Unexpected Joy - On Time Deliverance! Luke 1:67-79, Galatians 4:4-6 December 21, 2014 Dr. Michael T. Carey Today we re talking about on-time-delivery, a huge issue these days. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas 1,345,000,000 are to be delivered by UPS, Federal Express, and the Postal Service. So if you see Jim Adams race by in his Fed Ex uniform, cheer him on! If you see Bill Means, congratulate him for owning UPS Stores. Last year s explosion in last-minute on-line shopping overwhelmed the system, so delivery companies made upgrades and hired many more temp workers to fulfill their promise for on-time delivery. It s heart-warming to see that UPS workers were allowed to slow down and give this special gift. UPS, Your Wishes Delivered: Driver for a Day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0isl5amqlmy What an unexpected gift for a UPS driver to deliver! Clearly that didn t look like Christmas in Colorado, and the video didn t mention a birthday. The little boy s reaction was complete and utter joy from an unexpected gift. At Christmas we get gifts that are expected and gifts that are unexpected. We expect to receive Christmas cards from old friends, to go to the same parties wearing the same festive clothes, and perhaps to get the same present every year. We are grateful for these expected gifts. But then there s the unexpected; something that truly surprises you. Last Monday I walked into my office to see that 5 th and 6 th graders in our JAMLand program had given me a Christmas tree, covered with little stockings with their names on it. I was thrilled! The coming of Jesus was God s on-time delivery: God fulfilled His promise and gave His People the present they were expected a Messiah. Yet Jesus came in an expected way we ll talk about that Christmas Eve. And the Gift s impact was completely unexpected which makes it better! Zechariah s speech reminds us of what was expected by God s people. The aging priest had lost his voice after he doubted the angel s announcement that his aging wife Elizabeth could be pregnant. For nine months he was silent; 638 S. Patrick Dr. Satellite Beach, FL 32937 p: (321) 777-2047 f: (321) 777-2077 T R I N I T Y W E L L S P R I N G S. C O M
which raises the question which is a bigger miracle, an old woman giving birth or a pastor keeping his mouth closed for nine months. When Elizabeth gave birth, she named her baby John, but others objected. So everyone turned to the speechless Zechariah, who wrote His name is John on the tablet. Immediately he gained back his voice; he used it to praise God and prophesy. Like the prophets of the Old Testament, he praised the God of Israel because he has come to his people and redeemed them. Zechariah declare that the Lord has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David (ram s horns were used to carry oil, so anointing was done pouring the oil from a ram s horn remember how the shepherd boy was anointed by Samuel to be the king of Israel the word Messiah literally means annointed one. In the Spirit, Zechariah declared that the Annointed One was imminent. The Jews had a name for this anointed one; the Hebrew word Messiah; translated into Greek the language of the Roman Empire Christos, the Christ. Throughout decades of suffering, God s people yearned for the Christ; from retrospect, Jesus was on-time deliverance. The time was right for God to break into history, but also we ll see, God breaks expectations as He breaks into history. Here s what they expected; we ll start to see how he breaks their expectations. 1. Deliverance from earthly enemies; Zechariah speaks of salvation for us [he means the Jews] and from the hand of all who hate [Jews]. This week s massacre of children in Pakistan and ambush in Brooklyn reminds how horrible enemies can be towards each other, so people yearn for God s to deliver them. But Jesus was unexpectedly killed by his enemies to show that he delivers people from evil through suffering love and Resurrection. 2. Mercy to Jewish Nation; Zechariah remembers God promising to use the Christ to showing mercy to [the Jews] ancestors and remembering His holy covenant, the oath He swore to [their] father Abraham. Yet Jesus unexpectedly spoke of God s mercy for everyone. 3. Serve the Holy God without fear; Zechariah was a priest, he strived to ceremonially pure before God, but he knew that many priests were corrupt. The Jews expected that God would restore their sacrificial system, yet Jesus unexpectedly became the sacrificial lamb, the object of sin. 2
