The Angels of Christmas #1
Zechariah & Gabriel
November 28, 2004
Luke 1:5-25
First Sunday of Advent
Galena-Warwick United Methodist Charge
Warwick & Galena, Maryland
Rev. Dr. Lawrence D. Jameson
back to our church home page
Luke 1:11-17
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the
altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped
with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your
prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to
give him the name John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will
rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.
He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with
the Holy Spirit even from birth. 16 Many of the people of Israel will he bring
back to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit
and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the
disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous--to make ready a people prepared for
the Lord."
Angels are quite real.
They are part of God’s creation,
and they can do a lot of things we can’t.
They can transport themselves
great distances with the power of thought.
The don’t have wings.
But it has become a tradition
in Christian art
for us to symbolize the transportation abilities of angels
by showing them with wings.
Angels are smart.
They have been around for a long time,
even before the world was created.
So they know a lot.
But they don’t know everything.
For instance,
there is no reference in Scripture
that says anyone but God can read your mind.
Angels are powerful,
but they are not all-powerful.
There are two kinds of angels: good and bad.
A long time ago
one third of the angels rebelled against God (Rev 12:3-4)
and followed their leader, Satan.
We have another word for bad angels.
We call them demons.
The bad angels were kicked out of heaven.
They cannot go back, ever.
That makes them pretty sad and awful creatures.
Bad angels want to hurt us,
but you and I have no reason to fear them,
because God is in control of our lives, not angels.
Now let’s consider the good angels.
Two thirds of the angels did not rebel against God.
Two thirds of these amazingly smart and powerful beings
stayed with God up in heaven
and they love him, and praise him,
and because of that, they also love you and me.
The good angels have a party every time
someone repents of their sin and accepts Jesus Christ.
How do we know that?
Listen to what Jesus said
in Luke 15:7.
“there will be more rejoicing in heaven
over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous persons
who do not need to repent.”
Good angels are on our side.
They are happy for us when we do well.
They even celebrate with us.
What do angels do?
Whatever God wants them to do!
Good angels work for God.
They sometimes act as messengers.
They sometimes act as bodyguards.
They do a lot of stuff,
but the key is
that their whole purpose is to do God’s will.
Now I’ve been your pastor for three and a half years
and I haven’t talked about angels
for all that time.
There is a good reason.
Angels are not that important.
Sure, they are interesting,
but it doesn’t really matter
if we know a lot or almost nothing about angels.
Here is what is most important:
that we love God
and respond appropriately to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
You can have a really great Christian life
without ever thinking about angels,
BECAUSE
every Christian has something inside of us
that is far more wonderful than angels.
We have the Holy Spirit of God
living in our bodies,
leading us, guiding us, protecting us,
and teaching us more and more every day.
Because of Jesus Christ,
we have a direct, open, and loving relationship with God.
God answers our prayers directly.
We don’t need angels.
That’s why I don’t talk about them very much.
And do you know what?
It is also OK for us to talk about angels,
and to do the research about them,
because God gave us the Bible to read
and the Bible tells us a LOT about angels.
Zechariah
One day, a man named Zechariah was chosen
to spend the night inside the Temple in Jerusalem.
While he was there,
an angel appeared to him
and gave him a message from God.
Zechariah was chosen to be the father
of John the Baptist.
Why didn’t God just let John the Baptist
be born without a lot of hoopla?
Why send an angel to frighten an old man?
I don’t know why.
It was just something God decided to do.
Maybe God was just being really, really nice to Zechariah.
After all, in the future, Zechariah was probably
going to want to know
1) why he and his wife were able to have a baby so late in life,
2) and why that baby was going to become a prophet,
3) and why that baby was going to be so unusual.
If you think about it,
God was really very kind to Zechariah.
Zechariah didn’t need to know
what God was going to do in advance.
But after the angel visit, Zechariah knew a lot.
That knowledge changed his life.
It made him a better man, a better husband, and a better father.
It sweetened the flavor of his faith.
It gave him a strength of character,
and a deeper love for God.
It also made Zechariah himself into a prophet.
Canticle of Zechariah
Please turn with me to page 208 in the hymnal.
This canticle is a prophecy
written by Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist.
It was recorded in Luke 1:68-79.
Let’s read this responsively.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who has come to set the chosen people free.
The Lord has raised up for us
a mighty Savior from the house of David.
Through the holy prophets, God promised of old
to save us from our enemies,
from the hands of all who hate us;
To show mercy to our forebears
and to remember the holy covenant.
This was the oath God swore to our father Abraham:
To set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship without fear,
holy and righteous in the Lord's sight,
all the days of our life.
And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare the way,
To give God's people knowledge of salvation
by the forgiveness of their sins.
In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.
Beautiful words!
These are the words of a man
who was filled with the Spirit of God.
He raised John the Baptist.
And John the Baptist
got the whole nation of Israel
ready for Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
Dear ones,
angels are real, and that’s cool.
But there is something much better than that.
God Almighty really does love you,
and he has chosen to reveal
his plans, his purposes, and his will
to you and me.
Sometimes he sends angels.
Most often, he just points us to the Bible and says, “read this”.
The effect is the same.
We discover how really kind God is.
He doesn’t have to tell us anything.
He could keep us in the dark if he wanted to.
We don’t deserve to know the meaning of our lives.
Hear the good news.
It is part of God’s very nature
to reveal his purposes to us
through Jesus Christ.
God wants you to know.
That means, you are going to know.