LIFE LESSONS
ELIZABETH
DR. JIM DIXON
LUKE 1:35-45
MARCH 20, 2005
The name Elizabeth means, “God is my oath,” or “God is my worship.” Elizabeth lived in the hill country of Judah. According to church tradition, she lived in the village of Ein Karem, which means, “the gracious spring.” Elizabeth was the wife of Zechariah. She was the mother of John the Baptist, and she was the kinswoman of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Elizabeth was born of the daughters of Aaron. She was of the priestly tribe. She was before God righteous and blameless.
From her life this morning we have two life lessons, and the first life lesson is this: If you would be a Christian, you must take Jesus Christ as your personal Lord. You must take Him as your personal Lord.
Today, a woman named Elizabeth II sits on the throne of the British Empire. She was crowned in 1952, 53 years ago. At her coronation, she was given a scepter. On the top of the scepter was the Star of Africa, the largest diamond in the world. At Elizabeth’s coronation, she was also given a staff, and on the top of the staff was a dove, a symbol of the Holy Spirit and the divine guidance she would need to lead her people. At her coronation, she was given a ring, a symbol of her union with her people. And then at her coronation she was given an orb, a globe of the world made of solid gold. On the top of the globe is mounted a cross. And the message, “It is Christ who rules the world—not you or any other mortal. It is Christ.”
The British monarchy is nominally Christian, just as many people in America today are nominally Christian. But sometimes nominal Christians are not real Christians, and they don’t really understand the meaning of “Lord.” It’s one thing to say that Jesus is Lord globally, that He is somehow sovereign, that He will one day rule the world (as indeed the Bible prophesies He will). “Before Him, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” But, you see, the word “Lord” really is a very personal word and it must be understood that way. The Greek word for Lord is “kurios” and the Hebrew word for Lord is “Adonai.” Both of these words, Hebrew and Greek, were used as a title for a landowner. In the Hellenized world, if you owned land, you were a lord and that meant you were a master. You were called lord by your servants or by your slaves. The title meant, “you own me, you have authority over me, and I live to serve you.” That’s the meaning of the title lord or master and it means no less than that.
Of course, in the Hebrew world, the word “Adonai” was sometimes used as a circumlocution for the Tetragrammaton. It was a way of saying the name of God without using the name of Yahweh. So the Hebrew people called God, “Adonai.” They called God, “Lord, Master.” “You have authority over me and I live to serve you.” Of course, in the Roman world, the Roman Caesars took the title “lord” because they wanted the people throughout the Roman Empire to say to them, “You own me. You have authority over me, and I live to serve you.” Throughout the Roman world, in every city, there were temples dedicated to the Emperor and every Roman citizen had to go into the Temple and say these words: “Caesar is Lord.” Of course, Christians refused because they had given this title to someone else. They had given this title to Christ, and they were willing to pay with their life and many of them did. So when they were told to say, “Caesar is Lord,” they said, “No, Jesus is Lord. Jesus owns me. He has authority over me, and I live to serve Him.” This is the meaning of the word lord.
Today we come to Elizabeth and Elizabeth was the first to call the incarnate Christ “Lord.” Now, both Elizabeth and Mary received angelic visitations. The archangel said to both of them that they would bear a son and that Elizabeth would bear a son 6 months before Mary. The Bible tells us that Mary, after she had conceived of the Holy Spirit, left Nazareth. Perhaps there was great controversy regarding her pregnancy and she fled Nazareth. She made her way to the hill country of Judah to her relative. She made her way to the house of Elizabeth. We’re told that when Mary saw Elizabeth, she greeted her and, in that moment, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. The baby in the womb of Elizabeth, John the Baptist, leaped for joy when Mary came and in her womb was the Messiah. We have this incredible statement of Elizabeth as she’s filled with the Holy Spirit and she says, “How is it granted me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” She knew the meaning of those words. The child in Mary’s womb would be greater than the child in her womb. She knew the meaning of those words. The child in Mary’s womb would be the Messiah. She would say to Him, “You own me. You have authority over me.” And she would live to serve Him as Lord.
Of course, this is Palm Sunday and on Palm Sunday Jesus came into Jerusalem humble and lowly riding on a donkey. The people shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is the King.” But they were not ready to call Him Lord. They were not ready to say, “You own me. You have authority over me, and I will live to serve you.” It was just political rhetoric. They were wanting someone to deliver them from Roman oppression. They were not willing to call Jesus Master.
