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2010 Christmas (III)

BECAUSE OF THE TENDER MERCY OF OUR GOD
(Zechariah’s Song of Praise)

“Because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”

Today’s passage focuses on Zechariah’s song of praise. At the time of his son’s birth, Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied. One of the main themes of his song of praise can be summed up in one word: “mercy.” According to Zechariah, the coming of the Messiah into this world reveals God’s unconditional mercy. He said in verse 72, “to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant.” At the end of his song, he also said, “Because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven” (78)

The Hebrew word for mercy is “hesed” (חסד). Actually there is no English word that conveys the exact meaning of the word “hesed.” So it is translated into many English words, such as “kindness,” “love,” “loyalty,” “covenant keeping,” “truth,” “long suffering,” or “tender mercies.” This one word “hesed” is a central concept in Jewish values, ethics and virtues. In fact, one of the most renowned Jewish rabbis said that the Torah begins with “hesed” and ends with “hesed.” It means that the Bible begins with God’s mercy and ends with God’s mercy. It’s possible that when Zechariah thought about God’s redemptive history and what was happening to his family during the last ten months, one word – “mercy” – came into his mind. Let’s think about what Zechariah praised God for and what his song of praise means to us today.

Look at verses 57-58. “When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.” It must have been extremely difficult for Elizabeth to deliver her baby because she was very old and it was her first delivery. Both the mother’s and baby’s lives were in danger. Perhaps all the neighbors and relatives were so concerned about her that as soon as they heard that both the mother and child were healthy, they became extremely happy. They knew that God took away disgrace from Elizabeth by showing her great mercy. And they shared their joy with one another.

In those days, there were not many things to be joyful about in Israel. Their nation was under the rule of the Roman Empire. People had no jobs to support themselves, yet taxes were high. Corruption among the Jewish leaders worsened their country’s condition and aggravated people’s pain and suffering. It seemed that there was no reason to be joyful about. However, these people knew how to rejoice in the mercy of their God. Probably they brought food, diapers, toys and clothes for the newborn baby. They knew how to rejoice and share their joy in the midst of discouragement. As I review 2010, I realize that this year seemed to be one of the worst and most disastrous years that I have ever seen. In fact, we have had so many natural disasters in the world, beginning with a catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, a horrible flood in Pakistan during the summer, the oil-leak in the Gulf of Mexico, the tornado in NYC, the wild fire in Moscow, two continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the list goes on and on. We are still struggling with a global economic crisis. What shall we do now? We are tempted to complain and quit. You might think, “Now, everything is over.” But it’s not over yet. In fact, it’s time for us to rejoice in the Lord.

Why is joy so important? It’s because the joy of the Lord is our strength. Nehemiah 8:10 reads, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Joy produces strength in us. We need joy to fight the good fight of faith. Maybe some of you are sick and tired of fighting the good fight of faith because you don’t have joy. If you have no joy, you have no strength. If you have no strength, you can’t fight the good fight of faith, you can’t study or you can’t work. I have no problem to have “joy” in my house because my wife’s name is “Joy.” That does not mean that joy comes naturally to me. I need to struggle to have the joy of the Lord. Habakkuk 3:17 and 18 reads, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.” Some of you might say, “I don’t feel like rejoicing.” But God didn’t say that you should rejoice only when you feel like it. He said that we should rejoice always. (1 Thes 5:16) In fact, it’s God’s will and wisdom for us to rejoice always. The prophet Habakkuk determined to rejoice in the Lord, no matter what. Why? It’s because he knew that the joy of the Lord was his strength. Remember James 1:2, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trails of many kinds…” Isaiah 12:2-3 also reads, “Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” If you have lost your joy, it may be because you gave it away. Don’t give it away, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Look at verses 59-66. In these verses, we see that there were some troubles surrounding the naming of the child. When Elizabeth wanted to name the child “John”, her neighbors and relatives were surprised because doing so was against their tradition. Then they made signs to Zechariah, the child’s father, to find out what he would like to name the child. Zechariah asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” (63) We can imagine how surprised all of their friends and relatives were! But they were surprised even more when Zechariah, who had not been able to speak for nearly ten months, suddenly began to speak, praising God, as soon as he wrote “His name is John!” The neighbors were all filled with awe and talked about all these things. They also said, “What then is this child going to be?” for they knew that the Lord’s hand was with him. (66)

When Zechariah sang his song of praise, he was filled with the Holy Spirit. (67) His song of praise starts with the phrase, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.” (68) This verse summarizes the main theme of his song. The phrase “he has come” means “he has visited.” And the phrase “has redeemed his people” means “has set his people free.” This reminds of us of what Jesus said in his hometown concerning his ministry as the Messiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Lk 4:18-19) The ministry of the Messiah on earth brings freedom to enslaved people. Are we enslaved? Yes and no. Some people are stuck because of faulty thinking, misunderstandings, or ignorance. Some are trapped by the sins of pride, lust, greed, selfishness or anger. Some are trapped with fear, guilt and shame. Still others are deeply troubled by addiction. After all, most of us cannot even possess the present. Many of us are bothered by what happened in the past and worry about what will happen in the future. It seems that no one is really free. Everyone is trapped by something. But our Lord Jesus came to set us free.

How does Jesus set us free? One of the simple ways to explain it is based on what Jesus said to his followers in John 8:31, “‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” He also said to his disciples in John 8:34-36, “‘I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Zechariah’s song of praise explains it well in a prophetic and profound way. In his song of praise, Zechariah uses the metaphor of a horn (69) and the rising sun (78) to describe the ministry of the Messiah. The horn is a symbol of God’s protection and the rising sun is a symbol of God’s mercy.

First, Jesus is a horn of salvation. (69-75) Did you notice that verses 69-75 are just one sentence. Read verses 69-75. “He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us – to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham; to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.” Here, we see that Zechariah repeatedly talks about salvation from our enemies. In verse 71, he said, “salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us.” He also said, in verse 74, “to rescue us from the hand of our enemies.” It seems like they had a lot of enemies. Who were their enemies? The Israelites in Zechariah’s time had many political enemies, including the Romans. Today, every person may also have a different enemy. But God is able to rescue us from all our enemies.

It does not mean that God will destroy all our enemies when and how we want him to. In fact, the nation Israel, including the Temple of Jerusalem, was completely destroyed by their enemy, the Romans, in AD. 70. It seems that God destroyed them before He destroyed their enemies. Here, we see that the way God saves us from our enemies is not necessarily by getting rid of our enemies. God is the final Judge of everything. He is the God of justice. We also know that our arch-enemy is the devil. But God hasn’t destroyed the devil. In fact, the devil is still working very hard and will not be destroyed until the last day.

How does Jesus, the horn of salvation, save us? He saves us from our arch enemy by liberating us from the power of sin, so that our arch-enemy cannot have any grip on us. The devil cannot ultimately harm us or inflict further damage on us when we are in Christ Jesus. We have a protection from our enemy through our Lord Jesus Christ. How was Jesus able to protect us? It’s through his own victory over the power of the devil. At the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus defeated the devil’s temptation. He also suffered and died on the cross for our sins and defeated the power of death through his resurrection. Thus he was declared with power to be the Son of God. (Ro 1:4) As a result, for those who trust in Jesus, there is no more condemnation, and the devil has no dominion over them. (Ro 8:1-4)

We must also pay attention to the fact that Jesus sets us free not just by protecting us from our enemies but also by enabling us to live a new life. Verses 74 and 75 read, “To rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.” Since we once lived under the control of sin and the devil, we have been deeply affected or sometimes fatally wounded with all kinds of emotional scars, mental trauma and spiritual problems. So we need to be restored and healed from our past wounds. It requires a lot of attention and intentional effort to be restored. And the ultimate resource is Jesus our Savior. When we say that Jesus is a horn of salvation, we mean that Jesus is powerful enough to defeat the devil and that he is able, more than able, to bring healing and to restore holiness and righteousness within us.

