Faith requires action.

So they gestured to the baby’s father to ask what to name the child. After motioning for a writing tablet, in amazement of all, he wrote, “His name is John.” Instantly Zechariah could speak again. And his first words were praises to the Lord. (Luke 1.62 – 64, Passion Translation)

The judgment on Zechariah was that he would be mute. It doesn’t say he would be deaf. I wonder if the people just assumed he was deaf. He would have been in seclusion, no doubt, so they didn’t know. I remember when we met Sox the Fox at the Sky Sox minor league baseball stadium. I acted like he was deaf since he didn’t talk. My son Mark said, “He can hear you; he just can’t answer you.” Of course.

I don’t know if that’s important or even interesting, but I always wondered about why they gestured to Zechariah.

Zechariah was acting in faith, however, naming the baby John as he had been told.

But the angel reassured him, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God is showing grace to you. For I have come to tell you that your prayer for a child has been answered. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son and you are to name him John. … Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel. I stand beside God himself. He has sent me to announce to you this good news. But now, since you did not believe my words, you will be stricken silent and unable to speak until the day my words have been fulfilled at their appointed time and a child is born to you. That will be your sign!” (Luke 1:13 – 20, Passion Translation)

“Unable to speak UNTIL the day my words have been fulfilled.” The words included not only that they would have a son but that he would be named John.

Zechariah acts in faith and obedience. First, by fulfilling his husbandly duties to Elizabeth. Second by naming the baby John.

Faith requires action. For example, to express faith in the COVID vaccine, we’ll actually have to take the vaccine AND decrease some of our isolation.

In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2.17, NIV)

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. (Hebrews 11.7, NIV)

Yesterday, we observed that Elizabeth blessed Mary for “believing every word” that the angel told her and noted that our challenge is to do the same.

But we don’t believe in spite of evidence against what we’re believing but because of the evidence. Luke introduces his Gospel as an account based on evidence:

I am writing for you, mighty lover of God, an orderly account of what Jesus, the Anointed One, accomplished and fulfilled among us. Several eyewitness biographies have already been written, using as their source material the good news preached among us by his early disciples, who became loving servants of the Living Expression. But now I am passing on to you this accurate compilation of my own meticulous investigation based on numerous eyewitness interviews and thorough research of the story of his life. It is appropriate for me to write this, for he also appeared to me so that I would reassure you beyond any shadow of a doubt the reliability of all you have been taught of him. (Luke 1.1 – 4, Passion Translation)

I was struck by Luke’s detail on Mary’s meeting with Elizabeth:

Afterward, Mary arose and hurried off to the hill country of Judea, to the village where Zechariah and Elizabeth lived. Arriving at their home, Mary entered the house and greeted Elizabeth. At the moment she heard Mary’s voice, the baby within Elizabeth’s womb jumped and kicked. And suddenly, Elizabeth was filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit! With a loud voice she prophesied with power:

“Mary! You are a woman given the highest favor and privilege above all others…The moment you came in the door and greeted me, my baby danced inside me with ecstatic joy!…” (Luke 1.39 – 44, Passion Translation)

How would this information have come down to us? Elizabeth, who was old to start with, would have been dead before John and Jesus grew up. But the text is clear that Elizabeth told Mary that her child leaped in the womb. It’s not just that he leaped (verse 41), but that Elizabeth told Mary that he leaped (verse 44).

Mary must then have told the disciples as they were trying to piece everything together, perhaps in the upper room for those 10 days after the ascension.

The disciples left the Mount of Olives and returned to Jerusalem, less than a mile away. Arriving there, they went into a large second-floor room to pray. Those present were Peter, John, Jacob, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, Jacob (the son of Alpheus), Simon (the zealot), Judas (the son of Jacob), and a number of women, including Mary, Jesus’ mother. His brothers were there as well. (Acts 1.12 – 14, Passion Translation)

Soon we’ll have to put our faith in a COVID vaccine–that it’s both safe and effective! Hopefully, there will be evidence…

We’re working through the second week of Advent, which some call the week of faith. Luke records the conversation between Mary and Elizabeth, which includes this observation of Mary by Elizabeth:

Great favor is upon you, for you have believed every word spoken to you from the Lord. (Luke 1.45, Passion Translation)

There’s a faith statement!

Luke gives us these confirming signs of Jesus’ identity in Luke 1:

• Elizabeth’s pregnancy in old age (Luke 1.24, 25)
• Mary’s pregnancy without a man (Luke 1.30 – 38)
• John leaping in the womb (Luke 1.39 – 45)
• Mary’s prophecy (Luke 1.46 – 55)

Great favor is upon you because you have believed every word spoken to you from the Lord.

That’s our challenge now, isn’t it? To believe. Believers are a decreasing minority right now (that’s something that needs to turn around), but the challenge is to believe. Not explain the wonder out of it or eliminate the stories through so-called scholarship. I don’t criticize the text; I let the text criticize me.