So how about you? Are you really a Christian? Have you really made that commitment? Can you really call Jesus Lord? We live in a country that is changing. There are 6 million Muslims in the United States of America, and the number of Muslims is growing. The Muslim religion, Islam, teaches salvation by works. Of course, Islam is founded on the Five Pillars. The first pillar is “shahada,” and shahada refers to the public confession or the public testimony, “There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet.” The first pillar, shahada.
The second pillar of Islam is “salat,” and salat refers to ritualistic prayer rendered five times a day. And the Muslim must be prostrate and must have the forehead to the ground facing Mecca at the sound of the minaret as the crier makes his call. Salat.
The third pillar of Islam is the “zakat,” and the Arabic word zakat literally means, “purification.” But zakat refers to the giving of money. The zakat, the offering, is collected annually as a tax in the Islamic world. Of course, the zakat also includes what is called the “sadaqa,” which is a voluntary offering. This is the third pillar of Islam, zakat.
The fourth pillar is “sawm,” and the fourth pillar refers to ritualistic fasting in the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It’s a daytime fast for the entire month of Ramadan. You cannot eat or drink in the daylight hours. The last pillar of Islam is “hajj” and refers to the pilgrimage where the faithful Muslim must travel and journey to Mecca. They must circle the Kaaba. They must kiss the black stone which allegedly fell from heaven.
It’s all part of salvation by works and it’s rudimentary in the theology of Islam because Islam is really centered on sharia; it’s centered on law as presented in the Koran and in the Hadith. The Muslim must live in accordance with sharia law in terms of all of its do’s and don’ts. The Muslims believe that every person has two angels. One angel is writing down all the good stuff you do, and the other angel is writing down all the bad and that it’s all going to be weighed at Judgement Day. In Islamic theology, there’s no way to know whether you’re going to heaven or hell. It’s all going to depend on Judgement Day. And if you’re saved, you will have saved yourself by the greater weight of your good deeds. The only way you can know you’re going to heaven is if you die in jihad which, in many parts of the Islamic world, refers to holy war.
Of course, you wonder. Muslims are saying that by the year 2015 we’re going to hear the sound of the crier and minarets across cities all across America. But you wonder, how could religion by works find fertile soil here in the United States? Of course, Muslims are telling Americans, “Hey, Christianity has failed. Look at your culture. Look at the sexual promiscuity. Look at your violence in movies and entertainment. Look at your addictions to drugs and alcohol. Your values are eroding. Christianity has failed.” But it’s not true. Christianity has not failed. It has generally been untried in America. Real Christianity has not even been tried by most people in America. Many people are nominally Christian but they’re not really Christian because they have a false theology and a false gospel, and they think that salvation comes simply by going forward at an altar call and asking Jesus to forgive your sins and thanking Him for dying on the cross. That’s not the gospel. The gospel is this: You must take Christ as Lord. And that gospel is clear all through the pages of scripture. You’ve got to take Jesus as Lord. You’ve got to say to Him, “You own me. You have authority over me, and I make this commitment. I live to serve You.”
Why did Peter, Paul, and James all begin their writings with, “Paul, a servant of Christ; James, a servant of Christ; Peter, a servant of Christ”? The Greek word is doulos. It means, “slave.” Why did they call themselves slaves? Because they called Jesus “Lord, Master.” “You own me. You have authority over me. I live to serve you.” When you make that commitment, then and only then do you receive the blessings of the cross and all of your sins are forgiven you and you are washed whiter than snow. But you must take Jesus as Lord. If you would be a Christian, you must do what Elizabeth did. You must take Him as your Lord.
There’s a second life lesson from Elizabeth this morning. The second life lesson is this: If, as a Christian, you want to live a productive life, you must have the power of God.
This past week I saw a joke about a new CEO at a large company in corporate America. This new CEO wanted a productive staff. He was going to make changes around the workplace, and he wanted to begin by setting a strong example. He would tolerate no laziness and no sloth. He’s walking through one of the large buildings in his complex and he’s looking at a worker’s area and there are lots of cubicles. He’s looking to make sure everybody is busy and he sees one person just kind of lazily leaning against the wall. He decides to make an example out of him in front of everybody. So, the CEO goes up to him and says, “Hey, how much do you make a week?” The guy says, “Oh, about $500.” The CEO reaches in his pocket, pulls out his wallet and gives him $2,000.” He said, “Here’s four weeks’ pay. Get out of here. You’re fired.” Now, he’s feeling pretty good about the example he set. He’s looking around and everybody is looking at him. Everybody. He decides to kind of continue the lesson. He says, “Could somebody tell me what this lazy guy did around here?” There was just silence. Finally, a timid voice says, “He was the pizza delivery guy!”
