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Dec 18, 2022

Peace is Worth the Wait

Peace is Worth the Wait

Passage: Luke 2:22-32

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: God With Us

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: worship, faith, christmas, jesus, sunday, god, sermon, bible, christ, luke, gospel, hope, advent, holy spirit, good news, angels, believe, jesus christ, the bible, christianity, jerusalem, nativity, god with us, bible study, emmanuel, luke 2, jesus birth, christmas story, live music, bible stories, god is with us, livestream, burnt hickory baptist church, story of jesus, 2022, burnt hickory worship, christmas 2022

As we draw the advent season to a close and move into celebrating Christmas Day, we look at Simeon and Anna in our final sermon in the series God With Us. We learn that it’s the Holy Spirit that give us clarity and insight into the things of God, and waiting is a key element of the Christian life. We have to remember that God sees us. He has not forgotten us. Out act of waiting doesn’t mean that we have done something wrong. We also see that God’s answers do not always match our limited expectations and timing. In fact, Dietrich Bonhoeffer puts it this way – “The Advent season is a season of waiting, but our whole life is an Advent season, that is, a season of waiting for the last Advent, the time when there will be a new heaven and a new earth.” As you learn to trust in God and his timing during life, it’s beneficial to be a part of a faith community that encourages you and reminds you constantly of God’s promises. We encourage you to join a church like Burnt Hickory, plant yourself, and be a part of God’s plan and purpose. You can find out more about discovering membership at Burnt Hickory here - https://www.burnthickory.com/next-steps/discover-membership/ As always, if you’ve got questions or want to take the next step in your faith journey, just reach out today – burnthickory.com/next

Well, good morning, Church. Hope you have had an incredible week this week and looking forward to an incredible Christmas week. I have with me some incredible local heroes I've got with me this morning. The house parents of Calvary Children's Home, right down the road. Yeah, we know that for years and years and years, Calvary has been an incredible, incredible asset to this community. We know that we have partnered with them for years. Many of you have served with them. But we also know that inside of Calvary, there is some unsung heroes. And it's the people that I have with me on the stage today. Little unbeknownst to me. I did not realize just what all their job entails until not long ago, when I was hanging out with Glenn and hanging out with some other friends. And these guys not only live with the kids 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but they are responsible for their physical needs, their emotional needs, their spiritual needs, and they're not even their kids. And I know as a parent, it's hard enough to do that with my kids. And so today, in the spirit of Christmas, we just wanted to bring them up here and we wanted to bless them this Christmas. We know that God has blessed this church. Yeah. Come on. We know that God has blessed this church. There's so many of you that are faithful, and we have been able to come behind so many different families across this community. But this morning, I just wanted you to be able to see these guys, to have them in your mind and to pray for them and all that they do. Guys, I'm telling you, y'all are heroes and we thank you for all that you do and all that you have done in this community. And if there's any way that we can serve you, please, please, please let us know. Would you guys give them a hand one more time? And I appreciate you guys. You'll have to spread these around where they really go later. Thank you. There we go. I'm going to pray for them. Lord, we love you. God. Thank you. This morning. God, that we can just give honor where honor is due. Lord bless these guys this season. Give them peace. Give them joy. And God just show them that they are making a difference. Lord Jesus, it's in your name. We pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, guys. Appreciate your being here this morning. Amen. Well, thank you, Church. Because I know a lot of you serve with them and that is incredible.

