Just because the celebration of Advent and Christmas are over doesn’t mean we let go of the gifts we have been talking about all month, actually, today is the day we need to keep these gifts close and have them ready to use in the days ahead. It can be easy in these long cold days of winter after the excitement of Christmas is over to let go of the hope and joy that we have been feeling and it is too easy to let go of the renewed faith and love that we know God brings to us in Jesus – so today is the day to keep these gifts close to our hearts. Today is the day to keep these gifts working in our lives. We need to keep the gift of God’s word, the gift of worship, the gift of purpose, the gift of God’s Spirit and most of all gift of Jesus at the forefront of our lives and if we do this we will find the blessing of the abundant life that Jesus came to offer us. If we let go of these gifts, however, we run the risk of missing God’s presence and power in our lives all together.
Think about the days after Jesus was born. The shepherds worshipped him and then it says they went out and told everyone what they had heard from the angels and what they seen with their own eyes Look at Luke 2:17 & 20. They told everyone that the Messiah had come, but do you notice that no one went to look for him. In fact, when Mary and Joseph enter the Temple 8 days after Jesus was born to offer the sacrifices that were required after a child had been born, no one was there waiting for them. There weren’t crowds of people to behold the new born king. There were only two people who even noticed the gift of Jesus in the temple that day, Simeon and Anna, and the reason they recognized Jesus and the reason they got the blessing of being able to worship him was because they kept these very gifts we have been talking about alive in their lives.
Look at what we know about Simeon, he was righteous and devote – he was a man of worship and the word. He kept these 2 gifts alive in his heart – he meditated on God’s word, he worshipped in the temple, he was faithful to God in his daily walk and because he kept those gifts and used them he was there when Jesus entered the Temple. It also says he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Three times it talks about how the spirit was working in Simeon’s life, it says the Holy Spirit rested on him, it revealed to him that he would see the Messiah, and then it was the Spirit of God who guided him to be in the Temple when Mary and Joseph brought in Jesus. Clearly Simeon kept the gift of God’s Spirit and he made sure he trusted in it and relied on it everyday. All the gifts we have been talking about were gifts that were actively used in Simeon’s life and because he kept those gifts and used them – he was one of only 2 people who had the blessing of being able to see Jesus.
The other person who received that blessing was Anna and Anna also kept these gifts alive. It says that Anna never left the Temple, but she didn’t just hang out there, it says she fasted and prayed daily. She was a woman of worship and her fasting and prayer shows us just how serious she was about her devotion to God. And like Simeon she was also filled with the gift of God’s Spirit, how else can we explain how she happened to walk up to Simeon as he was holding the child and how she knew to praise God for the gift of the Messiah that she saw in Jesus.
Simeon and Anna kept the gifts of God and because they did they didn’t just see in Jesus a baby, they recognized him for who he was, they knew he was the Messiah, the one who would bring redemption and salvation to Israel, the one the people had been waiting for. Lots of people saw Jesus that day, they saw a couple holding a baby, but only Simeon and Anna recognized him as the Messiah and because they did they were blessed by God and the reason they received that blessing was because they kept the gifts God had given them.
If we want to see God at work in our hearts and lives in the new year then we need to keep the gifts God has given us. If we want to experience all the blessings God has for us then we need to keep these gifts that God has given us. Now in many ways I feel like I’m preaching to the choir here because you do keep these gifts and I know that because you are here in worship today. Even though we gathered here just about 36 hours ago to celebrate the gift of Jesus – and I know many of you spent a long day here yesterday serving Jesus by feeding 10% of our community, you are back here today because you know you need the gift of Jesus everyday and we know we need to keep the gift of worship and God’s word living in our hearts and lives. These are gifts to keep and when we do then like Simeon and Anna we will see Jesus and when we see Jesus we will experience the power of his presence and the peace of his love and grace.
My hope in the new year is that we will encourage one another to keep these gifts of God alive and at work in our lives. I’m sure that there were times Simeon and Anna must have gotten tired of being faithful and maybe even questioned why they worshipped when God never seemed to show up, or why they fasted and prayed when the Messiah and his kingdom never seemed to come. It had been a long time since God had spoken through the prophets, it had been a long time since there had been any kind of new word of God to the people of Israel and while many people had given up, Simeon and Anna kept the gifts of God. They persisted. I wonder what it was or who it was that kept them going. I wonder if Simeon and Anna maybe knew each other from spending so much time in the Temple and so maybe the encouraged each other to stay faithful.
For many of us it may seem like a long time since God has spoken and we may wonder when we will see the movement of God or the outpouring of God’s spirit or the coming of God’s kingdom and as we wait and watch, it can be easy to lose hope and give up on these gifts – so how can we encourage each other. Those are the questions I want us to think about as we head into this new year.
How can we encourage one another and others to keep the gift of God’s word?
How can we encourage one another and others to keep the gift of worship?
How can we encourage one another and others to keep the gift of God’s purpose for their lives?
How can we encourage one another and others to keep the gift of God’s Holy Spirit and the gift of Jesus?
As we answer these questions and as we live out our answers we become the church God wants us to be. Think about what the church is – it’s a group of people who not only follow Jesus but we help each other follow Jesus and we do that by encouraging one another to keep the gifts God has given us. We can become a stronger church, a more devoted and vibrant church, a more faithful church if we will encourage one another to keep these gifts of God every day.
And when we encourage others to see these gifts in their own lives and maybe accept them – accept Jesus and the power of Christ and the purpose God has for their lives – when we encourage people to accept these gifts – the church grows and lives are changed and when lives are changed the world is changed. I hope we will keep these questions before us in the new year and I hope we will keep these gifts of God alive and at work in our hearts and lives today and everyday.