It was kind of a humbling experience for the CEO, but we can understand why CEOs want working people. We can understand their desire for productivity. God wants us to understand He also seeks productivity. Christ wants us to understand He seeks productivity. Jesus said, “You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed you to go and bear fruit.” He’s looking for productive people.
Now, Elizabeth was barren. She was barren and before God there was no shame. God does not disapprove of biological barrenness. Culturally there was a stigma attached to the barrenness of Elizabeth but before God there was no shame. She was righteous and blameless. But, you see, the story of Elizabeth is not about her biological barrenness. The story of Elizabeth is about spiritual barrenness. Israel was barren. That’s what the story of Elizabeth is about. You see, Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah had been praying. They probably had long ago ceased to pray for a child of their own because she was barren and they were both advanced in years, but they were praying for Israel. You read the Benedictus, the Song of Zechariah, and it’s all about Israel and the spiritual needs of Israel. Their prayer was that Israel might be redeemed. Their prayer was that Israel might be regenerated, that Israel might be reborn. The people had turned their backs on God and so the power of God came to Elizabeth and to her son, John.
This child was born by the power of God and filled with the Holy Spirit even from Elizabeth’s womb. It was the power of God. He was great before God and he turned many of the Sons of Israel to the Lord their God. And He walked before God in the spirit and power of Elijah, turning the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom of the just. This child, the child of Elizabeth, made ready for the Lord a people prepared. He heralded the coming of the Messiah. He called the land to righteousness. It was all about spiritual barrenness.
This is Palm Sunday and Palm Sunday was all about spiritual barrenness. Jesus came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday to die because Israel was spiritually barren, and indeed the world was spiritually barren. Jesus rode down the Mount of Olives, down that road, looking across the Kidron Valley at the Holy City, and He wept. And Jesus, on Palm Sunday, pronounced judgement on the city of Jerusalem for its spiritual barrenness. You can read the Palm Sunday story and you can look in Matthew, chapter 21, or Mark, chapter 11, or Luke, chapter 19, and you will see that immediately after Jesus rides into Jerusalem and He pronounces judgement on Jerusalem for its spiritual barrenness, He goes into the Temple and He overturns the tables of the moneychangers because even the Temple was spiritually barren.
Then Jesus took that ride to Bethany where He saw the barren fig tree and He cursed it and that fig tree withered to the ground. It was a symbol of Israel. Israel was barren. They had been blessed to be a blessing. They had been blessed to bless the nations and they turned their back on God. So the story of Elizabeth is the story of the power of God come to bring fruit to a barren land. How about you? God hates barrenness. Do you long to be productive? If you are a Christian, if you’ve taken Christ as Lord, do you want to bear fruit for His kingdom? You must have the power of God.
In the year 2000, Barb and I went with some of you to Egypt and to Israel. We took 135 of you to Israel and about 100 of you to Egypt. We went to Cairo to see the Pyramids and the Sphinx. The temperature in Cairo was over 100 degrees. Then we went down to Luxor, the Valley of the Kings and the Temple of Karnak, and the temperature in Luxor was almost 120 degrees. Then we went far south to Aswan in Southern Egypt, and we were told that the temperature was 133 degrees. I don’t know whether that was true, but I do know this: When we were in Aswan, we were very near the Aswan High Dam. It was built to harness the waters of the Nile for the purposes of agriculture and for the purposes of hydroelectric power. Of course, the Aswan High Dam is one of the largest dams in the world and it creates a lake that is now called Lake Nasser. It has a hydroelectric plant with twelve giant turbines that generate 12 billion kilowatt hours of electricity every year—12 billion. Half of the energy in all of Egypt come from that hydroelectric plant at the Aswan High Dam.
Of course, that dam was completed and dedicated in 1968, and the President of Egypt, Gamal Abdul Nasser, performed the dedication ceremony. He pushed the button that fired the giant turbines and power went forth. It just radiated to millions of homes across Egypt. Amazing. But President Nasser had no power in his finger. He had no power in his body. The power came from the turbines and the generators and really the power came from the Nile and it came from the 200 billion square yards of water in Lake Nasser. That’s where the power came from. He was just a button pusher, and that’s what we are. We’re just button pushers. That’s what I am—just a button pusher. When I preach, I have no power. God has power. Christ has all power in heaven and on earth. I’m just a button pusher. When you teach Sunday school, you’re just a button pusher. But oh, the power of God can work wonders. When you sing in the choir, you’re just a button pusher. When you go into the inner city and you tutor and you mentor inner city kids, you’re button pushers. But the power of God is awesome.