Last week, we in our series God with Us, we pointed out the fact that in order to truly experience this season, one of our main goals for this Christmas season was to point our focus and our attention in the direction of Jesus, in the direction of his birth and of his life and of his death. And we said that this season is kind of carved out every year as a moment that we can pause in a lot of other things, and that we can experience the fullness of who Jesus is through his birth. We said that a lot of us, though, on that side of the coin, we miss it. In fact, we miss it because there's just so much static that gets in our way. It's not the problem with the signal, it's just the problem with us pointing our lives in that direction. Well, I read a story this week that kind of got me thinking about that, about a guy named Joshua Bell. Now, if you are into orchestra or especially into violin music, you know who Joshua Bell is. Joshua is the best violinist by far, according to all of the official peoples that is in the United States. For years, he has played the violin. He has orchestrated, he has conducted. He has been the top violinist in the United States. In fact, in 2007, he was so popular that he sold so many shows out, his ticket prices skyrocketed through the roof to where the average person couldn't even get in to hear him. He was selling out Carnegie Hall and selling out all the major places, playing his three and a half million-dollar Stradivarius, 300-year-old violin. This guy was incredible. It still is incredible today. Well, the news got a hold of this, and they decided they wanted to figure out how good Joshua really was. So, they coaxed him into a little experiment. The night after one of his shows in Washington, D.C. They asked him if he would go down into the subway that next morning during the key traffic time of the most busy subway stop. And they asked him if he would play his violin with a small hat in front of him asking for tips and for people to pay him for his skills. Being a good sport, the best violinist that had just sold $1,000,000 in tickets the night before said, sure, let's give it a try. So, he did. He went down underneath into the subway system that morning. And for 40 minutes, Joshua played all the greats. He played Beethoven and Bach and Handel. He played all the Disney favorites from all the years he played everything that he could think of until he was absolutely exhausted. And at the end of the 40 minutes, him and his three and a half million-dollar violin looked down into his hat and he had made a total of $32.17 that morning, not including one $20 tip because someone knew who he was.

You see, when you read that story and you hear it, the reality is, it is very possible for us to miss some of the greatest things in our lives if we don't know what we're looking for, if we don't know what the greatness is. You see, we don't recognize majesty in a lot of ways because we're not tuned in to listen to it. You see, this is one of the themes of the Gospel of Luke and his telling of the Christmas story. The reality is one of his major themes in telling the birth story of Jesus is that Jesus came, and Jesus was born, and Jesus walked on this earth. But many people missed him because they didn't know what they were looking for, because they didn't have their lives positioned in a way that they could know that it was him. You see, the first Christmas, they didn't call it back then, but you know what I mean, right? The first Christmas came and went, and many people never even knew that it happened. But on the other side of the story, Luke tells us this. Those that truly met Jesus, their lives were changed forever. There was no mistaking the fact that the majesty entered into their lives, and it resulted in them completely changing. This morning, we're going to look at two of those lives. We're going to look at two of what I would call the B-roll players in the gospel account of Luke. We're going to look this morning at Simeon and Anna's account with Young Jesus. If you've got a copy of Scripture this morning, we're going to be in Luke chapter two. Luke Chapter two. But we're going to start in Luke Chapter two, verse 22, knowing that when you come on Christmas Eve, I'll give you the spoiler alert. Then we will back up and give the first 21 verses. We're kind of spiraling all around the Christmas story to end at Christmas Eve this year. Luke Chapter 22 is just after Jesus has been born and now his parents are being good Jewish people.

Let me read to you what is happening in this account. We're going to see what it teaches us about Jesus and about ourselves. Luke 2:22, says this. When the time came for the purification rites required by the law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him, that's Jesus, to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord as it is written in the Law of the Lord. Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord. A pair of two doves or two young pigeons. Now, look, I know there's a lot there, so let me unpack it for you. Here's what this is saying to us. According to Leviticus Chapter 12, you know Leviticus, right? According to Leviticus Chapter 12, the Bible tells us that God had commanded every Israelite family to dedicate their first-born child to the Lord. They said that they were to bring a lamb with them to the temple. They were to have that lamb sacrificed, and it would be a symbol of them preparing their hearts and saying that God had delivered us. Now, of course, this goes back to God delivering the Israelites in Egypt. If you remember right, God took his people, the Israelites, they were in bondage. And one of the curses and one of the things that he used to get them out of bondage. The last one was, is that he would send the Death Angel to take all firstborn males, except for those that were to have the blood of the lamb spread on the top and down the sides of their doors. And then he would spare them. Well, God did that. He spared them. And then he told the Israelites, from that point on, you were to go to the temple as a symbol of remembering what God did for you, and you are to sacrifice this lamb. You are to say, thank you, God, for giving us this child. That's what's happening in the story. Now, the Bible tells us, though, that the text says that Mary and Joseph, though they offered two doves or two pigeons instead of a lamb. Now, this is an important detail that I want to mention, because the law, in this moment made an exception for people that were extraordinarily poor. Now, look, this wasn't like the people that went to Disney and couldn't do it. This was like the people that were really, really poor and they could not afford a lamb. So, the law said, instead of a lamb, you can bring this pair of birds and you can sacrifice them as a commemorative moment, as a purifying moment, as a thank you God moment. And I want you to notice something of what this is doing to us, because there's not many points in the Bible that points this out.

