the best there ever was: Luke 1: 5-25

Almost 30 years ago I watched a movie called The Natural about an aging baseball player which starred Robert Redford.  And although I’ve never been much of a baseball fan, this movie made an impression on me for a couple of reasons.  One was Redford’s name in the movie was Roy Hobbs.  And I think that’s the only the second movie I have ever seen in my life that some guy named Roy wasn’t presented as some weird backwoods redneck in coveralls.

And secondly, the main tag line in the movie was the hero said that someday he wanted people to say about him that, “there goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was.”  And like a lot of young men, I guess, I too dreamed about doing something great one day.  I had no idea what it might be, but like Roy Hobbs, I hoped that I would find something in life in which I could excel, that people might say about me, “there goes Roy Harrell, the best there ever was.”

Well, thirty years goes by fast when you’re having fun, and looking back over my life I am afraid that I never reached that goal of greatness.  Life just seemed to slip away, and the opportunities for what the world considers greatness never seemed to materialize.

But in our study of Luke today, we are going to look at the life of someone that did achieve greatness, of whom it was said “he was the best there ever was.”  And his life I believe is a lesson for us here today as well - that true greatness is not measured by how far you can hit a baseball, or what sort of physical feat you may have accomplished, or what kind of financial fortunes you may have amassed, or what kind of fame you may have acquired.  But true greatness is measured by God, according to what God thinks is important.  And in that regard, I believe that this passage teaches us that as long as you still have breath in your body, you can achieve greatness in this life and in the life to come.

Now this man of whom it was said that he was the best there ever was, was none other than John the Baptist.  Jesus Christ himself said in Matt. 11:11 "Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist!”  And also in our text today we see that the angel of the Lord, Gabriel, prophesied in verse 15 before John was born that he would be great in the sight of the Lord.

So according to the example given here of John the Baptist, we are going to look at four characteristics of a person who is great in the eyes of the Lord.  A person that is great in the sight of the Lord will be number 1, Chosen by God.  2.  Filled with the Spirit of God.  3, Devoted to God.  4, Will proclaim the Word of God.

So first, Chosen by God.  True greatness comes from a godly calling.  In the  1960’s pop icon Andy Warhol once said one day everyone will achieve their 15 minutes of fame.  But just because you may become a celebrity, it’s not necessarily not worthy of being called great.  It seems especially true in our day and the age, this age of the internet.  We have celebrities that appear overnight and are gone and forgotten just as quickly.  Most of them achieved nothing, just a measure of fame.

But notice what Gabriel said, he said John would be great in the sight of God.  And  that indicates greatness is of eternal duration, it is of invaluable worth compared to fleeting, mortal fame or fortune.

Now let’s look at this calling of God in the life of John the Baptist.  Theologians tell us that this took place between 4BC and 37AD.  Verse 5 tells us that it was during the reign of Herod the Great, King of Judea.  He was an evil king, the same one that killed all the male children two years old and younger when he found out that Jesus had been born.  He killed three of his own sons, his wife and his mother in law.  He was an evil man, but he was known as a great builder.  He wanted to be great, to be known for achieving some great thing, and so he built many monuments in Israel, the best known of which was that he rebuilt the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.

Yet Herod was remembered more for being an evil man.  Imagine ordering the execution of thousands of innocent children because you wanted to preserve your power.  And yet one of the things we can learn in this that can be a comfort to even us here today, is that no matter how evil our rulers may seem, despite the evil that may be going on in the world, God is still in control.  God is sovereign over all earthly events.  And so we see God working providentially behind the scenes, through what seemed to be mundane, circumstantial ways, to bring about His will.

We sometimes expect God to work in miraculous, spectacular ways to bring about his will, but oftentimes, God uses daily, common events, even seemingly incidental events, to bring about His will. Theologians call that divine work through circumstances providence.  And I would suggest that providence is often a greater miracle than stopping and interjecting a miraculous event. For instance, here was this lowly priest working daily at the temple.  He was one of about 18,000 priests that were assigned to the temple.  He had become an old man, married faithfully to his wife Elizabeth, and they were now in their old age and yet were childless.

