DECEMBER 21st, 2025 PASTOR DON PIEPER
A GOSPEL OF GRACE LUKE 1:41-55; 57-58,67-79
“A HOLY FLURRY!”
As Luke begins his gospel of grace he reports that after a prolonged absence of prophets and angels, there's suddenly a flurry of holy activity. One after another we're told of multiple angelic visits and outpourings of the Holy Spirit. God is setting the stage for his arrival in the birth of Mary's son.
As Mary is told: “The baby to be born will be holy and he will be called the Son of God!”
(Luke 1:35)
It reminds me of a dinner theatre event we did here once called, 'When God Comes to Breakfast You Don't Burn the Toast!' Not bad advice! The play begins with Harry and Beatrice getting a phone call one night informing them that God will be their guest the following morning, but they oversleep...!
('Bea' rushes in dusting everywhere and everyone, while 'Harry' starts vacumming everywhere and everyone. Bea suddenly stops and checks her appearance , let's out a scream, and proceeds to put lipstick and makeup on (pantamimed). Then, hustling to pulplit, she brings out an egg carton.)
Bea: Harry! Harry, do you think God would like eggs for breakfast?
Harry: Dregs? Why would God want dregs? Who eats leftover coffee grounds for breakfast?
Bea: (turning off his vacumm cleaner) Not dregs – Eggs! (opening carton) Oh no!
Harry: Whatever is the matter?
Bea: (showing empty carton) It's empty! Who puts an empty egg carton back in the frig?
Harry: Someone who'd prefer waffles for breakfast, I suppose!
Bea: Harry! We have nothing to serve God for breakfast! What'll we do?
Harry: (suddenly there' a loud Knock – Knock at the door) Panic! (both scream & run off)
What would you do if you knew God was arriving at your place in the morning? What if God were to call you and give you a heads up that he was on the way? Luke tells us in no certain terms that that's kind of what God did. First with the priest, Zechariah, then with the virgin, Mary, God sends word through his angel, Gabriel, that His Son is on the way. If that weren't enough, Luke reports that one person after another connected to the birth of Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit.
What do you do with that? A lot of folks get a little nervous when you start talking about the Holy
Spirit, or the Holy Ghost as he's often called. I get it. Sounds kinda spooky. Others of us just haven't heard much about him. Even at seminary he was rarely talked about except in dry dogmatic terms. One youngster revealed the scope of his knowledge on the subject one day when he proudly told his teacher at school about his dinner out with his dad at the home of a professional hockey player. “Miss Maples, you should’ve been there! There we were, the three of us: Father, Son and our Goalie Host!”
Luke on the other hand, is not shy about talking about the Holy Spirit, and repeatedly points to the
Spirit at work behind the scenes of Jesus’ birth – and He’s one very busy bee! Zechariah is the fourth person in the first chapter alone to be filled with the Holy Spirit – and Jesus hasn’t even been born yet!
“The boy's father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied.” Before him was
Elizabeth: “When Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” And of course, Mary, who's told: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Even Zechariah's infant son, John, is so anointed: “He will be filled with the Holy spirit, even from before his birth.” (Luke 1:67,41,35, 15)
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So what’s this all about? Why, if Luke is intent on telling us about the gospel of Jesus Christ, is he focusing so much attention on this Holy Spirit character? Well, let’s break it down a bit. Let’s look at these four individuals in chapter one: John, Mary, Elizabeth & Zechariah, and see what God is up to.
Consider Zechariah and Elizabeth's son, John, aka, John the Baptist. He'll one day articulate the purpose of Jesus ministry with prophetic clarity: “I baptize you with water but some one is coming who is much greater than I am. He'll baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire!” (Luke 3:16)
What's more, John's being filled reveals one of four reasons we're all to be so filled – to see our need for a savior – to convict us of our sin. As Jesus himself later said: “Once I have gone, I will send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit to you, and when He comes he will convict the world of it's sin.”
(John 16:8)
In Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, the miser and bitterly unkind Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by 3 supernatural visitors, who convict him of his cold-hearted ways, showing him where that will lead..., leaving him the next morning a transformed man. His heart is so warmed by the “Spirit of Christmas” that he dashes around town giving away gifts to employees, family and strangers alike.
In Mary, we witness a second reason – only the Holy Spirit gives new life. From the beginning, God’s Spirit has been intimately involved in the life giving process: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth....and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:1-2)
When Nicodemus seeks to learn more about the Kingdom Jesus speaks so often about, Jesus tells him: “Unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God! No one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Only the Spirit gives such life!”
