1 What are you waiting for? (Luke 2:22-40) 27 th December 2015 It would be good for you to have your Bibles turned to Luke chapter 2 from verses 22 to 40. You can take notes in the sermon outline if you wish Let me ask for God s help in understanding His Holy Word! Intro/Waiting Waiting! We all do it. In fact the average person spends 5 years of their life waiting things like waiting rooms waiting in queues waiting to be seated waiting on the phone to speak to someone waiting at traffic lights waiting for the sermon to end! And then we have encouraging sayings like: Good things come to those who wait and Some things are worth waiting for But is there anything you would be willing to wait your entire life for? It would have to be something pretty special wouldn t it? Waiting Israel We pick up the story at verses 22-24 where Mary and Joseph following the rules of the OT bring their firstborn child baby Jesus to the Temple to give thanks to God and they offer a sacrifice of a pair of doves or two young pigeons. Page 1 of 10
2 What we have to realize is that this baby is no ordinary baby as we learnt on Christmas Day this baby is God s chosen Messiah the Saviour of the World God himself And Israel has been waiting a long time for Him to come Between the OT and NT there has been a 400 year wait but the wait is over In bringing Jesus to the temple the 400 year old prophecy of Malachi is fulfilled in Malachi 3:1: [Powerpoint 1 Mal 3:1] "I will send my messenger [John the Baptist], who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord [Jesus] you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come," says the LORD Almighty. The Lord Jesus has come to His temple Waiting Simeon At it just so happens that there is a bloke called Simeon in the temple courts when Jesus is presented at the temple who has waited his whole life for something something definitely worth waiting for. If I had to wait my entire life for the same thing I d gladly do it! Simeon s name means God has heard And God has heard Simeon s prayers and has sent the greatest answer to prayer ever From v25 we learn Simeon is a righteous and devout. By this we mean he showed obedience to the Word of God and loved God and loved other people. Page 2 of 10
3 It was the hope and prayer of every Jew that the Messiah would come and bring peace and comfort to the people of Israel. And like other Jews Simeon was waiting for the Consolation of Israel. Consolation of Israel is a reference to a theme that the prophet Isaiah talked about that the Messiah would come and console or comfort Israel. Simeon was waiting for this Messiah Sometimes God calls us to wait! It s not the most glamorous task. In fact it s part of every Christian s maturing process a period of waiting. A feeling that we ve been put on the backburner. A feeling that we know God has gifted us and called us to do something great but it doesn t seem like anything is happening! That might be because God is calling us to wait. It is God teaching us patience. And all too often, if we don t wait, if we try to step out and do what we want, or even what we know God wants for us, but we don t wait for His timing, we will fall flat on our face. These times of waiting can be incredibly fruitful times for us. We should enjoy them. Learn as much about the Bible as we can. Become as much like Jesus Christ as we can. [Powerpoint 2 Waiting Simeon Patient waiting] God wanted Simeon to wait for Jesus and he did! Patient waiting is a wonderful spiritual quality Simeon also had the Holy Spirit with Him - this means that Simeon was specially chosen by God to do something specific for God. We learn what this task was in verse 26. Page 3 of 10
4 Simeon had been told by God that he would not die until Jesus Christ came. This is quite a promise that God made to Simeon! We don t know exactly how old Simeon was here, but Simeon had been waiting for God for much of his life, and he knows that he will see the Christ before he dies. The question though is, why would God tell Simeon this? Why did God think it was important that someone be there to see Jesus Christ? Why is it so important for Simeon to spend his whole life waiting, just to see the Messiah? That s incredible, but what s the point? [Powerpoint 3 Waiting Simeon H.S. with him so He will be a witness] The point is found in Deuteronomy 19:15. We read there that on the evidence of two or three witnesses shall every matter is confirmed. Simeon was one of three witnesses that God used to confirm that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, had come to Israel in the flesh. The shepherds were the first, Simeon is the second, and Anna is the third, whom we will look at in a minute. Before Simeon witnesses he thanks God in v29 - Simeon recognizes that his life of waiting for the Messiah was according to the Word of the Lord. Everything we do needs to be according to the Word of the Lord. If God s Word has not said it, we most likely cannot trust it. Simeon did have the Word from God that he would live to see the Messiah, and so now he says he can depart in peace, he can die now, his life is complete. [Powerpoint 4 Waiting Simeon can we depart in peace like Simeon] Page 4 of 10
5 Are you at that place in your own life? If you discovered that you were going to die tomorrow, would you be ready to go? Would you be able to depart in peace? That is an important question to ask. God can take us at any time, and we all need to be ready to go at any time. This means being at peace with God, and peace with one another all the time. Do you need to confess something to God? Do it today. Do you need to restore a relationship with someone, but you ve been putting it off? Don t delay any longer! (pause) Among the Jews of Jesus time many grew increasingly impatient for the day when God would finally place His Chosen people in a seat of power to rule over the world. The people were being brutally oppressed by the Roman Empire and unrest was growing they needed the Messiah to come and break the shackles with a great military victory But in contrast there were some known as the Quiet Ones in the Land they had no dreams of violence and war they believed in a different way: a way of prayer and quiet watchfulness until God should come. All their lives they waited patiently upon God. Simeon and Anna were among these Quiet ones people of prayer waiting for God s comfort [Powerpoint 5 Waiting Simeon understood Jesus came to bring salvation to the Gentiles as well as the Jews] Page 5 of 10
