Antioch Covenant Church

The Path Of Least Resistance

Romans 12:1-2

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” vs. 2a

A Date With My Daughter

For Christmas one of my daughter’s gave me a brick. Yes, a brick. But taped to the brick was a ticket to the Warriors game last Friday night.  We would have a daddy/daughter date. I was excited to go and we decided to take BART. Things were going well till we neared the Oakland Coliseum. The train was full so I decided to get up and give my seat to someone who was standing since I would be getting off soon. Two seats behind us this guy was sprawled out over a couple of seats and his feet were hanging into the aisle. It was pretty obvious he had had too much to drink and as I moved in the aisle I hit his foot which must have woke him up. I turned to him and nodded my head and said sorry. Either he didn’t hear that or he didn’t care. Next thing I heard was “You think you’re better than me?” I turned and was surprised he was talking to me. He said it again and then stated in with a tirade of swear words and taunts.  He was trying to pick a fight with me. I tried to ignore but then he stood up and started moving toward the door insisting that I get off the train with him, to fight. It was very uncomfortable, there were people with young kids and everyone was just kind of watching what was going to happen. I moved off the train, because it was our stop, and immediately began looking for a security and my daughter and I walked a little quickly and I guess he turned the other way because I never did see him once I got off the train. But he was doing everything he could to provoke me to fight. Now I wanted to make sure my daughter is okay and certainly didn’t want to ruin our date, but everything in me as a man screams to defend myself and my pride. But I could just see it, “Pastor arrested in drunken brawl” or something like that.  Here’s the thing, the world says, “be a man,” “defend yourself,” and “Don’t let people walk all over you.” I think hotter heads would have done something and everything in me was saying I should too. But that would have been wrong and definitely would have ruined the date I was having with my daughter.

Here’s the thing; it would have been so easy to hit him once, knee him, or anything like that and he would have been down in a heart beat. He was older, drunk, and I could take him. J But that is the world’s way.

So, you might be asking, “Why bring this story up?” Because I did the right thing? No. Because inside I really wanted to do something that proved I was a man, a protector, a more superior person. I wanted to react the way the world tells a man to stand up and be a man. But God’s way are different and today we will read a passage that tells us about that. If you are able, please stand as we read Romans 12:1-2.

Read Passage – Romans 12:1-2

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

So What?

As we approach Romans 12 there is a big transition talking place. Paul starts the chapter with:

“Therefore…” vs. 1

You might be thinking “So what.”  Paul always wanted to go to Rome and visit the church there but had been prevented from doing so for years.  He never made it there.  In lieu of that, he writes this long letter to the church there. In the first 11 chapters he focused on theology; the concept and ideals of God. In chapter 12 his letter takes a turn.  He now begins to focus on putting that theology into practice in everyday living so he says “therefore.” You could put it this way; now that you understand all about God and his attributes and character, and now that you know what he says…therefore let’s talk about what following God looks like in your everyday life.

Struggling With Obedience

It seems to me that since man has contemplated God and given their lives to  follow him, man has struggled with obedience. Obedience seems to be that there is a law and that  we are mandated to follow it. Paul comes at it from a different perspective.  After the “therefore” he says in verse 1:

“…in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice…” vs. 1

Paul’s approach to obedience is different than just the mandate to follow a law.  He puts it this way: Our obedience is the product of what God has done in our lives, not something we manufacture on our own. Obedience isn’t a chore of following a law because “God said so” but it’s a response to what God has done for us.   Because of his mercy, because he loves me so much and has done so much for me, I now want to offer something back; my body, so I obey.

When someone shows me how much I love them, I naturally want to show them how much I love them back. We do that in everyday life.

Ex. Someone goes the extra mile for you, so you go the extra mile for them.

Transformed Living

So Paul challenges us to be people whose lives are different or as he puts it, people who lived transformed lives base on what God has done for us.  In our passage, Paul gives us some action steps to be people with transformed lives.

-Be A Person Of Conviction

First, we are to be people of conviction. Paul was a man of conviction. Notice again how he starts this passage in verse 1:

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters…” vs. 1

His words here are strong.  He isn’t saying, “ you know, if you feel like it, if its not to much trouble for you, if you could…” No, he urges us. He is pleading with us. He is being very emphatic. His words are an example to us. We are to be people of conviction when it comes to our faith.

Think of this, why would someone want to follow us and believe what we believe if we are not serious about it? In our world, people want to believe at everything is okay and that somehow all roads, all religions lead to the same place.  Think about it? What conviction is there in that? If everything is okay, I can believe a baseball will save me and it’s perfectly okay because all religions go to the same place.  But you know, that is a cop out. That is untrue.  Jesus was a man of conviction and he told us “I am the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me.” That is conviction. Now I realize many people might not like this but there really is no value in our faith if we are not serious about it. Jesus said in his sermon on the mount in Matt. 5:

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matt. 5:10

People won’t like you being a person of conviction. You’ll be called judgmental, a fanatic, conservative, etc. but our faith is worthless if we are not convicted to follow God.

–Be A “Non-conformist”

A second step in living transformed lives is to be a “non-conformist.” In verse 2a Paul says:

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world…” vs. 2a

Notice todays sermon is titled “The Path of Least Resistance.” That comes from these words of Paul here.  It is way too easy to go along with the world and to just follow the crowd. It’s too easy to do what everyone else is doing. There is a problem with that though; Jesus said that His kingdom is not of this world. Satan has influence in this world and it will follow him. If we are conforming to this world, we are not living in Jesus kingdom. We can’t follow the world’s patterns and expect to live a life that reflects our commitment to God.

Ex. Lance Armstrong in his interview said his goal was to “win at all costs” and he did and  he didn’t have a problem lying about it and cheating others.

Non-conformist look different.  When we do not conform we live and act differently. Jesus said in Matt. 7:13:

“For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” Matt. 7:13

Unfortunately, if we follow the world, it will lead us down the road to hell. Jesus tells us many are going that way.  That means few are not going down the smaller, narrower path.  Think of how many ways we follow the world and justify that and it’s just taking us down the wrong path, We follow the world when it comes to sex, to lying, to power, etc.  It’s difficult to live differently. The path is not so easy. The road not so wide. People will make fun of it, laugh, and even put you down, but that doesn’t make it wrong, just a little tougher.

Ill. It’s hard to win fairly, to play by the rules and not cheat, it’s hard to be a good person, a honest person and get ahead in business, it’s hard to act with dignity and grace and still achieve. People will laugh, mock, cheat, maybe get ahead, and even put you down. Non-conformity says you live people, you live truth, you love integrity.

-The End Result: Have A New Outlook

So Paul calls for us to be renewed. Verse 2:

“…but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” vs. 2b

The transformation begins in the mind and shows itself in the action. You cannot expect your life to be different if you don’t renew your mind.  That is where the change begins and that is where the change impacts your life.

I know this is tough but the reward is incredible.  Listen to the end result in verse 2:

“Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” vs. 2c

Often people ask me, “How do I know what God wants me to do?” Here is the answer. When you are a person of conviction, when you do not conform to the worlds ways but renew  your mind to think in God’s terms, he will lead you and you will know what His will is. It’s a promise. And God’s will is good, it’s pleasing, and it’s perfect. Those are great character traits and attributes.

I Wonder If…

Thinking back on that incident on the BART train, I wonder what would have happened if I had acted a little differently. I know how it would have turned out f I acted poorly.  But what if I could have said something like: “Hey man, I don’t think I am better than you. I am just like you. And you know what, I love you because God loves you.” Now it might not have made a difference because he was drunk and he seemed to have a chip on his shoulder.  But who knows, it could have been a little different. Maybe, maybe not.

A Tough Mind and A Tender Heart

Matthew 10:1-16

“Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”  vs. 16b

Name The Opposite

Put up a list of words (10) and ask the congregation to name the opposite.

Happy – Sad

Up – Down

Hot – Cold

Sunny – Rainy

Out – In

Day – Night

Old – New

Sweet – Sour

Cooked – Raw

Love – Hate

Did it ever occur to you that we live in a world of opposites? It seems strange, but very few times we find ourselves in the middle or in the balance of things.  Even our personalities are one way or another.  You very rarely find a person who is assertive who is humble; a person who is passive who is militant, or a person who is  I would even say that Jesus calls us to be people who live in opposites.  We are going to read Matthew 10:1-10 and hear Jesus words again. If you are able, please stand as we read God’s Word

Read Passage – Matthew 10:1-16

¹He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. ² These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. ⁶ Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. ⁷ As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. ⁹ Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; ¹⁰ take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep. 11 “Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. 12 As you enter the home, give it your greeting. 13 If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. 14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. 15 I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. 16 I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.

Jesus Choice Of Men

This passage has a unique character about it that could go easily undetected but is important for us. In verse 2a it says:

“These are the names of the twelve apostles…” vs. 2a

It’s been documented that Jesus had quite a crowd that followed him. We know of the 12 that are listed here.  We also know there were somewhere around 70 other disciples that followed him too.  There is also Biblical data that shows there was quite a few women who followed him as well.  It’s likely that when Jesus walked into a place it was quite a crowd.  It’s not just a few. Here, Jesus specifically names 12 men he chooses to be the ones given the responsibility of spreading the news about him.  The passage calls them “apostles.” The word “apostle” means “one sent”. Its meaning is one that encompasses the meaning “ambassador.” That same word is mentioned in 2 Corinthians 5:20 when Paul says, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors.

In our passage Jesus choice is the 12 men listed, the original apostles or ambassadors. Taking into account Paul’s words, we also are chosen.  Jesus chose them and he chooses you and me as well. That’s an important concept and affirmation that God has entrusted his message to you and me.

Living With Authority

In light of that, let’s back up to verse one.  He says:

^“He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.” vs.1

Knowing they are chosen instills a certain confidence but in verse one he gives them authority; authority to drive out spirits and to heal. Now that is power. Having Jesus gives us power too but unfortunately many of us live a life that doesn’t seem to reflect the power we have in us.  Now having power doesn’t mean you go around abusing that power but it should help us to feel much more confident than many of us do.  You have authority.  You have authority to speak God’s Word, to live confidently, to live in a way that reflects your ambassadorship.

Ex. The movie the Wizard of Oz. When Dorothy, Toto, the scarecrow, tin man and cowardly lion meet the wizard and are expecting him to give them the things they lack; he actually gives them what they already have except, now they have the authority to use those gifts.

In a sense the same is true for you and I. God has given us gifts, strengths, and unique qualities that are just for you.  I am not supposed to be you and you are not supposed to be me. I am suppose me and all God has created and blessed me with the abilities I have and you are to be you and use the blessings and abilities that he has given you. And when you and I live in those abilities, when we be who we are called to be and share our life and story with the talents he has given us, we are living in that authority. His authority and power are freeing.

