December 19, 2011
Light: Wk 4
Posted by Michael
Learn:
Isaiah 42:1-4
1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him.
and he will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.
3 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
4 he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his law the islands will put their hope.”
Luke 1:5-25
5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. 7 But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years. 8 Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. 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.” 18 Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” 19 The angel answered, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time.” 21 Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. 22 When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. 23 When his time of service was completed, he returned home. 24 After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. 25 “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”
Main Idea:
In Isaiah 42, Isaiah prophesizes that a servant would come who would bring comfort to the weak. This servant is Jesus. Luke begins the story of Jesus not with Joseph and Mary, but with Zechariah and Elizabeth. There are lots of lessons we can learn from this couple, but the common thread is obedience to God in the midst of uncertainty. The couple was righteous in the sight of God, yet still had an unfulfilled desire – a child. This unfulfilled desire did not keep them from following God. God heard all of their prayers, as He hears all of ours. The couple eventually did have a child, John the Baptist, and his birth was part of a bigger plan. God’s timing for Zechariah and Elizabeth had a specific purpose. Their child would play a major role in God’s plan for salvation. When Elizabeth does receive the blessing of a child, she doesn’t gloat about it. She blesses others. She brings comfort to Mary and takes an interest in her life, rather than making things all about her.
Know What: God’s timing is not always our timing.
So What: There will be times in our lives when we question if God cares about the things we pray for and if our obedience even matters. He does, and it matters very much.
Now What: Learn from Elizabeth’s example! Keep being obedient to God even when you have unanswered prayers, use your blessings to bless others, and be the kind of person who brings comfort to others.
Discuss…
1. Do you ever get frustrated because your immediate return on obedience to God isn’t what you expect? Is there any prayer you have been praying that you feel God hasn’t answered yet? Is this unanswered prayer discouraging you from being obedient? Do you sometimes wonder if God even cares about what you’ve been praying about?
2. Think about some blessings you have received recently. How can you use those blessings to glorify God rather than yourself?
3. Who are some people you’ve met who you thought were pretty good, and then you found out they were even better than you thought (Isaac gave the example of his smart friend)? How did you find out they were great without them directly telling you? What can you learn from them?
4. Zechariah and Elizabeth wanted a baby, but God made them wait – not because they were unrighteous, but because He had a bigger plan. Describe a situation in your life when God’s timing was not your timing, but He eventually did answer your prayer. Why did God make you wait? Was there a bigger picture you were not seeing at the time? Was there someone else involved who just wasn’t ready yet (i.e. Elizabeth had to wait for Mary to be ready to accept her part in God’s plan)?
5. Think of the unanswered prayer you named in Question #1. Could the answer to this prayer be part of a bigger picture that you aren’t seeing? Do you trust God’s timing better than your own? (It’s easy to give a quick ‘yes’ to that one, but if you have doubts it’s okay! Explain what doubts you have.) How can you remain faithful to God despite this unanswered prayer?
6. Do you know anyone who is going through a rough time this Christmas season? How can you bring comfort to them even if you are going through a difficult time as well?
Next Steps…
Isaac said that there are two kinds of people in the world – those who walk in a room and make things all about them, and those who walk in a room and make things all about others. This week, try to be the latter. Pray about how you can use your blessings to bless others and be an encouragement to those around you.