And without faith living within us it would be impossible to please God. For we come to God in faith knowing that he is real and that he rewards the faith of those who give all their passion and strength into seeking him. (Hebrews 11.6, Passion Translation)

Here are some faith lessons from Zechariah and Mary:

Gabriel answered, “The Spirit of Holiness will fall upon you and almighty God will spread his shadow of power over you in a cloud of glory! This is why the child born to you will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your aged aunt, Elizabeth, has also become pregnant with a son. The ‘barren one’ is now in her sixth month. 37 Not one promise from God is empty of power, for nothing is impossible with God!” Then Mary responded, saying, “This is amazing! I will be a mother for the Lord! As his servant, I accept whatever he has for me. May everything you have told me come to pass.” And the angel left her. Luke 1.35 – 38, Passion Translation

These are familiar stories, but they are quite fantastic. Two people: Zechariah and Mary:

• At first, Zechariah did not believe (Luke 1.18 – 20), but after, he had to exercise enough faith to get Elizabeth pregnant. (Compare Abraham, Romans 4.20, 21)
• Mary did believe and responded, “I accept whatever he has for me.” Nothing indicates she had to respond that way or that the promise was contingent upon her response, but it most likely was. Theoretically, she could have refused.
• “Not one promise from God is empty of power, for nothing is impossible with God” was spoken to Mary, but it was about Zechariah and Elizabeth as much as about her.

Am I believing God can do great things through me? Am I accepting his assignments?

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” (Isaiah 6.8, ESV)

Here’s another lesson from Zechariah and Elizabeth – a faith lesson:

During the reign of King Herod the Great over Judea, there was a Jewish priest named Zechariah who served in the temple as part of the priestly order of Abijah. His wife, Elizabeth, was also from a family of priests, being a direct descendant of Aaron. They were both lovers of God, living virtuously and following the commandments of the Lord fully. But they were childless since Elizabeth was barren, and now they both were quite old. (Luke 1.5 – 7, Passion Translation)

Zechariah and Elizabeth chose to be faithful amid a sandwich of difficulty: King Herod the Great was their governor. An extremely evil man, as Matthew’s account of his killing all the baby boys 2 years old and under shows. Also, Zechariah and Elizabeth were childless. In a culture that believed obedience produced blessing, and blessing equals children, continued virtuous living must have been difficult.

Dr. Esau McCaulley, assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College, and director of Next Generation Leadership for the Anglican Church in North America, wrote about Zechariah and Elizabeth in his book Reading while Black. He compares them to elderly black believers today and to the first generation of black believers during slavery:

Zechariah and Elizabeth are, in a sense, Israel writ small. Elizabeth and Zechariah’s generation could say alongside Jeremiah’s, “The harvest is past, the summer has ended, and we are not saved” (Jer 8:20). It is important that Luke begins here because it situates the Jesus story in the middle of the pain of Israel, which includes the large-scale tragedy of exile and disinheritance along with the personal traumas each individual Israelite must face. In other words, Luke begins with the issue of injustice as a central concern.

Elizabeth and Zechariah are crucial for understanding Black hope. As the faithful elderly who persevered in the faith despite long-delayed hope, they are our Black grandparents who dragged us to church and prayed for us when we lacked the faith to pray for ourselves.

But more urgently, Zechariah and Elizabeth are the first generation of Black Christians who came to faith during slavery. Why put your faith in the God worshiped by slave owners? What good could come of it? How could its message be of use to you? The question posed by Frederick Douglass could also be found in the lament psalms of Israel: “Does a righteous God govern the universe? And for what does he hold the thunders in his right hand if not to smite the oppressor, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the spoiler?” Why would such a people who have every reason for cynicism put their faith in a God whose promises seem long delayed? – Esau McCauley, Reading While Black, page 82.

Jesus came into an imperfect world. A world of oppression. We wait in hope. We wait in faith. COVID has gone on way longer than any of us expected. And racial injustice has gone on longer than anyone expected, too, despite many improvements. And yet one day, we will be on the other side of COVID as I wrote earlier, and, hopefully, on the other side of injustice, too.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9.6, 7, ESV)

We’re already beginning week 2 of Advent 2020.

Faith leads to action. The shepherds heard the angels’ report and journeyed “with haste” to Bethlehem. (Luke 2.15, 16) King Herod heard the wise men’s report and responded in anger to kill all the baby boys he could find. (Matthew 2.16) I’ve never contrasted or even heard someone else contrast Luke 2.16 with Matthew 2.16, but both are responses of faith. I think we can say that the shepherds’ faith was mixed with hope – anticipation of the Messiah’s coming. Herod’s faith was mixed with dread – fear of a rival king.

We’ll look more at faith this week.

