How Good God Is

Well, thanks, Katie. Lovely to see you this morning, folks.

Particularly if this is your first time with us, you are so welcome today.

And it's a great joy to get into God's Word together.

So if you've got a Bible, please grab it.

If you want to do that on your phone, you can do that as well.

If there's one in the pews in front of you, grab that.

The verses, I'm sure, will be going through them as they go on the screen.

So I did a quick count this morning on my two hands, and it's eight sleeps to Christmas.

So I thought with that in mind, it was a good time to get something off my chest that really annoys me at the time of Advent.

You ready for it?

It's time to come clean.

Here is who I've got beef with.

And it's this guy.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the red suit and the hat.

Big fan of the belly laugh and everything that goes with Santa Claus.

But what gets me every single year is what he's holding in his hand.

Do you see it?

What's he holding in his hand, Innes?

The good or the naughty list.

The good or the naughty list.

Gets me every time it's that list.

You know the one that he's keeping?

The one that he's checking twice?

He's trying to work out who's been naughty and nice.

Now, notwithstanding the GDPR implications of his data keeping,

here's the beef that I've got with him.

I've got no idea where I stand with him.

I have got no idea if I've been good enough for Santa.

That's a stress.

I think you'll agree that you don't need this time of year.

Added stress to your life.

You see, Santa's character may be entertaining,

but if we take in his message,

quite frankly, it's exhausting.

Because here's the crux of it.

His present giving is intrinsically connected to our performance keeping.

And honestly, I used to think that the God of the Bible ran a similar kind of setup.

So it worked with him.

He was like some kind of Santa in the sky.

He was out to reward our good behavior.

He was out to punish our bad behavior.

It's how the gods of our imagination and our construction work, isn't it?

And if we think God works like that, maybe that's you here today,

then I've loved hanging out with this man, Zechariah, this week in his song,

because his song blows our minds,

blows all our misconceptions of what the God of the Bible is like out of the water,

because his song is all about how the God of the Bible works.

It's all about how good the God of the Bible is.

And it is so refreshingly good.

So before we go inside his song, though,

we've got to spend some time outside his song,

which helps us understand it.

If you've got a Bible there,

come with me to verse 5 of Luke's gospel.

See, we meet this man, Zechariah,

and we get his job straight off the bat.

What is he?

Do you see it?

He is a priest.

That's his job.

And he's married to this lady called Elizabeth.

And straight off the bat,

Luke wants us to know certain details about their lives.

Do you see?

Verse 6, the two of them are blameless when it comes to living for God.

There are a couple who want to honor him with their lives.

They want to live for the worship of this God.

And we think to ourselves,

if ever there was a couple to make it onto Santa's good list,

surely it was this couple we meet right here in Luke chapter 1.

Luke 1 · chapter mention

Do they have rewards in store?

Is life going to go swimmingly for them?

Well, again, if it was according to Santa, that's a straight line that would go.

But not really for this couple here, for there's a massive source of pain that's in their lives.

Do you see it there?

The massive source of pain is that they are old and they can't have a child.

Some of us here, I'm sure, will know the pain of that.

There's a lovely truth about the God of the Bible.

He sees every pain.

He knows every tear.

Disappointment after disappointment.

Hope followed by heartache.

That has been the life story of this two devout couple here.

And to compound it all in this day,

it was thought that childlessness was a sign of sinfulness.

And Luke's helping us see that that simply can't be the case.

There's pain in their life.

And yet when it comes to his day job, though,

do you see things start to take an upswing for Zechariah?

He hits the jackpot.

He's drawn at Lot, not just to minister, do you notice, at the temple, but in the temple.

Verse 9, he enters and he is within feet of the most holy place.

That is the very place where God dwells.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime privilege for Zechariah.

This is the pinnacle, if you like, of his professional career.

And notice the details.

He's at the right side of the altar of incense.

Now, why does that matter?

It matters because in this day, this is the place where the prayers go up.

Prayers of the people, they go up.

And he's there at the hour of incense.

Do you see that?

Again, why is that important?

It's important because at this point,

he and those who gathered outwith to pray,

they're praying particularly for the nation.

They're praying for their people.

And they're praying really simply this,

God, would you come and save us?

God, would you come and save us?

And Gabriel appears to him,

God's heard your prayer.

Elizabeth will have a son and his name will be John.

He'll be set apart from the Lord.

Do you see that?

We don't just get his name.

We get his job description, if you like.

