Colossians 1:9-20
9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
Luke 2:25-38
25 Now 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 upon him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 Moved 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, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss your servant
in peace.
30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.”
33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then 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, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
36 There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
What does this year hold for you?
Are you excited about the prospects?
Are you expecting anything different to any other year?
Are you worried perhaps?
In our readings this morning we have three very expectant people.
Each of them is expecting God to move imminently and sovereignly in the situation, or context, in which they are living.
There is Simeon, who is waiting for the consolation of Israel and to see the Lord’s Christ, and
There is Anna, who had probably lived the 60 years of her widowhood within the Temple precinct, as she waited in anticipation for the redemption of Jerusalem, and
There is Paul, who was praying for the people of Colosse (and also of Ephesus, and probably all the churches in Asia Minor) that they would live a life worthy of the Lord:
bearing fruit in every good work,
growing in the knowledge of God,
being strengthened with all power.
His prayer arises out of the context
- of the wonder of God coming amongst us in Christ Jesus,
- The context of His reconciling work through His incarnation (or becoming human) and
- The context of the atonement (or forgiveness of our sin against Him) that came through His blood shed on the Cross.
The sense of expectation is an essential part of the faith life. We live in faith because we expect something better, we expect God to move to fulfill His promises to us.
Faith says that we are quite certain that this life which we live is not the complete life, this is not the only context and our situation must be understood from another perspective.
Simeon and Anna had the prophecies of the Messiah from the Old Testament to testify to this fact.
Paul had the experience of Jesus on the Road to Damascus.
Throughout the Old Testament, even as far back as the Book of Genesis, God had spoken through the prophets of a Day when He would come to redeem His people – to set them free from the consequence of the sin that had separated them from Him.
This was what Simeon and Anna had lived for – the promise of a brand new day. The coming of the Lord’s Christ, the consolation of Israel and the redemption of Jerusalem.
When it happened, Simeon was moved by the Spirit to enter the Temple Court where the baby Jesus and His parents had come to present Him to the Lord.
Just imagine the scene. Here is this old man, perhaps stooped at the shoulders, long white flowing hair and beard. He hurries with the short steps of age towards this young couple, both perhaps a little overawed by the majesty of the Temple and its tangible holiness.
He takes the baby, who by faith he knows to be the Messiah, the consolation of Israel into his arms and says,” Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation”
All his life he had waited for this moment – now that it came it made his life totally worthwhile. The baby in his arms removed all his doubt and fear, this Jesus brought completion to his life and to his purpose. Suddenly everything made sense.
Anna, after her long wait, was drawn to this little scene in the Temple Court. She gave thanks to God and spoke to everyone who was prepared to listen to the story of the redemption of Jerusalem. This too, was what she had waited for – 84 years, she had waited, all her life. For 84 years she had waited, never giving up hope, knowing that God’s promise was true – and now this promise is revealed in the Christ Child. And all the years of waiting and listening to the words of the prophets had been fulfilled – a brand new day had dawned upon her and all mankind.
The Apostle Paul lives in this day, as do all of us. He had encountered the resurrected and living Christ on his journey to Damascus. He was, at the time, intent on destroying this new movement which proclaimed that the Messiah had come, that the new day had dawned. Up to now he was living in denial, in another context. His life had been lived in another day; in yesterday, and he was convinced that his mission in life was to keep that yesterday intact.
But there, on the road, Jesus confronted him, this One who as a babe in arms had brought fulfillment to Simeon and Anna, stood now as the resurrected Christ before Paul – suddenly he too, was drawn into this new day. Initially he was blinded but a few days later, a man named Ananias came to him and prayed over him, baptizing him into Christ and the scales fell from Paul’s eyes. It was a brand new day and a brand new life for him.
He became the Lord’s Apostle, perhaps doing more than any one person to bring the world into the grace and knowledge of Christ.
And so he writes and prays that people will be brought into the fullness of the Kingdom of God – into this brand new day.
“I”, he says, “have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”
“I pray that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way:
1. bearing fruit in every good work,
2. growing in the knowledge of God,
3. being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might
….so that you may have great endurance and patience, and that you may joyfully give thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.”
Paul is praying as a man who has encountered the light of God, and he is praying that others may also share in the inheritance of this Kingdom of Light.
He speaks of God’s salvation – “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
And this is the good news: “we have been rescued from the dominion of darkness, we have been brought into the Kingdom of the Son.” We are saints in the Kingdom of Light.
A Brand New Day has dawned for us as well.
We have an opportunity to begin again, to have a fresh new start.
This is not just about a New Year on the calendar.
New Year is always filled with resolutions to live a better life – most often they fail, but in Jesus we are given the opportunity not just to live a better life – we have a brand new beginning.
Whatever you are facing, expecting or dreading this year; let it be in the context that Christ has indeed come. We live in a new world.
Things happen differently when we live in the kingdom.
Hopes materialize, dreams are real and Jesus is Lord.
May your cry to God this New Year be for a brand new day.