(John 3:3,5-6)
One can't be set free of one's baggage, or addictions, or guilt simply by trying harder! You need God's help! Dickens' tale of Christmas ghosts and a transformed man concludes with him singing (my personal favorite version), a song of gratitude: “Thank you very much...! It's nicest thing that anyones ever done for me!” It's a classic glimpse of what the Spirit can do when he breathes new life into us!
In Elizabeth's case, her being filled with the Holy Spirit brought her tremendous joy and crystal clear clarity. Luke records that it was “At the sound of Mary's greeting, (that) Elizabeth's child leaped within her, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Luke 1:41) In other words Mary simply said hello and baby John started leaping for joy & Elizabeth was filled w/the Spirit on the spot!
And look what she immediately says! “Why am I so honored, that the mother of my Lord should visit me?” (Luke 1:43) Once she's filled she suddenly gets it! She recognizes the identity of Mary's holy baby. That's what the Spirit does! He brings clarity! It brings us what we need: An Aha!
I'll never forget how Brenda had a similar experience. She'd been all tied up with self-doubt & dark, cynical thoughts. Our Alpha group invited the Holy Spirit and I felt a nudge to pray that Brenda would experience God's joy and suddenly Brenda started giggling, then laughing and pretty soon we're all caught up in her joy. She said, “I get it! I finally get it! He truly does love me!!” It was her Aha!
That's the third reason the Spirit fills us – to bring us clarity!
Then there's Zechariah. Like his infant son, his experience is also a foreshadow of things to come. Luke tells us simply that “he was filled with the Holy Spirit and gave this prophecy.” (1:67)
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What follows is a prophetic song that connects the events of Luke 1 with the prophets of old, how “God has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David, just as promised...”
(Luke 1:69)
Zechariah wasn't a prophet, he was a priest, and yet as he's filled he's given the gift of prophecy. It's one of the gifts Paul informs thee church that the Spirit gives. As Peter proclaimed on Pentecost...: “'In the last days,' God says, 'I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy! I'll pour out my Spirit on men and women alike and they'll prophesy!'”
(Joel 2:28-29 / Acts 2:17-18)
So Zechariah's being filled points forward to Pentecost and God's promise that in those last days, that is the days the Messiah will bring to life, all people, men and women alike, will be able to be filled with the Holy Spirit, some for the purpose of prophesying. Ann Louise was one such daughter richly blessed with this gift. She often shared with me her prophetic visions that were a great and wonderful encouragement to me. Another daughter, Linda, had a prophetic vision of sparks shooting out from LCR and starting fires in far, distant places, a vision we've seen in action time and time again as new or renewed followers of Christ have done exactly that in Alaska, Canada, Guam, Arizona, the Carolinas, California, Hamburg, Germany and Los Angeles, which is a country all to itself!
So a fourth reason...is to receive new spiritual gifts to help grow the kingdom of God!
What's more, Luke celebrates how upon being filled with the Holy Spirit both Zechariah and Mary both break into song. Luke, in fact, includes more hymns of praise than any of the other gospels. Their songs celebrate God’s new covenant plan on the way and anticipate its impact. Zechariah's song celebrates the significance of the events just conveyed – celebrating not only how he and his wife were blessed but how God was doing a new thing to bless us all and thus calling us to sing along!
“Praise the Lord...because He has visited and redeemed his people. He's sent us a Savior!”
(Luke 1:68-9)
I remember a guest on Alpha attending worship for the first time and saying in effect, “I get why you guys like to read from the Bible, but what's with all the singing?”
Some struggle to sing in public. I get it. We don't do much of that in our culture. Apart from singing the national anthem at ballgames and happy birthday to loved ones at a restaurant, must of us don't have much experience singing in public. So why do we sing so much here? Mary and Zechariah point us to the answer – to celebrate what God has done for us. It's a form of witness. As scripture urges us: “Let us offer a sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance in Jesus’ name!”
(Hebrews 13:15)
It's a sacrifice because it involves risking vulnerability, and as we saw last week, we can't grow without risk. “Make a joyful noise to the Lord!” A noise I can do! So don't worry about what others think of your singing. Add your voice to those joyfully singing of their love and allegience to Jesus!
(Psalm 98:4; 100:1)
Remember the ending to the film, It's A Wonderful Life? When George Bailey comes home, his family's prayers for him are powerfully answered as his community rallies around him. As his daughter starts playing the piano, George and company join in singing, Hark the Herald Angels Sing! It's the natural response to our experiencing God's goodness and grace in His promised Messiah!
That's why we sing, to offer a sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegience and gratitude to/for Jesus, not because we have a beautiful voice but because of the beauty of our Savior!
We sing “Because of God’s tender mercy, for the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness…and to guide us to the path of peace.”
(Luke 1:78-79)