Peace on Earth - Fear Not, Despite Your Disappointments, Part 1

One of the most famous things we hear every Christmas is peace on earth and God's favor to those who trust Him.

Well, I've got news for you right now. Peace is not a commodity that a lot of people are experiencing. If you long to experience that peace that only God can give, stay with me. Welcome to this Edition of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram.

We are a discipleship-driven ministry on a mission to encourage Christians everywhere to live like Christians. Thanks for being with us as we dive into our newest series, Peace on Earth, Discovering Hope in the Christmas Story. And Chip's still with me in studio here to tell us a little bit more about what we can expect from this new teaching.

Chip? Well, thanks so much, Dave. I'd be glad to. I'm teaming up with Tim Lundy, a good friend and a pastor, and little did we know that this would be so critical for where we're at in our personal lives and our country. Four different times during the Christmas season, an angel comes to someone and says, fear not, and then tells them why. We're going to look at those fear not passages, and I don't know about you, but I need to hear those right now. Well, I bet a lot of our listeners need to hear from those passages too, Chip.

So let's get going. Here's our guest teacher, Tim Lundy, to kick off this series with this talk, Fear Not, Despite Your Disappointments. I'm particularly excited about this series, and we're looking at the kind of peace that only Christ can bring. We're looking, how do you have a peace that defies expectation?

Frankly, a peace that defies our fears. Because whether we realize it or not, I think there's probably more fear around Christmas than we like to admit. In fact, I love the old Christmas carol, O Little Town of Bethlehem.

It has a line in it. It's talking about Bethlehem when Jesus was born, and it says, the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight. And I think it captures so much.

When Jesus was born, all the hopes of all the years, but also all the fears, everything that we'd been against, everything we're up against, everything that can overwhelm, all of that comes together, and it's answered through the birth and life of Jesus Christ. You know, in this series, we're going to look at four narratives, and in every one of these stories, different characters, angels are going to show up, and they always show up with the first two words, Fear Not. Now, part of it is, if you saw an angel, you'd be afraid.

But you'll notice in each of these stories, they speak to the heart of the person, and in unique things that they're wrestling with. Because Christmas has probably a lot more hope and fear than we liked it meant. In fact, I looked, and I was researching some of the phobias, not just normal fears, phobias related to Christmas.

I don't know if you have any of these. Chionophobia, that's the fear of snow. Phaophobia, the fear of elves. I couldn't get that one. They're a little creepy. Even that one on the shelf that keeps moving. Yeah, that one.

And then this one, I don't know why they had to make even the words so hard to say. Christugenia tikaphobia. That's the fear of Christmas itself. And maybe you're there, maybe not at a phobia level, but maybe you felt that feeling right when Thanksgiving ended, the calendar changes, and Christmas is here. Maybe you don't have the fear of Christmas in general as a phobia, but there can be a lot of fears around Christmas. The fear of what's going on in the world right now.

It's interesting to me, you go back to Bethlehem, even right now, with all this happening in Israel and all the conflict, the hopes and fears of all the years we find ourselves there again. The fear of what's going on in our culture. You find yourself, am I even allowed to say Merry Christmas in this context, with all the cultural changes? Maybe it's fear of your family and you know you're about to get together, and the tension that's going on right now. The fear of the expectations of what Christmas is supposed to be. Or fear financially.

Can you even pull off Christmas this year? Maybe it's the fear of being alone again, and the emotional fears that you have. See, I think as we read through these stories, the powerful thing that I find in them, it doesn't just speak about an event 2,000 years ago. It speaks to our lives now. In fact, if you look in the context of when Jesus came, the first of these stories you'll see in Luke chapter one, if you've got your Bible, you can turn there. In Luke chapter one, and it came in a time when the people of Israel, they were living with a lot of fears. They were living with a lot of disappointment.