Jesus Formula For Action

Understanding that you are called and that you have authority let’s us live with those seeming contradictions or opposites in our life.

Ex. If you are shy and more of a one-on-one person, standing up and speaking in front of people and in crowds is not your calling.  So here’s the freedom, you don’t have too. If you like to, you have the freedom to do that too. But sometimes, even when we are being who God designed us to be, we feel we need to be the opposite. I hear people say things like, “I should do (this) more or I should be (this) way.” Just be you and understand there will be opposites in your life. Jesus addresses that for us here.  He says in verse 16:

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” vs. 16

Shrewdness and innocence are not to characteristics that go together easily. I believe Martin Luther Kings Jr. put it best for us when he said;

“We must combine the toughness of the serpent and the softness of the dove.”

-Martin Luther King Jr.

So let’s play our game again. Name the opposite of:

Shrewd – Unknowing

Innocent – impure or sinful.  King describes it as softness

So lets look at Jesus formula for action, his way to deal with the tough situations in life and the tough people.

1. The Need For A Tough Mind

To be as shrewd as a snake and soft as a dove calls for us to have a tough mind. Let’s look at Philippians 2:9-10:

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best…” Phil. 1:9-10

This is the idea that we are to be solid hard thinkers.  We live in a world where it seems that people are looking for the easy answers, the easy way out. This really comes out if you watch commercials or look at advertisements.  A catchy slogan or tune and we think we need the product.

Ex. What do women dripping ketchup on themselves in a bikini have to do with selling hamburgers? Yet, that is exactly what Carl’s Jr. puts our there, and guess what, it works.

You could call the lack of a tough mind soft-mindedness.  And many people today think that Christians are soft-minded.  A good example is that many people feel there is a conflict between science and religion. That they are opposites! Not true.  God created science, he has given some people incredible scientific minds and he has given us insight into things. These two things are not opposites, they complement each other. Religion keeps science from feeling that we can be our own gods are that we can know it all because the more we discover the more we realize there is to learn. Science keeps religion from declaring things wrongly and from being irrational.  Remember at one time many thought the world was flat or that the world was the center of the universe.  We know these are not true because of science and we have discovered so much more when we understand them in the way God created them. I could go on but let me sum it up with a quote from Proverbs 14:6:

“The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.”Proverbs 14:6

The awesome thing about a tough mind is that it helps us discern. Discern right from wrong and good from bad. We need tough minds to know when to talk and when to be silent.

2. The Necessity of A Tender Heart

A second tool in the formula is the necessity for a tender heart. As science and religion oare complementary, so is the idea of having a tough mind and a tender heart.  This is best exemplified in the life of Jesus himself.  Isaiah 53:2 says:

“He (Jesus) grew up before him like a tender shoot…” Isaiah 53:2

One of the characteristics of Jesus was his tender heart.  Numerous times it says that he was moved when he saw someone hurting, in pain, or downtrodden.  We are called to be Christ-like. The opposite of a tender hard is a hard heart.  A hard hearted person never truly loves, he lacks compassion, lacks the value of relationship, is unmoved, and really is self-centered. Being Christ-like is being compassionate, caring, building up of others, and values people.

The church is called to be tender-hearted. To accept people and love people as if it were Christ himself showing his concern for them.  To many times the world doesn’t see us as loving and compassionate but as judgmental and overbearing. This isn’t true of course, but it is the perception that is out there. Division, fighting, disputes, and segregation is not tender hearted but hard hearted. So the call is to be Christ-like.  Paul puts it this way in Phil. 2:1-2:

“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.” Phil.2:1-2

The church, our church, is called to be like Christ and love with tenderness and compassion.

Ex. Taking a leadership role in the community against violence, poverty, homelessness, etc

3. Living Differently

And finally, the combination of a tough mind and a tender heart results in our living our lives differently. It calls us to be in the world but not of the world, to live in the Spirit. Gal. 5:16-17:

“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” Gal. 5:16-17

The reason Jesus gives us this dichotomy in picture of a snake and a dove, is that it means we have the ability to blend the hard thinking with the tender heart and there is only one way that can happen; with the Holy Spirit. You may think, I’m too set in my ways, I’m too old to change, it’s just my nature, no! Let me remind you that Jesus said some very confusing words in John 17. He talked about his necessity to go away, that he must go so the Spirit could come. It’s that Spirit that gives us the authority and power that we talked about earlier. If you have accepted Christ but still feel you are not living up to the what God created you to be and you are not being the you that God intends you to be, you need to get in step with the Spirit. That’s what Paul said in Galatians 2:25

^“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Gal. 2:25

When we are struggling because it seems that darkness is winning the battle, when in our own efforts we feel frustrated, overwhelmed, disappointed, and at a loss of words or thought, when we need to know someone cares for us, understands us, loves, us, empowers us, and always welcomes us, we turn to the helper, the Holy Spirit that God gave us to live within us.

Bringing Healing To Our World

The result is that when we live in the power and authority that Jesus passed on to the apostles which in turn is passed on to us, we bring healing to our hurting world.  Listen to Jesus words of instruction to the apostles in verses 7-8:

“As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’  Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” vss. 7-8

What the world really needs is healing and that healing comes from God. The greatness of God lies in the fact that he is both strong and gentle. He is tough minded when it comes to justice and he is tender with it comes mercy, love and grace.

Martin Luther King Jr. said: “God has two outstretched arms. On e is strong enough to surround us with justice, and one is gentle enough to embrace us with grace.

God gave us His Spirit to give us enough tough mindedness to transcend the worked and enough tenderness to live in it. That is no better seen then in Jesus and his love for us on the cross. Let’s celebrate communion.

Being In Choice

Luke 2:41-51

“When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom.” vs. 42

Where’s My Shopping Bag?

The day after Christmas is one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Many of you probably decided you weren’t going to fight those crowds and stay home and just come down from all the hustle and bustle of Christmas. Did any of your go out? Some of you might have thought, “Who would be crazy enough to go out in that mess?” (Raise my hand) And it gets worse, we went to San Francisco. We decided as a family to go downtown and catch some of the after Christmas sales.  Now to our credit, we got up early, we took BART in, and we were out by mid-afternoon. It was actually kind of fun. Since we received a few gift cards for Christmas that gave us some spending money and were able to find some deals and get a little more bang for our buck. Yes, the lines were long but we expected that and it was okay because we were prepared for it. Claudia even brought a book to read in line.

The crisis came when we went to lunch. We decided to go to Chinatown and have a real authentic Chinese meal. I was trying to be a gentleman and so I offered and carried Claudia’s bag of goodies she bought and I had my own as well. So, loaded with our bags we found a restaurant and I wisely put the bags behind us against the wall and then we enjoyed lunch. Now I’m not sure why, but when we got up to leave, I only picked up one of the two bags I brought in. We left and did some browsing and shopping in Chinatown.   At one point, I turn to Claudia and she doesn’t have a bag. Why I don’t know but I expected her to have a bag even though I was the one who carried them in. So I “Where’s your bag?” She smiles at me because, of course, I’m a joker and always pulling pranks.  She thinks I’m kidding. I said, “No really.” She said, “You’re serious?” And it hits me. I left one of the bags in the restaurant. So I run back 3 blocks to the restaurant and fortunately as I turn the corner in the restaurant there is the bag. Untouched. Whew! I dodged one there.

Ever done that? Left a something somewhere and then at some point you remember? And then the anxiety and anxiousness takes over until you resolve it.  And sometimes it doesn’t always turn out well.  What if you forgot something really big? A wallet? A —-? A child? Well, let’s see a story like this from Luke 2:41-51. If you are able, please stand as we read God’s Word.

Read Passage – Luke 2:41-51

⁴¹ Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. ⁴² When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. ⁴³ After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. ⁴⁴ Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. ⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸ When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” ⁴⁹ “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” ⁵⁰ But they did not understand what he was saying to them. ⁵¹ Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. ⁵² And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

What Happened To Ages 2-11?

When we left our story in Luke 2:40, Jesus was a young toddler and had just had a real special visit from some magi who brought him some pretty impressive gifts.  In verse 41 it says:

“When he (Jesus) was twelve years old…” vs. 42a

So what happened between 2 and 11? You know we aren’t sure.  The Bible never tells us. I think we can make sum assumptions though, and they are assumptions.

*Joseph and Mary probably raised him in a home that revered God

*We know from other passage that Mary and Joseph had other children so Jesus had brothers and sisters; they are mentioned in Scripture.

*Jesus was probably taught the ways and customs of the Jewish culture and religion

*The normal pattern for raising your kids in first century Palestine was to send them to school when they were between 5-7, have a bar or bat mitzvah the Saturday before their 13th birthday (which welcomed them as adults into Jewish society)

*The boys would be taught a trade at their father’s side and expected to take on the family business while the girls would be taught by their moms all of the home skills of cooking and sewing and child-rearing, and then get them married off by somewhere between 12-18.

It was part of the law that all Jewish men were to go to the House of God – the Temple at least 3 times a year. Exodus 23:14-17 says that they are to find themselves in God’s house on the occasion of the 3 main feasts – Feast of Passover, Pentecost & Tabernacles. But as people spread through the Roman Empire, this sometimes became impossible due to distance and so it became tradition for Israelite men to go to the temple at least once a year on one of these feasts. You became a man at the age of 13 years when you completed the “Son of the Covenant” ceremony that had developed out of Numbers 6:2. The Jewish Bar Mitzvah ceremony now takes its place. It was considered good preparation for boys aged 11 and 12 to go with their Fathers on this pilgrimage to get familiar with the requirements of the Jewish laws.

We read here that Joseph took his family down to Jerusalem every Passover to fulfill his duty. Joseph and Mary seemed to have been very devout in their relationship with God and made the 3 day hike from Nazareth every year. On a map it looks a bit like this. They probably would have walked around Samaria due to the hostility of the day.

Neglectful Parents?

So they attend this important religious festival and then it’s time to make the trek back home and this happens in verse 43:

“After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it.” vs. 43

Some, on reading this account would find Mary and Joseph totally irresponsible and neglecting of their parental duties. I mean, I lost a bag of clothes, these people lost a child! And the Son of God at that! Imagine – traveling for a whole day and not knowing that you’ve left Jesus behind. But before you condemn them, consider:

• In ancient times, people traveling used to go in caravans. It was much safer to travel with a lot of other people and besides the time went faster. And the children would enjoy playing with each other and the company around the caravan.
• The women usually traveled separately to the men. You see, the women and young children were slower than the men and so they would usually set off in a group first
• The men would leave a couple of hours later and catch up to them ready for the night’s camp and this gave them a chance to talk and discuss business and religious things as well.

So this scenario takes place: Jesus was almost a man. So its reasonable to think that Mary thought that he was naturally with his father. And… Joseph thought Jesus was still a child so he must be with Mary.  Each must have thought the other had him with them. It was only at the end of the day when they came together that they realized Jesus was missing. Not so far fetched anymore.

