December 5 Waiting for Christmas Luke 2:22-38
Good morning from Pastor Glen Brock, Baptist Tabernacle Church, Wendell, North Carolina… “When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” 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 on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 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 may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 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, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 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. (Luke 2:22-38)
Every child, that I have known, has a hard time waiting for Christmas. Here are some actual letters that were written to Santa: Dear Santa Claus, When you come to my house there will be cookies for you. But if you are real hungry you can use our phone and order a pizza to go. Dear Santa, I want a Puppy. I want a playhouse. Thank you. I’ve been good most of the time. Sometimes I’m wild. Dear Santa, (From a 4-year-old) I’ll take anything because I haven’t been that good. Dear Santa, I’m not going to ask for a lot. Here’s my list: The Etch-A-Sketch animator, 2 packs of #2 pencils, Crayola fat markers and the big gift...my own color TV! Well, maybe you could drop the pencils; I don’t want to be really selfish. Christmas is often associated with waiting. I can remember one Christmas, when I was growing up, that I really wanted Rock-em-sock-em-robots. I dropped hints everywhere. I wrote letters to Santa and cut out pictures in magazines and put them on my Mama’s pillow. I even tried extra hard to be nice during the countdown to Christmas which wasn’t easy to do! When Christmas morning finally came, I jumped out of bed and ran to the tree. I looked for a box with my name on it. I looked everywhere but couldn’t find it. Do you know what I got that year? I’ll never forget it. My mama, who loves to cook, made pecan pies of us. I could barely take the shame of it all…pie instead of rock-em-sock-em-robots. Actually I received a really nice pair of shoes and a warm winter coat also…but who cared, No Robots…. What Are You Waiting For This Christmas? Are you longing for anything? What are you expecting to receive? Are you looking forward to anything special this Christmas? In the Gospel of Luke, we come across two characters that make their appearance, in the final acts of the Christmas drama. One is a man named Simeon; the other is a woman named Anna. They don’t appear in any nativity scenes or in many Christmas cards, but they are significant players in the first Christmas pageant. Both of these individuals were waiting for something -- actually, they were waiting for someone. ”Simeon Was Waiting For Comfort! Simeon had been promised that he would not experience death until he had seen the Messiah. His anticipation was evident in all that he did. The world saw his righteous and his devote nature, yet they could not see the anticipation of the “Consolation of Israel” that he was waiting for! Simeon’s expectation focused on the comfort that Christ would bring. Among Jews of Simeon’s day one of the popular titles of Messiah was Comforter. Like some of the Christmas songs we just sang, they were longing for the Messiah to come and bring His comfort to them. It strikes me that the desire to be comforted is a universal human need. We all struggle with loneliness, emptiness, insecurity, even desperation. In fact, the Christmas season is one of the major crisis times of the year for depression and suicide. The Holy Spirit prompted Simeon to go to the temple courts at just the right time on just the right day that Joseph and Mary were bringing their infant to the Temple. When Simeon looked at the baby Jesus, now about 6 weeks old, he knew that God’s promise had been kept. Here was Immanuel, “God With Us,” to make everything right, to provide significance by His presence, and to eliminate rejection, fear, and loneliness. Luke 2 says that Simeon reached down and took Jesus out of Mary’s arms and began to praise God. He was fully aware where Comfort would come from… Then there was Anna. She was looking for Forgiveness! Anna had struggled with and through life and she was waiting for TRUE FORGIVENESS! Friends, in a nutshell, Christmas is a marvelous, moving, message! How can we not find what we’ve been looking for? And, how can we keep quiet about it? Once you have the Son, you have everything. The message is clear this Christmas. Because of the Father’s love…whoever takes the Son gets it all. Will you take Him this Christmas? You’re invited to a birthday party. It’s the birthday of Jesus. It’s His party, but He wants to give you a present. He wants to give you the gift of Himself. Will you take Him? The Comfort, sought by Simeon and the Forgiveness, sought by Anna, is ours for the asking. By Faith, we can have ALL THE GOD INTENDS FOR US TO HAVE! What are you waiting for? Who are you waiting for? Stay Strong, Stay Focused…THE BEST IS YET TO BE!