Allen Jackson - Breakthrough... Alone In The Desert - Part 2
That’s really the question on the table today. To what extent are you willing to grow in the Lord? I’m gonna suggest that it has an impact, not only for you, but for the generations who follow you. In fact, if we start with Zachariah and Elizabeth, and I have this couple who were childless, and they’re past the age where they’re gonna bear children. It’s just not reasonable anymore. Nobody has the expectation. They had those prayers, but they had them a long time ago. And then the announcement comes. Gabriel, the archangel, shows up and says, you’re gonna have a child, and you’re gonna name him John. And they’re, like, what are you talking about? I mean, Zachariah has enough questions that he gets struck mute for nine months. Teach you to talk back.
Aren’t you glad we all don’t get struck mute when we question the Lord? And you know Pastor will be signing the message this morning. And John’s born. And Zachariah and Elizabeth really step out of the scene completely after their time in the temple. And taking John, they they step out of the story, but John steps onto the stage. And that’s where I want to start. It’s in Luke chapter 3. It’s right in the middle of this Christmas narrative. Zechariah and Elizabeth and John the Baptist are very much a part of the Christmas story. During the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John. The son of Zechariah in the desert. Nobody knew what they were calling him John. Because God said to. That was the message they got in the temple.
When Gabriel came to Zachariah, he said, you name him John. No, no, no. All the people said when it was time to name him, he said, he’ll be Zechariah. It’s the family. There’s nobody named John in your family. And Elizabeth and Zachariah together said, no, this is a new thing. This is a breakthrough. His name’s John. So John, the son of Zechariah, in the desert, he went into all the country around the Jordan preaching the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, «As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, a voice of one calling in the desert. Prepare the way for the Lord. Make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low, the crooked road shall become straight. The rough way smooth, and all mankind will see God’s salvation».
Gee, that’s not a big assignment. Go prepare the way for the Messiah so that all of humankind can see the way to salvation. «And John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, 'You bunch of snakes. Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? '» Just as a beginning point, I think a simple observation, we’ve been trying to stack some ideas, some breakthrough hacks, if you will. In this case, the breakthrough begins in the desert. John is a voice crying in the desert. He’s not a voice crying in the temple. He’s not in Jerusalem. Isaiah was a prophet of the court. He was comfortable in the palace. Jeremiah spoke to heads of state and the leaders of nations. John is a voice in the desert, a voice crying in the wilderness, a voice of one crying in the wilderness. Wearing clothes made of camel’s hair and eating locusts, not bugs, it’s a fruit that grows on a tree.
I know you’re disappointed. Breakthroughs often emerge in the desert. Seems odd to us. The desert’s a remote part for most of us in our nation. If you live in Israel or the Middle East, I can tell you from my Jewish friends, the desert is not a place of punishment. It’s a place of renewal. It’s a place of refreshing. It’s a place where God meets you. If they have a day off, they go into the desert. And from the biblical perspective, the desert is a place of renewal. I tell you that because, if you’re in a desert season, it doesn’t feel so feel so fruitful. It doesn’t feel quite as opulent as you had hoped as it might, if it’s a lean time. I would submit to you that there’s a very high degree of probability that that’s a breakthrough season. God hasn’t abandoned you. In the desert, there’s a stillness. In the desert, there’s a quietness. And the desert is much easier to hear. I don’t believe God has left you.
There’s a component of John the Baptist that I don’t want us to miss. Jesus said, he was the greatest of those born among women, a very revered character. But John the Baptist is an impossibility without the faithfulness of Zechariah and Elizabeth. What made John the Baptist ministry report possible, his life story possible, his impact possible were the decisions that were made by his parents by Zachariah and Elizabeth, upright people, godly people, people who overcame disappointment, people who had to have their life plans rewritten. Their life schedule didn’t emerge in the way they had hoped it would. While their friends were building nurseries and welcoming children, they weren’t. And so they prayed, and they sought God, and they still didn’t. And it became very obvious that that wasn’t gonna happen. It wasn’t in their future. That just wasn’t a part of their journey. And they managed to overcome that disappointment and not be defined by it.