Distractions In Our Relationship With God

So let’s take this approach with this story; Do we loose track of Jesus in our lives? As we approach the New Year, we are reminded through this story of things that can distract us from keeping Jesus forefront in our minds.

• Busy-ness

In our busy-ness or even business, we can lose tract of Jesus

“Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends.” vs. 44

There was probably a lot going on. As I mentioned, they traveled in caravans and each group and family would have to make sure their own things were taken care of but probably the things they did as a community too, like when you go camping with a couple of families. Each has their own but there are community things as well. But also, this was a busy time for them because it was the celebration of the Passover. In some ways you can relate this to the Christmas season we just went through.  There was a lot to do. Consider this, it’s not a matter of if you get busy but when you get busy.  Busy-ness happens and it happens to all of us.

Ill. That was part of my issue when I forgot my pkg. I was concerned about paying the bill and where we were going to go next and then making sure we were done by a certain time because we had to get back to my parents by 4 so I could take them to the airport and I didn’t want to be late.
I think it’s important to realize that we will get busy. So we have to plan for it and plan how we are going to handle it.

• Assumptions

A second thing that takes place is that there were some assumptions going on here too. Verse 45:

“When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.” vs. 45

They could have just kept going and assumed that eventually Jesus would show up or even that someone knew where he was and he would be okay.  Sometimes we assume it’s too late to resolve an issue or even that it’s not worth our effort. But Mary and Joseph do something that we might pass over too quickly and we need to take note of; they go back to Jerusalem. It seems like the right thing to do, right? So why point it out? Because, sometimes we need to look back to see ahead. This was important because it was a child but sometime when it seems like a less important thing we may be tempted to sweep it under the rug or maybe even not deal with it and just chalk it up as a loss.

Ill. Back to my bag of clothes. I had to back track my steps and remember the last time I had the bag.  I went to the restaurant.  Claudia started to think back to the stores we went to and started to check those. I could have assumed it was too late, the bag was probably gone. I could have said, “Oh well, I really made a costly mistake there.”  But I didn’t. I dealt with it and ran back to the restaurant. I was relieved to go into the restaurant, turn the corner, and see the bag sitting there. Luckily this time it turned out well but that isn’t always the case is it?

My point is this, sometimes we just need to deal with it.  Sometimes in dealing with it, it can be painful.  I would have been pretty upset if that bag was gone. If someone had taken it and maybe even some of the receipts could have been in the bag and they could have taken them back and gotten the cash. That would have been a painful lesson.  It’s important to deal with things and not just sweep them under the rug. Take away the assumptions.

• The Ordinary

And finally, don’t take the ordinary for granted. Listen to verse 47:

“Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.” vs. 47

Joseph and Mary had gotten used to dealing with Jesus and maybe even had a temporary lapse in remembering who he was.  They were busy raising him and dealing with the day to day situations of life and may have  forgotten who he really was. That seems like it would have been hard.  I mean, they couldn’t accuse him of the normal things that we parents accuse our children of; i.e. lying, deception, etc.  You couldn’t say “Jesus, tell me the truth” or “Jesus, did you hit your brother?” I mean they were dealing with perfection here. They had the perfect son.  Can you imagine being his brother or sister.  “Mommy, Jesus isn’t being fair!”

Here’s the thing, when we get into groves and patterns and the ordinary routines of life it can be easy to forget about Jesus and the need to keep working on our relationship with him

We can become complacent when we are going through the ordinary routines of life.  Be careful!

Setting Intentions

This story takes a great turn at the end. Verse 51:

“Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.” vs. 51

Jesus makes a decision here. The Bible is specific in telling us that as this point Jesus choose to be obedient to Mary and Joseph. He knew he was about his heavenly father’s business but he also realizes that he has earthly parents too and that he needs to remember to honor them and to be obedient to them as well.

Let’s not forget, they are dealing with a 12 year old.  We don’t expect a lot of maturity and responsibility from a 12 year old.  They are an adolescent. Who would guess they would act maturely and have some of the answers and thinking that these learned men in the synagogue would have had.  But he does and it amazes them. And he chooses to honor them.

Jesus set the intention of honoring his parents, both earthly and heavenly. So, in light of what Jesus did, I am challenged and I challenge you, to set intentions for the upcoming year that show your love, commitment, and sincerity, to keep your focus and not to allow the distractions of life to keep us from developing and enhancing our relationship with God. Later in life Jesus would affirm the commandment to honor your mother and father. He lived that commandment as an example for us.

Ideas on setting intentions

• Conversing more with God i.e. times of prayer, good mornings and good nights, breath prayers, acknowledgements of God’s work
• Knowing, memorizing and being in God’s Word (Scripture cards, planned Bible reading, etc.)
• Acts of love and gratitude in honor of God’s love for you (helping others, random acts of kindness, acts of generosity, notes in the mail, calls, etc.)

The Best Gifts

Matthew 2:1-12

“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary,

and they bowed down and worshiped him.” vs. 11

Figuring Out Gifts

So, how are you doing as far as being ready for Christmas? Have you figured out those last minute gifts and what to get everyone on your list? Only 2 days left! They say that internet sales will reach an all-time high but of course you have to think about ordering it in time to have them delivered.  By the way…did you see that story about the pkg. that was stolen that the UPS delivered Of course it caught my eye having worked for UPS all those years.  The story goes about this lady in Clermont Florida that had over $1,800 worth of merchandise stolen right off her porch so she decided to do something about it. The fact was that q few houses on that block had packages disappearing. She set up a security camera across the street thinking she would catch the thieves. Most of the people thought it was probably a teenager.  She set up the camera and told her daughter that if she heard anything to look out the peep hole to see if she could see who it was.  She sets up a decoy package with writing on the outside about the supposed contents and of course waits.  Well, she was astounded when she watched the video.  In the video she sees this school bus pull up and out gets this 8 year-old girl.  She walks along the front of the house, looks at the package, looks around a little, sort of tiptoes up to the door, picks up the package and walks away.  The perpetrator was an 8 year old girl! Pretty crazy!

I find the whole gift thing to be pretty intricate in figuring out who to give what and when. For example, you see these people this day so you know you need those gifts first but you can wait on these people because you won’t see them ‘til later, etc. etc. etc. I got caught this year as I was looking for a gift for a friend of mine.  I had been looking for about a month but never found the thing I really wanted to get him.  Finally, the night before I was going to see him, I run out and get him a gift card. I had planned to get him something earlier but it just somehow never happened and I ended up getting it at the last minute.

Today we are going to look at  the story of some men who bring the baby Jesus some gifts from Matthew 2:1-12. If you are able, please stand as we read God’s Word.

Read Passage – Matthew 2:1-12

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem² and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” ³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: ⁶ “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸ He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

⁹ After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

There’s More To The Story…

Matthew 1 opens with the genealogy of Jesus. It tells of the 42 generations of fathers that have led to Joseph, the legal earthly father of Jesus but of course as we know, not biologically, because the Holy Spirit is the one who moved in Mary. As we approach Matthew 2 there is a lot of things that had happened. First and foremost, Joseph had a visit from an angel and shortly after that, Jesus is born. It’s interesting, Joseph seems to have had multiple visits from an angel. We see in Matthew 1:24-25:

“When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.²⁵ But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” Matthew 1:24-25

Some things that just not explained to us

• Mary went to visit Elizabeth but did she come back before she and Joseph took off?
• Did Joseph go with her to see Elizabeth?
• How did everyone in there town accept everything that happened?
• Did she go away fat or maybe showing a little bit and then return later with a baby?

Lots of questions that we don’t have answers to. Then, in Luke 2:39 we are told:

“When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.” Luke 2:39

Again so many things that are unanswered.  Mary has had Jesus. They were in Nazareth in Galilee and traveled to Judea and to Bethlehem for the census.  At some point they traveled back to Nazareth in Galilee.  Notice the words in Luke, “they had done everything required by the law.” And…don’t forget, Joseph and Mary had not been married so we assume, although the Bible never tells us the details.

• When did t Joseph and Mary get married? We know it’s after Jesus is born but would the priests at the temple consecrate or circumcise Jesus if they weren’t married?
• Did they wait til they got back home and have a big wedding?

God didn’t include all these details but it’s fun to think about and try to summarize what happened.

And What About Those Magi

And what about the Magi? There is a lot we know about them but much that we don’t. The term Magi is the base from which our modern words “magician” and “magistrate” are derived so we assume these guys were of some importance. What questions to have about them?  For example:

• They came from the east to Jerusalem so were they Persian? Some of their gifts were things that are thought to be more plentiful in Persia so that comes into play as well.
• There were at least two because the Scripture says “men” plural, but most people think there were at least three because of the number of gifts but we are not really sure how many there were. It could have been 2 or it could have been 20, a whole group.
• Popular myth calls them astrologers but that is a guess, mainly because of their awareness of the star, that is a guess. In the second century, a church father named Tertullian suggested that these men were kings because the Old Testament had predicted that kings would come to worship the Christ. Tertullian also concluded that there were three kings based on the number of gifts mentioned, gold, frankincense and myrrh
• In the sixth century, someone decided that their names were Melchior, Baltazar and Gaspar.

Bringing Gifts

What I want to focus on today is the gifts that they bring.  In their day, when approaching royalty or persons of high religious, political, or social status, gifts were often brought. It was a sign of respect and honor. The passage gives us a bit more insight to some of the details. Verse 11:

“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” vs. 11

Some things to take note of:

1. They come to the house. So they are no longer staying at the stable. In fact, we aren’t sure how long they actually stayed in the stable. But this indicates they have moved on from the stable and are possibly back home
2. The word “child” here indicates that the child is in the toddler stage. It is literally translated “little walker.” So it could be that some time has passed since the birth scene we were looking at.

All that being said, the gifts that are brought have some very insightful significance for us and our understanding of who exactly Jesus is and how they understood who he is. I know we are used to saying gold, frankincense and myrrh but let’s look at them in a different order today.

• Myrrh

First the myrrh. In Jesus’ time, people used Myrrh to embalm their dead. A thoughtless gift, you might say for a baby gift?  Not for this baby. For myrrh signifies the death of Jesus. “This was the gum or viscid white liquid which flows from a tree resembling the acacia, found in Africa and Arabia.” (Easton’s Bible Dictionary). Myrrh was sometimes offered to prisoners being executed on the cross and in Mark 15:23 it was offered to Jesus. These wise men, in their wisdom knew that Jesus was born to die.  This gift also shows that they recognize him as Prophet. A prophet is one who speaks the word of God. Prophets often paid the a high price for speaking the word of God.  They weren’t the most popular people. In the Old Testament many prophets were called to live out there prophecy.  Jesus comes bringing the word of God. Remember in the book of John he is called “the Word.” His life is a reflection that God is speaking His word to them and there is a recognition that the old way is gone and a new way has come. Isaiah 53:7 says:

“He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”

Isaiah 53:7

The Word dwelt among us, Jesus was God’s new word to us and he spoke his word of salvation in his life and in his death. He also lived out his prophecy by taking on the persona of the lamb of God as we see explained in Isaiah 53. He was a prophet but more than a prophet. He was born to die for our sins.