We don't just get his lifestyle.

We get his life purpose.

He's going to be the one to get the people ready for the coming of the Savior.

And you think, wow.

And yet Zechariah doesn't believe it at first.

I don't know.

Maybe it's too painful a reality for him to get his head around.

Please don't get my hopes up again.

Of a child.

How will this be?

He says, verse 18.

Which we're to interpret, Luke says,

As disbelief.

Again, if this were up to Santa,

At this point, Zechariah makes a huge mistake.

He would be on Santa's naughty list.

So you think to yourself,

Is God going to move on?

Is God going to pick someone or somewhere else?

Or is even God just going to take him out

Because of his disobedience.

Well, God in classic Zoom call style,

In wonderful grace, make no mistake,

He makes him mute.

Now, have you ever wondered why

God put him on mute?

I've thought about it this week.

I've never actually thought about that before.

Have you ever wondered why God made him silent?

Of all the things that God could have done.

Well, I take it that Zechariah

Watches everything unfold in front of him,

Unable to speak.

I wonder if this just leaves him

With a lot of thinking time.

God needs to do some work in his heart.

Imagine him going home, verse 24.

He sees Elizabeth become pregnant.

Notice the little detail there.

He goes home.

This birth is, pregnancy rather, is marvellous.

It's not miraculous like Jesus' was.

He goes home.

But imagine these two, this old couple.

I'd love to have been in that antenatal class,

Would you not, as that couple walked in there?

Are you here for your grandson?

No, no, no, no.

My wife here is having a baby.

Are you sure?

On their Zimmer frames, in they go.

Imagine him hearing from Elizabeth

That when Mary came to visit them,

At verse 39,

Elizabeth reports to him

How Jesus in her womb,

In Mary's womb rather,

Rejoices at Jesus.

John in her womb rejoices at Jesus

In Mary's womb.

He leaped for joy.

I love the sense of wondrous anticipation

There in that scene.

Don't miss that.

And it's all about the names.

All about the names.

John, whose name means God is gracious,

Is wonderfully and joyfully celebrating in this moment

The presence of Jesus,

Whose name means God saves.

God is gracious meets God saves.

What about those two things have in common?

John's got a lot of thinking time.

Zechariah's got a lot of thinking time.

Has Zechariah got it?

Well, it comes to the names.

Tradition of the day says that the son takes the father's name.

But the suggestion comes from left field from Elizabeth.

Do you see it?

To go for John.

Will the silent Zechariah say the same?

But it's bigger than that.

Will he, having had time to think deeply on these things,

Will he begin to walk by faith

And not by sight?

Grabbing a writing tablet, verse 63.

Love how tablets aren't a modern day invention.

Verse 63, really simply.

We'd love to have thought of him writing this.

His name is John.

And his charades days are over.

He's off mute and his mouth is opened.

And again, notice what he's singing about.

What is it that makes him sing now?

It's not simply that he's having a child.

As glorious as that is.

Because God has been at work in his heart.

What grabs him now is what God is doing

In this moment.

In the arrival of his son.

And on a side note,

Isn't it interesting how Luke lets us know

Just how much this whole episode

It grabbed the attention of the neighbours?

Do you not love that?

As they looked in and they saw

That God was up to something.

God was breaking in here.

He was working in marvellous ways

In the hearts and the lives

Of those who were faithful to him

In this household.

And as they saw the worship and wonder

That filled

Zechariah and Elizabeth's house.

And as they hear Zechariah praising God

Like he's never praised him before.

Do you think that made an impact on them?

Verse 65

You bet it did.

They were filled with awe.

It really made me think this week

About my neighbours

Both physically

But also those who I rub shoulders with every day.

Do they see me celebrating Christmas

With the joy of this household here?

So we step inside this man's song

This old man

Whose heart has been so deeply captured by grace

And it's a lovely picture of what the gospel does

Do you see how we've got Mary, this young girl?

Her song is a deeply personal one

And yet we also have Zechariah, this old priest

His song is a beautifully corporate one

Even there do you see how this gospel

This good news of good joy

Is for everyone

It's all strata of society

As this priest

He maybe reflects on the mess

That he and his people have made of things

Over the years

By their foolish choices and their sin

And the wonder that this God

He acts

Not like Santa

He doesn't reward performance

He doesn't

Act on the basis of our performance

No, no, no

He works according to his promise

A promise that snowballs down the ages

With prophet after prophet

That centres on a king

And that's what's implied there

By, if you're wondering about that language

The horn of salvation

Verse 69

That's what that means

It means God's going to raise up a king

What is it about this king

That gets Zechariah singing?