Life was not the way they thought it was supposed to be. In fact, it had been 400 years since God had spoken to them. If you look in the book of Malachi, it's the last book that was written in the Old Testament, the last of their prophets, and the last words in Malachi, God said, behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes, and he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with the decree of utter destruction. Up until that time, they had had a series all the way going back to Abraham, where God had spoken to his people, and he'd spoken through his people, and he'd spoken to the kings, and he'd spoken to the judges, and he'd spoken to the prophets, and these prophecies came and came and came, and then Malachi speaks, and it goes silent. 400 years, they've heard nothing. And then during that time, they've seen world power after world power, to now the kingdom of Rome, the empire of Rome dominated the planet. And they're under the thumb of Caesar Augustus, who could do whatever he wants, decree whatever he wants, call us senses and taxes whenever he wants. They live in a land where even the religion of Israel at that point has become so political, and there's so many divisions. They live under a king appointed by Rome, King Herod, who's not even fully Jewish. He doesn't even embrace their religion. In the middle of this time of disappointment and silence, it'd be easy for the nation as a whole to go, God, what are you doing?

Have you forgotten about us? The story zeroes into one couple who walk through their own personal pain, their own personal disappointment. If you look in Luke chapter one, verse five, it says, in the days of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And so he is of the tribe of Aaron.

She is as well. So she's grown up in priestly family. I mean, they have grown up serving the Lord. They've grown up and then in their adult life, their married life, he's faithfully served the Lord as a priest. They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statues of the Lord.

So he's not just professionally a priest. He also trusts God. She trusts God. They believe. They followed God's word.

They're right before God. It says they walked blamelessly. This does not mean they were sinless. It doesn't mean they were perfect people. What it's describing here is they had put their faith in God.

And so when God had sacrificed in the temple system, when God had the law, when they brought their own sins and their sacrifice to it, they trusted God and believed God, and they followed him in all of his work. They're living this blameless life. No one could look at them and go, oh, that couple, I'll tell you what they do wrong.

No, they're faithful. But then look at this last line. But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years.

Here's the crushing blow in it. Because especially in that time period and in that culture and in Jewish culture, children were the most tangible blessing from God. And it was assumed in that culture if you didn't have a child, well, you did something wrong or somebody sinned.

Yeah, maybe you look blameless. Maybe you're a priest and all, but we know. I mean, if God hasn't given you a child, that says it all.

I mean, this went so deep. Later in this passage, Elizabeth will describe her life, and she describes, I've lived under disgrace as a woman. The pain, that private pain, but in their case, it's not really even private pain because when you lived as a priest, you're in front of everybody. Their life's on display. And many of you know, if you've walked through infertility at all, I mean, Lee and I, we were married almost nine years before we had our first child. We have five years of just struggling with infertility and the pain that comes from that, the tears that come every month. And this feeling that you just have a failure, and they've carried it, not for a few years, look what it says, they're advanced in years.

They're past the age where you have kids. And that combination, sometimes that juxtaposition can be so hard because you read stories like this in scripture, how they're described as righteous, but then you look at their circumstance. And I would just say for us, blameless living is not a guarantee of all the blessings of life.

It's not. And this is one of the hardest truths. Because even if we know it cognitively, there's a part of us that can kind of work out a deal with God that, you know, God, if I'm a Christian and man, if I'm reading your word and I'm following, I'm doing the best that I can in it, and I'm faithful in it, I'm supposed to experience blessing in life, or at least kind of stay in the middle of it. But when I look at my life and you look at your family and you go, this is not what I expected. My job is not where I thought it was going to be.

My kids are not where they're going to be. I didn't think I'd be alone at this season of life. In fact, some of you, you are single and alone because you're faithful to God.

Because you're willing to live according to his word. You suddenly look out and you go, man, my dating pool got really small. There's a loneliness that comes.

And that disappointment that can settle into that, and you can find yourself in a place where that disappointment just settles over all of life, even how you see life, even how you see God. You're listening to Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, and we'll get back to our guest teacher Tim Lundy's message in just a minute. But quickly, this program is supported by the generosity of listeners like you. And right now, during our mid-year match, it's a great time to partner with us. Between now and December 31st, every gift we receive will be doubled dollar for dollar.

You can give today by going to livingontheedge.org or by calling 888-333-6003. Well, with that, here again is Tim Lundy. And I say that because as we go on in this story, you're going to see in Zechariah, he's kind of settled in a kind of a level of disappointment despite what God's doing.

And it's easy for us to kind of jump on him and go, oh, come on, get with it. I cut him some slack with all that he's been through and all that they've shared. And I told you, he served as a priest. There was about 18,000 priests.

