Today we begin our Advent series titled “Christmas Songs.” Christmas songs don’t exist just to put us in a happy mode but to remind us to be thankful for the birth of Jesus, the Messiah. Singing carols to the Lord also expresses our faith in Christ, who has come as our King and Lord and will come again as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. In the next four Advent Sundays, we will look at the first and second chapters of Luke’s Gospel and explore the first four Christmas carols in the Bible. Those hymns were sung by Zechariah, Mary, a group of Angels, and Simeon. Each anthem is known by its opening Latin words: Benedictus, Magnificat, Gloria, and Nunc dimittis.

This morning I want us to examine Zechariah’s chant. Before we jump into this psalm, I want to share some background of this carol briefly. Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth were “righteous in the sight of God” (Luke 1:6). They faithfully served the Lord throughout their lives. There was one challenge between the two. They did not have a child due to Elizabeth’s inability to conceive and their old age. Despite this, they continuously prayed to God for their future child. When Zechariah, as a priest, did his spiritual duty at the temple, he encountered an angel of the Lord. At that time, he was told that their prayer had finally been heard (Luke 1:13). According to that angel, Elizabeth would bear Zechariah a son, and he was to call him John. That divine message might have made Zechariah delighted and joyful. But, for some reason, he revealed his doubt in God’s promise in the following expression: “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years” (Luke 1:18). It would be hard for him to believe in that good news. Due to his unbelief in God’s assurance, he could not speak for a while. Sometime later, God’s promised child to Zechariah and Elizabeth was born, and they were asked to name their son. Both of them called him “John” in obedience to God. As soon as Zechariah responded in faith to the Lord, “his mouth was opened and his tongue freed” (Luke 1:64). In our Gospel reading, Murray and Bev did, we heard the first phrase Zechariah spoke: “Praise be to the Lord” (Luke 1:68). This initiated word for “Blessed” is translated into the Latin word for “Benedictus.” After finishing God’s training, Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and started praising the Lord in a prophesized hymn. Today, I want us to discover why Zechariah had a fully joyful and delightful heart toward God through this sacred song. I also want us to apply these divine lessons to our advent journey.

Firstly, Zechariah praised the Lord because the God of Israel had come to his people through the birth of Christ. Zechariah had experienced God’s visitation during his faith journey, particularly the pregnancy of his wife, Elizabeth. Through the birth of their child, John, they realized God was coming to the people of Israel as the Baby Jesus and rejoiced in the Incarnated Christ. In the Bible, God visits His people in various ways. When Adam disobeyed God and hid from the Lord, God came to him with a question: “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). God already knew where Adam was and what he had gone through. God wanted to talk and walk with Adam during His holy visit to the Garden of Eden. When Abram was discouraged by the long-awaited promise of God, the Lord visited him. During that godly conversation, God assured him of the Lord’s vision over him and his people and changed his name from Abram to Abraham (Genesis 17:5). In the Old Testament, God had frequently appeared to the people of Israel through His prophets. They had proclaimed that God would visit His people in the person of Jesus Christ. In today’s prophecy, Malachi revealed God’s divine visitor, Jesus Christ, and his introducer, John the Baptist. Since then, no divine revelation had been delivered. About 400 years later, once again, Zechariah acknowledged the Incarnation of the Creator God and praised the Lord due to His holy visitation to the people of Israel.

One of my main duties as a pastor is hospital and home visits. I value this ministry because I can share the Word of God and prayers during those dialogues. I also appreciate this sacred fellowship because God’s stories, big or small, can be shared during those talks. I am a pastoral visitor and a learner from those conversations. I have cherished some memorable moments with my parents related to their visits to Fenelon Falls. One summer month, my dad visited my family and me. He was delighted to see each of his grandchildren and spend time with us. Even when he returned home, he kept recalling his happy times with us through some photos taken in various places in Canada. Last summer, my mom came to see us and stayed with us for almost eleven months. She was very much grateful for that long visit with my wife and me and the trips to meet her grandchildren in Toronto. She enjoyed our country’s four seasons, including beautiful winter and a lot of snow here in Kawartha Lakes. Now she is waiting for us to visit her sometime next year. Seeing our loved ones are wonderful. Sometimes visitation can be challenging since we may observe many real situations they have gone through. When God visited the people of Israel, he was glad to see His people. He was also concerned to view the difficult circumstances they had been in. This fact leads us to examine the next motive Zechariah sang to the Lord.

Secondly, Zechariah praised God because he had redeemed the people of Israel through Christ. The meaning of the name of Jesus that Mary called Him is saving His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). Whether we realize it or not, sin is one of the central problems we have experienced in this chaotic world. Many teachings, regulations, and guidelines have been introduced to us as human beings to do good instead of wrong. Please understand this. We need to provide proper education for all people and respect all the laws and orders our country has made. Having said that, we as spiritual beings need to recognize God’s divine principle through His one and only Son. That is what Zechariah realized and proclaimed through his psalm. God has rescued His people from the hand of their enemies. This saving mission can be called “salvation,” which is repeated three times in this melody. Salvation means “preservation from harm or ruin” in general and “deliverance from sin and its consequences” in theology. The word for salvation in today’s Gospel song is first used in the phrase: “a horn of salvation for us” (Luke 1:69). The word for horn can symbolize power, strength and authority. Even wild, aggressive animals are afraid of fighting against gentle ones with horns. The word for salvation is secondly mentioned in the next phrase: “salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us” (Luke 1:71). This word is thirdly shown in the relationship between the name of Jesus, known as the Saviour, and His central ministry, called “salvation through the forgiveness of their sins” (Luke 1:77).

