Scripture Luke 1:76-80
For those unfamiliar with Social Networking = it is a number of sites on the internet where people connect with each other. All have a different way they work and connect and all have a different purpose – but each one is designed to connect people with each other and with information. Most popular:
Twitter
could be called a 'real time social networking' site, a place for sharing
information as it happens, and for connecting with others in real time.
Tweet = a Twitter single update of 140 typed
characters or less. Retweet =
taking a tweet from one user and posting it yourself where your followers can
see it.
Hashtags are mostly used as
unmoderated ad hoc discussion forums; any combination of characters led by a
hash symbol is a hashtag, and any hashtag, if promoted by enough individuals,
can "trend" and attract more individual users to discussion – like…@TheModernMonk Jun 11 Mt3:14 O,
that we would get, like John, that Jesus is Lord of us not visa versa! His will
be done! #BirthOfJohnTheBaptist
Luke 1:76-80 Zechariah’s
Song
And you, my child, will be called a
prophet of the Most High; for 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 their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun
will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the
shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace." (Isa 9:2 The people walking in darkness have seen a
great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has
dawned.) 80 And the
child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he
appeared publicly to Israel.
Isa 40:1-11 Israel looking forward to the messiah 800
years before his coming – announced through “a voice calling”
Comfort, comfort my people, says your
God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has
been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the
Lord's hand double for all her sins.
A voice of one calling: "In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight
in the wilderness a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the
rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of
the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken."
6 A voice says, "Cry out."And I said, "What shall I cry?"
"All
men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field. The
grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on
them. Surely the people are grass. The
grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."
9 You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up
on a high mountain. You who bring good
tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be
afraid; say to the towns of Judah, "Here is
your God!" See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and his arm
rules for him. See, his reward is with
him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He
gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently
leads those that have young. Isaiah
is looking forward to the day of John the Baptist and doesn’t give a completed
script, but gives tweets to build on. The kinds of things he should say to
prepare people for the coming of the messiah.
Zechariah learned these things and would have taught them to his son
John.
#birthofjohnthebaptist
Luke 1:5-80In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years. Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
(As a
priest, Zech was a member of one of the 24 divisions of priests – the 8th
division, the division of Abijah and served at the temple for two one week
periods a year. There were 18,000 priests. A priest only served at the
sacrifice once in his lifetime – this was his one time. /like Frank Consenza
sept 12, 2009 dot the “I” Changed instruments as a freshmen in HS so I could
one day dot the I - ALL my family will be here – hits cameraman – imagine
looking forward to a moment all your life that you have earned and something
goes wrong and you have no chance for a redo.) v11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side
of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was
gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: "Do
not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will
bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and
delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be
great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented
drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the
people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on
before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the
fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous — to
make ready a people prepared for the Lord." (Remember the
following when we get to the end of the Christmas story next
week: How appropriate that God announces final redemption from sin during
worship where people are offering sacrifices for their sin. And he begins by tweeting a priest in the
temple on his special day – not any priest but the priest who will father the
forerunner of the messiah - #birthofjohnthebaptist.)
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 comes the cameraman to get in
the way)
19 The angel answered, "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. 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 proper time." (Gabriel
to Zech = “Just be quiet and watch God work!”)21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. (God answered a personal and corporate need simultaneously – barren Eliz has a baby – that baby will prepare the world for the Savior.) 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."
26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. --- Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God." Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy. On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, "No! He is to be called John." They said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who has that name." Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone's astonishment he wrote, "His name is John." 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, "What then is this child going to be?" For the Lord's hand was with him.
67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because (he will tweet about Jesus) he has come and has redeemed his people. He 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), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us—to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. 76 And you, (he will tweet about John) my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for 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 their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace."
80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.
God cared so much for
us that he #thebirthofjohnthebaptist – why? Because we could not accept so
great a love from Jesus unless we are first prepared for it. Before you came to faith, someone or many
people helped prepare you for receiving the love of Jesus. People you may not even know. Like praying for a child you sponsor through
those lunch sacks. Some of you will die
before some of them come to faith in Jesus, but your prayers are helping to
prepare the way. Inviting people to
church. Being a blessing to others are
simple ways that you become a #johnthebaptist for others. Other parts of the Christmas story show us
the world was not prepared for Christ’s coming – but God was using the
Zechariah family, unbeknownst to others, to prepare a way in the wilderness for
the coming of our God – and God wants to use you in the lives of others to
prepare the way for his coming. That is
what Christmas is ALL about – the coming of Jesus – not to Bethlehem – not laid
in a manger; but to people – raised up in the hearts of those who would
believe!