Zechariah is still serving in the temple. Elizabeth is still honoring the Lord, listening to the Spirit of God. And then Gabriel shows up and said, hey, I got some news for you. You’re gonna have a son. Except now it’s disruptive. Zachariah, I mean, he says, I am old. And Elizabeth? He was gracious. He said, she’s well along in years. Gabriel, have you seen Lizzie? In fact, it’s a little bit of a moment, you know, Gabriel’s delivering this message with some rather lofty language about John. And Zacharias says, hang on a minute. I’m old. And Gabriel says, and you’re gonna be quiet for nine months. Again, I’m very grateful God has not responded to me that way. How many times have you held up your hand to the Lord? Well, not me. No, thank you. I don’t even like church.
So John the Baptist and his ministry emerges from the faithfulness of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the willing to embrace their breakthrough, to reorder their lives, to be unique, to overcome disappointment. If they had not made those choices, John doesn’t have a story to tell. There’s a biblical principle here. I’m taking a moment with it because it’s very important, and it’s essential, I believe, for the place that we find ourselves as a people right now. We need a generational story of godliness. We need a generational tale of a desire for righteousness and holiness and purity. We want a legacy of faith to be re-established among us. Does that sound right? Why not let it begin with us and the aspirations that we have for our children and our grandchildren?
I know we’re in church, and the answer to every question is typically Jesus, but in the quiet places of your life when you’re not in a church building and you’re not sitting in the midst of a group of people that have raised their hands to identify as Christ followers, what aspirations do you truly hold for your children and your grandchildren? Fame, success, wealth, none of those things are inappropriate in and of themselves, but they’ll be empty apart from a vibrant faith. You see, we’ve almost been totally co-opted by a secular culture. Our aspirations have become secular aspirations, our dreams secular aspirations, our priorities secular priorities. And, again, I’m not trying to remove us from the world. We’re in it. But the Bible says we shouldn’t be of it. There’s a difference. We have a different allegiance, a different set of objectives. It really is biblical. I can point to it.
In 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 5, Paul is writing. Paul wrote the letter to a young man named Timothy. That’s why it bears his name. But he’s reminding him of what Paul knows of his life. He said, «I’ve been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother, Lois, and in your mother, Eunice. And I’m persuaded now lives in you also». You’re a third generation, Timothy. I know the stock from which you come.
Say, well, Pastor, I don’t come from a family that’s where there’s generations of faithful people to the Lord. Good, let’s start a new trend. Pastor, my story is a little more broken. Most of ours are. That’s why in the previous session, we spent a great deal of time talking about a new name, establishing a new heritage, a new legacy. John’s life isn’t gonna fit the normal pattern either. I don’t believe any parent has an aspiration that their child would walk the path that John walked. Forget his impact. I just can’t… it’s hard to imagine any parent raising their hand and saying, that would be my aspiration.
A generational legacy. Look at 1 Samuel chapter 1. This is Hannah. She’s the mother of Samuel. At the point we’re stepping into the narrative, she is childless as well. She said, «I made a vow saying, oh Lord Almighty, if you’ll only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me. And not forgive your servant, but give her a son, and I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life. No razor will ever be used on his head». That last phrase could be a little blind to you. It, it’s a commitment within Judaism. There was a sect of people. They’re called Nazarites. Not Nazarenes.
Nazarenes are people that come from the village of Nazareth. It’s a little community in the northern part of Israel in Galilee. Jesus was a Nazarene. Nazarites are a group of people who take a vow, a special effort at setting themselves apart for the purposes of the Lord. They won’t eat or drink anything that comes from the vine. They won’t drink wine. They won’t eat a grape. They won’t even eat a raisin. And they don’t cut their hair. Samuel, before he’s born, before he’s conceived, his mother said, I will rear him as a young man set apart for the purposes of God. I will give him to serve the Lord. Two books in the Bible bear the name of Samuel. He’s one of the most… even more so in Judaism than Christianity, he’s a very, very significant character, a very pivotal figure in the unfolding purposes of God.
