Advent 2006

Advent - Realizing God’s Promise

The Christmas season is a time of great joy and terrible pain. We anticipate the family gatherings, string the lights to add a festive glow in our homes, buy the gifts we hope will gladden the hearts of those to whom we present them – and we become more aware of our inner pain, too! Why?

• Because, all of the sentiment of the season stirs up our memories,

especially those that don’t match the ‘perfect’ pictures we see around us of

happy families, healthy people, or apparent success!

• Our emotions are allowed a little closer to the surface.

The result, for some of us, is that tucked in between happy holiday songs and festive events, there will be secret moments of sadness - for some even depression. If you’re one of those who struggles with that kind of emotion, I want you to know that you’re not alone, you’re not strange, and that you, too, can find new hope, and real joy - in the Christmas story. This message is not just for the sad or depressed! All of us need hope, all of us need to know that there is purpose, a reason that we are alive other than to take up space on the planet for a while.

I want to talk this morning, for a few moments, about how you and I can own 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. PRAYER

TEXT - Luke 2: 25-32 Pew Bible page 1591

Simeon makes what we might call a cameo appearance in the Jesus story, but what an appearance it is!

There is much about the life of this old man to admire. The Scripture describes him as ‘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 his experience of God was incomplete, 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?’

When 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)

he realized that the Kingdom of God was promised, but every day as he walked to prayers in the Temple, he passed the Roman soldiers who reminded him that Jerusalem was not a free city. Even in the Temple, a place he loved 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. 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.

Just like you and I must do, when we feel that familiar longing to know complete victory over sin, when we long to see sin and suffering fully eradicated, when we long to see all of the prophet’s promises fulfilled!

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 - jobs that were not what we hoped, marriages that have left us unfulfilled, kids that have abandoned us and the values we wanted to pass on to them.

But sometimes our sense of incompleteness goes deeper, 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! I know for I’ve been there.

On the past Thursday afternoon, I completed my work and went home ‘round 3 or so. Bev was still at school, readying herself for the next day’s lessons. I sat in our living room, and began to think about the people to whom I had ministered this week - people dealing with cancer, pending divorce, disappointment with kids, habits that are dug in deeply resisting change, and just ‘life.’ There are so many needs that are part of so many lives– and a sorrow of deep longing overwhelmed me. Tears fell... not so much for myself... but for a broken, painful world. I prayed as Jesus has taught us to pray ... “Lord, your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven...” And the I prayed for patience to wait....

Life does not always tie up into neat little packages. Questions do not always find simple answers.

And so we wait!

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 that little boy child were the dreams of a nation, stretching back more than a thousand years! Though time the people of God heard 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. Now, there He was.

The title - Consolation of Israel- is a translation of a word that is also used as a Name for the Holy Spirit later in John’s Gospel. In the Greek text of the New Testament, the word is paraklesis [paraklaysis/] - meaning, “one who brings comfort and encouragement, one who comes near to one in need!” Simeon saw the Comforter of God’s People there in the Temple courtyard!

My imagination tried 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, you and I 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. 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)

Friend, I 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 you ‘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)