Advent - The Realization
Christmas is the happiest time of year, right? During the coming week, most of us will join with family and friends in celebration. We will have time off from school and work. But, experts tell us that December is when there is the highest incidence of depression. One survey of Americans found 45% dreaded the whole holiday season.
Is it just because days are short and skies are gray? My son, Sean, a confirmed Floridian, while visiting this week, wondered that anyone smiled here in the dismal NE winter with so little sunshine.
Is it the setup of false expectations? We live with a constant barrage of advertising making it seem that spending is the key to happiness, that all of our social gatherings will be perfect and filled with laughter, that conflict will magically disappear. But, we know those things are not the realities of living, are they?
And, of course, for millions, Christmas is a reminder that they have gone through losses - death, divorce, health, jobs. Then, too, during this season we allow our emotions to bubble up a little closer to the surface, feeling sentimental, remembering, dreaming of what we missed or think we missed.
If you are fighting with depression, if you feel like the Grinch, because you really just wish to skip to January 4 and be done with it all, please know this: you’re not alone, you’re not strange. But, there is this, too:
the REAL story of Christmas is not just for the whole, the happy, or whose lives are trouble-free.
I talked about EXPECTATION of God’s peace,
of PILGRIMAGE to a home in the Father’s love, and today -
I will talk about owning the PROMISE of Advent- the revelation of God’s purpose and love. I want to encourage each of us to realize, in our own lives, the peace of which angels sang to shepherds a long time ago.
TEXT - Luke 2: 25-32
"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. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 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, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”" (Luke 2:25-32, NIV)
Simeon. I love that Luke includes this little story about a man who was waiting on God’s promises! There is such hope to be found in his story.
He was ‘righteous and devout,” words that indicate he knew and served God, living his life in a way that pleased the Lord! Of all the adjectives that people might use to describe me, “righteous and devout” are two that I would want near the top of the list, wouldn’t you?
And I also learn that in spite of his devotion he had a hunger for more of God. Luke tells us that “he was waiting.” Reading between the lines we come to the understanding that this old man was aware of Promises to the people of God that remained to be fulfilled. I wonder if he had long pondered Isaiah’s visions of the
‘shoot that would come up from the stump of Jesse... a Branch that would bear fruit... who would judge with righteousness... and raise a banner for the nations, gathering the exiles of Israel?’
Simeon had studied the text that says, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this."
(Isaiah 9:6-7, NIV)
The old man knew that he was reading about the Kingdom of God. He believed the promise, but every day as he walked to prayers in the Temple, he passed the Roman soldiers whose presence reminded him that Jerusalem was an occupied city. In the Temple, where he met God, he saw the corruption of religion. There in the house of prayer, there were the money changers and sellers of religious stuff who profited from their exploitation of those who came from far away to offer sacrifice and commune with God. And he knew the kingdom was yet to come!
I wonder how often Simeon prayed –
“Oh, Lord God of Heaven and Earth, how long before I see the One promised?
How long must I wait?
When will these people receive their deliverer?”
For years, his prayers were heard, but to all appearances, unanswered... except, in the heart of Simeon, the Spirit had whispered, “Hold on, for your old eyes will not close in death until the Messiah comes!” He seized the promise in the grip of faith and kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting.
Waiting - is not something most of are very good at doing. But, holding on to spiritual promise, with faith, can be most difficult!
We want to know complete victory over sin,
we long to see sin and suffering fully eradicated,
we long to see all of the prophet’s promises fulfilled!
And, often, we find ourselves WAITING - expectant pilgrims, still waiting.
Even if we are ‘righteous and devout’ there is a sense of incompleteness about life, isn’t there?
Sometimes it is just about the stuff of our expectations being unmet, the disappointments that are common in human experience.
We hope that our job will meet our financial needs and then find ourselves with a crisis that breaks the bank.
We work at a marriage that just does not seem to be able to bring us the kind of intimacy we hopped for.
Our children sometimes make choices that we know will hurt them and yet we know we cannot control them.
Sometimes our sense of incompleteness goes deeper that life’s circumstances, right to the heart of who we are; right to our sense of being and purpose. We know that we exist for something more, that God has promised us an intimacy with Him - but we’re stuck - waiting, waiting, waiting. That can be a hard place!
Simeon was waiting... waiting ... waiting!