6 We can see from Simeon s words in verses 30-32 that he understood that Jesus came to be a light to the Gentiles, to bring salvation to the Gentiles, to reveal himself to the Gentiles. And that He would do this through suffering as a servant, dying on the cross, and then rising from the dead. And not by some military crusade. And how thankful all of us should be as Gentiles - that this is why Jesus came! But Simeon is not done - next he turns to bless Joseph and Mary in Luke 2:33-35. The words of Simeon to Mary at the end of v35 - about a sword piercing her own soul is a prophecy about Jesus crucifixion on the cross. It would be the most tragic event in the life of Mary, and yet, at the same time, the greatest event. Mary s soul would be pierced, and so will ours when we understand the suffering of Jesus, but Jesus did it all to save us. And if people get saved, Jesus considers it all worth it. [Powerpoint 6 Waiting Simeon understood Jesus came to bring salvation in a peaceful way] The rest of Simeon s words of prophecy to Joseph and Mary are again an indication that Simeon knows what Jesus has come for. Not to raise up Israel and deliver them from Roman rule, but to cause the fall and rising of many in Israel just by His words and His teaching. The result will be that people s hearts would be revealed. This is exactly what happens in the life of Jesus. Most of the leaders of Israel reject Jesus and His teaching, and so they fall from their positions. Many of the Page 6 of 10
7 poor accept Jesus and His teaching, and so are risen to leadership in the early church. Jesus was definitely spoken against by many. [Powerpoint 7 What are you waiting for? Contentment comes from knowing what to wait on God for] Before we move on to Anna, let me just ask you, what are you waiting for? What are you looking forward to? Is it that next holiday? Is it retirement? Is it getting married? Maybe having a child or a grandchild? Getting that promotion at work? Hey, all of these things are good things to wait for. All of these things are blessings from God. But true contentment in life comes from knowing what to wait on God for! (pause) Simeon knew to wait for Jesus first coming [Powerpoint 8 Simeon waited for 1 st coming we must wait for 2 nd coming with eternity in focus] In the same way we are to wait for Jesus 2 nd coming we don t know when but we are told in the NT to eagerly await His coming (Rom 8:23-25; 1 Cor 1:7; 4:5; 1 Thess 1:10; Titus 2:13). Living knowing Jesus could come today or tomorrow causes us to live with the right priorities. It causes us to do things that will matter for eternity, rather than just for next week. And it should also cause us to witness about Jesus just as Simeon did Page 7 of 10
8 Waiting Anna Well what about the other witness in this passage? Anna? Her name means grace. And God s grace was upon her see v36 she was a prophet [Powerpoint 9 Waiting Anna means grace a prophet shares about Jesus] Anna s work as a prophet was to speak the Word of God, and share what she knew about Jesus with all who would listen to her. Also notice her circumstances she was married for seven years and a widow for 84 years. This either means that she was a widow who was 84 years old, or that she had been a widow for 84 years. Either way, she had been a widow for a very long time. And rather than grow bitter and resentful that she had been a widow so long what did she do? [Powerpoint 10 Served the Lord praying and fasting] She served the Lord all her life see end of v37 she never left the temple but worshipped night and day, praying and fasting This means that she went to the temple as much as possible. Nobody, not even the priests lived in the temple. The High Priest alone had chambers there, but even He did not live there. There are many things that go into a healthy church and fruitful ministry, but here we see two of the most important factors of becoming a healthy Christian and a healthy church. If we want to become a healthy Christian, and if we want this church to be healthy, we need to follow the example of Anna. First, spend as Page 8 of 10
9 much time as possible in church, worshipping God, serving God, fellowshipping with other Christians, learning the Word of God. That s the first thing. It will help us; it will help the church. But secondly, spend as much time as possible praying. Prayer is the lifeblood of the church. Prayer is what keeps a church and its ministries supported and moving forward. Prayer is what keeps us in communication with God. Prayer is what holds back the spiritual forces of darkness. Prayer is how we can support me as the minister and the elders and the Sunday school teachers and the music team and everybody else in leadership positions. And we see this in Anna. She was a prayer warrior. Not only did she pray, but she fasted, and she did it night and day. I pray that God may give every church many people like Anna who serve God with fasting and praying night and day. Conclusion In today s culture sometimes younger people think that the older people have nothing to teach them and sometimes the older people believe it! And on the flip side; sometimes the older people know they have a lot they could teach and pass on to the younger ones but they d rather spend their retirement years fishing, or golfing or bowling etc. Both these views are wrong The Bible says that those who are younger should learn from those who are older (Titus 2) Page 9 of 10
10 [Powerpoint 11 Conclusion - The Bible says the younger can learn from the older what skills can you use? How open are we to serving the Lord?] There s no such thing as retirement from being a Christian the years we have spent working in the work force may well be God preparing us for work in ministry here at church What skills, what lessons, what truths have we learned that we can pass on to the next generation? How can we encourage? How can we help? How can we minister to the needs of others? In Simeon and Anna - here are two people near the end of their life, still serving God full steam ahead So how open are we are to serving God and sharing Him with others. Even though death is imminent for Simeon and Anna, they have found the meaning of life, and what makes life significant. They did not wait around for the next vacation, or the next toy, or the next adventure. No, they waited for Jesus Christ, and as they waited, they served God in any and every way they could. What are we waiting for? I pray we are waiting for Jesus Christ. And as we do, I pray we are wisely using the time and abilities and talents God has given us. Life has meaning when you spend it waiting for Jesus. Let s pray Page 10 of 10