LESSONS OF CHRISTMAS--SIMEION & ANNA

Joseph and Mary were going to the temple in obedience to the law of Moses--for Mary to be purified and Jesus to be dedicated--on the eighth day after the birth of Jesus. The Holy Spirit spoke to Simeon and told him to go to the temple, the one he has been waiting for was there. Anna lived at the temple and was also touched by the Holy Spirit and told to go to the courts because the one she was waiting for was there. It was there obedience to the Holy Spirir that enabled them to see the Messiah, God's salvation of Israel. For each person, it had been years of waiting for this moment. Days, months, years of waiting, probably wondering, and waiting, trusting God, knowing God would do as He said, holding fast and tightly to God's promise. Yes, we can learn to be patient, to trust, to believe God will do what He says He will do; but, if we look closer there is something else we can learn from Simeon and Anna.
Mary and Joseph were approached by two strangers, two people in the courts (the edge) of the synagogue (the church) that spoke prophesy to them. Simeon and Anna opened themselves to speak God's message about Jesus and God's warning to Mary. In this brief encounter much has happened: 1) Simeon and Anna saw their Salvation, 2) both gave God's message to Mary and Joseph, and 3) Mary and Joseph were open to receive the message being spoken even if they didn't understand it.
On New Years Day my daughter and I watched the movie, MOTHER'S NIGHT OUT. It was about a young mother who was attempting to be the perfect mother, the perfect Christian, the perfect daughter, the perfect wife.....You get the picture, the perfect everything all in her own self. Does this sound familiar? It was a biker, a tattoo artist, a big, mean looking dude that spoke God's message to the woman. The one you would never expect to hear comments like this to come from. Was this how Simeon and Anna appeared to Mary and Joseph?
Both Mary and Joseph and the young wife and mother in the movie received messages from the least likely of people at the least likely of times in the least likely of places. Are we open enough to hear God talking to us no matter who speaks it or where we are when it's spoken to us whether it be in the courts of the synagogue, the narthex of the church, in a hospital, in your living room....? Will we shake it off or will we accept the message?

LESSONS OF CHRISTMAS

Here we are, once again, preparing for Christmas. The Christmas Scriptures may be excitingly new or boringly old. Some of us have heard them so many times we could almost repeat the Christmas story word for word from memory. What else can we learn from hearing the story again? During this Advent season we are going to focus on five groups of people that can teach us valuable lessons to apply to our lives.

First take the small family of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. Through them God explodes the box we keep Him in and chooses a young, poor, virgin and a carpenter to bring His Son into the world and to raise him. The righteousness of two ordinary people glorify God as they obey, as they say Your Will not mine,  and as they spiritually, emotionally, and physically surrender themselves to Almighty God.

God shocks us again when the angels announce His Son’s birth to the lowliest of the low, the shepherds. Really, SHEPHERDS today that’s like announcing it to a group of homeless people. But wait. He chose Abraham, a shepherd, to father nations. He chose David, a shepherd, the one who had a heart like God’s, to be the line in which His son would be born. Then there was Moses, a shepherd, He chose him to free His people from Pharaoh. Through these three shepherds we learn ordinary people can do extraordinary things when we are obedient to God.

King Herod, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law were seeking the Messiah for the all the wrong reasons. Here was a group of people who were seeking the Messiah intellectually but refused to bend their knees to the sovereignty of God, the power of God, or the Son of God. The sole purpose in seeking the Messiah was to deny and kill him. The lesson here is a difficult one. God will not show Himself to ones whose sole purpose is to deny Him, His power, or His sovereignty. We do not find the Messiah with our mind, it is only through our heart we can find the Messiah.

The Magi are not important for who they were but for the reason they traveled the great distance they did to see this Child. These men recognized this Child as the Messiah when the Jews could not. The Magi illustrate that we must diligently and purposely seek out this baby called Jesus, Immanuel (God with us), Savior before we can discover the gifts He has for us.

Finally, we come to the synagogue to meet Simeon and Anna. Two people who waited a lifetime to be able to see this “babe wrapped in swaddling clothes” who was the Savior, the Son of God, the Promised One. Through these two we learn patience and trust is rewarded by God. “God is who He says He is and God will do what He says He will do.” (Beth Moore, Believing God)

Join me next week as we look closer at Mary and Joseph. Do they have more to teach us?