KEEP LIGHTING THE INCENSEText: Luke 1:5-17Rev. rogers-04

INTRODUCTION

Let me introduce you to an older couple by the name of Zacharias and Elizabeth. Luke tells us they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless, but . . . they had no children. That qualifier, that description of their relationship must have stung. They were faithful to God in all that they did, but they had no children. They walked in all the commandments, they observed all the ordinances, but they had no children. In their younger years they must have hoped and dreamed of children, but now after the passage of time had probably robbed them of the dream of being parents or holding their own child in their arms, we find them in the pages of Luke's Gospel.

I) THE FAITHFUL COUPLE

Zacharias was a direct descendant of Aaron through Abijah and as such he was a member of one of the twenty-four divisions of priests who would serve in the temple. There were about a thousand members of each of the twenty-four divisions, so like jury duty you didn't get called up that often, but anytime you did it was an honor. It was even more of an honor to be given the task of lighting the incense. The altar of incense was located in the holy place, just before the most holy place and it was lit in the morning and the evening. We don't know if Zacharias was lighting the early or the evening incense, but whichever it was he was in the house of the Lord at the time of prayer.

Not only was Zacharias a descendant of the priestly line, but his wife Elizabeth was also from the priestly lineage. So naturally if they had a son, he would by all rights be a member of the priesthood from birth. No doubt Zacharias had dreamed of a son to carry on in his footsteps. But they had no children because Elizabeth was barren.

The Jewish Rabbis said that there were seven kinds of people who were excommunicated from God. The first was a Jew who had no wife, or a Jew who had a wife but was childless. In Old Testament being childless could be considered a curse. In Judaism childlessness was a valid ground for divorcing one's wife. (The Gospel of Luke, Barclay, p. 10). Yet Zacharias remained faithful to God and to his wife Elizabeth.

This is the couple that Luke introduces us. Notice what they are like. They aren't mad at God and they haven't given up on God or lost their faith. They aren't sitting at home complaining to others about how unfair God is. No. Instead, we find a righteous couple who are still serving God, who are still faithful, and who are still worshipping God. They had no child and they were well advanced in age but child or no child they loved the Lord and they were faithful.

In fact, it was while Zacharias was in the house of the Lord performing his ministry role that the angel of the Lord appeared to him on the right side of the altar of incense with the good news that Zacharias and Elizabeth were going to have a son.

Let me ask you. What if Zacharias woke up that morning and said: "The heck with it. I've been faithful to God all these years, I've kept the commandments and the ordinances of the law, and now I'm an old man with no kids. I'm not going to the temple today. Someone else can light the incense, someone else can teach that class, someone else can serve the communion, someone else can take my place because I'm staying home. I've done my time, let one of the younger men do it."

I'll tell you what if. If Zacharias had stayed home from temple that day, then he and Elizabeth would have missed their blessing, that's what if. The passage of time and the fading of hope of children had not dampened the faith or diminished the worship of this elderly couple. On the Sabbath Zacharias was in the house of the Lord and he was fulfilling his ministry. Notice that his answer came while he was

lighting the incense. In Scripture incense symbolizes prayer and praise. In verse 2 of the 141st Psalm we read:2 Let my prayer be set before You as incense ,

The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. According to Revelation 5:8, the prayers of the saints are perfume, or incense stored like a treasure in golden bowls. Likewise our prayer of praise is incense, a sweet-smelling fragrance in the throne room of God.

Remember when Paul and Silas were arrested, beaten, put in chains and cast into prison? What did they do? The Bible says they began to pray and to sing. What were they doing? They were turning an innermost cell into a most holy place and they were lighting the incense of prayer and praise. And when they began to pray and sing, the angel of the Lord showed up and showed them the way out.

People around you may not understand why keep coming to church and lighting the incense of prayer and praise. People may look at you and think that you don't look particularly blessed. To them you situation might look like Paul and Silas, or Zacharias and Elizabeth. To the world, it may not look like you have any reason to keep on keeping on. To the world it might look like you should be bitter and angry with God. But you just keep lighting the incense, you just keep praying and you just keep praising.

They see you getting up every Sunday and coming to church and they know that you've been true to the Lord, but they don't see anything in your life that the world would classify as a blessing. In their mind you've been wasting time and money and energy with all that religious stuff. You've been faithful, but you have no children. You been faithful, but you're in the prison with chains on your hands and feet. You've been faithful but your bills keep piling up. You've been faithful, but your children are far from God. The world thinks you should quit and give up on God.

I want to tell you today, that whether the world thinks we're blessed or not doesn't change the fact that we are blessed. We are blessed to come the house of the Lord where our prayers and praise ascend to heaven as a sweet-smelling fragrance in the nostrils of God. We are blessed to be called the sons and daughters of God. We are blessed to enter into relationship with God through His Son Christ Jesus. We are blessed to know that we have heard the gospel story and we are on our way to glory. We are blessed to know that the guilt and condemnation that once weighed upon our souls like lead has been lifted. We are blessed coming in and we are blessed going out.

We aren't about to quit now. We aren't about to abandon our post. We aren't about to throw in the towel, but we are going to keep coming to the house of the Lord, we are going to keep lighting the incense, and we are going to be at our post when the Lord comes looking for us. We aren't going to miss the message that God has for us.

II) THE ANGELIC MESSAGE

Zacharias was in the house of the Lord, lighting the incense when the angel appeared to him. Naturally, Zacharias was afraid. But the angel said, "13a Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard." In fact, the name Zacharias means, "Jehovah has remembered." Maybe Zacharias was wondering if God had forgotten him, or if God was hearing him when he prayed. No doubt he and Elizabeth had been praying for children lo these many years, but they were barren. Still, they had not quit praying.

Instead, they kept asking, they kept seeking, and they kept knocking. On this day, while he was faithfully fulfilling his ministry role in the house of the Lord, the answer came, "13b Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth."

The barren is about to be fruitful. The silence is about to be filled with laughter and rejoicing. The years of faithful service are about to be blessed with the answer. The waiting is over and the promise is on the way. Elizabeth's name means, "My God is a promise."

I remember the joy of Michael and Helen, when, after 18 years of marriage and the burning desire to have children, their prayers were answered when they adopted a son and then discovered that they were pregnant with a daughter. God gave them a double blessing.

I remember praying with another husband and wife in the emergency room when it looked like she was having yet another in a series of eight miscarriages. Some would have given up on God, but one year and two weeks after giving birth to a son, they have a healthy little girl born just this week.

The thing that has impressed me about both of these couples is that through it all I have watched them remain faithful to God and to the church. They have kept lighting the incense of prayer and praise, they've keep worshipping and working in the kingdom.

You can quit and go home if you want to, but I'm going to keep lighting the incense, I'm going to keep praying and praising God. Zacharias was in the house of the Lord on the Sabbath, he was performing his ministry, and while he was lighting the incense the angel told Zacharias, "Your prayer is heard." God hears your prayers. When we are serving God, when we are worshipping and praising God, when we are perfuming heaven with our prayers and praise, we can be assured that God will hear us. We may be in a palace, in a prison, or in a miry pit, but when we cry out unto the Lord, He inclines toward us and hears our cry, and when God answers His answer is the best answer, even when the answer is no.