God with the World

Focus Statement

Help is here.

Our temptation can be to think that we’re alone in our wait for help, but the truth of Christmas is that help is already here.

Simeon waited many years for the “consolation of Israel,”

and when he met Jesus, he was finally ready to rest.

Point of Relation

Back when I was a union Iron Worker,

There were a couple of opportunities I had to be a foreman on the job.

The very first time, I was sent to a job alone…so I was the foreman by default...

And the night before I was told that it was only a one person job...

and that I should be able to get it done, no problem.

Well, when I showed up...

The size of the job turned out to be A LOT larger than we were told...

It was at least a two person job...

And there I was…all by myself...

Green and expected to do double the work in 8 hours...

Needless to say, I failed…epically...

I only got about half the job done...

And the supervisor came over…reamed me out for slacking off...

And called my father-in-law to complain for sending me.

NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD AT ALL!

Well, my father-in-law called me up to see what was happening.

I explained it to him…told him the work load was off the wall ridculous.

I was ready to walk off the job with a special salute...

But my father-in-law talked me into staying…saying that he would head over at the end of the day...

and so I continued to work.

But waiting for him to get there…was nerve racking, as I wasn’t sure what would happen…or what his reaction would be...

I worked, and waited, and worked while waiting…working…working...

Finally, he arrived, and he saw the size of the job and the amount of work I had pulled off by the time he got there...

which was slightly more than halfway done at that point...

He was enraged…found the supervisor…and reamed him out for not being honest about the size of the job...

Then he came back and told me not to feel bad...

That I had done a heck of a job…and that no one would be able to do that much by themselves.

He and I worked to finish the rest of it...

and we charged them for overtime! Oooh yeah!!!

The relief that I felt when he arrived and affirmed the work I did…

and how he held that company accountable...

and worked alongside me to help me finish it.

Things to Consider

While I wasn’t trying to put myself in a situation where I was trying to do the impossible alone…

there are other times I have

If we're being honest, there are a whole lot of things we think we have to deal with on our own.

We have finances to sort out on our own, relationship problems, parenting, caring for parents, and personal health issues

that we think we have to sort out on our own.

This story of Simeon assures us that just as God promised, help is on the way.

What Scripture Says

Simeon waited for many years for a sign that help was coming to Israel.

The Spirit had assured him he would not die before he saw the Messiah.

This story shows an intense moment when Simeon finally saw the hope he had been waiting for his entire life.

His first response was contentment, peace and rest: “Dismiss your servant in peace” (verse 29).

Knowing help is on the way relaxes us and helps us to breathe more easily.

The message of Christmas, God coming in the flesh to be with us means that our help is here, and we do not have to do it alone.

Of course, this doesn’t mean all our problems will be fixed and everything will be better.

Even in sharing the good news of God’s help with Mary,

Simeon recognized that Jesus’ life would cause unrest in Israel (“the falling and rising of many”)

and personal pain and tragedy in Mary’s life.

Yet, with Jesus’ birth, God is with us and even the most difficult of challenges can be faced with a “very present help in trouble,” (as it says inPsalm 46:1).

Just as God was faithful to the promise God made to Simeon,

so is God faithful to the promises God makes to us.

In Jesus, who was born, lived, died, and rose for our sake, we will find our help in times of need.

What This Means For You

Remember God’s promises to love and help you.

Help is already here, but this is not as passive as it sounds.

It requires our response, if we want to experience God’s help in our day to day lives.

Keep in mind Simeon was “righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel,”

he followed the Spirit’s guiding him and recognized Jesus when he saw him.

What are some ways you can ready yourself to receive help from God?

How can you look for and look forward to help and follow where the Spirit might be leading you to receive, or maybe even to give God’s help?

What This Means For Us

What would our lives actually look like if we trusted that God’s help is here?

What would it look like to rest in God’s help and be a community that embodies God’s help for each other, instead of trying to do it on our own?

Let us be a people who WITNESS to our TRUE FAITH as we display our abslolute trust in God…taking bold and brassy steps for God’s glory! Amen? Amen!