to their God.

He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just. And he will make ready for the Lord a people prepared. There's a seismic shift, an earthquake that is about to happen. After such a long silence, an incredible miracle, an old barren lady and an old, I'll say it again, grumpy man will have a son in their old age, and this son will speak on behalf of God like the prophets of old, and God's voice will be heard again. Now we heard a great sermon last week preached about the incredible nature of both Elizabeth and Mary's pregnancies that shows the sovereign power of God that made these pregnancies a possibility, anything but random.

But I wanna double down on that a little bit more today to show you the significance of what we're celebrating tomorrow, signified by this today. And so I invite you to come back for part B tomorrow, even if it's more difficult to wake up early tomorrow. This is a profound breaking of silence. This is a profound breaking of waiting. Four hundred years.

It's almost impossible for us to grasp how long that is. And the amazing thing about this story is it is a microcosm of what is happening spiritually and eternally for God's people. What is happening to Zechariah and Elizabeth, a barren womb giving birth to hope is a microcosm of a barren Israel receiving hope in Jesus. In some way, what is happening to them is an allegory of what is happening to God's people. You see, a Jewish woman was considered cursed by God if she was not able to give birth.

Unfairly, it was an incredible shame if a woman couldn't have a baby. And after Elizabeth falls pregnant, we see in verse 25, when she realises she's going to have a baby, she says, this is the Lord's doing. The Lord is the one that has done this. God knows we have tried. This is the Lord's doing, she says.

In these days, He has shown His favour to me and He has taken away my disgrace. The disgrace or the reproach of my people, she says. Elizabeth and Zechariah, they were the weird ones. They were the ones in the family that you didn't really feel too proud about. An old guy that sort of just does his duty every now and then in the temple, quiet life.

Elizabeth that didn't have anything to boast about or talk about around morning teas with the other ladies. And how they had prayed for a baby. How they had prayed for a child to be their pride and joy. If there was anyone who knew and felt the silence of God, it was Elizabeth and Zechariah. And he had served faithfully and we see that at the opening in verse 6.

They were both righteous before God. They were both blameless when it came to keeping His commandments. The Bible says, and nothing had come from even these righteous prayers. We know that Zechariah prayed for a child. We know that he did because the angel says, I've come in response to your prayers.

I've come in response to your prayers, Gabriel says to him. But now he's an old man. He's an old man and he's all but given up hope. Nothing has come from these prayers and the silence had taken its toll. Disgraced by God, they thought, Zechariah and Elizabeth.

Second class citizens can't have a baby. And then suddenly in the silence, a barren womb is full. A man who served many years in a system corrupted by political intrigue, a laughing stock of the Old Testament priesthood. A man who serves quietly in the temple, never sensing the voice of God, hears the voice of God through the angel Gabriel. Can you imagine what a life-altering moment that would have been?

Now I think in some way, the testimony of Elizabeth and Zechariah is a reflection of what God is doing for Israel. For so long, it seemed God's plan was dormant. Four hundred years since Malachi said there's gonna be someone that comes in the power of Elijah. Four hundred years and things have just been sliding and sliding and sliding. Fake messiahs, corrupted Christianity, churches that were far from God and God was just letting it happen.

So many imposters. So many great expectations shattered like a barren woman and an old man. What is the point of hoping any more? Now why do you think it is important for us to know this story? Why do you think it is important for Luke to have included this in the Bible?

Why do we need to hear about John the Baptist when it is Jesus that we're concerned about? Right? It is Jesus that was the saviour of the world. Why do we need to know of John's relationship to Jesus? Well, it's because we need to understand that God is a God who has a perfect yet mysterious timeline.

A God who can sail under the cover of intrigue and silence, but when He acts, He acts with determination and finality. His plans are often only understood in hindsight. Don't they? They so often only make sense in the past. His timing feels always, always too long.

And yet, when it falls into place, we say, there could have been no better way. There could have been no other way. Jump ahead thirty years and Luke says that John is preaching with fire and brimstone and energy, and there are followers coming to him from all the corners of Israel. He has a following that Billy Graham would have been proud of. He has the ear of the king.

He speaks to King Herod, and Herod listens. This is a powerful man. When John speaks, you listen. And yet when he sees Jesus, he says, I'm not worthy to untie the straps of His sandals. Not I'm not even worthy to touch the feet of Jesus.

John is the messenger of a greater story. He is the herald of a greater voice. The voice of Jesus, the hope of Christmas. But as we, this morning, cast a momentary spotlight on this John, as we cast a momentary spotlight on John this morning, we break the silence of God in the preparation of Christmas. And I want this thought to penetrate our hearts as we remember that.

Let this penetrate us. In a sense, it is easy for us to believe and to marvel at how God can speak after four hundred years and think, man, that is an amazing story. It is easy for us to believe and understand the prophecies of our saviour Jesus coming true. In a sense, it is easy to see God's preparing the Jewish nation for the coming of the Messiah through John. The fruition of a lifetime of praying for Zechariah and Elizabeth.

And we marvel at the goodness of God and then when it comes to our life, when it comes to us, it is difficult to wait in the silence. You don't have to look very far in these verses to see God moving heaven and earth to prepare the world for this salvation. The time of mankind, the timeline of salvation history just crashes down onto this. The cogs start creaking in this moment when Jesus comes. And we're able to understand all of that, but somehow it is hard to believe that God can save my unrepentant husband.

