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December 7, 2005
Midweek Advent 1
Luke 1:57-80
Pastor Robert Raasch

What Zechariah So Long Could Not Say, We Now Sing

1. A Long Awaited Blessing
2. A Prophecy Fulfilled

A delay in stepping out of the sacristy...
A mute look of shock from the preacher...
A gesture to indicate he's lost his voice, then a departure from the pulpit. Upon his return:

Tell me, what was going through your head as you sat in silence a moment ago? Were you thinking, "Well, that's odd"? "Where's the preacher? Did he forget something? Did something happen to him?" With every passing second, did you feel just a little more uncomfortable, or more worried or even disturbed? "What's going on here?!?"

And then when I finally appeared, did you maybe expect some kind of explanation? Were you even more surprised, more confused, more frustrated by the fact that I was able to offer nothing at all? Wait a minute, no explanation for the delay. This is too weird. This is not at all what I expected when I came to church today."

My friends, if even one of those thoughts was going through your mind a moment ago, then you have an idea of what another group of church goers experienced some 2000 years ago. They too were expecting their "preacher" to come out and deliver a message from God. They waited and waited. They fidgeted and wondered, and finally the priest Zechariah came out. But instead of the customary blessing at the end of the service, he said nothing. He couldn't speak-not just for a few minutes, but rather for 9 months.

And when Zechariah finally had his tongue loosened, when he finally was able to speak what had been locked up in his heart all those months, boy, did he have something to say. Something recorded here in our text, something which as New Testament believers, we now regard as one of the Songs About the Savior. Today we take a closer look at what has been called Zechariah's Benedictus. And we'll use as our theme:

What Zechariah So Long Could Not Say, We Now Sing

We'll see that Zechariah's words are both:

1. A Long Awaited Blessing
2. A Prophecy Fulfilled

First, a long awaited blessing. Isn't that the truth? Zechariah was unable to speak for 9 months. Can you imagine? For the entire period of his wife's miraculous pregnancy, he's unable to tell a single soul. He can't verbally announce the good news to anyone. And why is he burdened by this physical and emotional handicap? Because he doubted that what the Lord said was true. When God's messenger Gabriel appeared to Zechariah as he carried out his priestly duties in the Lord's temple, the angel said, "Zechariah, your wife Elizabeth is going to have a son, who will be filled with the Holy Spirit and will make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Zechariah's response? "How can I be sure of this?" In other words, Zechariah did not believe what the angel said; he didn't believe what God could do-and as a result, God gave him 9 months of silence to think about his sin of doubting God.

Tell me, is Zechariah the only one guilty of the sin of doubting God's promise? Aren't there times when you and I are guilty of the very same thing? God says in Psalm 50, "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me." And yet, we say, "Oh, I don't think you can help me with this one." God promises us in Malachi 3, "Bring the whole tithe into (my) storehouse…and I will pour out so much blessing you do not have room enough for it." And yet we say, "God, I don't know if I can trust you. I'd better just hang on to my offering." God says, "Honor your father and mother that it may go well with you," and we say, "I don't know if I believe that, God. I think I'm better off doing things my way." God says that in all things he works for the good of those who love him, and we think, "I'm not so sure about that one, God." If you think about it, you and I are guilty of the same refusal to take God at his word. The only difference is that in Zechariah's case, God gave him a very dramatic sign to lead him to see the error of his ways. For 9 months Zechariah had a chance to think about his sin of unbelief. For 9 months Zechariah watched as his wife's midsection grew in size in fulfillment of God's promise. For 9 months Zechariah prepared for what he would say if God would ever chose to free his tongue again.

And when that fateful day arrived, the day when Zechariah ended all the debate going on in the family by scrawling out the words "His name is John," when God finally allowed this humble priest to speak again, what did Zechariah have to say? Did he say, "Wow! It's great to be heard"? Or, "Hey, let me tell you what happened back there in the temple 9 months ago"? No Zechariah's words are focused on God and what God had accomplished. Zechariah says, "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people." The first word there, "praise," in the original Greek is Eulogytos. It means "blessed or praised." When the early church fathers translated this song into Latin for use in church services, the very first word was "benedictus." Blessed is the Lord. These words of Zechariah ended up being the blessing that everyone was waiting for. The people had been waiting 9 months to hear those words. Truly, this was the Long-awaited Blessing.