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13.13, NKJV)

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen…Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11.1…6, NKJV)

There’s so much in the short story about Zechariah and Elizabeth. Yesterday, we looked at the Benedictus: delivered from…to. Today we’re back to Zechariah’s encounter with the angel, who says something very intriguing:

But the angel reassured him, saying, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God is showing grace to you. For I have come to tell you that your prayer for a child has been answered. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son and you are to name him John. (Luke 1.13, Passion Translation)

“Your prayer for a child has been answered.” Judging from Zechariah’s response, it’s likely he wasn’t even praying that prayer currently. In fact, the Passion Translation note says as much:

The Greek verb allows for a possible translation of “prayer you don’t even pray anymore.” -Passion Translation note on verse 13.

The lesson remains: always pray and never give up. We don’t know how long it will take for a prayer to be answered. We pray for the big things: “Manifest your kingdom on earth,” give us relief from COVID, end racial injustice,… and for smaller, more personal things: family issues, jobs, illnesses, personal ministry. Always pray, never give up.

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. (Luke 18.1, NIV)

Pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5.17, ESV)

As we move into this Advent season overshadowed by COVID, we are not unlike those in Jesus’ day, waiting for deliverance. Physically and emotionally, we would say we want deliverance from COVID. The people in Jesus’ day were awaiting deliverance from Rome. But Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, reminds us what we are delivered to:

“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as 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 and righteousness before him all our days. (Luke 1.68 – 75, ESV, emphasis mine)

They waited for deliverance: “that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.” But the purpose of deliverance is clear: “That we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.”

We all want deliverance. This season we especially need deliverance: COVID, racial injustice, violence stimulated by racial injustice. But what do we do with this deliverance? Go back to life as normal?

Look at how Paul invites us to pray for our leaders:

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2.1 – 4, ESV)

We serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness (Zechariah) … living peaceful and quiet lives, godly and dignified in every way (Paul) … SO THAT all people will be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

Deliverance -> serving God in holiness and righteousness -> godly and dignified in every way -> more people coming into a relationship with God.

This is why Jesus came.

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2.11 – 14, NIV)

Here’s another semi-interruption to our Advent meditations, courtesy Vince D’Acchioli, head of On Target Ministries, based in Colorado Springs. After the passing of my friend Paul Stanley, that I wrote about Monday, I received an email from Vince, paying tribute to Paul. It’s too good not to share, especially when we remember that Jesus came not as a conqueror, but as a servant. 

For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves. (Luke 22.27, ESV)

Paul taught leadership around the world, using a formula he had distilled from his study of Jesus: lead, develop care. His adult son asked him, “How are we going to teach leadership in China?” Paul’s answer, “We’re going to teach them to lead like Jesus – lead, develop, care.” Paul taught Jesus’ lifestyle of servant leadership. 

Back to Vince. In 2010, Vince organized a major men’s ministry leadership conference for the National Coalition of Ministry to Men. Vince said that over 100 of the most noted men’s ministry and denominational leaders from around the world were there. Vince had asked Paul Stanley to speak at the opening session. Vince himself was late to the meeting, but he arrived in time to introduce Paul. Here’s his story:

So, after some opening remarks and welcoming, I had the privilege of introducing my friend Paul Stanley.  I assumed not many of those in attendance knew Paul.  However, as Paul walked up after my intro I noticed some strange murmuring and body language from many who were in the audience.  It was a reaction I was not able to understand until later. 

You see, unknown to me, when most of these leaders entered the Great Hall that morning they had already met Paul.  Paul greeted everyone who entered as he set up virtually all the chairs in that ballroom.  He never mentioned who he was other than to give his name.  He simply kept on setting up chairs and engaging these men in meaningful conversation as he did.  Most of these leaders thought Paul was part of the facility setup team or on the janitorial staff.  

When they observed this precious man moving toward the podium to deliver the opening message they were blown away. It was not until after Paul finished and many of these leaders approached me that I discovered what really happened.  These men were not impacted by the powerful message that Paul brought, though it truly was.  They were impressed by Paul.  You see, on that morning Paul Stanley was a man who needed no introduction.  He was already known.  Not by accolades or his resume, but rather, who he is.  Paul’s talk that morning was on leadership.  His audience experienced the essence of his message long before he uttered his first words from that podium.  – Vince D’Acchioli, emphasis his

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. (Mark 10.45, NKJV)

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant… (Philippians 2.5 – 7, NKJV)

Advent is a time of waiting, and this year, we really are waiting…for relief from COVID, for social justice AND an end to the riots, for … you fill in the blank. Jesus came into such a world, not as a conqueror as some had hoped, but as a baby.

Others are picking up on this theme also. Frazer Church in Montgomery, Alabama, is beginning a 20-week series on the Kingdom, beginning with Advent, continuing through Easter. I encourage you watch their 1:30-minute trailer on the series:

Here are some snippets:

• Broken, helpless, the world Jesus entered was in need of renewal. Is it all that different from today?
• Putting faith in the dollar, the scholar, or the sword? Where, oh where, are you, Lord? Can you redeem all this? That’s what the people were asking before Jesus came.
• The solution is a Kingdom…Thy Kingdom come for YOU are the promised one.
  

Manifest your Kingdom on earth. (Luke 11.2, Passion Translation)