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” 1 Cor. 15:3

Christ was born to die to give us life.

• Frankincense

A second gift that was brought was frankincense. Frankincense was an odorous resin imported from Arabia, yet also grown in Palestine. Frankincense was an ingredient used by the priests in temple worship to blend with the smell of the sacrifices. In many ways the temple was a slaughterhouse. People would go to the temple to worship and to sacrifice for their sins.  Although there are sacrifices of bread, grain, and things like that, most sacrifices were animals, lambs, birds, and cattle.  There would have been daily sacrifices of animals and that meant they needed to be killed. The smell of that would have been really strong. Adding to that would be the blood sprinkled on the altar.  Dried blood smells. To combat that smell they had perfumes and incense to override that smell. This would have been a way of association with the temple.  You know how you associate a sweet smell with a bakery, so you would associate frankincense with the temple.  Ephesians 5:2 says:

“…just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Eph. 5:2

To me it signifies Jesus’ priestly role. Think of it this way; the way the aroma of the frankincense overrode the smell of the sacrifices, so Jesus role as priest overrides our sinfulness. It is through him that we have forgiveness. Let me explain it further with a verse from Romans 8:14:

“Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Romans 8:14

In his role as priest, he not only absolves our sins, but he sits right next to God speaking on our behalf. You and I have an advocate who clears us of all we’ve done so that we are now a pleasing aroma to God. What an incredible picture.  To put it bluntly, the stink of our sins is overridden by the pleasing aroma of Jesus. All this is caught up in this gift of frankincense that the magi bring to this child.

• Gold

And then, the gift of all gifts, they bring him gold. We consider gold the most precious of all the metals. It’s beauty and elegance. When I perform a wedding and they exchange rings I remind the couple that their relationship is as precious as the gold rings they are exchanging. Gold has always been the standard of the highest quality and beauty. Kings surround themselves with gold. As in the Olympics, gold is the highest honor. Gold signifies Jesus’ Kingly role. Notice the Magi’s words in verse 2:

“Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” vs. 2

They recognize him as king. Even when we consider his death remember that Pilate has the sign put on the cross that he was king of the Jews.  At both the beginning and end of his life we have confirmation that Jesus is king. And these statements are made from those who were not Jewish. Remember that in their time you brought gifts whenever you went into the presence of the kings as a sign of respect and honor. In Revelation, we again se Jesus as king, Revelation 17:14:

“…but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings…”

Rev. 17:14

These 3 gifts challenge us as we think about our relationship with Jesus.

What Can I Bring?

Through the gifts of myrrh, frankincense and gold we see Jesus as prophet, priest, and king.  We ask ourselves, what am I bringing to the king?

“On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.” vs. 11

Let me give you my perspective on this.  We think a lot about what gifts we give to people as I talked about in the opening What do we get mom, dad, our kids, our spouse, etc. What gift will you be giving to God.  If you really believe Jesus is your king, your priest, your prophet? Really, there is only one gift he wants.

Ex. I saw Quentin Tarintino, the famous movie producer, on Jay Leno this week.  He told this story of when he was 8.  He only wanted one gift.  His mom was gone a lot and he was raised for the most part by his grandmother.  His mom wanted to make it up to him about not being there for him so she said to ask for whatever he wanted and he would get it.  He really loved Evel Knievel and this toy figure of him that you wind up, pull the string, and the toy goes zooming off and jumps over the obstacle you set up for it.  Well, he gets lots of gifts for Christmas but the one gift he didn’t get was the Evel Knievel toy. He talked about how he got it 2 years later and by then the thrill had worn off.

That’s a long way to go to say this: God only wants one thing.  He doesn’t want your money, your things, your good deeds, etc. The only thing he wants is you. Is that a gift your are willing to give? What can I/you bring to God as an offering? All he wants is you.

Taking It All In

Luke 1:46-56

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” vss. 46-47

“Your Messiah”

Most of you might remember this tune: Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!  Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Yes, that is Handel’s Messiah.

I did a little research on it and found out some interesting things. George Frideric Handel, a German, lived in  from (1685-1759) and loved to write operas.  Handel was the king of opera and had made most of his money from opera. Handel was hesitant to give up Italian opera even when he began to lose money on writing them. His opera company suffered great financial loses but he hoped the public would have a change of heart. When it didn’t, he gradually became depressed and reclusive. Eventually his health began to suffer. After a minor stroke and a mental collapse, he took a short leave of absence and traveled to a French spa and that revitalized him.  Handel returned with renewed energy but went right back to opera. His last two operas had only three performances and he them up. Now in his 50s, Handel began to think more about working in other forms-especially the English oratorio(at that time, oratorios were often biblically based.) Handel’s decision to write oratorios came in part from an invitation from the Duke of Devonshire who was the King’s representative in Ireland. The Duke asked Handel to compose something for Dublin for a benefit for the poor. The assignment was just what Handel needed to bring him out of his depression. Handel said the oratorio would be called Messiah. He already had the idea for Messiah because his friend Charles Jennens had given him the script for it. Now he would create the music. Most of Handel’s oratorios were based on stories from the Bible, Messiah is an exception. It was based solely on Biblical quotations. These quotes were gathered from the Bible by Handel’s friend, Jennens, and then Handel chose the ones that worked best with the music. Messiah contains no story or dramatic action, only Biblical quotes. He said it was easy since Jennens had put them in such an order that they were musical to begin with.  In his future correspondence with Jennens, Handel always referred to his masterpiece as “Your Messiah.’ I always assumed the Handel was a Christian.  It turns out, he believed there was a God but some questioned if he believed in Jesus Christ. He did write many other hymns do seem to indicate he believed in Jesus.

Music holds a special place in our lives, no matter what genre you refer. Let’s look at a song from Mary that we find in Luke 1.

Read Passage – Luke 1:46-56

⁴⁶ And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord ⁴⁷ and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, ⁴⁸ for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, ⁴⁹for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. ⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. ⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. ⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. ⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. ⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful ⁵⁵ to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.”

The Response To Seeing Christ

There is an important exchange that takes place just before we read this song of Mary. To remind you, Mary is pregnant out of wedlock.  Joseph doesn’t divorce her, but somehow it was decided between Mary’s parents and Joseph that Mary needs to get a way for a while so she goes to visit her cousin. This is their first encounter. Listen to what happens when they see each other; verse 41

“When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb…” Luke 1:41

It’s an incredible scene where this baby inside Elizabeth recognizes he is in the presence of Jesus. Note: John’s purpose in life was to announce Christ. Here, even in the womb, he is announcing the arrival of Christ. That causes me to ask a question: What is our reaction to seeing Christ? John leaps in Elizabeth’s womb. When was the last time you got excited about being in the presence of Christ? Has it become too commonplace for us? We seem to expect it more than be amazed by it. We sometimes miss the amazement of seeing Jesus.

Ex. Claudia’s experience backpacking and not being able to take a shower and the joy that came when she finally was able to shower. We take our everyday showers for granted.

Receiving A Blessing

But something else of great importance takes place, it happens in verse 42:

“In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!” Luke 1:42

Let me put this a little different light for you. Mary has been sent away in disgrace. Even though she has done nothing wrong, it’s better for the family and for Joseph that she go away.  She might be feeling a bot down or even confused and here, when she sees Elizabeth, she greets her with a blessing. And a loud one at that.  Mary is probably used to people whispering around her. “Psst! She’s pregnant. She’s not married.”  Maybe even scowls and sneers. But here, Elizabeth isn’t quiet at all. She’s loud. She’s happy. She’s ready to affirm Mary.” I think that we almost always feel better and more at ease when we receive a blessing and this one is an enthusiastic one. It’s joyful, affirming, and must have been so reassuring.

Mary’s Song of Praise

From that encounter between Mary and Elizabeth, and the encouraging and affirming words of Elizabeth, we see this beautiful song of Mary emerge.  Many know it as Mary’s Magnificant. I believe we learn a great deal from these deeply moving words. Let’s look at a few things I picked out from it.

• Embraces God Using Her

First, we see that Mary recognizes the position she is in and embraces God’s work in her; vs 46-48:

“My soul glorifies the Lord  and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,  for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.” vss. 46-48

Mary uses some familiar words here, they are words that were spoken by Hannah of the Old Testament. Hannah was a woman who trusted and waited on God and is a testament to the strong character of a woman. She said in 1 Samuel 2:1:

“My heart rejoices in the Lord; in the Lord my horn is lifted high.” 1 Samuel 2:1

The word rejoices here points back to the fulfillment of God’s promises. It’s the same term the angel uses in 1:14 when he is talking to Elizabeth to announce the coming of John.  It’s a confirmation that God is doing just what he said he would do.

An important reminder that comes from this first part of Mary’s song is that she remembers that God is God and that she is willingly being used by him and humbles herself before him. Note this: if we are not willing to humble ourselves before God, he really can’t use us. Mary is a wonderful example of allowing God to use her despite the difficulty of what that entails.  Think of how difficult it would be to convince people you are pregnant without having sex and the public disgrace in her community of that. She now praises God for that. Wow!

• Notes God’s Activity In Her Life

Second, we see that God was active in her life and he was working in many ways. This is important because it means she is keenly tied into what God was doing. Note verse 51:

“He has performed mighty deeds with his arm…” vs. 51

Now you might say, “Of course she notes that God is working, she is pregnant.” True. Sometimes we only note the big things. Sometimes we note what God is doing at the beginning and then we get comfortable. Think about her situation.  As her body changed, as things become more uncomfortable through pregnancy (women, you can probably identify with that) she continues to give him the glory.

Ex. Thanksgiving – we get into the mode of being thankful for all we have and just a few days later we are making lists of things we want and don’t have, and thanks is a thing of the past.

In Ephesians 2:10 we are reminded:

“For we are God’s workmanship…” Eph. 2:10

You and I are a masterpiece; God’s masterpiece. He is working in me and you. It’s important to note that.

• Lives In God’s Promises

And finally, Mary chooses to live in God’s promises. Listen to her words from vss. 46-48:

 ^“He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers.” vss. 54-55

There is something amazing happening here and Mary acknowledges that. The amazing thing is that she is seeing and being a part of God’ fulfilling his promises.  She must have been thrilled in many ways just to understand that God was working and using her.

Ex. When I took this position and understood God was using me here. I told a friend and felt so blessed to see God choose to use us here.

