Luke 2:25-35
25Now
there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He
was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26It
had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had
seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27Moved by the
Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child
Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28Simeon took him in
his arms and praised God, saying:
29“Sovereign
Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismissd your servant in peace.
30For
my eyes have seen your salvation,
31which
you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
32a
light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”
33The
child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34Then
Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to
cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be
spoken against, 35so
that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your
own soul too.”
When I was a young person, one of the running jokes
in my family was trying to give gifts to my grandmother. It wasn’t that she wasn’t appreciative – she
would ooh and ahh appropriately, say things were beautiful, and then never ever
use them. She would put them away in her
cedar chest.
Her slippers were full of holes, my mother gave her
beautiful new fur-lined isotoners… that went into the cedar chest. Clothing, towels, pans, whatever – they were
“too nice to use” and put away for some unknown future.
Now, I like anticipation as much as anyone. I don’t unwrap corners of Christmas presents
to take an early peek, and I am happy to wait to open them even when the day is
here. I never, ever look at the last
page of a book I’m reading. But how much
sense does it make, once the anticipation is over, to never use what has been
given? To behave as though we have never
received the present?
My grandmother’s gifts were never any use. Most were still in the cedar chest new when
she passed away, and the things she used were worn out. It was silly, laughable – and in some ways,
sad.
This text acknowledges that Christ has come. The waiting is over – it has been for over 2000
years. How much of our lives do we waste
behaving as though we’re still waiting for Jesus? Jesus –is come. Now. We
choose whether or not we set that gift aside for another day. Jesus didn’t look like they thought he would
2000 years ago– why should we expect our experience to be any different?
After Simeon acknowledges that he has seen the
Messiah, a light for the gentiles and glory for Israel, he blesses the
family. He blesses them and us with
knowledge of what living with Jesus in our lives means. “This child is destined to cause the falling
and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so
that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.”
It’s interesting to me that these words come as a
blessing, and not a warning. Jesus is
the cause of falling and of rising, a sign to be spoken against, and a revealer
of our deepest thoughts and motives.
These are the blessings we contend with when we live with Jesus, when we
are active in the kingdom of God, here and now.
So what does it mean to live using these gifts
instead of hiding them away? How do we,
as believers, look different on the outside because Jesus has come, and how are
we different internally? To me, the big
differences are shown in two areas – how we respond to trials, and where we
find our joy and hope.
The first thing that we need to notice is that
Simeon does not say “Jesus will make people comfortable.” Or “his followers
will be happy.”
If you’re in a dark time in your life – and all of
us have been in dark times, if we’ve been on this planet for long at all – it
is not a moment to wait, and think that gifts and promises from God are for
another time. It is a time to
shine. As believers, we are a
light. We were born for darkness!
As believers, we are light -- we were built for darkness!
Trials don’t only test your own character,
they test your faith and your understanding of your ownership of the
kingdom. They become great stories of hope, where weakness in our own lives has been
an opportunity for God to show how strong HE is. We have to have a test to have an imony!
(That’s not mine, it’s another preacher’s quip, but I like it.) And it’s true,
isn’t it? We sing every week about being
a people of victory, but you can’t have a victory without a battle!
We were built for darkness, to be a light for the
world. James chapter 1 says “Consider it
pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know
that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.” Joy isn’t pleasure – he doesn’t say consider
it pure pleasure, or pure fun. Jesus causes
rising and falling – a trial is not a time to complain, it’s a time to
rise.
Living in the kingdom here on Earth means attack and
assault. Jesus is a sign that will be
opposed, and that means trials. Remember
the beginning of Jesus’ ministry? No problem,
I’ll refresh y’all – Luke, chapter 3 and then 4:
When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized
too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on
him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son,
whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
… Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan
and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by
the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was
hungry. The devil said to him, “If you
are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone.”
The devil tempts Jesus with power, with testing God, and
eventually fails to overcome him, and then
“Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and
news about him spread through the whole countryside.
The last thing that has happened to Jesus is that
the voice of God has spoken over him, saying “this is my son, in whom I am well
pleased,” and the first thing that the
devil says to him is “IF you are the Son of God.” If. One
of the first ways to recognize a spiritual attack is that he attacks your
personhood, your identity. Easy to
observe that in this story, isn’t it?
But doesn’t it just cut you when you hear it? IF you were a good mother, your child
wouldn’t throw a fit in Target… IF you were a better provider, your family
would be grateful… IF you were a real Christian, you would… fill in the
blank. Your identity is attacked. Knowing , really knowing, with a full heart
knowledge, that Jesus has come means knowing that he has bought you. When you really know who and whose you are,
every battle in life has been won, hasn’t it?
But when you’re in the midst of a trial, in the
middle of your own 40 days in the wilderness, and you wonder who wants me here,
God or the devil – well sometimes the answer is “yes.” God allows it, and what Satan meant for evil,
God has used for good) Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit. The wilderness is a way that our inner
thoughts, our hearts are revealed. God
wants you in the wilderness and the devil wants you there, but their purposes
are different. The devil wants you there
to destroy you, (John 10:10 – the thief comes to steal and to kill and to
destroy) but God wants you there so you can destroy the work of the devil. So that in your weakness God can show His
strength. We are weak, but he is strong
– the first thing we teach our kids, right?
The devil came to Jesus when he had been there for 40 days. He was hungry. He looked weak. But that was the moment for God to show his
power, and afterwards, Christ leaves in the POWER of the spirit.
But here’s a question – is accepting that power over our
lives, knowing that Jesus has come and not shoving him into the cedar chest for
another day – is that it? if the battle
is already won, do we really have to do anything? Doesn’t God have it all handled? Well, yes, but “the man who plants and the
man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own
labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” (1 Cor 3:8-9)
When we say “worker with us in the Kingdom of God” to everyone who is
baptized at this altar, we say “worker” on purpose. We don’t say “sleeper” or “rester.” Perseverance – work -- is a fruit of the spirit. We know Ephesians 2:8, right? We are saved by grace, through faith,
not a result of works but created FOR good works. I think in our society we’ve lost the sense
that perseverance and hard work create breakthrough. I don’t like it either. I have a couple places in my life where I am
flat sick of the hard work. In
Colossians 1:29 Paul says “We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone
with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end
I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.” Labor.
Struggling. The Greek words mean
“to grow weary with toiling” and to “agonize over.” I don’t like toiling and agonizing. But it says I should do it. Ephesians Chapter 2 tells us why… “But now in Christ Jesus
you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has
destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his
flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create
in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body
to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death
their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace
to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by
one Spirit.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but
fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief
cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a
holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become
a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
Because Jesus has come, this is your mission—should
you choose to accept it –your joyful obedience
-- you’re not working for salvation, you’re working from salvation
– not working FOR love, but FROM love – but you are working. Striving.
Growing weary from toil. Being
built to be a dwelling of God.
Romans
15:12-13
And
again, Isaiah says, “The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to
rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him.”
When James writes “consider it joy” to be facing the trials – is he telling us to chin up, smile, love the pain? Of course not. But our joy is in having something greater than the trial, greater than the pain, and understanding that through the tough times our faith will grow, our lives will produce more fruit of the spirit, and the light of Christ will shine more brightly in the darkness.
"Where is the hope? I meet millions who tell me
they feel demoralized by the decay around us. Where is the hope? The hope that
each of us has is not in who governs us, or what laws are passed, or what great
things we do as a nation. Our hope is in the power of God working through the
hearts of people - - and that's where our hope
is in this country. That's where our hope is in life." Chuck Colson
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you
trust in him, so that
you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy
Spirit. Amen
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