Zechariah went on to prophesy that the little son Johnny would be called a prophet of the Most High, to go on before the Lord to prepare the way for the Christ, to give God s people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins. Yet Zechariah or Johnny could have hardly have imagined what God s unexpected joy. Remember that little Johnny grew up to be the wild-man preacher out in the desert, baptizing people who repented of their sin. John the Baptist was the last prophet to prepare the way for Jesus. Yet even John struggled with the unexpected things about Jesus. At one point, John sent disciples: Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else? (Luke 7:20) Human nature is to think we know what God needs to do for us. But when God gives the greatest of gifts, we should expect to be surprised. Years later, a Jews sent to share Jesus with the Gentiles, summarized the message of Christmas to the Galatians: When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those under the Law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, Abba, Father (4:4-6). This is the message of Christmas! First, that Jesus is delivers us from enemies. Deliverance from earthly enemies comes with resurrection; in the meantime, Jesus brings liberation from bondage to Law. By Law, Paul meant trying to make yourself right in God s eyes by striving to be a good person. You think, what s wrong with trying to be a good person? That s better than being an evil person or a self-centered person! Yes, people breaking bad should change course. But when you try to atone for your sin by simply by striving to be good or generous or religious, you fall short. Recently I read the testimony of a man who tried to overcome his addiction to pornography; repeatedly he tried to break free of this horrible bondage to lust, but he discover that the cycle of feeling guilty and trying harder to be pure was a new kind of bondage, like pulling on a noose. Paul wrote that while the Law of Moses was good in showing God s will for them, their inability to keep the Law made it a new kind of bondage; but: When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those under the Law. So you see, the Gift of Jesus brings unexpected freedom for those who receive the Gift, unwrap the Gift, and allow the Gift to transform them. A great example is the story of Louis Zamperini, which is to be featured in the blockbuster movie Unbroken set to open on Christmas Day. As you probably 3
know from the long movie trailer Zamperini was an Olympic track star whose plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean during World War II; he survived 47 days on a raft till the Japanese Navy picked him up then it got worse. The movie shows his amazing survival, but movie doesn t show is the most remarkable part of the story. Laura Hillenbrand s book, tells how when the war ended, Zamperini was so angry that he became an alcoholic; after surviving the horrors of war he selfdestructed, till at a1949 Billy Graham Crusade he accepted Christ, embraced sobriety, healed his marriage, and even traveled to Japan to forgive his captors. That s deliverance! That s freedom! That s what Jesus can do! A relationship with Jesus elevates you to the status of being the Father s dear children. After freeing us from bondage to sin or to guilt, Paul writes that we have the full rights of sons. In ancient times, only sons could become heirs to a father s estate; Paul is saying that in receiving the Gift, men and women become like sons were in the ancient world--elevated into a relationship of that yields access to God. Is there ever a more radically unexpected statement than this: because you are sons, god sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the spirit who calls out, Abba, Father. Abba is the actual Aramaic word Jesus would have used to say Daddy. We are delivered from bondage to become sons who bear the spirit of Jesus who calls the Almighty one Daddy. Jewish people would never call God Daddy; this is unexpected intimacy with God. Intimacy with God brings power it s not what you know but who you know. Zechariah spoke of serving the Holy One without fear; receiving the Jesus Gift yields so much more: empowerment by indwelling Holy Spirit. The Spirit within us not only liberates, not only elevates, but gives us the power to make a positive difference: we have unexpected influence, times when the Spirit in us reveals Jesus through us. Even thousands of years after Jesus was born, we have sheer joy as we experience the Gift. We expect to rejoice at Christmas, yet we often discover joy at unexpected times, in unexpected ways sort of like the little boy who became a UPS driver for a day. This past year some of you have experienced freedom from some kind of bondage perhaps pornography, or substance abuse, or rage, or food addiction, or low self-image, or work addiction. This past year some of you have discovered the joy of knowing God personally you not only believe about Him but you ve put your trust in Him, and you awaken to prayer with energy and excitement. You ve endured suffering that drew you close to God. And this past year some of you experienced the joy of being more influential as you embraced a more missional lifestyle people saw the spirit of Jesus in you and were affected. 4
Freedom from bondage. Intimacy with God. Spiritual Influence. If you ve tasted one of these aspects of the Father s Greatest Gift, then Christmas came early! And as we gaze into a new year, it s worth asking: which aspect of this Gift would be for you a truly unexpected joy? Dare to hope! 5