But I want to teach you something in this because, this is important. What this is showing us is that Jesus was born incredibly poor, incredibly poor. So, when you see the birth of Jesus, don't think that Jesus was born into this royal household up on the hill, into the castle. Jesus wasn't born to the Caesar or to the most important who-ever's of the land. Jesus wasn't even born to the middle class. Suburban family. He was born poor. And when I say poor, I don't mean like a little bit poor, almost destitute poor. Now what this shows us in this and Jesus being poor, it shows us that being poor, or poverty is not a sin. It's not a sin. It's not a shame for a moment in people's lives. In fact, it also shows us that poverty is not a sign of God disproving of something that is going on your life or someone else's life. Being poor or poverty is not a way that cuts people out of worshiping God or coming to God. Also, it's showing us that poverty is not a sign that a person is forever to be destitute. It's not any of those things. I mean, after all, Jesus made it out okay. So, when we see that, we've got to think about it through a couple of lenses. The first lens is this. If you are not poor, which is most of you, by the way, right? If you're not poor, we've got to be really careful in judging the condition of other people. In fact, let me just say it a little bit stronger than that to say this. It is not your role to judge other people's condition. It's your role to come behind other people and show them the love and the mercy and the grace of Christ. But unfortunately for some of us, we get into this mindset of looking at people. And our first question is not How can I help them? It's like what got them into that situation. That is not what the text is teaching. Secondly, what this is showing us is this, if you are poor or if you're hard up in your look right now, listen, don't feel second class because Jesus identified with you first. He identified in your spot first.

In fact, not only that, but he also has a plan for your life, and he loves you. So, when we think about poverty, what this is showing us is that Jesus lived in poverty. He started in poverty. But that is not a road to you not knowing and meeting and loving Jesus. But I want you to look back at the text because there's so much more. Watch what happens next. Completely unexpected. Verse 25. Now, there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation. That's the deliverance of Israel. We'll get back to it. And the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts, and when the parents brought the child Jesus to do for Him what the custom of the law required. Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations. A light for revelation to the Gentiles, that's me and you, and the glory of your people Israel. Now, this is a little bit crazy, and we can't just read this as a flat event. We got to really kind of see what's going on in the story. Okay, here's what's happening. Mary and Joseph have come into the temple to sacrifice at this purification rite. This “thank you for our son,” right for Jesus. Right there in the temple. There are hundreds of other families doing the same thing with their firstborn. And all of a sudden, this old guy runs up and he grabs Jesus out of their hands. I hope this is what you're seeing. This is what's in the text, right? He grabs Jesus, he lifts them up like Simba. Right. And he is saying he is praising God; he is honoring God and he is praying. Now, look, I know this is a complete older lady thing, right? This is what you guys do, right? You pinch, you kiss, you grab, you have without permission, I might add. And then you say things like, I could just eat you up, right?