Now all the promises made to the people of Israel, all the prophecies of the Old testament prophets, all the things that they had waited for were now happening right before her eyes. Her pregnancy was part of that confirmation. Paul states thins in Romans 15:8:

“For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs.” Romans 15:8

Jesus was the confirmation of God’s truth, God’s promises.

God’s Promises To You

A promise from God is a statement we can depend on with absolute confidence. I am not sure what you might need right now when it comes to the the things that God has promised for you, but here are 12 promises for the Christian to claim.

• God’s presence— “I will never leave thee” (Heb. 13:5)
• God’s protection—”I am thy shield” (Gen. 15:1)
• God’s power—”I will strengthen thee” (Isa. 41:10)
• God’s provision—”I will help thee” (Isa. 41:10)
• God’s leading—”And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them” (John 10:4)
• God’s purposes— “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil” (Jer. 29:11)
• God’s rest—”Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28)
• God’s cleansing— “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9)
• God’s goodness— “No good thing will He withhold from them that work uprightly” (Psalm 84:11)
• God’s faithfulness—”The Lord will not forsake His people for His great name’s sake” (1 Sam. 12:22)
• God’s guidance—”The meek will He guide” (Psalm 25:9)
• God’s wise plan—”All things work together for good to them that love God” (Rom. 8:28)

Speechless

Luke 1:5-25

“In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah…” vs. 5

Tell Me One Thing You Want

This is the time of year for making Christmas lists.  We make a list of things we want and then sometimes someone else may have gotten that same gift for them. I know better communication would work but sometimes we don’t talk about those things. So I came up with this thought; Wouldn’t it be easier if everyone just told you one thing they wanted? I could tell one person I want a Starbucks card, another I want a new pair of pants and yet another a new pair of hiking pants.  See you tell each person something different, but just one thing. It makes it easier for them and probably easier for you too.

Case in point: Last week during the boutique my sister texted me and asked me how the boutique was going.  I told it was going pretty well. Since I had her on the line I asked; “What does mom want for Christmas?”  She texted back that I should ask her, she is in the parking lot. I said what parking lot.  She said your church parking lot.  My parents and sister came to visit our boutique.  That was a nice surprise. So as they are walking around my mom gets to the booth where Margie had her neck warmers.  I told her to try them that she would really like them.  So we heated one up and she tried it on…and loved it.  So my sister takes me aside later and says mom would really like one of those for Christmas. I’m thinking that this is great so I’ll just get one a little later. But then, a few minutes later, I see my sister buying it! So there goes that idea.

Can you name the one thing you want for Christmas? It could be a present. It could be a resolution to a difficult situation in your life; a job, a relationship issue, physical problem, etc. Today we are going to look at a guy who had something taken from  him and then given back.  Luke 1:5-25:

Luke 1:5-25

⁵ In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. ⁶ Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly. ⁷ But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old. ⁸ Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, ⁹ he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. ¹¹ Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. ¹³ But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. ¹⁴ He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. ¹⁶ He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” ¹⁸ Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” ¹⁹ The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. ²⁰ And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” ²¹ Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. ²² When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak. ²³ When his time of service was completed, he returned home. ²⁴ After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. ²⁵ “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.”

God Remembers

Today we are looking at a guy named Zechariah. Zechariah’s name means “Yahweh remembers.” God always remembers. That makes this story have an interesting twist. Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth have been married quite a long time, they are old, and they don’t have kids.  I Am assuming they had prayed to God numerous times, if not daily in their younger years, to allow them to get pregnant but those prayers went seemingly unanswered, it didn’t seem like God remembered. If there was one thing Zechariah and Elizabeth wanted it was to have a child.  Not having children in their culture was a stigma of disgrace. It was a sign to some that maybe you had done something wrong and that God was angry with you or punishing you.

Zechariah was in a mode of waiting and he may have even gotten to the point where he had given up. Though his name meant “God Remembers” he didn’t feel that his name was accurate to his life.  How do you feel when you have to wait? Anxious? Frustrated? Disappointed? Angry? Forgotten?

We live in a world of immediacy and it becomes more and more difficult to wait.

Ex. Cell phones are a perfect example of that.  We feel that if someone has a cell phone and we call them, they should answer and be available.  We get angry and frustrated if someone doesn’t answer their phone. We feel like we are being ignored. I mean their name and number come up on the screen and they should see it’s me and pick up.  Forget whatever else they are doing. We become so anxious we go on the hunt. We call their office, their home, their spouse, and maybe even their kids! And usually, usually, it is something that is not that immediate or could wait.

Here’s a more difficult question because God doesn’t have a cell phone; What do you feel like when you have to wait on God? Do those same feelings and emotions cone up?

Zechariah’s Experience

Zechariah’s experience was one of waiting.  He had a life of waiting. It’s easy to see why his story is in the Bible; because he is the father of John the Baptist. Let’s not stop there though.  Let’s look a little deeper into his story and see what you and I learn from him.

1. Doubts: We All Have Them

One thing about Zechariah’s experience is that waiting can cause us to doubt and that is exactly what happens to him.  Verse 18:

“Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.” vs. 18

It is possible for people of faith, even great faith, to experience times of doubt. The text is clear in verses 5-7 that Zechariah was a man of true faith.  He was a man who genuinely believed in God and the passage tells us he obeyed all of God’s lawas and decree’s.  It even says that he was righteous in God’s sight. This guy was pretty solid in his beleifs. He served God faithfully in the temple and  In his book, Spiritual Depression, Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes:

“Doubts are not incompatible with faith.…Some people seem to think that once you become a Christian you should never be assailed by doubts. But that is not so, Peter still had faith (as he panicked in the storm in Matthew 14).… His faith was not gone, but because it was weak, doubt mastered him and overwhelmed him and he was shaken…Doubts will attack us, but that does not mean that we are to allow them to master us.”

That’s one thing about being a Christian, some people think you somehow magically riase above a lot of the daily things that bother the average person, this is especially true if you are in ministry. That being said, even he disciples had doubt. Point in case, in Luke 24 after Jesus has risen and they see him Jesus utters these words in Luke 24:38:

“He (Jesus) said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?” Luke 24:38

It’s interesting, even those closest to Jesus had doubts.  We put a lot of pressure on ourselves and we feel a lot of pressure from the world to be “perfect” in a sense or maybe just a little bit better. I think that is one of the great things about how God calls us, he doesn’t throw out the old you. You are still you, but now God can work in you to refine you.

2. God Works Through Our Silences

A second thing that we see in Zechariah’s experience is that God works through our silences.  Verse 20:

“And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.” vs. 20

The quiet times of our life can be great times of reflection. It is important for us to build into our lives times of silence and reflection so we can hear God. Let me help you understand how you might be able to do this.  If you have the time, you can go on a retreat, get away and really distance yourself from the busy-ness of your life.  But you know, many of us don’t have the time or the ability to do that. But…here is what you can do. Remember those cell phones? You can turn them off for a while.  You can take a walk in the hills or even around the block. You can even just sit in your office, living room, den, family room, etc. and just close your eyes for 5 minutes.

Ex. Pastor Chris takes TAWGS Time Alone With God

“The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools.” Ecc. 9:17

Ex. I once worked for Pastor Jon Peterson.  One day on the way to work he lost control of his car and as it swerved off the road it rolled. Amazingly he was okay. Not a scratch on him.  But…he couldn’t talk. For the first few months he could only communicate by writing. He slowly regained his speech but it took almost 9 months. Wghe you talk to him about it, he feels that God was using this time of silence to talk to him.

3. He Remained Working

And finally, Zechariah continued to work and we might say work through his issues. Verse 23:

“When his time of service was completed, he returned home.” vs. 23

The passage implies that he finished his time of service before he returned home.  One thing about our faith, God rarely calls out of a situation completely but usually asks us to continue to work through those times.  Think about it, rarely do things happen miraculously where our problems are completely gone in an instant. It is a gradual recovery…like my friend Jon who lost his speech. As I said earlier, it took almost nine months for him to be able to communicate well again and even longer to really regain his full speech. Life is a continuing process and part of our charge is to keep on going.

“…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling…” Phil. 2:12

Working out is continuous process. It takes determination, it takes strength and it takes time. I would say, in the mean time, you keep on, keep on praying, keep on learning, keep on striving, maybe what we learn best from Zechariah is to keep on listening.

Ex. It like getting in shape. We work out, exercise, and et right to keep our bodies in good working order and in shape. But you know as well as I do that staying in shape is almost harder than getting in shape.  Once your in shape is doesn’t remain that way. You build in good habits and a steady routine. You keep on working out and you stayed determined and focused because we all know that if you don’t, you loose it.

The Joy In The Waiting

Let me end with this challenge to you. We talked about the difficulty in waiting and how we want everything now. But I think there is joy in the waiting. Listen to the two ways that this situation was approached in our story. Verses 21-22:

“Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them.” vss. 21-22

And verses 24-25:

“After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. ‘The Lord has done this for me,’ she said.” vss. 24-25

Let me point out an interesting thing that is going on here. God has to quiet Zechariah. In a sense, he shuts him up. He can sign and gesture and try to communicate but he has to be quiet. They had less sophisticated ways of being able to communicate.  He couldn’t text or write on a computer. If he was lucky he would have had a small chalkboard and been able to write that way. But something else is happening here too. Elizabeth goes into seclusion (verse 24). Zechariah is forced to be quiet and Elizabeth chooses to be quiet. Solomon said in Ecc. 9:17:

We can choose to be quiet or it just might be that God needs to quiet us.

What happened over the next few months.  The anticipation must have been incredible.  This is what they always wanted.  They were probably counting days and weeks. There was a joy in what was now coming to reality.  They were having a son. They were going to be parents. When God works, there is joy that comes; also awe.  Psalm 65:8 says:

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders…” Psalm 65:8

When God works, it is awe-some.

A Life Of Devotion

Luke 2:36-40

“There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher.” vs. 36

Brother Lawrence

There was a cook in a 17^th century monastery named Brother Lawrence.  He wrote a devotional classic a called The Practice of the Presence of God. To Brother Lawrence the phrase “practicing the presence of God” meant something like the practice of law or medicine. To novices it resembles practicing the piano; if I keep at it long enough, especially those scales and finger exercises, maybe I’ll get it.

Brother Lawrence emphasizes our need of God’s help and then asks bluntly, “But how can we ask him without being with him? And how can we be with him without thinking about him often? And how can we think of him often without forming a holy habit of doing so? Brother Lawrence then suggests and answer:

He does not ask much of us—an occasional remembrance, a small act of worship, now to beg his grace, at times to offer him our distress, at another timer to render thanks for the favors he has given, and which he gives in the midst of your labors, to find consolation with him as often as you can. At table and in the midst of conversation, lift your heart at times towards him. The smallest remembrance will always please him. It is not needful at such times to cry out aloud. He is nearer to us than we think.