And due to the sheer number of priests, they cast lots to determine certain priestly functions. And Zacharias had been chosen to offer the incense for this particular week.  It would be the only time in his life that he would have that opportunity.  And so, I’m sure he was excited. He was able to stand before the veil in the holy place and present the incense, which represented the prayers of the people going up to God.

So as Zacharias is standing in the holy place burning incense, the attendants leave him there, and the people are standing outside in the courtyard praying.  And suddenly, an angel appears standing next to the altar of incense.  And Zacharias is frightened.  Now this is significant for a number of reasons.  One was it had been 400 years since there had been any word from God, from either an angel or a prophet.  And so this wasn’t a common occurrence.  I am amazed when I watch so called Christian television (which I try to avoid) and notice how many times people talk about seeing and conversing with angels.  The fact of the matter is, that it was a rarity in the Bible, not a common occurrence. This is the first time in over 400 years and so of course Zacharias was frightened, and that does seem to be a common occurrence when one sees an angel.  I believe the Bible teaches that angels can appear looking like people, and also they can appear in their glory, in which case the person to whom they appear are struck with dread and great fearfulness.  This would seem to be the latter case.

But the main point here is not the angel; the main point is the angel’s message.  That is what the word angel means, by the way;  a messenger of God.  So in vs. 13 the angel says, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John.  You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God.  It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

So what is evident here is that John the Baptist was chosen to be the forerunner of Jesus Christ before he was even born.  He was chosen to be a special instrument in bringing about the salvation of Israel and even the world.  That’s what Zacharias was praying for by the way.  He wasn’t praying for a child.  He may have prayed for that years before.  But I’m sure that wasn’t what he was praying for.  He was fulfilling the priestly duty of offering up the incense before God, that sweet smelling aroma of the prayers of the people who were waiting outside.  And the prayer of Israel at this time was the prayer for the salvation of Israel.  That God would send salvation for his people.  They knew that God had promised a Messiah and that He would save his people.  So that is what Gabriel is referring to when he says that God had answered their prayers.  John wasn’t necessarily the answer.  He was just the forerunner of the answer.  He was the one chosen by God to be a herald of the coming King, to prepare the hearts of the people by calling them to repentance.

Folks, before you can become great in the sight of God, you must be chosen of God for salvation. Rom. 8:28 says, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  29, For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30, and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

We don’t know exactly how election works.  But we do know from Eph. 1:4  “that God has chosen us before the foundation of the world.”  And we do know that Jesus said in Matt. 22:14 "For many are called, or invited, but few are chosen."  That’s why Peter in 2 Peter 1:10 says, “to make your calling and election sure.”  So we see that even though God chooses us, we must also choose Him.  We choose to believe in Him, to be obedient to Him, to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ in word and deeds.  We that are saved have been chosen for good works. (Eph. 2:10)

Secondly, not only was John chosen by God, but he was filled with the Spirit of God.  Note the end of vs. 15; “he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from His mother’s womb.”  What is unique about John the Baptist is that he is the last of the Old Testament prophets, yet his story is found in the New Testament.  And in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would from time to time temporarily fill a servant of God or a prophet or one of the judges, and he would be able to do mighty works in that power.  But at that time the power of the Holy Spirit did not permanently indwell God’s people.  John is unique in that the Holy Spirit entered him before he was even born.  This testifies again to the sovereignty of God in regards to salvation.  It’s not something we can completely understand, but has to be accepted by faith.  At it’s root we must understand that salvation is a gift.  It is grace.  Salvation is dependent upon the grace of God, not upon the merit of man and God can give it to whom He wills. It’s God’s to give and therefore it is his prerogative to give it to whom He wills.

But the important thing to consider here is that without the Holy Spirit there can be no conversion.  You cannot be saved, called, chosen of God, granted the grace of God’s righteousness, and yet still be wandering around looking for the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the means of salvation.  He is the giver of life.  Jesus said in John 6:63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.”

You see, once we are chosen of God, we are granted righteousness as a gift of God, and then once we are holy and righteous before God on the basis of His grace, we are given the Spirit of God who gives us eternal life.  Not only is He the giver of eternal life which begins at conversion, but once saved He is our Helper, He is our strength, He is our guide so that we might know the will of God, we might understand His word and so that we might be able to do His will.

