Pastor Michael Neumann

January 3, 2010 

Luke 1:68-75

Praise to the Lord who has come.

1) He has redeemed us.

2) He has remembered his covenant.

3) He enables us to serve him.

 For many people, this time of year can sometimes be a bit depressing. The weather is often cold. The days are short. The excitement of the holidays is over. After several weeks of preparation and anticipation for Christmas, after a time of celebration with family and friends at Christmas and New Year’s – now we return to our more usual schedules. After the joy and festivity of the Christmas season, we go back to deal with everyday life and all of its problems and difficulties, and worries and uncertainties. It is easy to wish that the joy we know at Christmas could last through out the year.

 The fact is that in just such a world of trouble and sorrow that Christmas is so very important. The good news of Christmas – a Savior born in Bethlehem – is something that produces joy throughout the year. The good news of Christmas – God’s Son come in the flesh to be our substitute – is good news that stays with us throughout the year. The fact that we have been given the gift of a Savior affects our lives; it changes priorities; it gives hope and comfort; it strengthens and encourages – and it produces joy and happiness in any and every situation. When the Christmas decorations are taken down and put away, we don’t put away that baby born in the manager. We don’t forget about the events of Christmas until next year. The joy of Christmas truly is on-going. It continues into the New Year and beyond. The joy of Christmas lasts for all eternity. We have Savior from sin. We have eternal life in heaven. Nothing can rob us of that joy.

 Here before us this morning, we have that joy expressed in the song of Zechariah. His is a song of praise for what God has done for his people. Praise to the Lord who has come. He has come and redeemed us. He has remembered his covenant. And he enables us to serve him.

 These were the first words spoken by Zechariah in 9 months. 9 months earlier, Zechariah had been serving his turn as priest in the temple – performing the highest daily task of burning the incense on the golden altar in the Holy Place. This was a very important and special day in the life of any priest. It was a once in a lifetime event. Only once in a priest’s life was he granted this privilege. But something even more special happened while Zechariah was in the Holy Place. An angel appeared to him and announced that he and his wife Elizabeth would have a child. Despite their old age, despite the fact that to this point Elizabeth was barren – they would have a child and this child would be the forerunner to prepare the way for the Savior. Zechariah questioned and doubted the angel’s word. He asked for a sign to be convinced. The sign was that Zechariah was stuck mute and couldn’t talk until his son was born.

 Shortly after the birth of John the Baptist, Zechariah’s tongue was unloosed and moved by the Holy Spirit; these are the words he spoke. I suppose there were many things that Zechariah might have said after 9 months. But what fitting words, especially considering the important work his newborn son would carry out. No doubt over those months, Zechariah had time to reflect on his doubt of the Lord’s word and the birth of John was a strong testimony to the grace of God. Zechariah focuses, not on his son, but on the one whom his son’s message would focus – the Savior Jesus.

 He tells us a Savior has come who has redeemed us. Redeem means to buy back. You take a coupon to the store and redeem it, and in a sense the store buys it back from you for the amount written on it. The idea is similar to paying a ransom price to set a hostage or slave free.

 We needed to be bought back because by nature we were slaves to sin, held captive by the devil and doomed to die eternally. We needed a Savior to rescue us. God gave that Savior. Zechariah tells us that God “has raised up a horn of salvation for us.” The horn is an instrument of strength in many animals. It is the biggest, strongest male animal that has the biggest horns or antlers – so the horn symbolizes power. This horn Zechariah speaks about would come from the kingly line of David. So Jesus was born from the family line of David. He is our king who came to conquer our enemies. Jesus would do battle on the cross and with his death on the cross, Jesus would defeat the devil; he would set us free from sin and death. By his death, he gives to us eternal life.

  That same Lord who has rescued us from our spiritual enemies, our greatest enemies, will continue to be with us and watch over us. So the apostle Paul writes, “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” And King David writes in Psalm 18, “I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

 The Lord has not left us on our own. Jesus promises, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” The Lord protects and keeps evil from us. How many times haven’t we marveled at how God kept something terrible from happening in our lives? Just think then, how many times the Lord keeps evil so far away from us that we don’t even recognize the potential danger. 

