Dealing with Adversity-Restoring Hope

PASTOR PHILLIPS' SERMON

Sunday, January 9, 2005

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you and praise you for this day, for this time when we gather as brothers and sisters in Christ, to sing your praise, to pray to you, to worship you, and to receive your blessings as we have received forgiveness of sins and the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Lord, now we pray that you would give us a message specific to us, powerful, comforting, healing to us. In Jesus' name, Amen.

The basis for our meditation today is the Gospel reading, the story of Simeon at the temple. Now other than this particular passage regarding Jesus as a baby being taken by his parents to the temple, we don't have any other mention of Simeon throughout scripture. So all the information we have about him is right here before us. I'm going to read it one more time: “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 upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ.” And on it goes to tell the story of how Jesus was brought into the temple and how Simeon received Him and thanked God.

Today, we begin a series of messages about dealing with adversity and this first message has to do with hope, having hope through difficult times. And I know we all live in the real world. Sometimes we come in here and we worship and praise God, and it takes us away from all our struggles and we forget the reality we live in. But we have to go home and we have to go to those struggles, those places of difficulty and deal with those situations.

Today's message is to comfort you and inspire you to live a life of faith no matter what the circumstances. In fact, the time of this story, the time when Jesus was born, the time when He was a baby and presented at the temple was a very discouraging time for the people of God, the people of Israel . Their land was under Roman authority. Their friends and neighbors had been taken off as slaves into foreign countries, and people they knew had been tortured because they had not submitted to King Herod or the Romans. It was a very bad time, a time of great pain and loss. And yet, even in the midst of this darkness, God's beautiful, powerful word shines the light of hope. The Isaiah passage we read a moment earlier as our first scripture reading says that God is concerned about us even in our troubles. He doesn't walk away from us when things get tough. God stays with us. He comforts those who are afflicted. He comes and abides with us in our difficult times.

It's interesting, isn't it, that God gave this wonderful message, a special message about the Messiah, to an elderly gentleman. All that we know about him is that he was righteous and devout. He was sincere in his faith. He was dedicated to his prayer time, his reading of the

Old Testament scriptures, and his service at the temple. This is all we know about him and that he was filled with the Holy Spirit. That's interesting, isn't it? God filled Simeon with the Holy Spirit so that, throughout the crowd and the hubbub of all the people gathered to make sacrifices at the temple, Simeon was waiting and watching for the Christ. And as the young couple made their way through the crowd carefully carrying that beautiful baby, their precious little child, they made their way through the crowd and Simeon saw them. It was a fulfillment of prophecy. God, the Holy Spirit, had spoken directly to Simeon and said, “You will not see death until you see the Christ.” “The Lord's Christ” it says in our text very literally. The Lord's Christ. That sounds strange to us. We think of it in a different way, the Lord Jesus Christ. But really what we're hearing here, in this phrase, The Lord's Christ, identifies Jesus specifically as the fulfillment of all those Old Testament prophecies. Christ is the Greek equivalent of Messiah. Messiah means anointed one, and that refers all the way back to when God would choose a king, when God would have His prophet go and anoint that king with oil, that would be God's choice to rule His people. Jesus is the ultimate anointed one, promised throughout scriptures, throughout prophecies that God would send a Savior, a deliverer, somebody to deliver His people from oppression and save them from their sins.

But isn't it interesting that in the midst of all this history, in all this wealth of prophecy and knowledge and all these people going and making sacrifices at the temple and reading the scriptures on the Sabbath, in the midst of this, only Simeon is there waiting at the temple. Only Simeon recognizes the baby Jesus as His mother and father bring Him through the crowd.

A little bit later, we hear about a prophetess named Anna who also recognized Jesus. But isn't it interesting that among all those religious leaders who are hanging out at the temple, only an elderly gentleman, devout and righteous, filled with the Holy Spirit, recognized the Christ child. It must have been a powerful moment for him. He'd lived his life waiting to see this. God gave him that promise but even with that promise, a direct message from the Holy Spirit, he must have had some doubts. “I'm getting old. My body's weak. I'm tired. I don't know if I'm going to see that baby. God said I would see that baby, the Christ.” Finally, the day happened. His heart must have been filled with joy to see that baby. God made it clear to him this was the Christ, and he took the child. It says, “He took Him in his hands, and he lifted Him up and he blessed God. He thanked God that He had kept His promise to send the Savior. The child had been born and now he was dedicated at the temple.” Can you imagine those old hands, maybe arthritic, holding God? What a precious gift to hold.

