Serve Without Fear – Luke 1: 67 - 79
Intro: Old cemetery surrounded by stone wall. A large pecan tree stood very close by the wall. – 2 boys went behind the wall to pick up nuts and sort them, “One for you; one for me.” - Another boy happens by the cemetery and overhears the sorting. He rushes back to town and runs into an elderly gentleman and told him, “The Devil and God are in the cemetery sorting souls.” – Old man ambled to cemetery with boy and indeed heard “one for you; one for me.” The old man out-ran the little boy on their way back to town. –Why? Fear! It’s a great motivator! – There are some key words in this passage.
I. (Verses 67 – 68) First word is REDEMPTION.
A. In OT times, slave could gain freedom by serving a # of years or could be bought back.
B. Used to give stamps – Plaid stamps / green stamps – now points on credit cards for use.
C. Redemption – verse 68 – “A release secured by the paying of a ransom.” The son of Zachariah would herald the redemption of God’s people in Jesus.
II. (Verses 69 – 75) Second word is SALVATION - rescue.
A. Verse 69 – “Horn of Salvation” – symbolizes power and victory.
B. Verse 74 – “to rescue us and enable us to serve him without fear.”
C. In football, when the clock reaches “00” it indicates that the team that has the most points is victorious. For us, our “00” was when Jesus said “It is finished!” and brought us salvation – deliverance – rescued us from fear to serve him without fear.
III. (Verse 77) Third word is FORGIVENESS – remission of sins.
A. forgiveness – remission on sins – “to send away, to dismiss as a debt” – brings hope.
B. Sit watching a sunrise – aware that first feeble rays of light are like cracks appearing in the darkness that widen into fingers and point their way back to the source of light. In the light of day we find hope for the new day.
C. The son of Zachariah, John would be like the first rays of sunlight early in the morning that point the way back to the source of the light, the sun.
Conclu: Often, we fear what we cannot see. Perhaps we are afraid to truly follow where God leads because we can’t see where we are going and are afraid. But God, in Christ has brought light into the world to illuminate our path and show us the way so that we may follow and serve without fear.
