A Mute Husband and Hope

Happy Sunday. I hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Today we begin our celebration of Advent. For the next four weeks, we will look at hope, peace, love, and joy.

These are four benefits that are available to all believers because of the gift of Jesus Christ. Today we celebrate hope. As we begin, let me define hope. Hope is the confident expectation that God will prevail based on his character and on his promises.

I must admit that this world can suck the hope right out of us if we let it. I have a buddy that was once addicted to the news. He watched the news religiously. So religiously, in fact, that he began to lose his religion.

He felt he realized that he was poisoning his brain and he stopped the addiction and began to reconnect with his faith. He realized that our hope was not in this world. He lost hope when he focused on this world and he found hope when he invested in his faith. In the book of Luke chapter 1, we read about the birth of John the Baptist.

If you recall John's parents, a priest named Zechariah and his wife named Elizabeth, well, they had given up the idea of ever having a baby. We're told that Elizabeth was barren and that they were both up in years. As the story goes, the angel Gabriel visited Zachchariah and told him that they would have a son. Gabriel gave great detail.

I'll read verses 13 to1 17 here from Luke 1. Gabriel said,"Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.

He must never drink wine or strong drink. Even before his birth, he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and the power of Elijah, he will go before him to turn the hearts of parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Now, this is great news. And Zachchariah had to be thrilled. We know he was a man of strong faith. Luke 1:5-6 talks of this.

There we learn in the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah who belonged to the priestly order of Abaja. His wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth. And we're told both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. So, these were good people.

And you would think that this man of great faith would be overjoyed. He was given hope by God's great messenger, Gabriel. And what did Zechariah do? He doubted.

We're told that he responded to Gabriel, "How can I know this will happen? For I'm an old man and my wife is getting on in years. It's impossible. can't happen.

You must be wrong. Zechariah had lost all hope. It's clear here, too, that his faith was slipping. Think about it.

He'd had an angelic visit, not just any angel, but the archangel Gabriel. And Zechariah doubted. His hope was gone. Losing hope always has consequences.

And as a result of his unbelief, Zechariah was made to be mute, unable to speak until the baby was born, until after the baby was born. Little over nine months of silence. Maybe his wife Elizabeth enjoyed the break. Luke goes on to tell us that half a year after Gabriel visited Zechariah, he went to visit Mary, who happened to be a cousin to Elizabeth.

Gabriel told Mary that she too would have a child. Of course, this was to be Jesus. So, God's plan is unfolding. Luke 1 is a powerful history-changing angelic announcement.

It's also a long chapter. After Gabriel visited Mary, the focus switches back to Zachchariah and Elizabeth. Their son John is born. And 8 days after he was born, Zachariah gets his voice back.

As the chapter closes, Zechariah has a lot to say. I'll begin at verse 68. Zechariah said, "Blessed be to the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his child David as he spoke through the mouth of his holiest prophets from old that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.

Thus, he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors and has remembered his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness in his presence all of our days. And you child will be called the prophet of the most high. For you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways to give his people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins. Because of the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace.

I love verses 78 and 79. Now that he has his voice back, Zechariah has a lot to say. Listen again to these words. Because of the tender mercy of our God, the dawn, the light from on high will break upon us to shine upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Zechariah now had hope. The light came back on. More importantly, this world was given hope. Remember the definition that I began with?

Hope is the confident expectation that God will prevail and it's based on his character and his promises. Have hope. God will prevail. Trust God.

Merry Christmas. Pray with me. Lord, help us to not put our eggs in this worldly basket. Help us to focus on you and have our hope where it belongs.

Not on things, not on people, but on the God that created this world and can send angels to make great announcements of great things. Thank you for sending Gabriel. Send your Holy Spirit to us to always give us hope in Jesus name. Amen.

God bless. Merry Christmas.