Brother Lawrence mentions practical ways to “offer to God your heart from time to time in the course of a day,” even in the midst of chores, “to savor him, though it be but in passing, and as it were by stealth. The depth of spirituality, said Lawrence, does not depend on changing things you do but rather in doing for God what you ordinarily do for yourself.  Lawrence shied away from spiritual retreats because he found it to easy to worship God in common tasks as in the desert.

Evidently, Lawrence practiced what he preached. In a eulogy his Abbe wrote that “The good brother found God everywhere, as much while he was repairing shoes as while he was praying with the community. It was God, not the task, he had in view. He knew that, the more the task was against his natural inclinations, the greater was his love in offering it to God.

You know, a lot of people run around looking for God.  What if you could just find him right where you are right now or in what you’re doing right now? Let’s read a passage a bout a woman who had devoted her heart to God.

Read Passage – Luke 2:36-40

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. ³⁹ When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. ⁴⁰ And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

Speaking Truth

We are picking up the story where we ended last week.  It’s the story about God revealing himself to us. In verse 36a it says:

“There was also a prophet, Anna…” vs. 36a

Anna was a prophetess, which means she received direct revelation from God (sometimes about future events) and passed it along to others. This gift tells us that Anna was one who spoke forth truth. Her life represented the Truth. Her name means “grace” and reminds us of Hannah in the Old Testament whose name also means grace or gracious. Anna was the daughter of Phanuel whose name means the “face of God”. What a beautiful picture the title and name associated with her give us of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was full of grace and truth.

One thing I find interesting about this; She is a woman! You might say, duh! But think about it, we generally think of men as prophets.  This is a new time. God is entering the world in the form of Jesus Christ and things are different.  People ask me where I see women in ministry. Here it is. Anna is a prophet. God began to use women to speak for him when after 400 years of silence; he now begins to break that silence and Anna is part of that. The nation of Israel thinks God hasn’t been working, but not so. Listen to who he had been speaking to; Simeon, Zechariah, Mary, Joseph; and now we here how he spoke with Anna too!

Family Traits

We also learn about Anna that she has a long and important history. It says in the next part of verse 36:

“…the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher.” vs. 36b

Anna was also of the tribe or family of Asher. Asher was the eighth son of Jacob and his named means “happy” or “blessed.” Anna knew the blessings of God and true happiness even though her outward circumstances may have indicated otherwise. Because her life represented the truth and grace of God in Christ, her joy was made full.  But really in many ways her life seemed contradictory;  tragic, a widow, alone, etc.  The apostle John would later record the words of Christ as he spoke of what Anna surely experienced during her days.

“She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage…” vs. 36c

The Bible says Anna “was advanced in years”. It also says that she had been a widow a long time. Women in this time generally got married somewhere between the ages of 12 to 16. We learn she had marry but then after seven years her husband died.  That is tragic. So if she is 84, according to the text, she has been a widow for somewhere around 60+ years.

Ex. The silence that we experience when we are alone. But she was hearing from God.

Anna was not immune from trials and tribulations. She knew the grief of losing a husband and the pain it brings to the heart. Being a widow who was a widow indeed in Anna’s day was devastating. She would not be able make a livelihood and would be dependent upon God’s people or remarriage to survive. She not only lives through it, but does it with grace  and joy as her name and tribe indicate.

Anna’s Message

We are so fortunate to have Anna’s story. This is a woman who teaches us grace under pressure, joy through distress, and how God can work in the midst of our daily life.  From her we learn:

• Full of Gratitude

What a life full of gratitude looks like.

“Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God…” vs. 38a

Last week we saw the promise fulfilled to Simeon. Here we see something else, the gratitude that comes from recognizing Christ, and guess what…it’s infectious. Notice see just didn’t keep it inside or even praise God in her heart. She comes up to Mary and Joseph and bursts out in thanks. I know that when we have an attitude of gratitude, it spreads to others, they catch on, and they begin to have the same attitude.

This does make us reflect and ask ourselves: What attitude am I spreading?

Paul gives us a key to having this attitude in Col. 3:16:

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” Col. 3:16

They key comes by allowing Christ to dwell in you. The idea is to let Christ dwell in you richly…that means fully, extravagantly, or largely. That means big! Many of us might have God dwell in us eh..somewhat.  But what about fully, richly, in a big way?

• Spoke About God

The second lesson we learn from Anna is that she wasn’t afraid to speak about God. Verse 38b:

“…and spoke about the child to all…” vs. 38b

I hate to tell you this, but we live in a time where many people are afraid to talk about God or Jesus. We make speak about God generically, but not with conviction.  We live in a society where God is being shut out.

Ex. SANTA MONICA (KTLA) — A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by a church group challenging Santa Monica’s ban on Nativity and other seasonal displays in public spaces. The Santa Monica Nativity Scenes Committee had filed the suit in October after the City Council voted to prohibit private, unattended displays in city parks. The committee says that it plans to appeal the ruling. Nativity scenes in bluff-top Palisades Park had been a tradition since 1953. In the past, there were 14 life-size displays that together took up about two blocks. But last year, requests for display space exceeded the available space, so the city held a lottery to allocate the slots.

Let me restate this for us today.  We have the right to share our story.  We have the right to talk about God.  We have the right to tell the world about our savior. Our country was founded on this principle but we are now letting other people, other religions, and traditions have a bigger voice that we do.  Listen to what God told the nation of Israel in Isaiah 12:4:

“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.” Isaiah 12:4

So here is the things, God wants us to be His voice in this world. To make Him known. To exalt Him. But let me caution you too.  We don’t need to shove it down people’s throats, we don’t need to be rude, we don’t need to speak where we are not wanted. We should listen to others. We should be kind and considerate, we should be compassionate. We should tell our story and if we do it in the right way, we will have a voice.  But…we will also have advisories. Some people don’t want to hear our story. That’s okay, if they don’t, move on.

Daily Devotion

Finally, and this is the really where we learn a lot about Anna, verse 37:

“She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.” Vs. 37

This woman lived a devoted life to God…a daily devoted life. Her goal was to live for God day and night.

Ex. Let me share a story about  how someone lived this out.  Remember Brother Lawrence from the beginning today? At a conference on evangelism sponsored by Billy Graham in Manila, a Cambodian man mesmerized the audience with his story of daily meditation.  Under the Pol Pot regime he was held in a concentration camp like those depicted in the movie The Killing Fields. Believing he had little time to live, he wanted to spend time each day with God, preparing for death. “even more than deprivation of food, even more than the torture, I resented having no time to meet with God. Always guards were yelling at us, forcing us to work, work, work.” Finally he noticed that the guards could get no one to clean out the cesspits.  He volunteered for the wretched job. “No one ever interrupted me, and I could do my work at a leisurely pace. Even in those stinking depths, I could look up and see blue sky. I could praise God that I survived another day. I could commune with God undisturbed, and pray for my friends and relatives all around me.  That became for me a glorious time to meet with God.

Remember what Brother Lawrence said:   “The good brother found God everywhere, as much while he was repairing shoes as while he was praying with the community. It was God, not the task, he had in view. He knew that, the more the task was against his natural inclinations, the greater was his love in offering it to God.”

Waiting For Christmas

Luke 2:21-35

“Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout.” vs. 25

Gray Thursday

So how was your Thanksgiving? I think this was the first year retailers, as a whole, actually decided to open on Thanksgiving night.  Every major store is trying to figure out how they can get the jump on the holiday shopping and how they can get people’s business. And, you could have chosen to try to avoid all of it but even if you turned on the news it seemed to be all they were reporting.  I have to admit, it’s amazing to see people rushing from place to place, all to get that big deal, and the attitude of some of them they show on TV was just crazy.  They show people fighting and pushing, stampeding, etc.

Some of it was pretty sad. Here are a few things that jumped out at me.

• Kmart got itself in a lot of hot water.  They thought they were being clever and avoiding hassles. They handed out vouchers at the door for the big TV deals so there wouldn’t be a rush.  Sounded good till you found out that they didn’t really tell the general public so some people stayed at the front of the store and got their voucher and eventually their TV but those who didn’t know and rushed to the electronic section looking to grab that TV, well they missed out and boy were they ticked.  The yelling and anger from some of them was just crazy.
• One sad story from Palo Alto where a family went shopping and they were out til all hours of the night.  It was a mom and dad and their four daughters. On the way home, the dad fell asleep at the wheel and ran into a police car parked on the shoulder of the road,; their car flipped. Tragically, two of the daughters died in the accident. It was a pretty weird scene seeing all the presents all over the freeway and the grief on the family’s faces.
• Then there was the Walmart workers.  They didn’t like having to go to work on Thanksgiving. Good for them. But they were basically forced to, so they called a strike. I think they made their point.  So much so they are now calling Thanksgiving “Gray Thursday.” I guess that will now be the lead up to “Black Friday.” Which will be followed by “Cyber Monday.” And it just keeps going. Wow!

The analysts came out with something that shows a large majority of people will now put off their major shopping until the last 5 days of Christmas because that is when the retailers will offer their next set of deep discounts to get all the business they can before Christmas.

But you know, you see people waiting for the stores to open, waiting in long lines, waiting for that next big deal. I waited. One place I wanted to get something said they would be offering their discounts on line at 12:01 a.m. So I waited. It clicked in at 12:01. The site was down;12:03, the site was down, 12:04, 12:07, 12:10, 12:12, 12:14, and finally at 12:17 the site came on. I guess in some ways I fell into the trap too.  But it got me thinking about waiting.  What are you waiting for this Christmas? Let’s read a story about a guy named Simeon. He waited a long time for Christmas to come. We waited and waited with great anticipation for that first Christmas.  If you are able, please stand with me as we read God’s Word from Luke 2:21-35

Read Passage – Luke 2:21-35

²¹ On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. ²² When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, 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.” 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 upon him. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 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 now dismiss your servant in peace. ³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation, ³¹ which you have prepared in the sight of all people, ³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” 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.”

What Are You Waiting For?

Let me ask you some questions. What are you waiting for this Christmas? Are you looking for anything special? What are you expecting to receive? What one gift is it that you anticipate will make a big difference for you?  Or what one thing is it you feel will just make your Christmas? A party, an event, a celebration? As I said, in the Gospel of Luke, we come across a man named Simeon. We don’t read about him anywhere else in the Bible. He’s not a major part of the Christmas story when we tell it to our children. In many ways, he is one of the forgotten parts of the Christmas story. But here is who he is, verse 25a;

^“Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting…” vs. 25a

The passage identifies him as “a righteous and devout” man.  In other words, he’s a good guy. He was a guy who probably looked like he had it together. He was probably known for doing the right things, living a clean and even keeled life, a religious guy, and probably somewhat clean cut.  People saw him going to Temple regularly, probably seemed to be a nice enough guy with a clean mouth, a good family and an all round good guy.  Luke uses a Greek word of anticipation that identifies him as waiting with expectation for the coming of the Messiah (Savior). The word waiting in verse 25 literally means that he was to be “alert to His appearance, and ready to welcome Him.” He was not only watching but he was ready to act as soon as he sees this big event happening.

