Timing is Everything

Introduction:

The perfect timing. Maybe it’s the catch that wins the game, or when all our plans fall into place. Sometimes people are successful because they were at the right place and at the right time.

The world had a “perfect timing” moment when Jesus came onto the scene.

Galatians 4:4–5 NIV

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.

The wise men were looking for that right timing, searching the stars for the new king.

What if the random events that happen throughout life aren’t random at all? What if they lead up to a singular moment? In the 2002 M. Night Shyamalan thriller Signs, we see a family fighting an alien invasion. While the sci-fi adventure deals with aliens and conspiracy theories, there is a larger struggle of a family dealing with a tragedy. The story revolves around Graham (played by Mel Gibson), a widowed reverend who lives on a farm with his brother and two children. Graham’s wife has died in a car accident and the family has not fully recovered from her death. Through flashbacks, we see that the mother’s dying words were, “see” and “swing away.” The random thoughts mean nothing to the characters until they are met by an extraterrestrial in their living room. Suddenly we see how the idiosyncrasies, failures, and strengths of each character led to this moment that helps defeat the monster. We can look at human history as a chronology of people and places, but God sees a larger picture of redemption—and that moment was brought to a head in the life of Jesus.

One story from the nativity is about a promise to Simeon. Simeon was a righteous man who was there when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple

Luke 2:22-26

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

Consecrated to the Lord-

The first sacrifice was a lamb for a burnt offering, the second was a pigeon or turtledove as a sin offering. If she were poor, instead of offering a lamb, she could offer a turtledove or a young pigeon. The price of both birds would be less than a quarter. By doing this, Mary and Joseph revealed they were of the poorer class. In the court of the women, there were thirteen trumpet-shaped chests into which offerings were dropped. The third “trumpet,” as they were called, was reserved for the offerings of the poor which paid for their sacrificial animals.

This purification ceremony had two purposes. First, it emphasized the corruption of humanity and the purity of God. Second, it was just plain sanitary. The mother and child would have forty days of privacy, rest and quarantine.

Moore, M. E. (2011). The Chronological Life of Christ (p. 54). Joplin, MO: College Press Publishing Company.

Every First born male-

Exodus 13:2–12 describes the consecration of the firstborn male. God demands the firstborn male to be given to him whether man or beast. They could then be redeemed from the Lord at a set price. The cost would be roughly equivalent to five or ten dollars. We must understand, this follows on the heels of the tenth plague of Egypt, the death of every firstborn. It was by this plague that the Israelites were freed. The consecration of the firstborn was intended as a sign. It was a reminder of how God freed Israel from Egypt.

Moore, M. E. (2011). The Chronological Life of Christ (p. 54). Joplin, MO: College Press Publishing Company.

Luke 2:26-32

26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,

you may now dismiss your servant in peace.

30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,

31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:

32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and the glory of your people Israel.”

At the age of 90, Charles Eliot, the president emeritus of Harvard, made his way slowly down the road to his neighbor’s house to congratulate them on their new baby. After a brief conversation, Eliot asked if he could hold their infant. After a few minutes he returned the newborn and explained, “I have been looking at the end of life for so long that I wanted to look for a few moments at its beginning.”

Moved by the Spirit

The Holy Spirit came upon him like the prophets of old and revealed to him that Messiah would come in his own lifetime. The Holy Spirit even directed his steps into the temple to be at the right place at the right time so that when Mary and Joseph brought their baby boy in, he was the first priest they met.

Gentiles-

Simeon took Jesus in his arms and praised God for the coming of the “consolation of Israel” (Isa 40:1; 49:13; 51:3; 52:9; 54:11; 61:2; 66:13; Jer 31:13). But more than a consolation to the Jews, Jesus was the light to the Gentiles. This was a foreign concept to the Jews of Simeon’s day. Although the Old Testament frequently speaks of salvation to the Gentiles (Gen 12:3; Ps 67:2; Isa 2:2; 42:6; 49:6; Joel 2:28; Amos 9:11–12; etc.), the Jews consistently rejected any idea of Gentile inclusion. Even the early church struggled with this. There was no greater fight in the book of Acts than over the Gentiles being part of the church (cf. chapters 10–11, 15; verse 28:28).

We can even struggle with this today? We treat people that don’t go to church or who are not active Christians as if they are less than… You know the words of John 3:16

16 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.

but lets not forget right after this...

17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Luke 2:33-35

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

I have no doubt it would have been really encouraging to hear this Prophet/Priest to say those first things…That he would bring Salvation....but then....Causing the rising and falling of many....and a sword would pierce you’re own soul....

Today’s take away I want to focus on Simeon for a moment....

For Simeon, Jesus showed that God was in control of time and had now fulfilled the promises given to him and to the rest of the world.

I know it may feel like a stretch especially like a year many of us have had, but what have your prayers been like this past year? What have you been asking God for? For 2020 to be over already....For this vaccine to get here already? I have no doubt that as Simeon became older he started to struggle with his trust in God…was God going to deliver on His promises....Are you struggling to trust God right now?

Some theologians have theorized why did Jesus come when he did? Why not start history with Jesus from Creation?

Isreal had put trust in Priests, Prophets, and Politics...

Perhaps God needed His people to see how much we truly needed Him? We have a tendency to put our trust in the wrong things....

You see in the Old Testament the Israelites were jealous of other Kingdoms because they had Kings and they did not....they wanted Strong Leadership they Begged God for a King....God wanted to be their only King…But almost like a parent trying to teach a lesson he gives them a King...

Isreal would have a ups and downs through out their History. Good Kings and Bad…but when we enter Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago....

Have you heard the saying “All Roads lead to Rome?”

Rome had made a pathway for this Messiah and had no idea that their expansion would lead to our Worlds Salvation!

Here we are still waiting on Hope....the timing was just right then....and its just right for us...

The definition of Christian hope is much more robust than simply being optimistic. Hope has heft to it because its source is our holy God.

In the Old Testament hope means “to bind together, often by twisting.” It refers to the process of making a rope by twisting two strands of material together. Understood in this way, hope means I bring my problems to the Lord as I hold on to the specific promises of God. To hope means to wrap my problems together with God’s promises.

We could say it like this: Hold on to hope when it’s hard to cope. Ecclesiastes 4:12 adds God’s provision to His promises and our problems: “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” The third strand is Immanuel, Jesus Christ, born on Christmas, crucified on Good Friday and raised on Easter. He is Heaven’s child, the hope of the world. With Him wrapped around our lives, we are safe and secure.

Let’s put this into an equation:

My problems + God’s promises = God’s provision

Concentration:

ILLUS: William H. Hinson tells us why animal trainers carry a stool when they go into a cage of lions. They have their whips, of course, and their pistols are at their sides. But invariably they also carry a stool. Hinson says it is the most important tool of the trainer. He holds the stool by the back and thrusts the legs toward the face of the wild animal. Those who know maintain that the animal tries to focus on all four legs at once. In the attempt to focus on all four, a kind of paralysis overwhelms the animal, and it becomes tame, weak, and disabled because its attention is split.

When your waiting....in prayer....Be reminded....God answers our Prayers in 3 ways....Yes, No, and Wait....The hardest one for us to deal with is Waiting....I pray we trust God’s Timing…for that prayer you’ve had for sometime....whether its someone to come to salvation....whether its for things to go back to normal....what ever it is....God reminds us he’s here....He’s Present....

30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,

31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:

32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and the glory of your people Israel.”