Sunday Worship Service March 5, 2023

Call to Worship Psalm 80:18~19 (NIV)
Hymn JBC # 215 Go to dark Gethemane
Prayer Time
The Lord’s Prayer
Offering
Scripture Luke 1:57~66
Prayer
Sermon “His name is John”
https://youtu.be/HnLhfx_hNLE
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 327 Lead on, O King eternal
Doxology JBC # 673
Benediction

Today's Bible passage tells of a joyous event. It is about the birth of a baby boy.
It is written as follows in the verse 57.

When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son.

A woman named Elizabeth gave birth to a boy. A woman giving birth to a child is not a particularly unusual event. But the birth of a boy depicted in today's passage, was a very special event in many ways.
Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah, a priest, were already old and not of child-bearing age. However, an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah and told him that "Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son.”
According to Luke 1:6, both Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were "righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly.”
But Zechariah did not immediately believe what the angel said, and he doubted, saying, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years." (Luke 1:18).

Even Zechariah, who "was righteous in the sight of God and had observed all the Lord's commands and decrees blamelessly," could not believe what the angel told him (that they would have a son in their old age).
No matter how faithful we may be, we human beings can only believe within the limits of our own thoughts and experiences.
Or, we are just willing to understand the great works of God only to the extent of what we can understand. I believe that the figure of Zechariah conveys such a true figure of we human beings.
So the angel told Zechariah that he would be "silent (*can’t speak) until the day this happens," and as he was. He could not speak for a while.

But God, in spite of Zechariah’s unbelief, performed His marvelous work according to His own plan. It was God's mercy and God's grace.
God's mercy and God's grace clearly have nothing to do with how religious we are or how well we live righteous lives, keeping God's laws and ordinances.
No matter how righteous and how hard we try to live, our human deeds and way of life can never be so righteous and holy that we can earn God's grace in exchange.

It is a new month, March. And now we are in the time of Lent, the Passion Season before Easter (April 9 this year).
During this time of Lent, we especially remember Jesus' suffering on the cross, and we try to spend time on thanksgiving and repentance, sincerely thinking about the event in which the Lord laid down His life on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.
The grace of Jesus' cross was given to us without conditions, despite our inability to believe in God, despite our self-centeredness away from God, and despite our inability to truly love others (even ourselves) by our own strength.
This month marks the end of the current fiscal year, and the current fiscal year (2022) will end in less than a month. This year our church has been walking under the annual theme of "Remember the Lord's Grace.”
This theme is taken from Ephesians 2:8. On Sunday, February 19, Brother A. delivered a very encouraging message from Ephesians Ch.1 about God's grace and blessings in Christ.

How much have we been able to keep our eyes on the "grace of the Lord" in our walk this year?
I think that if we have understood, even a little, that "His grace has nothing to do with my deeds or merits, but has been given to me only through His mercy," then it is safe to say that we have been able to walk this year with our eyes fixed on "the Lord’s Grace.”
I hope that we will continue to keep our eyes on the Lord's grace, which is being given to us for free and walk the path of faith.

In today's passage, it came to pass that Elizabeth gave birth to a son just as the angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah with the news.
According to verse 58, the neighbors and relatives shared the joy. What were they so happy about? They rejoiced when they heard that “the Lord had shown her (Elizabeth) great mercy.”
It was Elizabeth who gave birth to a child. And for a mother to give birth to a child is a life-threatening event. Especially 2,000 years ago, this would have been the case.
Therefore, I imagine that Elizabeth's neighbors and relatives must have congratulated her and said, “It must have been hard for you” or "You have done a great job.”
However, through this event that Elizabeth gave birth to a child (even though she was old), her neighbors and relatives saw the Lord's work - "the Lord had shown her great mercy.”

They rejoiced and shared their joy that the Lord had done this work that His mercy had been poured out on Elizabeth.
　If we can recognize God's mercy and His will in the various events that happen to us, we can receive strength and comfort through such faith, even if they are usually regarded as sad and painful events.
And when God's mercy is poured out in abundance, the event of God's mercy becomes a joy that is shared not only by those directly involved in the event, but also by those around that person.
　This is the work of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, I believe that one of the indicators of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our church is whether or not God's mercy and works are "shared" among us and whether or not we are "share our joy”.
　The Lord is always with us. In times of pain, sadness, and difficulty, our God is our comforter.
Let us rejoice together in His mercy and His grace that are given to us through the Holy Spirit. It is the Christian Church that can do this.

　On the eighth day after Elizabeth gave birth to the son, the time came to circumcise him. Circumcision was a sign of the covenant God made with Abraham in the Old Testament book of Genesis. (Genesis 17:11)
The promise of blessing was given to Abraham by God's grace, "You will be the father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful.” God specially chose the Israelites through Abraham and made a covenant with them.
From then on, the Israelites circumcised each newborn boy from generation to generation as a "sign of their commitment to walk in obedience to the Lord God.”
　At that time, the child of Zechariah and Elizabeth were about to be named. In those days, it was customary to name a child the same name as the father or one of his relatives. (I believe there is still a similar custom in many countries and regions today.)
　The people wanted to name the child "Zechariah," after his father, according to the custom. But then Elizabeth said something surprising.

"No! He is to be called John.” – Elizabeth clearly spoke up so.
　The angel of the Lord had already told Zachariah, "You are to call him John”. Zachariah couldn’t speak then, but in one way or another, Zechariah must have told his wife Elizabeth that the child was to be named John.
　It is remarkable that his wife Elizabeth said so clearly at that time, "No! He is to be called John.”
First of all, that was against the custom of the time. And that Elizabeth, a woman　generally thought to be in a weak position at that time, said it so clearly, even though it was against the custom. It would have been a courageous act on the part of Elizabeth.
　But God was about to bring about a new event. The child to be born (John) would be the one who would prepare the way in advance for the missionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe that God encouraged Elisabeth's heart and through her mouth told the people what God was about to do.
　The meaning of the name "John" in the original Hebrew is "God is gracious.” It was necessary for the child to be named "John" as a foretaste of the gracious event of Jesus Christ, the new manifestation of God's mercy and grace to the world of human beings.
And then, the people turned to Zechariah, who couldn’t speak, to confirm what he would like to name the child (verse 62).
Zechariah wrote clearly on writing tablet, "His name is John." Zechariah must have been thinking in his heart, "My wife is right" and "We have indeed received the Lord's mercy and compassion.”

I imagine that Zechariah was also thinking, "The Lord is about to bring about another new gracious event” having hope in the things that were about to happen from that time on.
Zechariah's mouth “was opened, and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God" (v. 64). Zechariah had not been able to speak for some time, and the first thing he did with his mouth was to praise God.
The first words out of Zechariah's mouth, which he had not been able to open in a long time, were words of praise to the Lord. Zechariah could have complained that he had not been able to speak for months.

But the first words out of his mouth in a long time were words of praise to God.

In Psalm 51:17 Psalm 51:15 (NIV), David says

Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.

The mouth God has given us, our lips, and the words that come through them, are words of thanksgiving and praise to God, words of praise to God, to sing praises to God – David desires so.
　Let us not use the words we have been given as words of curse, anger, or ridicule to the world or other people, but as words of joy in God's work, praise to God, and thanksgiving to God.
His mercy is with us at all times. Let us praise the God of grace from our hearts with songs and words of thanksgiving.