They lived all throughout the nation of Israel. And about one week or two weeks out of the year, you were required to travel to Jerusalem. You were assigned a different week. And as a priest, you would come because there was so many activities around the temple between caring for livestock, between caring for the temple ground, caring for the actual worship with that. And then they had these special roles where they would draw it by lot where just the few chosen for that time on that day would be the priest who actually got to serve inside the temple.

And it says in this passage, Zechariah's lot was chosen. This was his day. He was going to actually get to go into the holy place of the temple. And he had the special role of serving at the altar of incense, the altar right next to the veil, right next to the Holy of Holies.

And the smoke of that incense would go to the Holy of Holies and it would go up. And it was his responsibility on that day to lift up the prayers of the people. As the priest, he would represent the people before God in prayer.

And when you got to do this special role, there was no guarantee you'd ever get to do it. Some people went a whole lifetime, but this was his special day and you had to wear special robes and vestments. And I can only imagine Elizabeth as she saw Zechariah standing there and he's in the special vestments and he's getting to go forward in this honored day, like some sense of vindication that God chose him, that he gets to do this. And as he goes there and he's offering these prayers to God, this amazing thing happens after 400 years, God speaks.

Read in the text, verse 11, and there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, fear not, do not be afraid. You don't have to be afraid of me.

Let me tell you why I'm here. Look what he says, fear not Zechariah for your prayer has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son and you shall call his name John. He's praying for the nation as a whole, but somewhere in that prayer for the nation, boy, the prayers of his heart bleed out.

What he's longed for his whole life. And the angel says, God heard you. And here's what I would encourage all of us, never give up bringing the desires of your heart to God. Never give up praying. Never give up taking it to him. And as I say that it doesn't obligate him to you.

There's no amount of prayer that we do that God's obligated to bend his will and all that, but it will bond you to him. And he calls you to do that. He says, actually cast your cares on me because I actually care.

He says, you can approach me as a great high priest because I've been tempted and I've been through everything you've been through. And you can bring that to me. You can bring your struggles to me. You can bring your disappointments to me.

You can bring the deepest desires of your heart to me. I would encourage you, don't ever stop bringing it to God. And the reason I say this is I've seen people, even blameless people become bitter people because over time at some point, instead of bringing it to God, they kind of step back from God and they allow that wall of disappointment to build up. And now I'm not just disappointed with the circumstances in my life, I'm disappointed with God. I believe the reason this couple stayed blameless, I think the reason this couple for a lifetime stayed that way is they never stopped taking it to God.

They never had a point where they said, it's no use, it's not worth it. Even in the pain of it, they trusted God with it. And God's answered their prayers. He says, you're not just going to have a son, he's going to be the fulfillment that the world's been waiting for. He's going to be the fulfillment that the nation's been waiting for. He's not going to be a priest, by the way. He's going to be a prophet.

There's a big difference. See, the priest went and they represented the people to God. And that's what had been happening for 400 years.

They would go and they'd take the prayers and they'd deliver them to God. And now 400 years later, he says, it's time for a prophet. A prophet brought the message from God because God's about to do something in the world. And he says, Zechariah, he's not going to be just any normal prophet.

Look what he says, he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and the power of Elijah to make ready for the Lord of people prepared. He's the fulfillment of Malachi. He's the promise of Malachi.

Zechariah, God's not just going to give you a son. He's about to prepare the way. He's about to bring a savior. God's about to do something really exciting in the world.

And it's going to happen through you. And I don't know about you, but man, if I'm sitting there and I'm hearing that and an angel saying that, and you've got the incense all around you in the middle of the temple, I'd get pretty fired up. Not our boy, Zech. Look at his response. Zechariah said to the angel, well, how shall I know this?

I mean, how am I going to know this is true? He kind of just goes, I'm an old son. My wife's advanced in years.

We're past that age. I've seen this in ministry. Even good people struggle with doubt and disappointment. It can overwhelm the best of us. And if you carry it long enough and you carry that pain long enough, you can start to put up kind of this wall of self-protection because I just don't want to be disappointed again. I don't want to be hurt again. And especially if you're somebody like this couple that you've gone through years of maybe your disappointment, you've carried your pain for years.