Somehow it is hard to believe that God may still heal the broken relationship with my kids. We read the story of this incredible moment and we see God breathe life into a dead womb and we think somehow my situation is too difficult for God to solve. Let me be clear. There is only one John the Baptist. There will only ever be one John the Baptist with one Elizabeth and one Zechariah.

In God's plan of redemption, God graciously elected these two to be His instruments, but it is the character of God that is in view here. It is the character of God who waits patiently and perfectly, but who acts decisively and overwhelmingly. It is the character of this God who we cannot and should not question. He is the God who will tell you to pray like the persistent widow. Remember that story that Jesus said, the parable?

Who comes and she asks the king, an unrighteous man, by the way, in this parable, returns again and again to ask for justice. Let justice be done, she pleads with the king. And again and again she has to return because the king says no. And then one day, she says, alright. Have it your way.

And Jesus says this in Luke 18:7, will not the God, will not your God give justice to His elect who cry to Him day and night? Will not God give justice to His elect who cry to Him day and night? Whether it's four hundred years of silence or just one lifetime of silence? What's the difference? Right?

A lifetime of an unchanged heart. A lifelong struggle with depression or anxiety. A lifetime of carrying deep emotional trauma. It may as well be four hundred years. And after so long, it may be hard to believe in a God who can still move mountains.

Friends, do you believe He can? Do you believe your God can? Do you still pray that He might? Let's put it a different way. Does your life move easily and joyfully with a great hope waiting for God's power to come through?

Or is bitterness your cloak that you wear and put on every day when you walk out of that house? Is disgrace what hangs over your shoulders. What is your perspective on the future? When the missionary Dan Crawford was trekking through South Africa, a villager inquired of him, are you angry? Kind of puzzled there, the missionary responded, no?

Why do you ask? Because you're so quiet came the reply. In our tribe, if a man is angry, he does not speak. Do you mistake God's quietness for anger?

Friend, I want to tell you, have hope. Have hope. He is like a silent crocodile floating an inch under the water, ready to pounce with final authority. Notice even the righteous man Zechariah, the one who said he's to be blameless, keeping in God's commandments, even the righteous man Zechariah has his doubts. Verse 18.

Zechariah said to the angel, how shall I know this? The NIV says, how can this be true? How can I be sure of it? And Zechariah is made mute, as we heard last week, there and then for his disbelief until the child would come. And when John is born, finally, Zechariah speaks for the first time and his first words are what?

Oh, thank goodness. I can tell my wife how annoying she's been the last nine months. Well, you know what? What a hormonal so and so she is. No.

His first response, and I guess he had a lot of time to prepare this, is a hymn, a beautiful poem of praise that he sings. And this is what he says, blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David. And He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from of old that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant. The oath that He swore to our father Abraham to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear.

In holiness, in righteousness before Him all our days. He says to John, a new child will be called the prophet of the most high for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins because of the tender mercy of our God. Whereby the sunrise shall visit us again from on high to give light to those of us who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace. What a beautiful prayer. Beautiful words.

Words. So unlike our little panicky friends who don't like silence, when our God speaks, it is an improvement. Zechariah and Elizabeth got a boy they loved. The angel said that he will be a joy for them and he was. John, which means gift, is a gift from God to them, but he is also a gift to the world.

Because John grew into a prophet that prepared the hearts of thousands for Jesus to come. But we also know that there's a greater gift in this Jesus because He is our ultimate hope. He is our ultimate hope. And whether we receive what our hearts have been praying for perhaps for years, whether we receive it in the way that we have prayed for, this is still our greatest hope that we have received in Christ what we have always asked for, what we have always needed but didn't even ask for. In Christ coming for us, we received a salvation that we didn't even want.

Our most despised imperfections therefore will not bring us to face the wrath of God. The one who will fairly and squarely judge every single one of us. Our greatest prayer request was met before we even asked for it. And so while we wait, while we return again and again to our God, we do so with this unfading hope that Jesus Christ has secured our future. Whatever may come, however God acts on these prayers on our waiting, our future is secure.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Let me pray for us. Heavenly Father, we thank you that this morning we may reflect that because You live, we can face tomorrow. Because You live, our fears are gone. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that You have come and You have secured for us our greatest need before we even knew it was a need.

But in this story of waiting, and we don't have to wait thankfully for tomorrow too long. But in this story of waiting, we saw Your character of determination, of decisiveness, of finality. And God, You are able to answer in astounding ways. Forgive us of our lack of faith, of our disappointing doubts, of giving up on those people and those situations that seem too hard. God, You have it all under control.

Holy Spirit, remind us of this. Give us the courage, the patience, the perseverance, all those fruits of the Holy Spirit to continue in praying, to continue in interceding, to continue in hoping for Your power that can move mountains to come through for us. We pray this for those who don't believe You in our family, the many who are walking very far from You. God, we pray and we intercede for them. Will You please move?

Lord, we pray for long-term illnesses, long-term pain, long-term suffering. Lord, will You please intervene and heal. Lord, we pray for our country in so many ways, so corrupted but in such similar ways, Lord, to Your people, able to be redeemed and revived and brought back. And it may only take someone like a John to bring the hearts of Your children back to You. And so, Lord, we even pray for that man, that woman.

We pray for those people to do it. Lord, help us as we also reflect tomorrow. May we find great comfort and hope in that. May it not be stale, but may it be life-giving and affirming and so, so good again as we hear the good news of our great saviour Jesus coming for us. In His name we pray. Amen.