I will be teaching a class about Worldview at The Chapel starting this week ( http://www.chapel.org/adults/men/ ). The focus of the study is to identify a series of foundational beliefs that constitute a Worldview and see if we truly believe what the Bible teaches in each area. I believe that we each have our own story, but that our own stories must be in harmony with the story of the Bible.
Like Zechariah in today’s reading, some of us have been following the Lord for a long time. It is easy to lose sight of the story we should be living that lines up with the Bible. Zechariah was a godly man, but God wanted to realign his views on faith and belief in God’s sufficiency. God shut him up so that he would pay attention. However, after John was born Zechariah burst forth in song and sang his story for all to hear. Even at his old age, his personal story was more in line with what God wanted to say through him.
How does your personal story speak of God? If you sang about your life, would it be a song that your church could use in worship?
Luke 1: 57-80
57When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
59On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60but his mother spoke up and said, “No! He is to be called John.”
61They said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who has that name.”
62Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.” 64Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God. 65The neighbors were all filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of Judea people were talking about all these things. 66Everyone who heard this wondered about it, asking, “What then is this child going to be?” For the Lord’s hand was with him.
67His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
68“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come and has redeemed his people.
69He has raised up a horn[d] of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
70(as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
71salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us—
72to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
73the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
74to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
75in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
77to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
78because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
79to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
80And the child grew and became strong in spirit; and he lived in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.
Questions
- What cultural norm do Elizabeth and Zechariah disregard?
- When Zechariah began to speak what did he do?
- How did the child grow?
- How does your story become influenced by cultural norms?
- In what ways should your story be more of a ‘song’ about God?
Going Deeper
Listen to this song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdsCbRsD-ms
Read the lyrics: http://lyrics.wikia.com/Imperative_Reaction:Minus_All In what ways does the song line up with the story many teenagers believe? What kind of behavior would people who believe this view of the world exhibit?
(Warning: the following contains sexual references) Read the lyrics: http://www.elyrics.net/read/m/marques-houston-lyrics/sex-wit-you-lyrics.html In what ways does the song line up with the story many teenagers believe? What kind of behavior would people who believe this view of the world exhibit? How would this singer’s view of sex differ from God’s?
How does this singer’s near perfect life need to be transformed by God? http://www.elyrics.net/read/s/sanctus-real-lyrics/lead-me-lyrics.html http://www.myspace.com/sanctusreal/music-player?songid=64935811&artid=3788994&albid=15129382
Plymothian 
Both Mary and Zechariah’s songs are full of praise to God. I pray that when I open my mouth praise to God would more often come out.