GOD’S INDESCRIBABLE GIFT – A Gift Worth Receiving
Luke 2:21-33
INTRODUCTION:
Video Clip: I Heard the Bells (1:47)
I heard the bells on Christmas day, their old familiar carols play
And wild and sweet the word repeat of peace on earth, good will to men . . .
And in despair I bowed my head: “There is no peace on earth” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men.
Then peeled the bells more loud and deep: “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth good will to men” . . .
In 2 Corinthians 9:15 Paul says, “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” This Christmas we have been looking at God’s indescribable gift that He gave that first Christmas, the gift of His Son Jesus. God’s gift is A GIFT WORTH GIVING, and it is A GIFT WORTH WAITING FOR. This morning we want to consider God’s indescribable gift; A GIFT WORTH RECEIVING.
God’s gift alone is stronger than the hate and despair that mockingly stands in opposition against “peace on earth good will to men.” Whatever the difficulty we may face in these days approaching Christmas 2005 God’s gift, the gift of His one and only Son born to the Virgin Mary, will prevail and triumph over evil. God’s gift is a gift worth receiving.
However if we are going to receive God’s gift, then we need to take some lessons from Simeon. The Bible says that Mary and Joseph were amazed by the things Simeon said about their baby; they were speechless as they listened to words inspired by the Holy Spirit.
It had been nearly a year since the angel had come to Mary with the news that she would give birth to the Messiah and since Joseph’s angelic dream assuring him that Mary’s child was conceived by the Holy Spirit and the child born would be the promised Messiah. It had now been a month since the baby’s birth and the surprise visit from shepherds who spoke of angels; life had started to get back to normal for these new parents displaced from their home because of the Roman Census (well as normal as life can be for a family with a newborn).
Mary and Joseph brought their child to the temple according to the Jewish custom of the Law; little did they know the surprise God had in store for them when they arrived! You see Mary and Joseph knew Jesus was a special baby, but now someone else would see and confirm what they knew to be true. Theirs was no ordinary child; this was the promised Messiah, God’s gift, a gift worth receiving!
1. Those who look for God’s gift will find it!
• Luke 2:25 (NIV)
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.
Simeon was “waiting for the consolation of Israel.” The NLT says, “he eagerly expected Messiah to come.” The Message says he “lived in prayerful expectancy of help for Israel.” The American Standard and Revised Standard say he was “looking for the consolation of Israel.”
Simeon was not just waiting around hoping to see the Messiah; SIMEON WAS LOOKING FOR THE MESSIAH. Simeon had an expectancy; there was something burning within his heart that told him Messiahs coming was soon, so he had his eyes open expecting to see the fulfillment of God’s promise.
• Luke 11:9 (NIV)
Seek and you will find.
Those looking for Jesus will find Him; if you are looking for God’s gift you will find it. God is not trying to hide it from you; God wants you to receive it and has made the gift of His Son easy to find for us all.
Yet how many of you know it’s possible to see something, but to not really see it? We can look right at someone and not know they are there; we can look at something and look right through it and miss it all together.
ILLUSTRATION: Have you ever walked right past someone you know, a friend or even a family member, and not even recognized them because you are not expecting to see them. Or have you ever bought a new car that you really liked, and you thought it was a one of a kind car just for you, only to realize after you bought it that you see “your car” everywhere you go? It’s not that other people didn’t have that car before it’s just now you are looking for it so you notice it driving by when you see it.
It is possible for you to miss God’s gift this Christmas; you can go through the holiday season and not even see Jesus in anything simply because you are not looking for Him
Simeon was looking for the Messiah and found Him in the arms of His mother Mary. Yet think about all the people in Bethlehem who missed seeing the birth of their Messiah; Jesus was right there and yet they never noticed Him.
A. People in Bethlehem missed seeing Jesus because they were TOO BUSY.
People in Bethlehem were preoccupied with all the things they had to do; after all there was the Roman census and people had come to Bethlehem from all over Judea. That meant there was money to be made!
And how often do we become busy and preoccupied with so many activities each year at Christmas? We have places to go, people to see, gifts to buy. Our list gets longer and longer and our calendar gets fuller and fuller. If only we had just a little more time then maybe we could slow down and notice Jesus.
B. People in Bethlehem missed seeing Jesus because it was INCONVENIENT.
God you sent your Son at a bad time; people had their own problems and difficulties to deal with. There was so much happening; couldn’t you have planned the birth of the Messiah for a better time when everyone would have time to see Him?
I don’t know about you, but if I was the innkeeper and I knew the Messiah was about to have been born, then I would have been willing to inconvenience some people so I would have the honor of saying, “The Messiah was born here.” Personally I would have put my family out in the stable to give the mother of the Messiah a clean warm place to have the child, but then again I’ve got to live with them.
How often are we inconvenienced? We are not often willing to get out of our comfort zone to see Jesus either. Why do I need to stand for prayer, or why should I have to go to the altar? Isn’t it good enough that I raised my hand?
For some of us Christmas comes at an inconvenient time this year. Can you imagine Christmas on a Sunday?! Our priorities will be tested next week (as will the priorities of our children). Will we just want to stay home and open presents? Or will we take the time to come to church to worship Jesus the real gift of Christmas? A Christmas morning worship service may be inconvenient to our regular Christmas schedule, but perhaps we will find God’s gift in a more meaningful way this year because we took the time to seek Him on His birthday.