I mean, that's the kind of older lady deal. COVID kind of cured us of that, thank goodness. But here's the deal. If you are an old guy and you do this, you're just weird, all right? You are weird. It's not what you do, all right? It's not what you do. But it is what Simeon does. But he doesn't do it randomly. He doesn't do it just because. He does it because God had spoken to him, because God had showed him who he was in front of him and out of the overflow of Simeon's Heart, he was automatically responding to who was in front of him, which I might add. Here's another little tidbit of thought that's not in your notes. When you truly meet Jesus, you can't handle but worshiping him. It's what's happening in Simeon's life. So don't think of Simeon as this crazy old guy that is running up and just grabbing Jesus, although that's what he did. Simeon is following the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit had spoken to him. In fact, write this principle down. It's important. It's the Holy Spirit of God that gives us clarity and insight into the things of God. It's the Holy Spirit of God that gives clarity. That means making things clear and gives us insight. That means making things that we didn't know, now we know. That's his role. What does that mean? That means the spirit is there to guide us. It's there to help us in understanding. It means that the Spirit's role, the Holy Spirit in my role and your role as a follower of Jesus, is to bring things that are unclear in our past into clarity. It's to make things that are hard to grasp into clarity. It's to bring things to light. In fact, let me read it again in verse 26. Show you what happened. Watch Simeon. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. They've been looking for this for years. Verse 27, moved by the Spirit. He went into the temple. Of course, you notice something was revealed to him. And then there was an action that happened in his life. You see, it was the Holy Spirit that placed Simeon in a spot to experience Jesus and gave him the heart to understand church. Listen real closely to me. The only way that you can truly understand the things of God is because of the Spirit of God. That's it. That's why things seem so foolish to those people who don't know Jesus, because they don't have the Spirit of God.

That's what it's telling us right here, and here's the irony of the whole situation, all of it. I know you've already caught it, but let's talk about it anyway. The irony of this whole situation is that this whole event was situated around a firstborn son being brought to the temple and a lamb. Does this ring a bell to anybody? Do you see what's happening in the temple? Right. You see what's happening in the temple is that all of these people that are in the room are going through the same ritual, but they're missing Jesus. You see the ritual, right? They're in the Temple of God, which is a holy place that represented the presence of God, which that's who Jesus is. I might add they are bringing the Lamb of God to the temple to be sacrificed for God, which I might add, that is Jesus for our sins. And they are doing what? They are bringing their firstborn, which is who Jesus is to God that He gave us. But the irony is, all of them that are involved with this religious rite, were missing Jesus. They were missing Jesus. Here's the point I just want to show you in this. The point is this many of us missed Jesus because we're so hung up on our rites and our religion and our tradition that we don't see the one that it's pointing to. And his name is Jesus. That's the whole thing here. You see, here's the deal. Rites and traditions. They're incredible. They really are awesome. But in the middle of them, if we missed Jesus, then they're trash. They're trash. Here's what I mean by that. They're dangerous. Do you know why? Because everybody in that temple that day thought they were doing right. Thought they were getting everything right. Thought they were walking through all the motions. Yet the presence of the Messiah was in their midst. But they missed him. They missed him. Do you see the point of this? What do we do in many places in our lives? We come to a place that we are to worship Jesus, to love Jesus, to honor Jesus. But in the middle of all of it, because of everything that is clouded in, everything that is distracted, and because the World Cup game is going on, we are missing Jesus.

