For us, Christmas is a celebration of faith, family and friends. It’s a time to remember what God has done for us and it’s a time to express our love and appreciation for one another, but when the holiday is over - the trees come down, lights get put away and life gets back to normal. For Mary and Joseph, Christmas wasn’t a holiday, it was the birth of their son and the one they believed was God’s son, so for them nothing would ever be normal again. Their lives changed forever that night in Bethlehem and they were faced with the challenges and details that faced all new parents. For example, for all Jewish parents, the birth of their first son meant that at least 3 ceremonies needed to take place. After 8 days a boy needed to be circumcised. This happened in Luke 2:21. Then after another month, there were 2 sacrifices that needed to be made, the first was the ritual of purification, and this was for the mother. For 40 days after giving birth to a boy a Jewish mother was considered unclean and so was not allowed to enter the Temple. After the allotted time, the parents would go to the Temple and offer a lamb as a burnt offering and a pigeon or dove as a sin offering. If the couple were poor, which Mary and Joseph were, they would offer a dove or a pigeon in place of the lamb. So Mary and Joseph have gone to the Temple for this ritual of purification, but they have also come for the redemption of the first born.
The first born sons in all of Israel were to be offered to God and then bought back. This ritual acknowledged that the child belonged to God. By coming to the temple to make their sacrifices and present Jesus to God, Mary and Joseph are doing their very best to faithfully fulfill God’s command. What is interesting to think about is that Mary and Joseph had been told by the angels that Jesus was the son of God. That message was confirmed by the shepherds who came to worship Jesus the night he was born. So Mary and Joseph knew that Jesus was special and that they had been favored by God to be the heroes who would bring Jesus into the world, and yet they didn’t seek any special favor from God. They didn’t assume any special privilege and they didn’t use Jesus as an excuse to not follow through on their commitments. In humility and faithfulness they strive to fulfill their promises to God. Maybe this is why God chose them in the first place, because they had faith and integrity.
This coming week we are going to be thinking about making our own promises, New Year’s resolutions. Whether we sit down and write them out or not doesn’t really matter, in many ways the new year causes us to evaluate where we are and where we want to be and what we need to do to get there. And it’s a time to think about how we are fulfilling the promises we have already made. For those who are married, are you doing all you can to fulfill the promises you made in your wedding vows? Are you supporting your spouse and loving them in sickness and in health, for better and for worse? Does your love reflect the love of Christ who was willing to lay down his life for the church? If this is an area where you need to focus some attention in the new year, let me recommend the book the Love Dare. This is from the movie Fireproof and it gives you 40 ways to show your love to your spouse. The dares listed here won’t just improve a marriage, they can also help improve our attitude and actions toward everyone. Well worth considering.
Another commitment we need to reflect on in the new year is the one we make with our children? And this isn’t just for parents, it’s for all of us to consider. When we baptize children we are making the promise to order our lives in such a way that each child will be surrounded by steadfast love so that they can be confirmed and strengthened in the faith. Are we ordering our lives that way? Are we giving all we have and all we can to our children so they can grow up to know that the Jesus who was born in Bethlehem came to be their Savior and Lord? What more can we do to love our children and care for them and nurture them in the faith?
As followers of Jesus, we have also made the commitment to love the community and world around us. While this week we will get some much needed rest and some time to reflect on the amazing ministry of the Christmas dinner, we also need to be looking ahead and asking ourselves, what more can we do to love our community?
How is God calling us to reach out to the strangers and those in need and those who are living in spiritual darkness? What specifically can we do to invite people into a relationship with Jesus? When was the last time we invited someone to join us in worship? When was the last time we invited someone to join us in Sunday School? 53% of our community doesn’t attend worship and a full 2/3, 66% of young people, do not attend worship– how are we ordering our lives so that we can reach them and share with them that the reason we feed the hungry and care for those in need is because Jesus came to live with us and die for us. How can we share with them that it is because of Jesus that we experience a life that is filled each moment with the presence and power of God?