In our Epistle for today, we find out about two invisible battles between the Woman and Her Son and the Dragon and his followers. This scripture reminds me of the First Gospel found in the book of Genesis. God said to the serpent, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15). The first kind of war would happen in heaven. The great dragon I have just mentioned, who would be called the Devil, fought against Michael and his angels (Revelation 12:9). But the dragon was not strong enough; he was cast out into the earth (Revelation 12:9). The second form of battle could occur in this sin-darkened world. Whether we realize it or not, as Christ’s soldiers, we are in an invisible war against Evil. According to the Apostle John, our spiritual enemy Satan has seven heads and ten horns (Revelation 12:3). Can we imagine this enormous monster? The Devil is very wicked, corrupt, ruthless, and powerful. Satan could send a lot of spiritual arrows that would cause us discouragement, deception, depression, and doubt.

Whether we admit it or not, we each have our own spiritual bondage. To win this invisible battle, we need to realize the status of our spiritual enemy. Because of the unfortunate evil power that Satan has, from time to time, once again, we can be defeated in our spiritual journey. Even the Apostle Paul was lost in his invisible fighting and cried out to God: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” (Romans 7:24). We also need to recognize the Mighty Horn of Salvation God has raised up for us. As Paul expressed his gratitude to the Lord by saying: “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:25), the Apostle John revealed his appreciation to the Lord who gave His salvation and the triumphed victory by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ (Revelation 12:11). We as Christ’s followers are not immune from any temptation. We are not automatically redeemed even if we believe in the Almighty Savior. Like Paul and John, we need to repent of our sins before God and commit all our wills to “Christ’s care and control over and over.” And then, we can experience the power of the horn of salvation in our faith journey and express our thanks to God in a hymn-like Zechariah’s.

Thirdly, Zechariah praised the Lord because He has provided divine healing, heavenly peace and eternal life through the ministry of Christ. Zechariah called Him “the rising sun,” visiting us from heaven and shining His light on those living in darkness, especially in the power of death, and guiding our feet in the way of His peace (Luke 1:78-79). In our Old Testament for today, the prophet Malachi would talk about the Day of Judgment through Christ Jesus. In this scripture, those who revere God’s name will “rise with healing in its rays” (Malachi 4:2). Due to those divine radiations, they would “go free” from any problematic situations and leap with joy even under challenging circumstances (Malachi 4:2). The prophet used the image of calves released from the stall in a sunny day while being kept there in the winter months. The primary reason for that joyful and exciting picture would come from “the sun of righteousness,” referred to as Christ (Malachi 4:2).

Have we ever been lost in the darkness? It can be a terrifying experience, especially if we are in an unfamiliar area. We might circle in the same spot no matter how fast we walk or how much effort we put into finding the right path. This challenging reality can be applied to our spiritual race. Have we ever also wondered where we are headed? Without the fundamental purposes of our lives and/or the genuine meanings of our existence, we might be in spiritual darkness. Even some years ago, we thought we would see the world become a paradise when we entered the twenty-first century. But look how dark our world is today! We hear and see many examples of darkness worldwide and around us. When the sun rises, however, everything can change due to the light. Any dark areas can be gone. Spiritually speaking, we can be healed by the healing radiation of Christ. The Great Physician Jesus can physically, emotionally, and spiritually cure our sickness. Having the True Light in our faith journey, we do not have to be afraid of anything, even if we may go through the darkest valley, in other words, the most challenging path. We can have God’s peace regardless of the challenging situations we may be in. We can courageously and confidently keep moving forward into God’s Promised Place called Heaven while enjoying the Kingdom of God in our hearts. On top of those blessings, we can “serve the Lord without fear… before Him all our days” (Luke 1:74-75). We are supposed to have eternal punishments for our sins when we stand before God. We don’t deserve any of His blessings because we were sinners and are still sinners. But, thanks be to God, who has come to earth and saved us from the power of sin and death. Because of the Divine Visitor and His Salvation and Light, there is no reason for us to bless the Lord as long as we live.

This morning we studied Zechariah’s song. As we prepare for the birth of Christ, the Lord wants us to praise what He has done through His Son, Jesus, like Zechariah. Zechariah got his voice back and sang to the Lord after he wrote his son’s name. Similarly, when we confess “Jesus” as our Saviour in our daily lives and write His name in our hearts, we can/will enjoy the true meaning of this first Christmas carol. During Advent, God wants us to praise Him with all our hearts and strength. God has visited us, redeemed us, and provided us with everything we need. Today, let us examine our hearts, repent of our sinful nature and decide to walk our faith journey in His sight again. How blessed we are because we are serving our Living and Almighty God. May God bless every one of us full of the awareness and experience of Immanuel, God with us today! Amen.

*In this sermon, I have used some thoughts and materials from the various speeches based on the texts, Malachi 4:1-6; Luke 1:67-79; Revelation 12:1-12.