The last of the judges of Israel, he anoints the first kings of Israel. And it all begins, Samuel’s story begins with a prayer of Hannah, his mother, a generational faith. Timothy’s third generation, Paul said, listen, I know your family. I’ll give you one more example. Hebrews 11 is the Hall of Fame. That’s the listing of all these remarkable people of faith and what they’ve accomplished. Many of you know that God’s identified to us in the opening chapters of the Bible as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Imagine, you know, we read that kind of casually, like, oh so what’s the big deal? Well, just imagine he was the god of Allen and Fred and Frank. We go, wow. God borrowed us. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Just take a half a beat and and think of the implications.
It’s Hebrews 11 and verse 17, «By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice». Abraham didn’t have a son. God had promised him he would make him into a mighty nation. And he didn’t have a son. Abraham complained bitterly about it. He said, God, you made me this promise, and I pushed all the chips into the middle of the table, and here I am. And everything I have is gonna go to a servant in my house. And finally Sarah conceives and gives birth to Isaac. And God said, how about offering him to me? And really, inexplicably, Abraham says, all right. Many of you know the story. I won’t belabor it. The author of Hebrews is reminding us that when God tested him, he offered Isaac as a sacrifice, and he would receive the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son. Even though God had said to him, it’s through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned, Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead.
And figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from the dead. Abraham said, I won’t even withhold my children from you. I won’t withhold my dreams from you. I won’t withhold my aspirations from you. I’ll put my future in your hands. But the author of Hebrews doesn’t leave it there. It says, «By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau in regard to their future. By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff». By faith Abraham, by faith Isaac, by faith Jacob, there is a generational component to our faith that we have not considered significantly enough. I believe in personal conversion and personal salvation. I don’t wanna do anything to diminish that. But folks, we are birthed into the kingdom of God, not only for our eternity to make a generational impact in our journey through time. You ready for that? Are you ready to allow God to shape the dreams and aspirations for your children?
Zachariah and Elizabeth got a message that said, you’re going to conceive. It’s improbable. It’s impossible. It’s a breakthrough. And your son is going to prepare the way for the Messiah. But it’s not gonna be an easy journey. See, I’ve imagined that if God was involved in my life and there were breakthroughs engaged, it’d just be simple and happy and fun and downhill. No resistance. No gravity. No heartache. No disappointment. Just easy cuz it’s God. Folks, we haven’t read very carefully. When God meets Hannah, she’s brokenhearted. She said if I could have a son, I will give him to you. She takes little Samuel when he’s weaned to the priest and says, here. I can’t imagine.
You see, we’ve had this sloppy grace. Well, you know, the most God would ask of us would be to drop by church once in a while. And I mean, if it’s a misty, cold day, God will understand if you live stream. Oh, sometimes you can’t resist. And yet the story of scripture invites us to this completely different imagination that we would yield our lives to the Lord, that we would be so convinced that was the best way to be that we would desire that for our children, for our grandchildren, that we would prioritize how we live, what we message, what we train, what we invite them towards. Breakthroughs. We need a generational breakthroughs or our children and grandchildren are gonna lose their freedom. If we remain on the trajectory we are on, they will not know the kind of blessings that we have known.
I’m not talking about 100 years from now. We’re bankrupt, physically and morally. We have to change. We can change. We’ve been given the privilege of changing. God has shown us mercy. Moses' parents hid him from Pharaoh’s executioners. Joshua’s life became of an extension of the assignment that God gave to Moses. David made the way for his son, Solomon, to build a temple and establish Israel’s boundaries. Samuel’s life and ministry, his impact upon the purposes of God, emerge from the faithfulness of Hannah. Samson’s parents, one of Israel’s judges, they committed him to be a Nazarite prior to his birth as well.
See, children aren’t yours, folks. They’re a sacred trust. And I’m quite confident you will give an account for that. Your grandchildren are not just a dalliance so you can spoil them and send them home for somebody else to straighten out. It’s a temptation to be a hero in a way that you can’t be for your own children to feel the affirmation and the love that can be directed at you, but to avoid the heavier lifting of really speaking to their character formation. A generational faith. I wonder if you’d be willing to invite God into your life in that way. It’s a pretty serious thing. I wanna offer you an opportunity. I wanna use that little Quaker prayer. Remember that prayer we, I don’t know if it’s the Quakers or not. It’s the way I learned it, so I’m gonna give them the credit. But you pray with your palms up. We’re gonna stay in a moment. I’m just gonna kinda coach you up for a second.