In 1958 in the city of Chicago, there was a man named Ed Kimball and he owned a shoe store. He was a humble man and he loved Christ. He hired a young man to sell shoes at his shoe store. He was concerned about this young man, and Ed Kimball put his arm around him and said, “I’m concerned about you. Where are you going with your life?” Ed Kimball began to tell this young man about Christ and this young man asked Jesus into his heart and accepted Christ as Lord and Savior in the basement of the shoe store. Ed Kimball had pushed a button and the power of God had gone forth. This young man’s name was D.L. Moody, Dwight L. Moody. He became the most famous evangelist of his generation. Today in the city of Chicago, the Moody Bible Institute is named after him. The great Moody Memorial Church is named after him.
The year was 1879. D. L. Moody was in London. He was conducting a revival at the church of F.B. Meyer. F.B. Meyer’s church was the wealthiest and the most educated congregation in England. F.B. Meyer didn’t like Moody being there. He considered Moody uneducated, and Moody was relatively uneducated. But oh, was the power of God upon him. And so Moody began to preach. F.B. Meyer was not even an evangelical. He didn’t even believe in leading people to Christ, but Moody pushed buttons and the power of God went forth. Lives changed. F.B. Meyer, weeks later, was talking to one of his Sunday school teachers and she said, “Prior to D.L. Moody coming, I never invited the kids in my class to accept Christ. In these last two weeks I have, and seven children have asked Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. F.B. Meyer was convicted, and he was changed. The power of God came upon him, and he became an evangelical. He began to preach the gospel. He came here to America in 1890 and he conducted a revival here. One of the people who accepted Christ when F.B. Meyer spoke was J. Wilbur Chapman.
J. Wilbur Chapman was raised up by the power of God. He led the American YMCA movement back when the YMCA was evangelical. J. Wilbur Chapman became the head of the Presbyterian Church USA. It was J. Wilbur Chapman who discipled a young man who had been a baseball player and that young man that J. Wilbur Chapman discipled was named Billy Sunday. Billy Sunday became the greatest evangelist of his generation. Billy Sunday preached to more than 100 million people. He led more than a million people to Christ. They walked down what he called “that sawdust trail.” He was really just a button pusher, but oh the power of God was on him.
The year was 1930 and Billy Sunday was old. Billy Sunday was conducting a crusade in Charlotte, North Carolina. Again, he just pushed buttons and the power of God went forth. People all over North Carolina and the city of Charlotte were changed. The communities changed. Churches changed, people people. A couple of years later they asked Billy Sunday to come back. He said, “Hey, I’m old and I’m tired. I’m too tired, but I want you to invite my friend Mordecai Ham.” It was 1934 and they invited Mordecai Ham. He came to Charlotte, North Carolina, and he preached. He had no power. He was just a button pusher. He did something strange one night. Instead of preaching to the congregation, he turned his back on them and he preached to the choir. The Lord had spoken to him. “There’s someone in the choir I’m trying to reach.” So, Mordecai Ham preached the whole sermon with his back to the congregation. He just preached to the choir. There was a 16-year old boy in the choir. The power of God came and that 16-year-old boy accepted Christ and his name was Billy Graham. Of course, Billy Graham has become perhaps the greatest evangelist in Christian history with the possible exception of the Apostle Paul. Amazing.
But do you understand the power of God? It’s all about the power of God. We’re just button pushers. That was true of Ed Kimball. That was true of D.L. Moody, F.B. Meyer, J. Wilbur Chapman, Billy Sunday, Mordecai Ham, and Billy Graham. They were all just button pushers. But, you see, if you seek the power of God as Elizabeth had the power of God, it’s amazing what God might raise up through you. Even when you give of your time and your talent and your treasure, you’re just pushing buttons. You need the power of God.
So pray for that. And would you pray today that you’d be filled with the Holy Spirit, that the power of God would flow through you, that as a Christian you would begin to bear fruit and live a productive life for the kingdom of heaven? Would you ask for that power of God? Jesus said, “If you abide in Me and I abide in you, you will bear much fruit and the world will know that you are My disciples.” Jesus said, “I am the vine. You are the branches. Apart from Me, you can do nothing.” We’re just button pushers. We need His power. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.