The essence of salvation is that Jesus Christ became a man in order for God to possess men, in order to enter man, to restore him to what he was designed to be.  God created man in His own image.  We were made like God, in His image.  But the fall changed that.  Man became sinful, rather than godly, and the spirit of man died.

A good illustration of fallen man is the temple. We are the temple in which God was intended to dwell. We have an outer court like the temple, a body, which is made of the earth, and which connects us to the material world. We also have a Holy Place, or the soul, the place of will, where the intimate functions of our being take place; the functions of mind, conscience, will and emotions.

Then there is that other place, the Holy of Holies, behind the veil, impenetrable. Yet we cannot enter there. We know there is something more, something deeper, something eternal and yet we can’t quite grasp it. It is behind the veil. That is the place where God intended to dwell in us, and which is the intended center of human life. It is the spirit of man. In  Luke we trace the coming of one who at last penetrates into the secret place, who enters the spirit of man, the place of mystery, and rends the veil, opening it up so that man might discover God and the mystery our design, and find the fulfillment that he was designed for in God.  Too often today the Holy Spirit is treated in many churches like some sort of addendum, an appendage to our salvation that allows us to experience other worldly emotions.  But the Bible teaches us that the Holy Spirit is the agency of our salvation, the means by which God rules and reigns in our hearts, which is the purpose of salvation.

So to be truly great, one must be chosen of God, be filled with His Spirit, and thirdly, devoted to God.  Gabriel said that John the Baptist would not drink wine or strong drink.  It’s possible John was a Nazarite. This was a condition of someone who had taken a Nazarite vow.  Remember Samson?  He was a Nazarite.  They didn’t cut their hair.  They did not touch unclean things.   But we don’t know if John was or not.  However, we do know that Matt 3:4 says, “John himself had a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.”  We know that he lived in the wilderness for 30 years before the start of his ministry.

And so what we can learn from this is not some sort of weird asceticism like some monks used to practice in the Dark Ages when they went and lived in a cave,  went around naked for years or took a vow of celibacy or a vow of silence for the rest of their lives, hoping to earn some sort of piety.  But what we see here is a man completely devoted to the calling of God to the point that the comforts and pleasures of modern society were nothing to him.  He wasn’t concerned about fashion.  He wasn’t concerned about eating good food.  He didn’t care about what kind of house he lived in or what kind of car he drove.  He was consumed and devoted to just one thing.  To be completely committed to the calling of God and the mission that God had given him to do, to preach the gospel of the kingdom.

Oh, ladies and gentlemen, the church desperately needs people today that will commit their lives wholeheartedly to the work of the kingdom.  That will accept the calling of God on their lives unreservedly.  We have far too many people today that want to straddle the fence.  That are trying to hold onto what they think is important and at the same time give a token of their attention to the Lord.  That want to hold onto the vestiges of religion but let go of the truth of God’s word.  But God is looking for people that will give everything to serve Him.  Jesus said, “You cannot serve God and Mammon.”  He said in Matt. 10 that unless you are willing to leave even your family for my sake you are not worthy of me.  He told the rich young ruler who wanted to know how he could have eternal life, Jesus told him he must sell all that he had and come and follow Him.  And the man went away sad, because he had many possessions.  We like to think of that parable as something like Aesop’s fable.  It applied to that guy, but it doesn’t apply to me.  I get to keep all my stuff because I’m special.  But folks, Jesus said, if you’re not willing to take up your cross, that is die to the world, you aren’t worthy of Me.

So a truly great man or woman in the eyes of God is chosen by God, filled with the Spirit of God, devoted wholly unto God, and fourthly, he will proclaim the Word of God.  Gabriel said about John the Baptist in Luke 1:17 "It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

The proclamation of the gospel is nothing less than the message that men’s hearts are sinful, depraved and wicked and that repentance towards God is necessary before reconciliation.  Luke says in chapter 3 that John came preaching a baptism of repentance.   And our text makes it clear that repentance is a matter of the heart.  We have to recognize our sin in order to need a Savior, and we have to be willing to turn from our sin in order to be saved.