We're missing him. So here it is. This goes from Christmas pageants to Christmas parties to Christmas decorations to Advent ratings to Christmas Eve services. If these things are only pointing you to a season and a religion that you're pointing you away from Jesus, they're pointing your way. And listen, we need the spirit of God to do what? To point us to the majesty of Jesus, to point as to who Jesus is. Let me encourage you this week, let me give you a prayer to pray this week, God, show me yourself. Now, would you just put that in your prayers this week? God, show me yourself. Let me see you. Let me experience you. After all, that's the Spirit's role. Some of us think, man, I just keep bothering him with us. I keep doing all this. Listen, that's the spirit's role in your life. After all, listen to this, John 16:13. Listen to what Jesus told his disciples. He said, but when he the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you in all truth. That's his role. But listen to this, though. How much more? This is Luke 11:13. How much more will your father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him, Do you see it? The role of the Spirit is to guide you in truth. But our role is to ask the Spirit to lead us. You need him to show you. Keep going. In the story, though, verse 33, Watch what happens. The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. And then Simeon, bless them. He said to Mary, his mother, now Simeon, talking to Mary. That's dangerous. Here he goes. This child is destined to be this child is destined to cause the falling and the rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be spoken against so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed, and a sword will pierce your own soul, too. Don't worry, we're going to come back to that. But I want you to meet this other person first. All right. Verse 36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old. She had lived with her husband seven years after their marriage. And then she was a widow until she was 84. She never left the temple. But worship day and night, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment she gave thanks to God, spoke about the child and all and to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. All right. Here's what we got. We got two people. They both have something in common, right? They're both old, all right? They're both old. They're both hanging around the temple. They're both waiting and longing for something. All right. Let me tell you about the two people. First, you've got Simeon. The Bible says that Simeon is waiting for the consolation of Israel. That just means that he's waiting on them to be delivered. Why? The whole Old Testament pointed to this idea that God was going to send a deliverer a messiah. Why? Because for at this point, 700 years, the Jews had been in bondage and been oppressed. Starting with the Assyria moving to Babylon, moving over to Persia, then to the Greeks. And when this was written, the Rome was still pressing in on them. They were living on their own, but they were still being oppressed into the system. So, they were praying, God deliver us, God, deliver us, God, send your deliver.

That's what Simeon was doing, right? They weren't in the freedom. But here's what Simeon represents. He represents a posture of long waiting for God to do something big. Do you feel that? That's why he's in the story. He's showing us that he has been doing the same thing for a long time and he is waiting on God to do something big for deliverance. The second person in the story is Anna. All right. So, we just read the text, says that Anna is a widow. She was married for seven years and now she's been a widow for, gosh, about 70 years now. And here's her life. It's safe to say that that Anna thought she didn't think her life was going to end up like this. In fact, what 14- to 16-year-old girl that gets married ever thinks that she's going to live 70 years as a widow? Now a widow during this time was incredibly, incredibly rough because you didn't have a way to make a living. You didn't have a way to have companionship. You were basically destitute at this time. So, it's safe to say that Anna represents someone whose life, catch this, has turned out differently than they expected. Does that make sense to you? So, you've got Simeon on this side that is praying for this global deliverance. You've got Anna on this side that is praying for this personal God. This is not how my life wanted to be turned out. So, when you put these two together, for them being in this situation for a long period of time, here's what the Bible is teaching us.

Here's the principle. Write it down. Waiting is a key element of the Christian life. It's a key element. It's what we're seeing in both of their stories. This is why Luke, and the Holy Spirit chose to use these two old people. Right? Why? What is he showing us? He's showing us that God comes to those who wait. He comes to those who wait. And he's shown us, because they're old, that he comes to those who wait. And sometimes it is a long, long, long wait. You see, many of us in our kind of thinking of Christianity, we look at Christianity as this instantaneous fulfillment. Don't we? We do. We can say it. We do. We look at Christianity as an instant answer to prayer. We look at Christianity as a okay God. If I do A, you're going to do B, and give me C automatically. But here's the deal. Here's what the text is showing us. That is not automatically, always the case. In fact, many of you right now, even in this Christmas season, you're in a season of waiting. You're in a season of waiting. And let me talk to you about seasons of waiting just for a minute. They can feel extremely lonely. They can feel extremely dark. They can feel extremely confusing. They can feel extremely like we're being abandoned by everything. Or maybe you're in a season where you're just longing for something in your life to be set free or to be delivered in. Or maybe you're like Anna and you're looking for something in your life to move in a whole different direction. Maybe for you, it's your family. Maybe your family has been so messed up for so long. And you have been waiting and waiting and waiting and nothing is happening. Maybe for you. You're waiting on a prodigal to come home. And you've been waiting and waiting and waiting. And it's just not happening, maybe for you it's your health. And you've been waiting and waiting and waiting and it doesn't seem like God is doing anything. Maybe for you, it's you're grieving over the death of a loved one or a spouse or a child or a parent. And you've been waiting, and you've been waiting.