Simeon’s Ideal

Our text tells us that Simeon really had one thing in life he was looking for, verse 25b;

“He was waiting for the consolation of Israel…” vs. 25b

Things weren’t going real well for the nation of Israel. They hadn’t heard from God for many years and were under Roman rule. They had lost their political independence and some of their religious independence as well, they were living in fear of the cruel King Herod, and many were wondering if the Messiah would ever come. Now Simeon had a good reason for his anticipation, the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he wouldn’t die until he saw the Messiah with his own eyes. (vs. 26) How cool is that?

Side bar: Wouldn’t that be cool. You know you won’t die until you see a certain thing happen. It’s kind of like you’re invincible. I mean God always keeps his promise. But think about how you would feel once it really happened. Uh-oh!

On a certain day, at a certain time, the Holy Spirit prompted Simeon to go to the temple courts at just the right time on just the right day that Joseph and Mary were bringing their infant Jesus to the Temple. (vs. 27) When Simeon looked at the baby Jesus, now about 6 weeks old, he knew that God’s promise had been kept. Here was Immanuel, “God With Us,” to make everything right, to provide significance by His presence, and to eliminate rejection, fear, and loneliness; to free Israel and bring about their dominance again; and to rule. He was seeing God’s promise fulfilled right before his eyes and once he saw Jesus, he knew it right away.  And as the verb we talked about earlier said, he was ready to act on it.

What Seeing Jesus Brought Simeon

Today let’s dig into Simeon’s story a bit more because I think there are some great things we learn about how to live our life based on what Simeon did when he saw Jesus.

• Pardon

First, he realized the gift that God had sent in Jesus and interestingly, he knew Jesus was the way of salvation as soon as he was him; verse 31:

“For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people…” vs. 31

God had a plan, a plan to do away with all the sacrifices and rituals in the Old Testament. The people in this time had to sacrifice if they sinned, sacrifice if touched the wrong thing and were unclean, they had sacrifices for a lot of things.  It was hard to keep up with.  Mary and Joseph were at the temple to sacrifice because that’s what you did when you had a baby. SO they have come to the temple to sacrifice, to get right with God. But now, Simeon is seeing a shift. God is providing a new way of being right with Him. So God’s plan is to provide a sacrifice. One that you don’t have to pay for, one you don’t have to provide, one that costs you nothing but provides you with direct access to Him; and that was His Son. In fact, God tells us that this is the only way of salvation. Acts 4:12:

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

God has a clear plan. He set it out there for us to take. They old ways are gone. For some reason, many people still feel like they have to figure out a way to get right with God.  In many ways, they still want to make sacrifices. But God said, this is the way, the only way.

Ex. Example of people who think they need to be “good” to get to heaven.

• Peace

A second thing Simeon sees in Jesus is peace. Israel wanted peace so bad.  They hadn’t had peace in their land for hundreds of years.  He realizes when he sees Jesus that peace is here. Verse 29:

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace.” vs. 29

There are two thing going on here.  First, he realizes that when he dies, he will be at peace. But second, he sees that Jesus will bring peace for Israel and for all people. So all the turmoil and frustration will come to an end.

Ill. When I saw all the things happening on Thanksgiving night sales and black Friday, there wasn’t peace there, it was stress. The things people were fighting for might bring a temporary joy or relief, but not the peace we really seek.

Isn’t funny we spend most of Thanksgiving being thankful for what we have only to spend the next day pushing and fighting for what we don’t have and want!

Ex. I think we understand that Jesus brings peace.  Let me point it out.  One of the most popular saying at this time of year is…”Peace on earth.” We see it on cards, in store windows, signs at church and on people’s lawns, etc.  It is what we really want.  Simeon recognized that Jesus brought that peace we all want.  Let me follow that up with a verse from Col. 3:15:

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…” Col. 3:15

We have a choice. We can live in expectation and anxiety or we can choose to live in the peace, that peace that comes from Christ. Going back to Simeon, who seemed to have some peace in his life; when he saw Jesus, he had more peace than he had before. You and I can choose to have that peace as well.

• Promise

Finally, Simeon sees promise, the fulfillment of God’s promise but also another definition of promise, the promise of hope for what the future holds. Verse 32:

“…a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” vs. 32

Without something to look forward to, we can fall into depression and despair.  Israel had been without a prophet for 400 years. They hadn’t heard from God in generations.  Those stories about what God had done in Egypt and in times past must have seemed like fairy tales in some ways to many of those Israelites. It would have been at least 15-20 generations of people since they had heard from God. But now, Simeon has heard from God, Mary had heard from God, Elizabeth had heard from God, and Joseph had heard from God. God was on the move and things were beginning to fall into place again. For Simeon, this was a sign of hope for the future. Remember we read that he was righteous and devout.  Now listen to David’s words in Psalm 37:37:

“…there is a future for the man of peace.” Psalm 37:37

Simeon was a man of peace who now had hope for the future, even if he were to die. He got a glimpse of the bigger picture from God. He saw salvation and he rested with God’s promise.
A Season of Hope

I started by asking you what you wanted most this year for Christmas. I think it’s interesting we wrap our gifts. Gift wrapping originated in the mid 1800’s in the Victorian times when people produced paper that would match their cards.  I think I might choose to look at it this way: Every gift is wrapped because you can’t know what is behind the paper. There is hope that the gift inside is the thing that you want. Give a child a wrapped gift and you’ll see the hope as they try to figure out what is inside. Maybe we should look at this season as a season of hope. We can let the wrapping paper remind us that there is hope and that we have the hope of Christ in a season of hope.

A Heart of Thanks

Luke 17:11-19

“Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” vs. 19

Drowning Your Sorrows

Have you ever had a totally lousy day? I read about a man who was sitting in a bar, looking at his drink. He stayed like that for half-an-hour. Then, a big trouble-making truck driver stepped up next to him, grabbed the drink from him, and gulped it down in one swallow. At that, the man burst into tears. The truck driver said, “Come on man, I was just joking. Here, I’ll buy you another drink. I just can’t stand to see a grown man crying.” “No, it’s not that.” The guy said, “Today day is the worst of my life. First, I overslept and was late to an important meeting. My boss was outrageous and he fired me. When I left the office, I discovered my car had been stolen, and the police said there was nothing they could do. I took a cab home, and as he drove off I realized I left my wallet in the back seat of the taxi. I thought it couldn’t get any worse, but when I walked into my house I found my wife in the arms of another man–and she told me to leave. So I stopped by a chemical store, and then came here. I’ve been sitting here thinking about taking my life…when you come in and drink all my poison!”

We have all had bad days. How we deal with our tough times, our bad days, the down times, can be hard to figure out.  Let’s look at a passage of Scripture where some guys are not accepted in their society because of a tough disease.  Let’s read Luke 17:11-19

Read Passage – Luke 17:11-19

¹¹ Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance ¹³ and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” ¹⁴ When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

¹⁵ One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶ He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

Set Apart

In this story we have 10 guys who have been dealt a bad lot in life.  We learn in verse 12:

“As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him.” vs. 12

They have a stigma and difficulty of being ostracized or unwanted. They have a communicable condition called leprosy.  In biblical times, leprosy was a terrible problem. The word was often used to describe a variety of skin conditions. It starts with a white patch of skin that becomes numb, so much so that the victims cannot even feel a needle piercing the spot. The patch begins to spread all over the body and often manifests itself on the face, so the disease is impossible to hide. It then begins to form spongy tumors on the face and, at the same time, attacks the internal organs as well. The nerve endings become numb so the victim cannot tell when something is hurting him, like fire burning his hand. There is the miss conception that it causes your limbs to fall off.  Really it makes you numb and susceptible to disease and poor blood flow and as a result other diseases get in and cause your body not to work right and you end up losing things like your fingers. The leprosy itself was not fatal, but more lepers died from other diseases they contracted because of their weakened condition. Lepers were called “the walking dead,” and were kicked out of their homes and villages and forced to live in colonies with other lepers. They couldn’t work or worship at the temple. In fact, as they walked in a public area they had to yell out and announce themselves so others knew they were there and could avoid them. One of the sad things about it is that people wouldn’t touch them and there is a loneliness and depression that sets in.  Really sad.

Ill. I feel bad when I stub my toe or have a cold. Can you imagine what it must have been like to live with something like this? Lonely, depressing, etc.

We All Want The Same Thing

So as Jesus is walking to Jerusalem and he passes a village and per protocol for lepers they call to him from a distance.  Verse 12:

“They stood at a distance…”  vs. 12

Interestingly enough, they may have looked a bit different from everyone else, and they may have had to been kept away from the general public, but on the inside, they were just like everyone else. Just like you and I. What did they want? The same thing we all want. They wanted to be healed, to feel better, to live a happy, normal, maybe even uneventful (as far as bad things go) life. They probably had some good days and probably lots of bad days but now they see Jesus passing by and they have heard about his miracles and they don’t miss the opportunity to call out to him.  It struck me that if we have a bad condition that maybe permanent, that it’s hard to have a good outlook on life.

The Attitude of Gratitude

This month we are celebrating Thanksgiving. Many people might think they don’t have anything to be grateful for. They are hurting and depressed and feel alone and tired. But let’s look a little closer at these lepers and what we can learn from them.

• A Call For Help

The first thing they do is to call out to Jesus…for mercy. Verse 13:

“They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”” vs. 13

There is an important message here. These men called out for help. Sometimes we can feel as if we have to go it alone, figure it out ourselves, or maybe even that we shouldn’t be asking for help. We are pretty good at that. Help is for those who really need it or maybe we just think it’s for everyone else.

Ex. Guys we are good at this, especially when it comes to directions, right? We can do it. We can figure it out.  I don’t need help.  I think there is some pretty cool things about modern technology but I wonder if there is a subtle message when it comes to GPS. Ever notice everyone one of them has a woman’s voice.  Guys, we’ve been had. Also, we have maps on the internet and we can go on look up directions without anyone ever knowing it and we don’t have to ask others for help.  We look like we knew it all along.

Asking is okay, it’s even good…and expected. God wants to hear from us.

Ex. I once knew a woman who would pray but she had a fast rule that she would never pray for something for herself.  She didn’t feel right about that.

In the Old Testament the prophet Isaiah is prophesying to the nation of Israel and he says in 41:10:

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

God wants to help us and He wants us to let Him be our strength.  We are the ones who have convinced ourselves that we shouldn’t ask for help.  God says to ask Him.