With our hands up to receive what the Lord has from us, to accept the assignment, Lord, we will speak into the lives of our children and our grandchildren to give them a legacy of faith. We offer them to you. They’re not ours. They’re not for our fulfillment. They’re our pleasure or to bring joy or contentment to us. We want to guide them in a way that they bring joy to you. Then, we’ll turn our palms over to relinquish them to the Lord to put them into his hands, to surrender our children and our grandchildren, our spiritual children. Not everybody in that list shared DNA, but they all shared a spiritual journey. There are young people God will put in your life that you may not share DNA with, but he’s called you to be an influence.
There have been people who’ve made an enormous impact on my life. Without whose voice or encouragement or rebuke, I would have missed God’s purposes. Are you willing to be one of those people? Are you willing to be an igniter for generational faith? Say, «wait a minute, Pastor, I just came to church today. You know, I’m a Christian. I’ve been baptized. I read my Bible some. I showed up at church. Could you just leave me alone one Sunday? Just chill». And I can. You can take a pass. This is not mandatory. I wanna ask you if you’re willing. I ask you to stand with… everybody can stand. You can stand even if you have no intention of praying. It’s okay. If you’re at home, you stand with us, too. Put down your bagel. Hands up.
Okay, if you don’t raise your hands at church, I get that. You kind of put these get out, you know, waist level, it won’t show up on camera. Nobody will know. This is covert Pentecost right here. We’re gonna do two things, if you’re interested. You gonna say, Lord, I’ll accept the assignment. You see, you can’t give away what you don’t have. If you don’t really love the Lord, you can’t give it to your kids. Well, I’m not here to… it’s the honest part of this. If you don’t have an enthusiasm for God, you really can’t give your kids one. If faith to you is kind of oppressive and marginal and something to be tolerated, kind of like eating vegetables, you can’t give it away.
So a part of this is not just accepting the assignment with regard to the generations. It’s saying to the Lord, Lord, I’m gonna need to know you in a new way. I need a breakthrough. And then in a moment, we’ll turn our hands over and relinquish those young people into the Lord’s care. There’s an acknowledgement in that, an implicit acknowledgement, in that that in myself, I’m not enough. They’re gonna face challenges that I’m not adequate for. I won’t be able to protect them fully. I won’t be able to resolve every problem. But I wanna put them into your care. I have an aspiration for them that exceeds whatever I am. That’s not just for financial achievement or academic success or professional experiences or accolades. In the eternal purposes of God, your child might be a voice of one on behalf of the kingdom of God. Would you be interested in that today? If you are, just close our eyes for a minute. Forget the people around you. We’re not gonna put you on camera. We’re gonna turn our hands to the Lord.
Lord, we gather this morning to say thank you for those who preceded us. I thank you for their lives and their faithfulness. Lord, we want to say yes to your assignment. But we want to be men and women who make a generational impact. We have a legacy of faith, of spiritual vitality and awareness. A voice, a voice not just that would emerge from our own journey and our own experience, but a voice informed by you. But we’re not content just to spend our days. We want to invest them. And we received that today. Or to open our hearts. Unstop our ears.
And, Lord, as we do that, we want to turn our hands down to relinquish all those purses that you put in our spheres, Lord, our children, our grandchildren, our spiritual children. All those, Father, who would care about our opinion or listen to our voice. May they have a revelation of you. May our influence in their lives encourage godliness. That you’d inspire them to seek your face. Lord, we ask you to intervene on their behalf. Help them to grow strong, body, soul and spirit where they find all you created them for. May they not miss one thing. I thank you for it. And I praise you for it. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
And, Lord, as we do that, we want to turn our hands down to relinquish all those purses that you put in our spheres, Lord, our children, our grandchildren, our spiritual children. All those, Father, who would care about our opinion or listen to our voice. May they have a revelation of you. May our influence in their lives encourage godliness. That you’d inspire them to seek your face. Lord, we ask you to intervene on their behalf. Help them to grow strong, body, soul and spirit where they find all you created them for. May they not miss one thing. I thank you for it. And I praise you for it. In Jesus’s name. Amen.