I don't know what yours is or maybe for you. You've tried everything in the waiting. You've gotten counseling. You have gotten all of the help you can. You've prayed all you can. And now you're saying Matt, it just hasn't gotten any better. Listen to me real closely to this next principle, God sees you, God sees you, and you have not been forgotten. And you're waiting. Listen, close does not mean that you're doing something wrong. That's what the text is teaching us. They've been waiting for a long time. A long time. It doesn't mean you're doing something wrong. In fact, waiting is an essential part of the Christian life. It's an essential part. Listen to some verses. Let me just read them over you, lamentations 3:25 says The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks him. It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Isaiah, 30:18, says, yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you and you need to hear that He longs to be gracious to you. Therefore, he will rise up and show you his compassion for the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him. Isaiah 49:23, says those who hopefully wait for me will not be put to shame. God, listen to this church. God will not disappoint those who wait on him. He won't. He's not going to let you be put to shame. And in fact, listen to this. No one who has ever waited on God has ever been let down. And I promise you, you're not going to be the first. You're not. Listen to what Bonhoeffer said. German theologian. He said, The Advent season is a season of waiting. But our whole life is an advent season that is a season for waiting for the last advent, the time where there will be a new heaven and a new earth. You get it right? Waiting is part of the Christian life. Not only are we waiting for God to do something physically, we're waiting for him to return. And Christmas reminds us that, yes, we have a lot to be thankful for, but it also reminds us that we are waiting for God to make things new, and He will not disappoint. He won't disappoint. That's what the story is, right? Simeon and Anna both, they've been waiting and now God is moving.

But on top of God not forgetting. You write this down. God's answers, write this principle down, do not always match our finite or limited expectations. God's answers in our waiting. They don't always match our limited expectations. You see, it's safe to say here that neither Israel nor Simeon nor Anna was thinking that a helpless baby boy born to a poor family was God's answer for Israel and the world. Right. But he was. He was. You see what Israel, Simeon and Anna thought that they needed was some sort of physical deliverance. But do you know what they really needed? They really needed to be restored to God. You see, the point is here. What you need most and what I need most is not always what I'm asking God for. Otherwise, we would always ask the things that God wants to do. What the point is, is this what we need most is full restoration from God. And full restoration from God is what brings us into peace with God. In fact, our friend Blaise Pascal said it incredibly right when he said, There's a hole in all of our hearts that can't be filled by religion. It can't be filled by money, can't be filled by happiness, it can't be filled by relationship or success. It doesn't feel it. Only Jesus fills it. That's what He said about it. And you were created for God. You were created for this Jesus that Simeon happened upon, through the Holy Spirit in His life. And now this. Jesus is asking you, where is your life and how does your life look like? And is there room for God to take up a dwelling place for him? And let me let me show you the promise, because the promise is just wait, wait, wait, wait. The promise is he will bring you peace. Look at verse 28. Simeon took him. That's Jesus right into his arms and praising God, saying Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation. What happened in Simeon's Life? The spirit opened up his eyes. He responded, The Messiah is now in his arm. And look at what he brought. Because this is what we want most. We might not say it out loud. God brought peace. He brought peace. He opened his eyes. Do you realize that that's what we really desire more than anything in our lives? I know you think it's riches. I know you think it's the next promotion. I know you think it's your family coming back together, whatever it might be, right? And all those are fabulous things. But what really satisfies our soul is peace with God. And that's what Jesus brings. In fact, I want you to notice something about these two people in the story. Both of them found peace. Didn't they? Simeon, what happened? It clearly says he had peace. And they said Anna clearly has thankfulness. But did anything change about their circumstances? No. Nothing changed about it. Why?