• A Step of Faith

A second thing takes place.  Jesus could have said the word and they were healed.  He could have rubbed something on them and healed them.  But he doesn’t he gives them specific instructions. Verse 14:

^“When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”” vs. 14

It was their culture that when you had a skin disease you went and showed yourself to the priest. They were to determine if you were contagious and infectious. So they had done this at one point in their life and guess what? They were rejected, cast out.  Now Jesus tells them something that must have sounded crazy to them.  What? Go back to the priest? Not that. But they needed to step out in faith, to put some action to their request.  It’s really ironic in some ways because it tells us that as they were going they were healed.  So get this, when they get to the priest they are already healed. This time, he will give them a clean bill of health. Sometimes God calls us to step out in faith, in ways that we can’t imagine or that sometime in our past we may have had to do and not had a good result.

There is story in the book of Joshua where the Israelites need to cross a river. It’s not the one in Exodus where they cross the Jordan but a different one.  In this story God instructs the Israelites to cross the river on dry land but in order for it to happen they need to step into the river first.  Joshua 3:15:

“Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing.” Joshua 3:15

God was working. He could stop the river. They couldn’t. We look and see what we can’t do and God looks and says trust me, step out in fiath and watch what I can do.

• Feeling Forgotten

I think in our story today we see something of God that we might not see a lot of other places in Scripture and that comes in verse 17:

^“ Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” vs. 17

God is showing us that he cares about us and that he wants us to remember Him.  Notice that of all 10, only one came back. Sometimes we plead and beg and ask God for help. Our situations seem so desperate, so important, so big and then when God acts, when he responds and we are past the crisis, we forget to go back and thank Him.  That’s not a relationship, that is using again, unless they need you? How do you feel? Used, taken advantage of, etc. Get this, God has those feelings too. He wants us to be grateful and not forget Him.

Deut. 6 is a famous passage where the Israelites memorized a passage of Scripture that says to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.” Interestingly a few verses later it says in verse 12:

“…be careful that you do not forget the Lord…” Deut. 6:12

Like us, God wants to be acknowledged and for us to remember Him in order to build our relationship with Him.

Ex. You help your children and they don’t come back and thank you.  Of course you help them, they are your kids. But isn’t really great when they come back and acknowledge that you did.

• Real Thanks Expressed

And finally, the one guy comes back and expresses his thanks to Jesus.  Verse 15:

“One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶ He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.” vs. 15

Now we are not sure but it seems that the passage is saying that the other 9 were Jews and only the Samaritan came back.  Could be but it doesn’t say for sure.  All we do know is that the one guy that most people probably thought wouldn’t come back and say thanks is the one that did. It’s important be grateful but it is just as important to express it.

Ex. Thank you notes. I was never taught to write thank you notes.  I struggle with this when I met Claudia because she was taught to write thank you notes.  She taught me and it was hard at first, but I see the importance of doing it.

David says in Psalm 118:

“You are my God, and I will praise you…” Psalm 118:28

Part of our gratefulness is in the expressing it.  It makes you feel good and it makes the person receiving  it feel great too.

The Healing Power of Thankfulness

That’s a key to the end of the story.  Being grateful, thankful, appreciative, bring a healing power with it.  Notice verse 19:

“Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” vs. 19

His faith healed him and his gratefulness was the crowning glory of that healing.

The Challenge: The ushers are passing out “Thank You” notes right now. Take one and consider just writing a thank you to someone; maybe for something someone has done for you, or something you forgot to thank someone for, or any other reason you can think of.  Give it them, send it to them, whatever.

How Good Are You?

Luke 18:18-30

“A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”” vs. 18

Everybody Loves Heaven

One of my favorite shows of all time is “Everybody Loves Raymond.” My wife has said that she has never heard me laugh more  or harder then when I am watching that show. Recently I caught the episode where Ally, Raymond’s daughter, has gone to Sunday School and draws a picture of heaven.  When Frank, Raymond’s dad, sees the picture he comments to Ally that Ray will not be in heaven.  This disturb Ally and she asks why.  Frank tells her that it’s because Ray doesn’t go to church. Well Ray confronts Frank about this and they get into a big argument about it. Ray, later in the program, decides to go to church.  He is really stumped when he sees what is happening.  Frank stands in the back talking about some of the women in the church, what they are wearing, etc.  Then the priest calls for the offering and Frank is one of the ushers and takes the offering and spends the rest of the morning back in another room with the other ushers counting money and taking about the football games.  Ray is really upset because he realizes his dad isn’t really going to church, in fact, he’s never really in the service. In the end Raymond and Frank come to an understanding and the whole thing kind of blows over.

Here’s one of the things that I took from that episode.  Frank’s criteria, his checklist, for getting to heaven, is church attendance.  There is just one thing on that checklist; go to church. Let’s read a passage where Jesus and a rich guy discuss going to heaven from Luke 18.

Read Passage – Luke 18:18-30

¹⁸ A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁹ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. ²⁰ You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” ²¹ “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. ²² When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” ²³ When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. ²⁴ Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶ Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?” ²⁷ Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.” ²⁸ Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!” ²⁹ “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God ³⁰ will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.”

Getting To Heaven

Given a chance, would you like to go to heaven?  Notice the question this man asks Jesus:

“A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”” vs. 18

Interesting he calls him good. It makes you wonder if he was buttering Jesus up or if he was just trying to stroke him a bit. I tmay be that he just thought that this guy has it all together and instead of just calling him teacher he calls him good teacher be cause he has liked the things he has been saying.

This man bring us p something I think many people want o know about: how to get to heaven. A large majority of people in our world think that when they die, they will go to heaven. It’s kind of thought that if you are good enough and live the right way, you somehow get to heaven. There are some who don’t believe in heaven and hell.

Ex. My grandfather believed but said he couldn’t wait to get to hell and have a beer with the devil.

Some people don’t believe at all. They think this is all there is so live a good life now and enjoy it because it’s the only shot you have. For those who do believe, many create a checklist like, helping others, being kind, living well, etc. and that becomes their checklist of getting into heaven. But there is some confusion on how to get to heaven and so this man asks a question to clarify what it takes.

I Am A Good Person!

Jesus responds with a checklist the man was very familiar with, a shorter version of the 10 commandments. He tells him not to kill, not to commit adultery, not to lie, and to honor his parents.  This guy was most likely vary familiar with the Jewish laws and the 10 commandments. That was his checklist. So he responds in verse 21:

““All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.” vs. 21

You might say “How could he claim that?” Well, he was a pretty good guy and when a good Israelite sinned they went to temple and sacrificed and that cleansed them so they could claim they had been forgiven so it wasn’t too far fetched for this guy to claim his innocence.  Maybe he just lived a good life and felt he had really been true to keeping all those things.  The bottom line, he thought he was good.  That is basically what he was saying; “I am good!”  He had completed his checklist and was probably looking for affirmation from Jesus that he was a good man and deserved to be going to heaven.

Let me ask you; Are you going to heaven? What is your checklist? Who else do you think will be there? Look around, will you see the people sitting around you? I have a feeling we are going to be surprised at some of the people who are there…and some of the people who are not.

Jesus Reminds Us That…

Jesus takes this opportunity to remind this man, and us, of some of the important things in life.

• Things Are Things

The first thing that Jesus reminds us of is that things are things. What I mean, is that the things we have, our possessions, our material things, are just that, things! We know we can’t take them with us and we know they are just things, but sometimes we place a really high importance on them. So Jesus challenges the man in verse 22:

“You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” vs. 22

This man thought that by amassing all these things, by filling his life with material possessions and building his on little empire that somehow he was good and maybe even better than everyone else. But as I said, things are things. We can’t take them with us, we can loose them in a heartbeat, and we know that ultimately they don’t really satisfy that deep needs with have. David put it in perspective for us in Psalm 49:20:

“A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.” Psalm 49:20

Pay careful attention to this verse. Notice it says “without understanding.” Riches can be good for us but only if with  have the right perspective, the right outlook of them.  Otherwise, we are just like animals.  Animals don’t understand the importance of things, they have no focus except to take for themselves.

Ex. Dogs. Our dog Mary used to beg from us for food.  It would be fun to give her say a bowl that she would lick clean. You know what she would do? We would give it to her and she would take it in another room, away from us the ones who gave it to her, and eat it. Interesting thing about that dog, she never once offered to share her food with me!

Animals can’t have that understanding of things. They can’t have things and understand them. We can and David tells us if we don’t put our things in the right perspective we are no better than the animals.

• The Need For Proper Priorities

The second point that Jesus reminds us of is that we need to set priorities. In our story, when this man hears Jesus words, listen to what happens, verse 23:

“When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.” vs. 23

He goes away sad because he had set priorities and Jesus words did not match up with his priorities. Deeper into these word is the point that Jesus reminds us of the important things in life. Relationships should be more important than things so he not only tells him to sell his possessions but to follow him, i.e. develop his relationship with himself and God. But this response saddens the rich young man. It saddens him because his priority is his material things not relationships. I think it is implied here that this kind walked around flaunting his wealth at the expense of developing his relationship with others. We are warned about the danger of living that way in Ecclesiastes 5:10:

“Whoever loves money never has enough;whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.” Ecc. 5:10

Be careful here, I am not saying having riches are bad. In fact, the things we have are a blessing from God.  God blesses people with material things. It’s Biblical! Look at the people in the Bible that God blesses with riches; people like Abraham, David, Solomon, Job, Nicodemus, etc. Our possessions can be good but only if we keep them in the right priority.

Caution: Not every rich person has their priorities mixed up, but this guy did. Not every rich person will struggle keeping their wealth in the right perspective.

Ex. Howard Hughes – One of the richest men who ever lived.  Became paranoid, hoarded, etc. and died a lonely, delusional man.

The question we are posed with is are we keeping our possessions in the right priority? What will it take to satisfy us?

• What Is Impossible for Us Is Possible For God

And the third thing Jesus reminds of is that what seems impossible for us, is possible with God. Notice Jesus picture that he gives this man in verse 25:

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” vs. 25

This is an exaggeration that he is using to make his point. Of course it is not reasonable to think that this huge animal, a camel, could go through the eye of a needle. (Hold up a needle)

If we truly had to fulfill a checklist or do enough good things to get us into heaven, we would never be able to.  There isn’t enough good deeds, enough money, enough things to put us in good standing with God. That’s why Jesus follows this up with verse 27:

“Jesus replied, “What is impossible with men is possible with God.”” vs. 27

So when it came to providing a way for us to be good in God’s standing, he provided the way. He is the only one that could provide it for us be cause it id impossible for us to do that. But God provides the way. It’s not about what we can do but all about what He can do.

All Of You

And here is what God really wants…you! All of you! It only takes you accepting the gift.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

So you don’t have to keep trying so hard, just take the gift only God can gift, His Son.