Really quickly

It's two things

Firstly, that he is a king of might

He will save us from our enemies

Now, Zechariah at that point

May well have been thinking about

The occupying Romans in his mind

But equally, given that he mentions

The forgiveness of sin at verse 77

There must be a sense in which he realises

That the biggest problem for him and his people in life

By a country mile

Is their failings

Their sin against this God

The sin, that defiance that starts

In the attitude of our hearts

Against our creator

This holy God

The sin that's turned us in on ourselves

That is seen in so much of the selfishness

That pervades our actions

That's our biggest problem in life

Bigger than climate change

Bigger than economic uncertainty

Bigger than political instability

Our biggest problem in life

Is our sin against this holy God

You know, spiritually speaking

We are like those workers

Who were trapped in that mine in India

A few weeks ago

Imagine their sense of utter helplessness

And that's how the Bible speaks

Of our situation out with Jesus

We are lost

We are helpless

You know, I've got a good friend Andy

Who works as a pastor down in Nidri

One of those economically deprived areas

Of our city

And he always says this

After 12 or 15 years of working there

He says the biggest problem we have

In our community here is not poverty

As big as that is

It's not poverty

It's pride

See the language here

From the slave market

Verse 68

That God is going to redeem us

He's going to buy us back

The language from the gladiators

Arena

Verse 71

This God is going to deliver us

You see, this king has come

To deal with the penalty

That is due to us

Because of our rebellion against him

That's the language the Bible uses

To help us understand

What this child would grow up to be

As he heads towards the cross

You know, the crucifixion

Was not the sad anticlimax

To a life that promised so much

No, actually the cross of Christ

Is the very crown and glory

Of this king's mission

And for what purpose

And I love seeing this in the passage

Please see it

Verse 75

What is the purpose of all this?

That we might serve him

Without fear

Because of this king

When you accept him

There is no sense of dread

And nervousness

As we come before this God

No, no, no, no

He doesn't have a Jekyll and Hyde

Kind of heart

Towards his people

He acts to take away our sin

As we say sorry

And as we turn

As we run to him

Forgiveness means

That we can call him father

Adoption

Being adopted

As a son and daughter

Of the living God

Adoption means

We can call him Abba

There is no fear now

Because of Jesus

As we come before our God

Jesus will save us

From our sin

For himself

And that is why

We will serve him

As Zechariah says here

In holiness and righteousness

All our days

With this God

It's not a case of

We have to serve him

You come to see

The beauty of Jesus

And quickly

Your hearts come to see

Wow

I get to serve him

In the words

Of Charles Spurgeon

Jesus is the most

Magnanimous of captains

He's a king of might

Is this Jesus

And really quick

He's a king of light

See verse 76

It's almost like

Zechariah at this point

Spontaneous praise

For what this God

Is doing at the minute

It's almost like

He pauses at this point

And he turns to his son

He thinks about the boy

Who is holding

Probably in his

Rickety bony arms

And he says

You son

Your role will be

To prepare the way

For this saviour to come

Because of the

Tender mercy of our God

Do you not love

Those two words?

