SER-1C-15 - December 27, 2015 – Text: Luke 2:22-40 - Theme: “Promises Kept”
Our daily world is filled with promises. Prior to Christmas many children promised to behave better, to clean up their room, or to not fight with their brothers and sisters – anticipating or at least hoping for a good return come Christmas morning. Every day people promise to faithfully pay for a new car, a computer, a home entertainment system, new clothes no matter what, month after month. They sign a contract – a promise to pay - all made so much simpler once attached to a Visa, MasterCard, or American Express account. Usually, our name signed on a cheque is a pretty definite promise to pay. I'd like to believe that people still promise a lot in marriage when they exchange their vows. Pastors promise their congregations a great deal when they accept a call. At the same time a congregation vows much in return. Even manufacturers promise you all kinds of things like fresh baked goodness, a lifetime guarantee on all movable parts, car batteries guaranteed for three years, and toothpaste that will get your teeth white than white. Some folks have been promising themselves over the last few weeks that come the New Years, they’re going on a strict diet and will take up exercise. Though we may not stop to realize it, we live in a world full of promises, but one that is coloured by our skepticism like that thing about dieting. After all, seeing is believing.
Today's a good day to think a little about promises as we look ahead to New Year's Day on Friday and remember that many like to make New Year's resolutions or promises. This morning we’ve heard of yet another promise – this one made to Simeon and how He, in his own arms, got to see and hold that promise fulfilled. God’s age old promise of a Saviour had finally been kept with the coming of a baby to a manger in Bethlehem. Shepherds were the first who got to see this thing that had come to pass – to witness God’s promise kept. Now Simeon, who had been given a personal promise that He would live to see the day of the Messiah’s arrival, He too at last had seen the salvation God prepared for His people. God had kept His word, and Simeon – with His very own eyes – saw Him in the flesh.
We may not yet have seen Jesus in the flesh but the promise of forgiveness and life in His name still stands. And that's a promise we have seen and experienced in many ways – something to remember as we prepare for the turning of a new year. This week there’s a slight gap in the busyness as many see it, giving us just a few days to recover from Christmas and prepare for New Year's. News agencies are announcing their choices of celebrities, politicians, entertainers, and sports figures of the year. There are some gifts that maybe need exchanging, and many shoppers – as if they haven’t had enough already – are out there fighting crowds for the post-Christmas sales. There may be another holiday meal yet to eat, friends and relatives to visit, a parade and football games to look forward to so in the grand scheme of things - God's promises fulfilled aren’t on the minds of many.
In some ways it may even seem like an odd time in which to launch a New Year with many people tired out, stuffed up with calories, and weighed down in debt. But it's an especially good time to remember God's promise as we prepare to step through the door to a new year - when just for a second - time seems to stand still. Looking back we can see the year now almost past. Looking ahead we see a vast new year with all its possibilities and opportunities. One can hardly help but wonder what kind of year it will turn out to be. Will this be the year that fighting in the Middle East finally stops? Will ISIS or ISIL come to an end? Will the violent storms plaguing so many places cease, and refugees find a safe haven? Will Donald Trump get the ticket? But as we look what do we see?
Looking back there is pain and disappointment for many, but also some things for which to be grateful if we’ll only stop to see them – to remember that through the good and the bad we were never alone. The Lord has carried us through even when we doubted we could take another step. He has been there at those tough times and still is in the people who surround us with their love and care – with their wisdom and patience. And He has been there when all the pieces seemed to fall into place – our dreams became reality and our prayers were answered exactly as we directed God. Can you imagine the thoughts of Simeon as he suddenly realized looking back through all his years that the Lord had been there even when at times surely Simeon too must have wondered? The key to taking the next step into 2016 is found in the promise of God in Christ – salvation for all in Him, a light to the gentiles, and glory to Israel. It's that promise fulfilled which can give new meaning to each day of the New Year. It’s that promise that kept Simeon returning to the temple and waiting on the Lord, and he was not disappointed. It’s that promise that kept Anna at the temple and now giving thanks to God for what He had done even as she told others.
You may not be Simeon or Anna. You may not consider yourself nearly as faithful or devoted as those two and maybe you’re not but you are one of God's people – someone for whom the Saviour came no matter where you are in life right now – whether successful in a career, retired or just starting out, whether a student, a young mom or dad, a grandparent. In the truth of Jesus, our Saviour, you can find the power to live each new day and to forgive as you have been forgiven. You can find the will to resist that urge to get even or strike back. As one of God's children, in Him you can find the will to try again and again to please Him just as you so often try to please someone you love here on earth even after you have disappointed them. As one of God's people you have seen His promises fulfilled before and are able to do great things wherever your daily life takes you. Like the shepherds, like Simeon and Anna you are able to share with others the things you've seen and heard. You needn’t be afraid of their reaction to your sharing for God has promised His word will touch lives no matter what and you are living proof.
As God’s child you’ll find the strength you need if this year you must sit by the bedside of an ill loved one. I have as have some of you. You'll know hope in the face of serious illness. Trusting completely in the Lord you’ll find the words and ways to work at handling some of the personal or family problems that so often arise for most people and can tend to cast bleak shadows across our lives. It takes courage prompted by faith to look back and admit you've been wrong or that some of the blame is yours to bear. But the strength to bear is found in God's promise to His people. The Lord is your God and He is faithful. HHHe e is at your side always and should this year be the year that you at last come to see Him face to face then you will know the fullest most complete joy that there is to know. There is a prayer commending the dying to our Saviour that in part says, “May you see your Saviour face to face and rejoice in the presence of His company forever.” That the joy is shared by all the saints triumphant, including most recently for our own Norma Kreutz.
God willing, this coming year will have 366 days of meaning when you put your faith where your doubts are and reflect on how often you have seen the Lord at work in your life – though it may take hind sight to do so. I may have shared with you before the suggestion of a cousin who I think got the idea off Facebook. But consider taking a notebook and everyday this coming year write down one way that the Lord has blessed you. Then at the end of the year go back and read it through to see how blessed you truly have been. Give up going it alone and begin to experience the joy and inner peace that can only come from living your life in Christ.
It will be a year filled with a deeper, less shakable joy, as you learn to take seriously the promise of God when he says "I will never leave you or forsake you…” Call on me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you." The baby of the temple is the only One who can make the difference. Without Him your new year will be the same old blah, blah, blah. With Him you can come to see worries and doubts for the time-consuming and useless things they are. And perhaps for the first time you’ll begin to learn to give up more of yourself in order to trust in the hand of God as Simeon and Anna did. In each and every way that 2016 comes - the little everyday things - the dish washing, cooking, car and machinery repairing, snow shoveling, lawn cutting, eating, sleeping, watching TV, gaming, sharing time with family and friends – and the big things – the wedding of a child or grandchild, a baptism, confirmation, job promotion, serious illness, family conflicts, or grief - it will come to you as a child of God, as one of His people. Throughout it you can remember His promise given to you, the promise that He has come to save you from your sins, your doubts and guilt. He is here now to strengthen you and give you life, real honest to God life for He is your Lord. We are His people. Now let us praise Him with each new day He gives us for like Simeon and Anna, we have seen the glory of His salvation in Jesus. Amen.