If you couldn't talk for nine months, what would be the first thing that you would say? Most likely, this will never happen to you. And yet, at this time of the year, a similar thing happens to many families. Many families send out an annual letter with their Christmas card. As they write this letter, it is as though they have not spoken to someone else for almost a year. Perhaps your family writes such a letter every year.

It is as though you haven't talked for a long time. What information do you include in that letter? Since your letter probably won't be much more than a page or two, how do you decide what events to include and what information too share? What is it that is so important to you that you just have to have it in there? And so you do answer the question, "If you couldn't talk for nine months, what would be the first thing that you would say?

I asked this question not because I'm all that interested in what is in someone's annual Christmas letter, but because there was a man in the Bible who was unable to speak for nine months. When he was finally able to talk again, the message that he chose to speak demonstrates to us what he considered to be very important. I think we can learn from his example what type of information or events are also to be most important to us as Christians.

The Proclamation of Zechariah
1. He had been Silent for a Long Time.
2. When he did Speak, he Praised God!

Context: The man who spoke our text was Zechariah. Luke tells us about this man in chapter 1. 
5 In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. 6 Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. 7 But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.
8 Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.
11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. 16 Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous-to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."
18 Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years."
19 The angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their proper time."

And so for the next nine months, this man was unable to speak. Luke also records for us that day when God gave him his voice back. 
57 When it was time for Elizabeth to have her baby, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they shared her joy.
59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, 60 but his mother spoke up and said, "No! He is to be called John."
61 They said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who has that name."
62 Then they made signs to his father, to find out what he would like to name the child. 63 He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone's astonishment he wrote, "His name is John." 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God.

Application: That must have been quite an ordeal for Zechariah. Especially since his calling as a priest involved having to speak. Perhaps you have experienced the same frustration. You were unable to talk because you had laryngitis. Or you were told to keep quiet in a meeting or in class because it wasn't your turn to speak. Or no one wanted to hear what you had to say and you felt that your voice didn't count. It is a hardship for many when they are unable to communicate with others and to share what they want or provide insight to a problem etc.

To some extent, this is slowly happening to Christians throughout our nation. I received an e-mail several months ago which if it is true, I find to be very disheartening. Someone had watched a recent episode of a new show called "The Practice". In that episode a person who was openly gay wanted to adopt a child and was faced with a legal battle in order to be able to do that. Most of the people on the show were supportive and in favor of the plan and the person's lifestyle. One person, portrayed as a dope, spoke up against the plan but was silence. The viewer was in horror. She wrote to ABC and expressed her dismay that such a way of life would be promoted. The response was shocking. Basically the person from ABC said that Christians should get there noses out of the Bible and stick them in the Constitution. Hollywood no longer cares about the morals and the values of Christians and will promote its own agenda regardless of the qualms of a couple of stodgy people.

This letter is indicative of the feeling of many people outside of the church today. The church no longer stands as a bastion of the truth and of sound moral values that society wants to consider. Over and over again those outside of the church turn a deaf ear to what we have to say from the pulpit, from the classroom, and from our witness on the streets. It is as though we are being silenced.

In many countries, the voice of Christianity has been all but shut up. It is illegal to conduct public worship services, to have Bible classes, to teach in the name of Jesus in Islamic countries, China, and other areas of the world. It may never come to that here but how often don't we choose to talk about the weather, sports, the economy, or our neighbors failures instead of about God because we have been taught not to discuss religion and politics. We have silenced ourselves by fear of what may or may not happen given the opportunity to talk about God.

Not so with Zechariah. When he was allowed to speak again, what was the first thing he did? He praised God. Luke records for us what this man of God said. 

68 "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come and has redeemed his people.
69 He has raised up a horn_ of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David
70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago),
71 salvation from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us-
72 to show mercy to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham:
74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies,
and to enable us to serve him without fear
75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

He gave glory to God because God was involved in doing something very special. This priest of God realized the prophecies that pointed ahead to the coming of the Savior. He also believed that he was a part of that fulfillment because his son, John the Baptist, would be the forerunner of the Savior. He praised God for keeping his promises and sending Jesus to rescue them.

We can praise God even today for having done the same thing. In your annual Christmas letter, will you emphasize what great things you and your family has done throughout the year or what great things God has done for you? When someone asks what gifts you received for Christmas, will you list the clothes, food, tools, toys you got or the greatest gift, Jesus Christ? When you talk to your neighbor on the street or visit him in the hospital will your conversation involve our record snowfall or our record salvation? In our meetings at church and in your conversations after those meetings, will the praise of God be our focus or whether or not we got what we wanted?

I thank God that I am able to communicate. Not just to talk and write but to be given the privilege to speak God's Word to God's people. I pray that this will never be taken away from me in any way. I thank God that you also are able to communicate. You also have the opportunity to speak and to write and with more people collectively than I can reach in a week. When Zechariah was given the chance, he used his ability to praise God for sending Jesus. May we also use the chance we have to speak, to praise God for sending Jesus. Amen.