But now that Zechariah could actually be heard, what was the content of Zechariah's blessing? Well, Zechariah speaks about: II. A Prophecy Fulfilled. Actually, Zechariah refers to two prophecies fulfilled, one about Jesus and one about John. Zechariah says that (God) "has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David as he said through his holy prophets of long ago." In other words, through prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah, God had foretold that this day would arrive-and now it was here. The day when God would "raise up a horn of salvation in the house of his servant David." What does that mean? Well, in ancient times a "horn" was used as a symbol of strength or power. A "horn of salvation" might also be translated "a mighty salvation" or "a powerful Savior…from the house of God's servant David-obviously a reference to Jesus. Zechariah says that God has brought "salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us." With those words, Zechariah is not referring to our political enemies or military enemies, but rather our spiritual enemies, namely, Satan and all his evil angels.

And why would God do all those things for us? Zechariah says, "To show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham." In other words, God promised that one of Abraham's descendents would be a blessing to all mankind and now God was making good on that promise. And what effect will the fulfillment of God's promise have on you and me? Zechariah tells us, it will "enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days." In other words, because Jesus will give us his perfection, because he will cover our sins with his righteousness, we no longer need to be afraid of God. Rather, we are free to serve him in joy and thankfulness. That's what, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Zechariah is enabled to see and proclaim. He sees in the birth of his son that God is about to fulfill an even greater promise-the promise of a Savior from sin.

But Zechariah not only has something to say about the Savior; he also has something to say about the Savior's forerunner. He turns to this infant son in his hands and says, "And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High." When Gabriel talked to Mary about her child, he said that he would be "the Son of the Most High," that is, the Son of God. Zechariah's child would be the "Prophet of the Most High," that is the prophet of God. And the job of the prophet? Zechariah says, "You will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of sins." And isn't that exactly what John the Baptist did throughout his ministry here on earth? He prepared people for the coming of Messiah. He called on them to repent and receive forgiveness of their sins through the washing of holy baptism. It was that forgiveness, granted for Jesus' sake, that gave them and us the knowledge of our salvation. And that salvation is like a sun that shines on us, even as we live in the shadow of death, It's a sun that, as Zechariah puts it, "guides our feet in the paths of peace."

I don't know about you, but I look at this Song of Zechariah, and I think, "Wow, this guy packed an awful lot into this impromptu speech offered on the day he got his voice back. And while, yes, he had the advantage of being inspired by the Holy Spirit, there was something more. Something that still applies to you and me today. Remember, this man's famous last words were, "How can I be sure of this?", that is "God, I doubt it." From that moment, Zechariah had to think about what he had said. For 9 months, he reflected in silence upon whether his insult to God's omnipotence would end up separating him from God forever. For 9 months he had to wait to see if God would make good on his promise to rescue Zechariah from the eternal punishment which his sin warranted. Is it any wonder that when Zechariah finally gets a chance to speak, he rejoices in the forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation that God was bringing to him and all mankind?

Doesn't that same pent-up emotion, that same gratitude to God belong on our lips as well? During these days leading up to Christmas it's easy to be distracted from the real purpose of the season. It's easy to find ourselves talking about the things going on in our lives, and miss what we're really celebrating. Just for a minute, imagine that from now until Christmas, you were unable to speak a single word. Imagine that because of a particular sin you committed, because you failed to trust God, because you ignored his promise to you, because you disobeyed him in some way-you were struck speechless. Every day, hour, every minute you are reminded of your sin and your desperate need for a Savior. Tell me, on the day that your lips were finally allowed to speak, the day of your Savior's birth, do you think you would have something to say? You bet you would! Wouldn't you say, Praise be to God that he has sent me a Savior. My sins are forgiven! I have a reason to live. A reason to sing!

My friends, if you're feeling distracted by the commercialism of Christmas, if you're wondering if all the preparations are worth it, then go back to the real reason for Christmas. God sent his Son to rescue you and me from sin. God should not have to take away our voice to get us to focus on what's important. He's allowed us to keep our voices. So let's use them to his glory. Let us confess those times we doubted his Word. And then let's rejoice that he's sent the solution to our problem. He's given us a Savior from sin. For in that way what Zechariah for so long could not say, we can now sing: "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and redeemed his people," including you and me, by God's grace. Amen.