Welcome everyone to the Together on Mission podcast, where we seek to be with and we seek to be like Jesus. We begin a conversation with Jesus every morning through scripture, through prayer and meditation. And then we continue that conversation with them throughout the rest of our day. Your host is Travis Twynman, the pastor at the Inland Vineyard Church in Corona, California.
In this season of the podcast, we will be discussing the narrative, the biography, the story of the life of Jesus, according to Saint Luke. Good morning everyone and welcome to the season of the podcast where we are spending today with Jesus, because we get to spend every day with Jesus. And we're getting up in the morning as friends that are friends with Jesus, and we're reading a passage or a story or saying, talking about it for a little bit and then launching into a moment by moment, enjoying Jesus throughout the day kind of relationship as he is enjoying us. And I think, as I said so many times, that is maybe fundamentally bring us back to him, you know, plug us back into him and remind us of the simplicity and the essence and the beauty of the gospel being with Jesus, and then becoming like Jesus.
And so right at the beginning of the Gospel of Luke, and this morning, I was reading chapter one of the Gospel of Luke, which I think is the longest chapter in the entire Bible. It's definitely the longest chapter in the New Testament. And we're going to be there in just a moment, but the title of the podcast this morning is Tongues Set Free. And that's just a fun phrase, and we may not be aware of that phrase in the New Testament, but that's a phrase that Luke is going to use in just a moment, Tongues Set Free.
And the question I want to wrestle with this morning, I want to ask this morning is, have our tongues been set free? Are we so full of joy that we must rejoice? Are we so enthralled and in awe of what God has done in Christ by the power of the Spirit concerning the Gospel that our mouths have been opened, our tongues have been set free? That's the question.
Or is there something in our life, maybe something that we're prioritizing, something that we're pursuing that is maybe taking precedence over the priority of opening our mouths, our tongues being set free, and singing praises and glorifying God? And that's just a good question. It's a good question to ask every year. It's a good question to ask right about this time of the year.
Are we rejoicing or have we slowly but surely become maybe silenced because of this or because of that or because of whatever? And in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, we have this incredible story of John the Baptist's father. And as many of you will be aware, when the angel Gabriel came to Zachariah and said, Hey, your wife, Elizabeth is going to have a son, and you're a name in John. And I know she's way past the age of childbearing, but it's going to happen.
And Zachariah, the the Levite, the priest doubted the message that came from God through the angel Gabriel. And because he doubted, he was struck mute. He was unable to speak for the duration of the pregnancy. And so upon the eighth day after John was born, just as God promised, just as the angel said, we pick up reading in Luke chapter 1 verse 59 on the eighth day, they came to circumcise the child and they were going to name him after his father, Zachariah.
But his mother, Elizabeth spoke up and said, No, he's to be called John. But they said to her, there's no one among your relatives who has that name. Then they made signs to his father to find out what he would like to name the child. And Zachariah asked for a writing tablet and everyone's astonished when he wrote his name is John.
And then immediately his mouth was open and his tongue set free and he began to praise and praises to God. And all the neighbors were filled with awe and throughout the hill country of Judea. People were talking about all of these things. That is definitely a historical story.
Luke is doing history. And Luke is an incredible historian. Luke's actually a trained physician, a linear thinker, and he has carefully investigated and interviewed and researched all the data and all the documents and the eyewitness accounts and the oral tradition. And he is doing history.
But he is also doing more than history. So this is not simply a story about a man who was struck mute when he didn't believe God's message through the angelic messenger. This is a story that stands right at the beginning of this gospel, which says that Jesus is going to encounter so many people in this gospel story. And so many of them are going to remain silent because of unbelief, because of indifference, because of being so filled with themselves, there's no room for Jesus.
But there's going to be some that are going to see. Their eyes are going to see, their ears are going to hear, their hearts are going to receive. In their hearts they're going to make room and there's only going to be one appropriate response. And that is their mouths are going to be opened, their tongues are going to be freed, and they're going to praise God.
Because Luke's story is as many theologians have said, a symphony of joy, the gospel of joy, the gospel of rejoicing. And again, so many stories in Luke where people are going to be encountered and they're going to be so full of themselves, you know, like the rich young ruler, you know, and his stuff, the priest or the Levite in the great parable of the good Samaritan, so full of their agenda, and their bigotry that there's no room for Jesus, or the older brother in Luke chapter 15, so full of religion that he can't enjoy the party, he can't celebrate, he can't sing or hear it, so desire is a fun and pleasure and experiences that he can't see or experience Jesus, Pilate, who's so interested in vocational expediency and people policing, that there's no room for Jesus, so crucified, or Judas, who preferred violence and, you know, 30 pieces of silver as opposed to embracing Jesus as the true Messiah. And these are tragic stories, these are stories of people remaining silent and unbelief, so full of themselves that there's no room for Jesus and the result is silence, no worship, no awe. You know, their mouths are closed, their tongues are bound.
And so, you know, the question presses, in what area in our lives have we, because we're so filled with ourselves, whatever that looks like, we have not made room for him. And to that degree, our mouths will be closed, our tongues will be bound. And so the invitation, this passage, the invitation of Luke's gospel, and by the way, I'm just so excited because I'm beginning in my own quiet time to read the gospel of Luke, the invitation to summons really of the gospel of Luke is make sure that your hearts are preparing him Rome. Make sure that nothing in all creation is silencing, make sure that nothing is closing your mouth or binding your tongue, because when we encounter what God has done in Jesus Christ, the only appropriate response is praise, the only appropriate response is that, only appropriate response is worship, and so today, let's rejoice.
Today, let's sing. Today, let's allow the joy that is a result of the gospel. We erupt in worship and rejoicing as we walk and we talk with Jesus today. Let's let our mouths be open and our tongues be set free, and let's make room for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and we will talk tomorrow.
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Together on Mission podcast. We truly hope that you are blessed and encouraged by it today. If you had any questions at all about the Inland Vineyard, our Ministries, or our Sunday services, connect with us on our app which you can find in the Apple or Android App Store. We also have our social media pages which you can find with a tag at Inland Vineyard, just to see what's going on with our community within our church events, our Revival youth group, as well as our children's ministry.
Or you can always check us out on our website at inlandvignard.org.