Israel wasn't delivered in that moment. Anna didn't get a new husband automatically. None of that happened in their lives. What happened? Peace came into their life. Listen to us. You know what this taught me this week? If I'm waiting on my situation in life to change, to bring me peace, I will always be disappointed. I'll always be disappointed. Why? Because I know people are going to let me down. I know family's going to let me down. I know my health is going to let me down. I know the government is going to let me down. I know that I'm going to let me down. It is so silly to think otherwise. Listen closely. Only Jesus can bring you the peace that passes all understanding. Only Jesus should hold the keys to peace in your life. In fact, here's the question I put in your notes. Is Jesus the only keeper of my peace, or am I kind of putting that out to all the circumstances in life?

You know, I don't know what this is to the circumstances round me up in my life. Or does the peace of Jesus rule in my heart? What Simon and what Anna's realizing this, that the Messiah is here. He says he brings peace and thankfulness. But I want you to see something else. I told you, we come back to verse 34. I wanted to do it at the end because it's kind of heavy, but it's right. Verse 34 says this. Then Simon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, the child is destined to cause the violent falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be spoken against. So that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed, and a sword will pierce your own soul, too. Now, look, that is really hard to get unless you just study, study, study. Here's what it's saying. Simeon looks into Mary's heart. Catch this. This is Mary. I mean, like Mary, right? He looks at her and says, Hey, this little baby you got in your hands. He's going to cause many to rise and many to fall. Why? Because he's going to show them their true hearts. But here's what he ultimately says to Mary. And he calls Mary out a little bit. He says, This child in your hand is going to bring peace, but he's also going to bring a dividing line. He's going to bring a dividing line. You say Matt, why would it bring a dividing line? Here's what he's going to do. He's going to show people their hearts, but he's going to give them a chance to walk with him. That's the dividing line. Why? Because none of us love to be told what to do. None of us love to be told that there is a way that we must walk. But that's what he's saying. Even to Mary, he's saying even your soul is going to be split down the middle because of this kid. What is he saying in that?

Some homework this week. Read Mark 3:21-31. It's where Mary and her brothers, Mary and Jesus's brothers actually think Jesus is crazy for his claims. And Jesus calls them out. Listen, Church. Here's what this means for us. None of us are immune to the dividing line of Christ in our souls. So, let me ask you this morning, where do you fall? Is Jesus the prince of peace in your life? Have you come to a point in your life where you have said yes, Jesus, you are mine? I realize that while I may be waiting, I am waiting on you. And you are Lord or are you still operating in the fact that you are the Lord of your life? Jesus says you can't have it both ways. Either I'm Lord of all, this is the dividing line, or I'm not Lord at all. In fact, here's the question What side of the line am I on? What side of the line? You say Matt, that's kind of harsh. It's not harsh when there's a solution that's offered. When there's a way to walk it. John 3:3 says very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless you are born again.

So, let me ask you, as we get ready to close the service and move into the Lord's Supper, do you know Jesus? Has there been a time in your life where the peace of Jesus, the salvation of Jesus, has washed your sins away? If you don't know Jesus, listen, you can. You can know him. He's the dividing line, but he's the prince of peace, the savior of the world. In fact, he wants you to know him. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes with me just for a second this morning, just to focus us in on the Lord? And I just want to ask you this morning, do you know Jesus? Has there been a point in your life like Simeon's, where you've come into the presence of Jesus, and he has changed you? Has there been a point like Anna's life where you can't help but to be thankful and tell others what he has done to redeem you? Or are you just about the rites and just about the religion? Do you need to give your life to Christ this morning? Maybe if that's you this morning, you just need to say something like this.

Lord Jesus, I know that I'm a sinner. And I know that you died for me. And Lord Jesus, I give you my life. Come into my heart as my Lord, forgive me and give me life. Be my Savior. Amen.