It's so easy to put up that wall of self-protection, but hear me, hear me, that wall never helps. Because all you've done is put up a wall that keeps you alone with that pain, keeps you alone with the disappointment. Instead of trusting the God who can answer and might answer and might miraculously answer, but even when he doesn't do what we would want him to do, it gives us the one person in the universe, our savior, who can actually speak into the pain, sympathize with it, identify it, and have the power to sustain you through. Before we go on, I want to take just a minute and really talk to those that are having some struggles today. It doesn't make you a bad Christian.

It doesn't mean something's wrong or you're not in right relationship with God. If you're wrestling with some doubts and disappointments, if things are hard and difficult, 1 Peter 5.7, casting all your care upon him because he cares for you. I have to imagine that Mary and Joseph, right after the baby was born—difficult. I imagine the shepherds—difficult.

The government situation in Rome at the time—difficult. But we can have peace. And so, I want you to visually think about what are the top two or three things that are robbing you of your peace, that you struggle with. You have doubts.

You're afraid. And I want you right now, just turn your palms face up and just put in your palms that thing, that person, that financial pressure, that issue, that anger. And then I want you now to say, Lord Jesus, I can't handle this.

I give this to you. I want to trust you. I ask you now to take my burden you promised you would, and will you give me the wisdom to know what you want me to do now? If you will show me what it looks like to trust you. Father, I want to trust you. And then I want you to sit quietly just for a minute or two and expect that God will bring some things to your mind that will give you your next steps. The Holy Spirit longs to speak to you, and He wants to speak to you today.

Here's the question. Are you listening? Great word, Chip.

Well, this is Living on the Edge, and you've been listening to the first part of our guest teacher, Tim Lundy's message, Fear Not, Despite Your Disappointments, from our series, Peace on Earth. And if Chip's application just now challenged you to deepen your relationship with God, we'd love to support you. Go to TrueSpiritualityOnline.org and check out our resources. You can order Chip's popular book, True Spirituality, get the small group study, or watch countless helpful videos. These tools were designed to show you the clear path to becoming a surrendered, all-in follower of Christ. So check them out today. That website again is TrueSpiritualityOnline.org.

That's TrueSpiritualityOnline.org. Well Chip's still with me in studio, and Chip, as we look back at the last year, we've seen God use this ministry in incredible ways. So take a minute before we close and reflect on where we've been the last 12 months, and we're Living on the Edge is headed in 2025. Well Dave, I am happy to talk about that.

In fact, I'm very excited to talk about it. In 2024, we created more new messages and more resources. We saw Christians get strengthened and be bold and be willing to be kind, but to take a stand for the truth at a time where it is absolutely critical. And as we are in a world that is very, very topsy-turvy, there's never been a more important time to teach God's Word clearly and practically and right into the issues of the culture. Second, we went upstream, and we began to train pastors and leaders here and all across the globe. I mean, it has been mind-boggling of the hundreds of thousands of pastors that we've met face-to-face, in person, where they are. And not just giving them a little talk or even some resources, but a very clear pathway.

I just came back from the Dominican Republic recently, and that was our third time with the same group of pastors, helping them go from getting out of crisis, developing a discipleship pattern, and now, how do I disciple the people in our churches? So it has been a fantastic season. We launched brand new resources in partnership with Steiger to reach the next generation. We have pierced the darkness, and in 2025, our passion is to bring forth the light. We just need to literally, by God's grace, expand and develop every door that God has already opened. And so that's going to require prayer and financial resources. As we think about 2025, and as you think about how you see the world right now, what the issues are, especially here in America, and some of the real challenges that we're facing, would you help us bring forth the light?

Thanks so much. Well, if you're already supporting us, thank you. Your gifts are helping us in profound ways all around the world.

But if you're still looking for a way to make a difference, let me suggest becoming a financial partner. And right now is a great time to join the team because thanks to a handful of donors, every gift we receive between now and December 31st will be doubled. To send a gift, call 888-333-6003 or visit livingontheedge.org.

That's livingontheedge.org, or call 888-333-6003. Have listeners tap donate, and thank you in advance for doing whatever God leads you to do. As we close, you know a great way to get plugged in with our resources here at Living on the Edge is through the Chip Ingram app. You can listen to past series, sign up for daily discipleship, and more. Let us help you experience God in a new personal way, starting today with the Chip Ingram app. Join us next time as our guest teacher, Tim Lundy, continues our series, Peace on Earth. Until then, I'm Dave Drury, thanking you for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge.