Luke 1:5-25

            {Prayer}

            We started our Advent sermon series last Sunday by diving into Jesus’ family tree found in Matthew 1. In seeing how messed up Jesus’ family tree was, we learned that no person is ever too messed up, too broken, or too lost to be connected to Jesus’ family tree. Jesus came at just the right time to make us apart of, to make us home in God’s family forever.

            This week we are looking what we’re going to call “home hurts.” What is a home hurt? A home hurt are those things that cause us pain and suffering that are very close to home. There are many home hurts that happen that are totally out of our control. Things like … a loved one who has a prolonged illness or disease, a parent or a sibling who is battling addiction, a former breadwinner or moneymaker of the family who has lost their job, or a wedded couple who is dealing with infertility.

            There are other home hurts that happen that we can control. Time spent inside the walls of many homes can reveal things like favoritism, neglect, forms of abuse, rivalry, abandonment, absenteeism, unfair expectations, lack of support, or loneliness. Hurt can come when parents try to relive their sport careers and dreams through their children, causing their children to feel inadequate or under pressure.

            There can also be a cyclical aspect to hurting homes as well. Unhealthy patterns, behaviors, choices, communication, words and attitudes are often passed down from one generation to the next. Phrases like “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” or “Like father, like son” have an uncomfortable level of truth about them.

            We’re never far from generational sin in the Bible either. For example, what is said of King Amon is said of many of the Old Testament kings: “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as his father Manasseh had done. He walked in all the ways of his father; he worshiped the idols his father had worshiped, and bowed down to them. He forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and did not walk in the way of the Lord” (2 Kings 21:20–22).

            In our Gospel reading this morning, we seen another home that had its fair share of hurt. Yet, in and through the hurt, three gospel truths serve to guide us when our own homes hurt. Luke writes in chapter one, “Both {Zechariah and Elizabeth} were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years” (Luke 1:6–7).

            Gospel Truth #1: Zechariah and Elizabeth remind us that faithful believers live in brokenness too. You see, Luke notes that both of them were upright in the sight of God. They were righteous, they walked in God’s words and ways. And yet … this godly couple also grieved a lifetime of infertility, and now … both of them are well past their childbearing years. For Zechariah and Elizabeth … it seems hopeless. All hope has gone out the window. And if the problem of infertility wasn’t painful enough … the absence of children in first century Judaism often brought about varying levels of criticism and shame. A woman’s greatness was measured by the greatness of the child or the children she bore.

            And yet … here’s the power of faith … even when home hurts … Zechariah and Elizabeth still walked obediently with God. When life is broken, when life is not fair … this husband and wife resolve not to be victims. Zechariah and Elizabeth do not wallow around in self-pity or dwell on all the ways they’ve been wronged in life or blame each other or angrily turn away from God. Instead … they continue to walk with their Lord by faith. Zechariah and Elizabeth’s steadfastness reminds us of Paul’s words in Romans 8, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (8:37). God’s children are not merely survivors in life’s school of hard knocks. In and through Christ, we triumph, we come out on top. No matter what our hurt is, we are more than conquerors through him who loves us!

            In our Gospel reading, Luke continues, “Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 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” (Luke 1:8–13).

            Gospel truth number two: God was with Zechariah and Elizabeth in their hurt, and He heard their every prayer. The angel said, “Your prayer has been heard.”

            It’s very likely that as the priest on duty, Zechariah prayed for the Messiah to come, for the repentance and well-being of Israel, and for a child. Even when the days became weeks, weeks became months, months became years, and years turned into decades, Zechariah and Elizabeth continued to pray. They continued to wait and to hope in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And that day in the temple, the angel bore good news to Zechariah, “Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.”

            The angel’s words continue to assure us today that the Lord is with us and that He delights Himself to hear our prayers. We have the same promise … your prayer has been heard.

            I remember back when Jessica and I were in Seminary. It was my last year and we were living off campus. While our housing was paid for, we still had other bills that we had to take care. We had food to buy, gas to purchase, cars to take care of. Being a full-time student and only able to work part time … our finances got a bit strapped from time to time. Jessica and I would pray about it and try to figure out how we were going to pay the next bill or buy groceries.

            It’s amazing how God answered those prayers. You see, we had a handful of congregations near where Jessica grew up whose ladies group sponsored us. They would pray for us and support us financially. It never failed, when we were a bit strapped … there was an envelop in the mailbox from one of these small Lutheran churches with just enough to get us buy till the next paycheck. God in His faithfulness heard and answered our prayers.

            I’m sure we all have similar stories of God’s faithfulness coming through and prayers being answered. Sometimes the answer to that prayer is right away, sometimes it takes a while. As a congregation we prayed for an associate pastor. At the time of our praying, we didn’t know that the one God had for us had to first start his Seminary training.

            Paul says in Galatians 4, “But when the righttime came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law” (4:4 NLT). The people of the Old Testament and people like Zechariah and Elizabeth had been praying for a Savior, praying for the One who would usher in His eternal kingdom and redeem their people. “When the right time came.” When the moment was right, God sent Jesus.

            God is with us in our hurts. His ears are always attentive to our prayers. Against all biological odds, Zechariah and Elizabeth did conceive a child in their advanced age … just as the angel had said.

            A child from their own womb was not the only prayer that God had heard and was about to answer. Luke records what the angel Gabriel says to Zechariah concerning this child: “the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. 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” (Luke 1:16–17). The long-awaited Messiah was about to break into world history, and Zechariah and Elizabeth’s coming child was going to serve as the forerunner of the Messiah and he was going to prepare many people for His coming.
            And when the Messiah came, when Jesus came, He was no stranger to hurt Himself … on the run from murderous Herod … long travels down to Egypt … childhood years spent in a foreign home … long travels back to Nazareth in Galilee. And Jesus’ hurt only got worse. When Jesus was baptized by John and His public ministry began, Isaiah says it best … “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering…. he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows … and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:3–5).

            Gospel truth number three: Jesus not only knows our hurts firsthand; He even carried them for us.

            Jesus was forsaken, abused, mistreated, abandoned by His closest friends, and deserted by His own Father. But because Jesus knows and carries our hurt, we can fully trust Him whenever and however home hurts for us. In Him, we are always loved, fully received, never forsaken, given rest, and showered with grace and peace.

            So, my challenge for you is this … whatever hurt you might be carrying around today, pray and place it into the hands that still bear the wounds for you. Do so, knowing that Jesus knows, Jesus listens, Jesus cares, and Jesus carries. Jesus is God’s answer to all our hurting homes, now and for the life to come. Amen.

            The peace of God, that surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Savior, now and forever. Amen.