Look at me for just a second, if that's your heart this morning, welcome. Welcome to the Kingdom of God. Welcome to the peace of Christ. Welcome to the understanding that eternal life is yours in Christ Jesus, your Lord. He's yours. He's yours. In just a minute, during the time we're going to celebrate the Lord's Supper. If that, was you today, listen, I'm going to be standing right over here by the next steps banner, just like in the last service? I'm going to ask you just to get up from where you are. Walk over here to me. Just look at me in the face, and say Matt, I gave my heart to Jesus today. What next? I'd love to pray with you. Love to walk with you in this. But for the rest of us, over these next couple of minutes, we're going to celebrate the Lord's Supper together. And here's the tie in. Remember I told you we get back to the Lamb. While God told the Israelites to bring the lamb to sacrifice at the temple. Here's what's true in our lives. The lamb has already been sacrificed. Our sin has already been covered. Our debt has already been paid. So, we don't come to the temple to sacrifice the lamb. We come to the temple to recognize the sacrifice of the lamb. And his name is Jesus. And that's what the Lord's Supper is. It's the broken body and the blood of Christ. It's a symbolic time that believers for 2000 years have come together to partake in this moment, to say, Thank you, Jesus, for what you have done for me. You see the continuity. The lamb over the door posts, leading to them sacrificing the moment to present their firstborn son, the firstborn son of heaven. Christ has been sacrificed as the lamb for us. And now we look back on that. But here's, here it is. We also look forward to the advent of the next coming of Christ.

Let me read this over you. It's from the apostle Paul. He says, first Corinthians 11, for I receive from the Lord what I also passed on to you that the Lord Jesus the night He was betrayed, he took bread. And when he had given thanks. He broken it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, after supper, he took the cup, saying, This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me. For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. In just a second, I'm going to turn it over to the worship team. And believers listen, if you are a follower of Jesus, if he has your heart and you've given him your life, this is for you. You don't have to be a Burnt Hickory member. It's not about that. This is about Christ. If you've submitted your heart to Him, this is for you today to do in remembrance of him. But if you're not, listen, we're not judging you. But this is a family thing. It's a family moment. We just ask that you just kind of pause in this moment and maybe search your heart and see what's keeping you from giving it to Christ. But in just a second, on your own time, I want you to tear the top and take of the bread. And then you can tear the bottom and take of the juice as a sign and symbol of Christ's broken body and blood for you.

Lord Jesus today, walk with us. Give us a moment to examine our hearts and our lives. We thank you for being the Lamb that was slain for us. Lord Jesus the sar shalom. Bring us peace in the midst of all of the craziness. It's in your name.

Amen.

You partake as you need it. There are some deacons around the room if you did not receive one on the way in.

 

Follow Along with the Message

Peace is Worth the Wait

December 18, 2022

Luke 2:22-24

22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

Luke 2:25-32

25 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 on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

PRINCIPLE: It's the Holy Spirit of God that gives us clarity and into the things of God.

Luke 2:26-27

26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts…

John 16:13

But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.

Luke 11:13

…how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Luke 2:33-35

33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Luke 2:36-38 36

36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

PRINCIPLE: Waiting is a element of the Christian life.

PRINCIPLE: God sees you and God has not you and your waiting doesn’t mean that you are doing something wrong.

Lamentations 3:25-26

25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Isaiah 30:18

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

Isaiah 49:23 (NAS)

…Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame

The Advent season is a season of waiting, but our whole life is an Advent season, that is, a season of waiting for the last Advent, the time when there will be a new heaven and a new earth.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

PRINCIPLE: God’s answers do not always our finite or limited expectations.

Luke 2:28-30
28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,

Question: Is Jesus the keeper of my peace?

Luke 2:34-35
34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Question: What side of the am I on?

John 3:3
“Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
1 Corinthians 11:23

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

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