Salvation is the prime expression of God’s mercy toward sinful humankind. We don’t deserve His mercy. But God has shown His unchanging mercy to us throughout all generations. Verses 72 and 73 read, “To show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham.” Our God is full of mercy, and His mercy endures us forever. God has been faithful to His promises. In keeping with His oath and the covenant He made in the past, He sent His son Jesus Christ. Therefore, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ is God’s mercy itself.

Second, Jesus is the rising sun. (76-79) As Zechariah continues his song of praise in the following verses and refers to the ministry of his son John in relation to the Messiah, his expression of God’s mercy reaches its climax. Read verses 76-77. “And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins.” Zechariah does not say much about his son’s ministry not because his son’s ministry was not important but because his son’s ministry was only preparation for Jesus’ ministry. Here, Zechariah mentions very crucial information that everyone should know. It is the knowledge of salvation. John would prepare the way for the Lord by giving his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of sins. (77)

In fact, John would preach the message of repentance so that people would repent of their sins and receive the grace of forgiveness from God through Jesus, whom he declared to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (Jn 1:29) In fact, the grace of forgiveness of sins is a gift from God. And it is the best and most valuable gift we can ever receive. You can never earn it by doing something good or becoming good. And you can never buy it with money. It’s the gift from God. Ephesians 2:8-9 reads, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” Have you received this gift of FOR-GIVE-NESS?

How does this grace work in our lives? It works like the rising sun. Read verses 78-79. “Because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.” Have you seen the rising sun lately? It’s truly lovely and magnificent. When the sun rises, the cold darkness that has covered the surface of the earth begins to go away gradually until it completely disappears. Actually, you don’t have to do a thing. You just remain in the light and warmth of the rising sun. The tender mercy of our God is like the warmth and light of the rising sun. Jesus Christ is the light that shines into our soul. When the light of Jesus shines in our soul, it enlightens our sou. It also heals our wounds and cures diseases, not immediately but slowly and surely. We don’t need to remain in the darkness of despair, fear or doubt. We don’t need to hide ourselves in the clevises of secrecy. We should let the light of Jesus shine on us. Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

As a matter of fact, our soul is so delicate and fragile that it gets easily hurt and damaged. People pretend to be tough and strong. But we often find that most of them are deeply wounded and hurt. In fact, there are many wounded people, young and old, male and female, and rich and poor. They suffer with pain, guilty, shame and anger. Unless their wounds are healed, they suffer endlessly. Some may try to forget their pain or hide it. Some may try to ease their pain by using unhealthy means, but their pain only gets worse. As a matter of fact, our soul cannot be treated by force or threat. It can only be healed when it is treated with correct knowledge and proper and much care. Most of all, it requires the deep and tender care and mercy of our God.

Growing up, I had many wounds in my heart. But no one understood the pain, shame, guilt and fear I carried inside of me. I tried to soothe my wounded heart and broken spirit with music. But I always felt trapped by my guilt, shame and fear. It was not until I met Christ Jesus personally that I began to taste freedom. Since then God has been healing me slowly but surely. I am thankful for those who have prayed for me and endured my weaknesses and shortcomings along the way, including my parents, my wife, my mentors, my children and my friends and coworkers. I am so thankful that I am in a loving community of believers, in which we can share our joys and sorrows together and loving care with prayer and God’s word is provided.

At the beginning of my sermon, we thought about the importance of rejoicing in the Lord for the joy is our strength. One thing I was reminded of over and over again is that complete healing of our soul comes in proportion to our exposure to Jesus the rising sun and the grace of forgiveness of sins. 2 Corinthians 7:10 reads, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” True repentance brings us the joy and peace from heaven.

We need the joy of God’s salvation every day. (Psalm 51:12) The joy of the Lord is our strength. The Joy of the Lord is the medicine to our soul. Without this joy, we can’t move on. Our merciful God provided us with the joy of salvation by sending Jesus to this world. May we accept Jesus our Savior newly in our hearts and let him shine his wonderful light upon us.