By his encounter with Christ, Simeon's life was complete. He had waited those many years, and now he had gotten what God had promised, the hope of all Israel was realized in this little baby, this precious little child. Now all children are precious. All of them are gifts from God. All of them come to us in a wonderful and miraculous way. And yet this child was even more than that. He was God in flesh, God become man, God coming to take on all of the sins of the world and to offer Himself as a sacrifice on the cross.

Throughout this season, we've heard beautiful liturgies written by our worship leader describing how the little baby's hand that reached out was the same one that would be stretched out and nailed on the cross. It seems tragic when we think about it, but that's God's plan. That's the

Old Testament prophecies. That's the design. That's how you and I are saved. Wouldn't it be wonderful to hold the Christ child? Just to hold Him and know that this is God's promise fulfilled. God is with you now.

Now I want you to think of something different. I want you to think of those hands holding the child, but let's make a reversal. The hands are the hands of your heavenly Father, and you are that precious child. That's how God feels about you. You're His beautiful little baby, and He would do anything for you, including send His Son to die for you to save you.

At Christmas time and throughout this season, we think a lot about the birth of Christ and what that means. But the true value comes from knowing about Easter, His death and resurrection. That's when the whole picture comes into focus, that God, through Christ, has made us His children and He holds us dear.

I have a story I want to share with you about people in a hopeless situation receiving God, receiving Jesus. Two Babes in a Manger. In 1994, two Americans answered an invitation from the Russian Department of Education to teach morals and ethics based on biblical principles in the public schools. They were invited to teach at prisons, businesses, the Fire and Police Departments, and a large orphanage. About 100 boys and girls who had been abandoned, abused, and left in the care of the government were in the orphanage. They relate the following story in their own words. “It was nearing the holiday season in 1994, time for our orphans to hear for the first time the traditional story of Christmas. We told them about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem . Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a stable where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger. Throughout the story, the children and the orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened. Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word. Completing the story, we gave the children three small squares of cardboard to make a crude manger. Each child was given a small paper square cut from yellow napkins I had brought with me. No colored paper was available in the city. Following instructions, the children tore the paper and carefully laid strips in the manger for straw. Small squares of flannel cut from a worn out nightgown an American lady was throwing away as she left Russia were used for the baby's blanket. A doll-like baby was cut from tan felt we had brought from the United States . The orphans were busy assembling their manger as I walked among them to see if they needed any help. All went well until I got to one table where little Mischa sat. He looked to be about 6 years old and had finished his project. As I looked at the little boy's manger, I was startled to see not one but two babies in the manger. Quickly, I called the translator to ask the lad why there were two babies in the manger. Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at his completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story very seriously. For such a young boy who had only heard the Christmas story once, he related the happenings accurately until he came to the part where Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger. Then Mischa started to ad lib. He made up his own ending to the story as he said, ‘And when Maria laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay. I told Him I have no momma and I have no pappa, so I don't have any place to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with Him, but I told Him I couldn't because I didn't have a gift to give Him like everybody else did. But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept Him warm, that would be a good gift. So I asked Jesus, If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift? And Jesus told me, If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me. So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and He told me I could stay with Him for always.' As little Mischa finished his story, the eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed down his little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed. The little orphan had found someone who would never abandon or abuse him, someone who would stay with him for always.”

Isn't that what Jesus is for us? Beyond all our troubles, no matter how dark or how deep, we have Jesus. God never abandons us. He promises always to be with us. I've spoken recently to a number of people who are going through very hard times and, yet, they trust in God. One said to me, “I don't think He's with me.” I said, “Yes, He is. Remember His words, ‘Surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.'”

Jesus is with us. No matter what, He is with us now and forever. Even beyond this life, He is with us. Picture again the hands of your heavenly Father holding you, the little baby, tender, precious, forgiven, for always. Amen.

Copyright 2005 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church