 And even when the Lord does allow evil to come, he uses it for our good. The apostle Paul teaches us, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” God disciplines us by the trials of life to keep us on the road that leads to eternal life, to strengthen our faith and bring us even closer to him. 

 One day God will ultimately deliver us from all evil when he takes us out of this world of sin to himself in heaven. Our victory is assured. Salvation is ours. The Lord has redeemed us. That Savior whom the Lord gave born our sins and paid for them all with his death on the cross. He is our horn of salvation. He is our strength. When trouble comes into our life, we have no reason to worry or despair. We have a refuge, a stronghold, a place of safety to which we can flee. Turn to the Lord who has redeemed you and made you his own. Place your troubles in his hand. He will deliver you. He delights in you. In his grace and love, he will see you through this life and bring you to your eternal home. He has paid the ransom price with his death on the cross.

 And so God again shows his faithfulness. We can be sure of all these things because God is always faithful to his promises. Zechariah reminds us of God’s faithfulness by pointing out that God has remembered his covenant.

 God established a covenant or a contract with Abraham. The chief part of that covenant was the promise of a Savior from sin from Abraham’s line. This was a one sided contract. God was the one who did everything. God did more than just promise Abraham – God sealed his promise with an oath. We might take an oath in court to verity that the testimony given is true. In a legal way, God established his covenant of salvation. Even though God’s word is always true – God took an oath by himself to verity, to give testimony to the truth of his promise.

 But there still must have been times when it seemed to those Old Testament believers as though God had forgotten. Years went by; the promise was repeated, but no Savior. But now with the birth of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ had come. The birth of the Savior was right at hand.

 Zechariah had seen God fulfill his word in the birth of his son John. He knew God would fulfill his promise to send his own Son as Savior. In fact, notice that Zechariah speaks as though the Savior was already there, as though the work of salvation was already completed. Jesus wouldn’t be born for several more months. But God had promised and it was as good as done. God could be counted on to keep his promises. Zechariah may have doubted the angel’s announcement to him about his son, but here se see Zechariah’s faith displayed.

 Like Zechariah, we struggle at times with doubt. Perhaps we doubt God’s love for us when times are tough. We may doubt his rule in our life. We may doubt his promises – promises to be with us and to work everything for our good. At those times, we can turn to Zechariah’s word and be reminded that our Savior has won our salvation. He defeated our enemies. He has conquered sin, death and the devil. We have no reason for doubt or fear. We too can praise God for our salvation and for his faithfulness. 

 The result of God’s faithfulness in redeeming us from sin is we are now able to serve him. We now have a purpose for life. Our lives have true meaning. We are called to serve God. And we can do no less. We want to. What a blessing God gives us with the opportunity to serve him. When we consider all that he has done for us, the joy that he has given us, the certain hope of eternal life – we want to thank him. When someone does something nice for us, it is natural to say thank you. If God didn’t give us ways to serve him, we would look for ways to thank him anyway. But God does guide us by his word in our lives of thankfulness. He does give direction and opportunity to thank him with our lives.

 As Christians, we are able to serve him in “holiness and righteousness.” As the apostle Paul says, “our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.” A slave set free, doesn’t want to return to his slavery. We have been freed from sin; we don’t want to return to serving our sinful flesh. We give ourselves to the one who paid the ransom price. We give our lives to our Savior to serve him by living according to his word. “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

 Our strength comes from the Lord. He gives us the Holy Spirit who works in our hearts through his word. Our motivation is the Lord’s love for us.

 We do have great reason for joy – always, every day, no matter what the circumstances of our life. We have great reason to join with Zechariah in praising the Lord – our Savior has come. By Jesus’ perfect life and his innocent death, we have been redeemed from sin and given eternal life in heaven. God is faithful to all his promises. One day he will return to take us out of this word of sin and trouble to spend eternity in the glories of heaven. Until that day, in thankfulness and joy, we will serve him by our lives.