As Mary and Joseph enter into a new phase of their life, they follow thru on their commitment to God. They don’t look for an excuse not to be faithful, they give all they can to fulfill the promises and commitments of their faith. As we enter into a new year, will we follow thru on the promises we have made in our lives and the commitments we have made to God and to the church? As a church, there are 2 more people we need to consider as we look to the new year, you see Mary and Joseph aren’t the only 2 heroes we see in this story. As a church we need to learn from Simeon and Anna, because in many ways they represent the church today and their response to Jesus needs to be our response as we look into the future. As Mary and Joseph enter into the Temple they meet Simeon and Anna, both of whom have been faithful and committed to God all their lives. Look at how Simeon is described, righteous and devout – looking forward to the consolation (or the salvation) of Israel. It says the Holy Spirit rested on him and he was guided by the Spirit (25, 27). It says that Anna never left the Temple, but worshipped there day and night. She fasted and prayed and she also was guided by the Holy Spirit.
What we see here is a picture of what the faithful church should look like. If there is one verse in all of scripture that needs to describe the church today and if there is one verse that maybe we at Faith Church can use to guide is through the new year it is v. 25. Simeon was looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. Are we looking forward and does the Holy Spirit not just rest on us but does the spirit of God fill us and guide us and lead us in life and in ministry.
What does it mean for us to look forward? For Simeon it meant looking forward to the day the Messiah would come. Simeon had been told he would see that day, so everyday he went to the temple and literally looked for God. But what would God look like? How would God come? Because Simeon wasn’t exactly sure, he constantly was looking to see what God was doing and how God was moving. Simeon worshipped and listened and studied and prayed so that he would be ready and open to seeing God when God showed up. That needs to be our attitude and our vision. As a church we need to remain committed to worship, prayer, and study and then together we need to listen to the ways that God wants to move among us and through because what God might want to do may seem unusual or unexpected.
Go back to Simeon, I’m not sure he would have ever thought God would arrive on the arms of a poor couple visiting from out of town. Mary and Joseph are in Jerusalem, but they are from Nazareth so they wouldn’t have known any one in the temple. They were alone in Bethlehem (remember? No one took them in) so they didn’t have anyone to go with them, and they were poor because they aren’t there with a lamb but with 2 pigeons, that’s what the poor offered to God. This might not have been what Simeon expected the Son of God to look like, but because he had been worshipping, praying, listening and looking– he didn’t miss it.
Are we as a church willing to see God when he enters in new and unexpected ways? Are we willing to embrace new ideas in worship, new ideas in mission and ministry, new ways to order our life and new ways to look to the future to see what God is doing and what God wants to do? God did something new and unexpected in Jesus and I don’t think it was a one time deal, I believe God is always wanting to move in new and unexpected ways and the reason is that the world around us is always changing and so those who are blessed to be part of God’s life and God’s work are those who are willing to look forward? Let’s not miss what God is doing but let’s commit ourselves to looking forward with faith and trust in the new year? I want to invite every small group, every Sunday School class, every ministry team and every committee to consider what it means for us as Faith Church to look forward. What is it that God is doing among us and what does God want to do through us in the coming year.
Like the prophet Isaiah, Simeon and Anna were heroes because they were looking forward, but like Mary and Joseph they were also heroes because they allowed themselves to be led and guided by the Holy Spirit. Will we not just look forward, but will also allow the Holy Spirit to fill us and guide us in the coming year? Here’s how we can we know if the Holy Spirit is among us – are we filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control? In Galatians these are called the fruit of the spirit. These attitudes are the evidence that the Holy Spirit is part of our lives, not just our personal life but the life of the church as well. While I think we do a pretty good job at producing some of this fruit – I also know we can do better and we can do more. We can love more and we can have more joy as part of our lives. Through our thoughts, words and actions we can be more patient and kinder with one another, and when it comes to sharing Jesus with our community – we can be more faithful and more creative.
Being filled with the Holy Spirit is a daily process. Simeon and Anna went to the temple every day. Anna worshipped, fasted and prayed night and day. When we live a life of constant worship and prayer – the Holy Spirit will guide us to be where God wants us to be and the Holy Spirit will give us the strength and courage and the ability to do what God wants us to do. Looking forward to what God is doing and where God is leading won’t work if we are not first seeking God to be within us moment by moment and day by day.
Part of seeking God’s spirit to lead and guide us is confessing our sin and acknowledging all the ways that we keep God’s spirit from being part of our lives. So as we look forward to a new year and all God wants to do in us and through us, I’d like us join together in a prayer of confession asking God to first forgive us so that we can be free for a life of faith that looks for God to come to us, and to abide with us and to guide us in the new year.
Almighty God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, but what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart and we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your son, our savior Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways all through this New Year, for we ask these things in Jesus name. AMEN
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