But, one day, an ordinary day - the old man made his way to the Temple. He felt the stirring of God’s Spirit to go to a place in the court where a young couple was offering a thanks sacrifice to God for their new baby boy, in keeping with the Jewish customs. As he came closer, he felt a release of joy in his heart like he had never known in his whole life of devotion and worship. God spoke to him and said, “This is the Child! This is the ‘consolation of Israel’ for whom you have waited for so long.” Isn’t that a great phrase - “the consolation of Israel.”
Wrapped up in tha little boy child were the dreams of a nation, stretching back more than a thousand years! The carol, O Little Town of Bethlehem, captures the thought with a great lyric. “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”
The people of God knew the promise of a Messiah, one who would come and set them free, and even though they didn’t understand all of the prophecies, they understood enough to continue to hope - to long for that One to be revealed. Then, there He was. Simeon saw the Comforter of God’s People there in the Temple courtyard!
My imagination stretches to take in the scene. Standing there in the courtyard of the Temple, the most splendid building in all Jerusalem, with the glistening walls and gold accents, all attention was focused on a baby boy. The old man walks over to Joseph and Mary and asks to hold their baby.
What did they think?
Perhaps they were delighted that he cared, that he wanted to add his blessings to their son’s life.
What kind of joy was on Simeon’s face?
After all, he was full of the Spirit in a way he had never been in his entire life.
He sings out – re-read vv. 29-32
Life was complete, for he had held God’s Promised One in his arms.
In a very real sense, we can discover the same sense of joyful fulfillment in our lives today in Christ Jesus, for He is our Consolation, too.
“But, Jerry, didn’t you just say that we are still waiting, too?”
Yes, it is true. The WHOLE story remains to be written. Just as Simeon waited to see the Messiah, the One who would bring a new relationship with God to all people - both Jew and Gentile - we wait for the full revelation of the Kingdom of Christ. We faithfully hope for the moment when He appears in the clouds to announce the dawning of a new age that will bring about the total defeat of sin, hell, and death.
But, we also can realize the promise of His Presence, here and now! Because He came to be the Savior, you and I no longer have to live at a distance from our Creator. We no longer live in dread of judgment. Through Christ, we find life, purpose, and relationship with God – even as we continue to live in a broken world, awaiting the full revelation of His Kingdom.
We must be cautious about basing our hope in our emotions, in reaching too hard for a special kind of feeling!
To own the Promise, sometimes we make the choice to believe, receive, and act - as a child of God even when our emotions are unruly or even non-existent!
Paul exults in the blessing of knowing Christ - NOW! He writes, "How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ. Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. ...
So we praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved Son. He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son, and our sins are forgiven. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
God’s secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ, designed long ago according to his good pleasure. And this is his plan:
At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago. God’s purpose was that we who were the first to trust in Christ should praise our glorious God.
And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you.
And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago." (Ephesians 1:2-13, NLT)
That’s not first a feeling. It is a statement of the facts of the Christian life.
Let me repeat - To own the Promise, sometimes we make the choice to believe, receive, and act!
I am standing here today with Good News.... the heart of the message of Christmas!
Whatever you think you are looking for, the truth is that you need Jesus.
Are you struggling in loneliness?
Is your life like a bad edition of “Ground Hog Day” doing the same things over and over, with a sense that it’s all meaningless?
Do you feel insecure? Despite the good things, are you living with an undefined sense of dread, as if you have no one to protect you, no one you can trust?
Jesus is our consolation.
Look to Him and you’ll be fully satisfied; so satisfied that you’d be willing to leave this world.
As you look back at the birth of a baby boy child in Bethlehem, do not let it just be a nice story told to kids. Do not step away from the story. Let it affect you. Simeon prophesied under the Spirit’s inspiration that day – and said that Jesus was "the Savior you have given to all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations!” (Luke 2:30-32, NLT) and that includes us!
Jesus did not just satisfy Simeon, He satisfies the whole humanity.
What are ‘waiting’ for –
A big break?
A turn-around in the economy?
The next pay raise?
Take a look in another direction – UP!
Our consolation, that is our comfort, our satisfaction - has already come.
He is Christ the Lord. If you’re seeking for comfort today, come back to Jesus. If you’re looking for satisfaction, come to Jesus.
Not too many years later Jesus Himself would declare –
“Everyone who drinks this water (of the world) will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.” (John 4:13-14a)
Come, be satisfied, and then, we’ll wait - together- for the fullness of the Kingdom to be revealed to us... faithfully, the righteous and devout, just like old Simeon.
...let him who hears say, “Come! (Lord Jesus.)”
And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
... He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Amen." (Revelation 22:17-21, NKJV)