Note the word there in verse 17, disobedient.  See, the Jews knew God. They believed in God intellectually. They knew what God required.  They had the Law and the prophets to teach them what God expected of them.  They were very religious and yet they were disobedient.  Obedience is always tied to conversion.  There is no salvation without conversion from being disobedient to obedient.  By their fruits you shall know them.  Many will say “Lord, Lord, did we not do many miracles in your name,” and yet He will say, “depart from Me you who practice lawlessness.”  That’s disobedience.  Knowing the truth, having the truth shown to you, and then rejecting it in favor of your own brand of religion that suits your tastes better is nothing less than rebellion against the truth of God.

Did you know the Bible says rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft?  Samuel said to Saul who had been disobedient in 1Sam. 15:23 “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected you from being king. And Samuel said, Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”  God isn’t interested in rituals, or traditions, or religious ceremonies.  He said I’m tired of your solemn assemblies.  God wants broken and contrite hearts that are willing to repent of their rebellion and disobedience, and turn and become obedient through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.

You know, the sad truth is, that John’s message attracted a lot of attention for a while, but most of the people didn’t repent.   John was a crazy, wild character standing out on a mountainside somewhere.  He had a intensity about him.  He spoke with the authority of God’s word.  He sure was different, wasn’t he?  But it wasn’t long before the people began to fall away, little by little.  After all, John didn’t have a very good praise band.  He didn’t have a nursery or a children’s church. He didn’t even have a building.  But the church down the street that they had been going to for years had a kickin’ kid’s church and that drew them all back there sooner or later.

Eventually, John ended up in prison, all but forgotten. The crowds looking for the latest religious fad had moved on.  And eventually John was beheaded for all his trouble.  Folks, I’m afraid that even if Jesus Christ Himself would start a church today there would be very few people that would commit to it.  We like to think that we are so much more informed today, we’re so much more intelligent than those silly Jews were.  And yet, I’m sure that very few people would be drawn to the church of Jesus Christ today.  Because I’m sure that Jesus would require a 100% commitment to follow Him and very few people in my experience are willing to give up their lives for the sake of the gospel.

See, the Word of God is not designed to be a feather duster, that gently tickles away the cobwebs of unsuccessful living from our lives, but it is designed according to Hebrews 4:12 to be “living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  It’s designed to reveal the sins of your heart, and then to change your hearts into the image of Jesus Christ, engraving his laws upon our hearts, that we might do His will.

God doesn’t count greatness the way man counts greatness.  Man looks at the outward appearance, God looks at the heart.  But I want to leave you today with the encouragement that if you want to achieve greatness in the eyes of God it is still possible for you.  In Luke 7:28 Jesus said “I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

That means from an human perspective, up until John no one had been greater.  He was chosen by God to be the forerunner for the Messiah.  He was filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb.  He was devoted to God all his life.  And he fulfilled his mission by proclaiming the Word of God faithfully till he was decapitated by Herod.  But Jesus offers us a chance to be even greater than John was.  He said, “He who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”  In other words, in human terms John was great.  But in spiritual terms, we can be greater than John was in the flesh.

So how do we achieve this spiritual greatness in the kingdom of heaven?  Well, one we make our calling and election sure, that we are chosen by God.  We have been born again into the kingdom of God.  Secondly, we are filled with the Spirit and learn what it means to walk in the Spirit. Third, we are wholly devoted to God in all we do.  The Bible warns that without sanctification no one will see the Lord.  We learn obedience and we practice godliness.  And fourth, we proclaim the gospel, the word of God.  There is no higher calling.  No greater mission.  God’s word is the standard for life and godliness.  It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes.  And we have been tasked to proclaim this good news to every living creature.

One day Jesus will return for His church.  And the Bible says blessed are those who are found faithful when he returns.  Who are found doing the will of God, obedient to His will. For those found faithful, there will be an exaltation into glory that will be beyond all human greatness.  Eye has not seen and ear has not heard all that the Father has prepared for those that love Him.  I hope you will be found faithful, that when He comes you will be found to be great in the kingdom of heaven.