Good News Means Peace

Overwhelmed By Your Salvation

12.31.23 [Luke 2:21-40] River of Life (1st Sunday after Christmas)

(Col. 3:15) May the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. Amen.

That’s it?!?! Have you ever had an experience that left you shaking your head and mumbling that’s it!?!?! to yourself? Maybe it was at the movies. The trailers and the buzz online created quite the hype. You made a point to see the movie on the first night it played in theaters. And it just wasn’t what you were hoping for. That’s it?!?!

Perhaps you planned to go somewhere special. Instead of being awe-struck you were let down because it was dirty and crowded and not nearly as impressive as the pictures you had seen in magazines or on social media. That’s it?!?!?

Maybe it was a meal. You get a reservation at that fancy new restaurant. The server gushes about one of the specials. And it all sounds so good. So you take their recommendation and when the food arrives it doesn’t look or taste anything like you expected. That’s it!?!? you say to your dinner companions as the server walks away.

There are many moments in life that leave us thinking That’s it!?!? but more often than not, it’s because our expectations have been heightened. We have really been looking forward to the movie, the view, or the meal. People have been telling us how great it is. How much we are going to enjoy it. Telling us it will change our lives. Then we get there and it’s nothing like we expected.

If Simeon and Anna had had that reaction to seeing month-and-a-half-old Jesus face-to-face, it might have been understandable.

Think about all the things that God had promised the Messiah would be and do in Isaiah 9. The Messiah would be a great light on those living in the land of deep darkness. He would shatter the yoke that burdens God’s people. He would put an end to warfare. The government would be on his shoulders. There would be no end to the greatness of his government and peace. He would reign on David’s throne, establishing justice and righteousness, from that time on and forever. He would be called (Is. 9:6) Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And that’s not all.

He would be a blessing to all people and all nations would be blessed through him. He would be a healer and a miracle worker. Not only a king who surpasses David, but a prophet like Moses, a priest more holy than Aaron. He would be the Redeemer. Acclaimed by the people.

Imagine waiting for that kind of individual. Imagine the excitement that had been building in the collective minds of the people of Israel for generations. Imagine the anticipation for God’s Anointed One building and building like that for so long. And remember that your nation, your people, your ancestors have been oppressed by the Romans for generations with no end in sight. Actually, you don’t have to imagine it.

Because we see it throughout Jesus’ ministry. The crowds watched Jesus heal and do other miracles and their expectations grew out of control. They listened to him preach and teach and they wanted him to be a political Deliverer. Right on the heels of the feeding of the 5,000, John the Gospel writer tells us that the crowd intended to make Jesus (Jn. 6:15) a king by force.

Jesus’ enemies, who did not think he was God’s long-promised Messiah, were very concerned with his popularity and political power. After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. They decided if they let Jesus go on like he was, (Jn. 11:48) everyone would believe in him and then the Romans will come and take away our temple and our nation.

And Jesus’ disciples had the same misconception even after spending years listening to and watching him. James and John even dragged their mother into the mess. She came to Jesus and asked that he would give her two boys positions of honor. (Mt. 20:21) Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom. That’s when Jesus explained that he did not come to be served like the rulers of this world, but he came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. That was not the kind of Messiah most of the people were expecting. But we have a different struggle. On this side of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, we don’t tend to be underwhelmed by Jesus. We tend to be underwhelmed by God’s Word.

When we are a crossroads in life, we want to know what to say or do, what is the thing we ask for? We ask God for a sign, right? We want him to tell us what to do. At least that is what we say. Because God has told us what to do in his Word. He has told us to trust in him and lean not on our own understanding. He has told us to trust him and he will provide us our daily bread. He has told us to trust that he will never forsake us. He has told us to trust him. He has not told us that he will never send anything we can’t handle, but that nothing will happen to us that is outside his ability to turn into our eternal good.

We tend to be underwhelmed by what God says is his way, the right way of living. (Col. 3:12) Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Won’t we get run over in this world if we live like that? Won’t people take advantage of us?

A little later God calls us to (Col. 3:13) forgive as the Lord forgave us. How can we forgive that one sin that sticks in our craw? How can we forgive someone who has wronged us in the same way time and again? Won’t that encourage people to sin against us scot-free?

Or in the book of Hebrews, God tells us to (Heb. 12:7) endure hardship as discipline, an expression of love from your caring heavenly Father. Is there anything harder to do as a Christian than to look at all your pain, all your hardships, all the times you’ve had to suffer for your faith and all the times you’ve suffered for reasons you can’t explain and just categorize it all as an expression of God’s love for you? God calls us to (1 Pt. 5:6-7) humble ourselves and cast all our anxieties on him trusting that he cares for us.

So often, what God places in our hands—his Word—seems small and powerless. Not up to snuff for the problems we’re dealing with here and now. Just like the baby that was in Simeon’s arms.

So why didn’t he look at that child and say: That’s it?!?!?

We might think it’s because he recognized the potential in that 40-day-old baby. But that’s not the case.

Look again at what he says to Mary about Jesus. (Lk. 2:34-35) This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul, too. Simeon understood that Jesus was going to be a hated figure, a despised individual, even among his own people. He recognized that this child’s life and death would take its toll on Mary as well.

How did he know these things? They had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. Not just in some mystical, individual way. They are littered throughout the Old Testament. Isaiah didn’t just say that the Messiah would be a Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.

He also told God’s people, that there would be nothing in the Messiah’s appearance that would (Is. 53:2) attract us to him. That he would (Is. 53:3) be despised and rejected by mankind. (Is. 53:4-5) He would take up our pain and bear our suffering. He would be stricken by God and afflicted by him, pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities.

This is how God would accomplish his salvation. Just as he promised. (Gal. 4:4) When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law.

What we see here in Luke 2 were the very first steps of Jesus’ life. He was circumcised on the eighth day, according to the covenant that God made with Abraham. He was given the name Jesus, just as Gabriel announced. He was brought to the Temple, as all firstborn sons of Israel were supposed to. He was presented to the Lord with thanksgiving. Mary and Joseph did everything they were commanded to because this is what God promised. This is why we can be confident in all of God’s promises. He doesn’t leave i’s un-dotted or t’s uncrossed. He doesn’t let some of his promises or his people slip through the cracks. Our Sovereign Lord accomplishes big things through small things. Our Saving Lord earned eternal life through his substitutionary death and resurrection. God does it all. We need only to trust him. We need only to believe. That’s it!?!?

And God even does that work within us, too. We are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from ourselves, it is a gift of the Holy Spirit. It is a gift, a working of God, in our hearts and minds, and lives, just as it was for Simeon and Anna. They received the promises of God. They studied them well. They devoted themselves to living and trusting in God’s Word and way. Yet God the Holy Spirit was dwelling in them and doing this through them. He did this through a small thing. An unimpressive bit. His Word.

Just as he does for each of us. In Matthew 13, Jesus tells us how this works. He compares the kingdom of God, how God works in our hearts and lives and in our world, to two things. A mustard seed and yeast. Have you seen either of those? They are so small. Nearly microscopic to most of our eyes. Yet, a mustard seed grows into one of the largest of the garden plants. Yeast works its way through a whole batch of dough and changes it dramatically. This is how the Word of God works in us. His promises seem like small things. His Word seems powerless when they are up against the problems that we are facing. But remember what they truly are. The wisdom of God. The grace of our Lord. The powerful promises of our Prince of Peace. Even though they are small enough to hold in our hands and repeat in but a few seconds, they are a light of revelation, peace that passes all understanding, truths that guard our hearts and minds. That’s all we need. Amen.