Not harsh

Discipline

No the tender mercy

Of our God

Zechariah here

He's tapping into

The language of

The reading that we

Started with

Archie read from us

From Isaiah chapter 9

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

Of this light

That will shine

Into the darkness

This light

That will shine

To those who are

In the shadow of death

Do you hear what he's saying

Verse 79

This sunrise will visit us

It will give light

To those who are

Sitting in darkness

And that's the thing

About the Bible

There's a lot of darkness

At this point

In the journey

And yet here is

Luke declaring to us

That this light

Is about to burst into

And is smashing into

Our darkness

To conquer it

So do you hear

Zechariah's song

He's saying that

The heart of this God

Isn't like Santa's

That this God

Does not come

To deal with us

According to our performance

No this God

Acts for his glory

In accordance with

His promises

To save us

So let me just ask you

As we close

Have you entered

Into the joy

Of knowing the salvation

That God offers to us

In the person

Of his son

Do you know

The burden lifted

Of your sins forgiven

Do you know

The peace

Of your conscience

Cleansed

Do you know

Life to the full

With the God

Who created you

All of that

Is on offer

In the person

Of Jesus

You know

Just as we wrap this up

Let me tell you

About my Friday morning

It's 8.30am

I'm beginning the school run

The kids are dressed

We're out the door

It's beginning to get light

I put the alarm on

I close the door

I lock the lock

And I look out

And I'm tired

But I'm pretty sure

I've seen a firework

Go across the sky

And I think to myself

Surely I can't be

The only one

That just saw that

Before I grass up

The neighbours

And call the police

Who's setting off

Fireworks at that time

In the morning

I turn to the kids

Kids did you see anything

Did you see anything

Did daddy just imagine that

We saw nothing dad

So cross the road

Make him away to the school

Meet some other parents

On the school run

Did anyone else

See something in the sky

This morning

Didn't see anything

In the sky this morning

I must be thinking

I'm really tired

Beginning to lose it

Then another parent

Came at me this time

She said

Listen listen

Did you see something

In the sky

Yes I saw something

In the sky

And we worked it out

We went on Google

As you do

Modern parents

Did anyone else

See the meteor

No

No one saw

Anyway

Three seconds

It lasted

This meteor

Just went across

The sky

Wonderful thing

Full of colour

And light

And it was absolutely

Incredible when we

Worked out what it was

But here's the thing

About the meteor

The meteor was wonderful

For three seconds

It was purple

It was green

It was blue

It had a tail

It was lovely

And then it disappeared

And it struck me

As I

I've hung out with Zechariah

This week in his song

And do you see

How he mentions there

He sings about

What God is doing

In this moment

And he references

Verse 69

The house of David

What that is code for

Is God's forever king

And it struck me

That he is celebrating

The fact that the life

Of God's king

Will be the opposite

Of that meteor

What will start

Really humbly

With an unspectacular

Beginning in Bethlehem

What will end

With him on the cross

In his earthly life

What will happen

Will it be

Forever glorious

And mighty

The reign of this

King Jesus

He's the opposite

Of the meteor

And that is why

I love the invitation

To come to this king

This morning

Who we're still

Speaking about

And celebrating

And who's still

Changing hearts

The world over

Some 2000 odd

Years later

What would have been

The odds on that

How do you explain that

It's because this king

His reign will have no end

This king is not like

The meteor

Who will be

Three seconds

Have his moment

In the sun

And he will be

Forever banished

To folklore

No this king

Is an everlasting king

Who really does

Transform lights

John would write this

At the beginning

Of his gospel

The light shines

In the darkness

And then get this

And the darkness

Has not overcome it

Two giveaways

We'd love to give you

Just before we sing

And we wrap this up

This morning

That you can get

On your way out

One is just a really

Nicely decorated

Christmas version

Of Luke's gospel

If you're wondering

What all this has been

About this morning

If you've been wondering

What I've been speaking about

That is something for you

To take away this morning

It's our gift to you

Please grab it

On your way out today

And another one

Is just a giveaway

For you as well

This book by a guy

Called Bob Lapine

Called The Four Emotions

Of Christmas

Just might connect

With what's going on

In your life just now

The different emotions

That we feel

But it's going to connect you

And tell you about

The good news of Jesus

Grab those two this morning

As you go

We'd love to be

Our gift to you

Why don't we pray

And let's pray

To this God

Of light

And so Father

We thank you so much

For this morning

Lord on all the fun

And all the festivity

And all the laughing

Lord

We thank you

For the serious news

The wonderful

Life transforming

Good news

Of the coming of Jesus

So Father

I pray

That in all the busyness

Of this season

That you would meet us

Where we're at

Lord I pray for those

In this room today

For whom this is

Really difficult

A really hard time of year

Remembering the

Maybe the death

Of loved ones

Maybe the stresses

Of some of the things

We've been thinking

About today

Lord I pray

That the Prince of Peace

Your Son

By your Spirit

Would meet them

Where they're at

Father for those of us

Perhaps who are just

Really tired

And weary

I pray that we would be

Greatly strengthened

By the King of Light

Father we pray as well

As those

For those of us

Who are doing well

Father we pray

That you would help us

To have joy

In this King

Lord help us

Just this Christmas

To make time

To do what Zechariah did

Just to take time

To reflect

And would you do

Some deep work

In our hearts

Father

Help us to see

The beauty

Of what you're doing

In this moment

So Lord we just

Thank you for today

Thank you for everything

That's gone on

Father be with us

As we finish this morning

In Jesus' wonderful

And in his strong name

We pray

Amen