C. People in Bethlehem missed seeing Jesus because they DIDN’T EXPECT TO SEE MESSIAH.
Simeon had an expectancy; he was looking for the Messiah. Unfortunately most people in Bethlehem were not expecting anything, SO THEY MISSED IT!
ILLUSTRATION: In South Africa a man discovered one of the world’s largest diamonds, about the size of a lemon. Everyone was talking about his discovery. He wanted to get his valuable treasure safely back to London, but how would he do it? He hired four men to take a steel box secured with a lock back to London; he was still reasonably concerned for the safety of his diamond because everywhere these men carried the box people would stop and look. Finally they arrived at his London office and the man took his key and opened the box and revealed a lump of coal. Surprisingly the man was not upset that the diamond appeared to be missing. A few days later a regular parcel post box arrived; when the man opened the box there was his valuable diamond. You see he correctly believed that no one would notice an ordinary box because everyone expected the diamond to be in the guarded steel box.
God likewise sent the gift of His Son in an ordinary package. Everyone else just saw another baby, but not Simeon. Simeon found what he expected to see, the Messiah!
God will likewise reveal Himself to you today in some unexpected ways. Will you find Him or will you miss God’s gift because you aren’t expecting it?
• Deuteronomy 4:28-29 (NIV)
[28] There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. [29] But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
What is God telling His people? “You are going to rebel against me; you are going to try to find what you are looking for in all the wrong places by turning to gods who are not gods at all. But even when you have your backs turned from me, if then you will begin to search for me YOU WILL FIND ME.”
If we are going to find God, if we are going to receive His gift, then we must be looking for Him.
2. Assurance of God’s gift is given before you see it.
• Luke 2:26 (NIV)
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
Simeon was looking and expecting God to send the Savior, and before Simeon saw Jesus with his eyes, the Holy Spirit assured him that he would find what he was looking for. The Holy Spirit gave Simeon the faith to keep looking and to not give up. Remember some 400 years had gone by since God had last spoken to his people through one of the prophets. Would God ever send the promised Messiah? Simeon was told he would live to see God’s promises fulfilled, that he would see the Messiah.
• Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Faith in God gives us the absolute certainty that what we hope for is going to be. Although I may not see it with the natural eyes I can see it through the eyes of faith and I know that God will do want he has said. The Holy Spirit gives an assurance that God’s gift is wrapped and on the way to our house; therefore we know we will receive it!
But how can we have such a confidence? How can we believe for things that we cannot see? How can we know God will come through for us?
We have an unshakable assurance and confidence in God because we have a NOW FAITH! We are not trying to live our lives on an outdated faith; yesterday’s faith is not good enough. We must have a current up to date faith in God’s present reality and faithfulness to us.
ILLUSTRATION: Susie had to update her anti-virus program on her computer the other day. It seems there was a new virus or “worm” being spread around. After updating the program on her computer, she was instructed to scan the computer’s hard drive to make sure that it had not been infected. Thankfully the “worm” had not wiggled into her machine! Those of us who are computer literate know the importance of keeping the anti-virus program up to date. Without such programs being regularly updated we run the risk of having our computers crash. When your computer crashes it’s as good as dead; a good anti-virus program is a real life saver. How is your “heavenly anti-virus” program running?
We need NOW FAITH, a faith that is current and up to date! Only NOW FAITH will empower us to continue to believe God for what we hope for.
In the same way our computers will download a current anti-virus program to keep it protected from outside attack, we need to download a NOW FAITH in order to have an unshakable confidence in God. How can we keep our faith up to date?
I could share many ways to build up your faith, but I’m only going to mention one today. It’s one way that I see how Simeon kept his faith current so he had an assurance that he would see the Messiah before he died.
Simeon looked for God’s gift IN THE RIGHT PLACE AND IN THE RIGHT WAY. Verse 27 says that “moved by the Holy Spirit [Simeon] went into the temple courts.” Simeon found Jesus at the temple, but this was not the Sabbath or regular day of worship; Simeon was “moved by the Holy Spirit” to go to the temple that day. You see not only did Simeon have regular times of corporate worship at the temple, Simeon had private and personal times of worship with God.
Because Simeon was comfortable being in God’s presence on a daily basis, the Holy Spirit could direct him to go to the temple on the right day and at the right time when Jesus was there. Simeon saw the Messiah because he took time to regularly worship God, privately and corporately.
Likewise if you are going to download a current up-to-date NOW FAITH, then you need to learn to have daily times of worship with God, of daily prayer and meditation upon God’s word so you can daily be directed by God.
Receiving God’s gift means we need to be looking for it, to expect God to give what he has promised, and it also means having an assurance that comes from a now faith, to see what is unseen.
3. To receive God’s gift, you must know what you are looking for!
• Luke 2:28-32 (NIV)
[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."
God has made His salvation available to be seen by all people. The salvation of the Lord is not just for the Jews to see. God’s salvation is a light of revelation unto the Gentiles; we are all to behold the wonder and majesty of what God has provided for each of us with awe. Look and see what God has done for us. Salvation has come through the child born in Bethlehem and laid in a manger; behold the wonder of God’s son Jesus!
VIDEO CLIP: A Brief History of Christmas . . . (3:25)
I wonder if Simeon was surprised by what he saw? The Holy Spirit had promised him that he would see God’s Messiah and now directed by God Simeon sees the infant carried to the temple by His parents; was Simeon surprised that the Messiah came as a new born baby?
• Isaiah 52:10 (NIV)
The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
