The Psalm After Christmas

Thank you, men.

Well, as Matthew takes a little bit of time off,

word on the street is he's coming up to a big responsibility soon.

So he's taking a little bit of time off and seeing family.

And because we are Presbyterian,

we believe that we're all ordained men who can bring the word of God.

So it fell to me this morning.

So I have a question for you this morning.

What did you get for Christmas?

Was it something good?

Was it something that you're really planning on enjoying?

Or is it something that you just can't wait to re-gift?

And as I was thinking about this,

this will kind of give you a little bit of an insight into my brain

and how I work, and y'all can pray for my wife.

As I was thinking about gifts and good gifts,

I started thinking about exercise equipment.

And one of the reasons that I started thinking about exercise equipment

is I've never been to a Goodwill or to a used sports store

that didn't have a plethora of used treadmills, elliptical machines.

And I just happened to be watching TV,

and I saw this commercial for this exercise bike.

And this woman goes into the storeroom

and sees the exercise bike that her husband has bought for her.

And she starts sneaking around behind his back

to go use it before Christmas morning.

And at one point, wakes up at 2 o'clock in the morning,

puts on her exercise clothes,

runs out, exercises on it,

and then comes and gets back in bed.

And on Christmas morning is just so surprised

that she has gotten this exercise bike.

So I don't understand if that's the case for these exercise bikes,

why do so many of them end up at Goodwill,

used sports stores, in basements holding hanging clothes.

Don't raise your hands.

What is it about a good gift

that we love on Christmas morning,

but by February is holding boxes in dirty clothes?

Our passage this morning,

and it is from the New Testament,

not the Old Testament,

is Luke chapter 2,

Luke 2:22–38

verses 22 through 38.

So turn in or turn on your Bible

and follow along with me

or follow in your worship guide.

This is Luke chapter 2,

Luke 2:22–38

verses 22 through 38.

And when the time came for their purification,

according to the law of Moses,

they brought him up to Jerusalem

to present him to the Lord,

as it is written in the law of the Lord,

every male who opens the womb

shall be called holy to the Lord.

And to offer a sacrifice,

according to what it is said

in the law of the Lord,

a pair of turtle doves,

or two young pigeons.

Now there was a man in Jerusalem

whose name was Simeon.

And this man was righteous and devout,

waiting for the consolation of Israel.

And the Holy Spirit was upon him.

And it had been revealed to him

by the Holy Spirit

that he would not see death

before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

And he came in the Spirit

into the temple.

And when the parents brought in the child Jesus

to do for him,

according to the custom of the law,

he took him up in his arms

and blessed God and said,

Lord, now you are letting your servant

depart in peace,

according to your word.

For my eyes have seen your salvation

that you have prepared

in the presence of all peoples,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles

and for glory to your people Israel.

Verse 33.

And his father and mother marveled

at what was said about him.

And Simeon blessed them

and said to Mary his mother,

Behold, this child is appointed

for the fall and rising

of many in Israel

and for a sign that is to be opposed.

And a sword will pierce your own soul also,

so that thoughts from many hearts

may be revealed.

And there was a prophetess, Anna,

the daughter of Phanuel,

of the tribe of Asher.

She was advanced in years,

having lived with her husband

seven years from when she was a virgin

and then as a widow until she was 84.

She did not depart from the temple,

worshiping with fasting and prayer

night and day.

And coming up at that very hour,

she began to give thanks to God

and to all.

Father, we thank you for the gift of your word

as we study it corporately this morning.

I pray that you would remove me

from the equation

so that as we read and study,

the only thing that we see

is your son, Jesus Christ,

revealed to us through the Holy Spirit.

Father, open our hearts

and renew our minds this morning

as we read and study your word.

Amen.

So we see three different responses

to Jesus' appearance at the temple.

We see Mary and Joseph's devotion to the law.

We see Simeon's reaction

as he is waiting for the consolation of Israel.

And we're presented with Anna's overflowing praise.

So if you're keeping score,

we're going to look at

Jesus and Mary's piety,

Simeon's prophecy,

and Anna's praise.

So first let's look at

Mary and Joseph's piety.

Mary and Joseph were indeed richly blessed.

And it is vital that we understand

their devotion to the law of God.

And how it fits.

Because if you get this wrong,

you end up on a treadmill headed for hell.

And some of you may think that's hyperbole,

but it's not.

We have to understand this rightly.

When you look at verse 22,

Mary and Joseph brought up to Jerusalem

according to the law of Moses.

Verse 24,

they were obedient to the law of the Lord.

Verse 39,

which is outside of our reading.

They did not depart

until they had completed everything

according to the law.

Their obedience

looks a lot like the Pharisees.

But it's different.

And the difference is,

Mary and Joseph's obedience

is rooted in humility

and in gratitude.

We know this because

if you flip back to the previous chapter

in what's called The Magnificent,

when Mary prays,

she says,

verse 46 through 49,

My soul magnifies the Lord

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.

For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold,

from now on all generations will call me blessed.

For he who is mighty has done great things for me

and holy is his name.

These are not the words of someone

who is trying to be obedient

to earn something from God.

You see,

the Pharisees had taken the Ten Commandments

and they had set them up

to ensure that no one ever broke them.

And then they went a step further

and they said,

we need rules around the Ten Commandments

to make sure that we don't break the Ten Commandments.

So, for example,

you shall not work on the Sabbath.

That became,

you cannot wear shoes that have nails in them

because if you are walking with shoes

with nails in them,

you're carrying nails

and that's doing work.

If you spit on the ground on the Sabbath,

normally common courtesy is you cover it up,

but you can't do that on the Sabbath

because you would be moving dirt

and that would be tantamount to plowing

on the Sabbath.

But wait,

there's 613 do's and do not's

in the Old Testament.

That's more rules.

Let's set up some rules around them.

So now you have so many rules,

you have to have one thing more

because nobody can track all these rules.

You need referees

that you can go ask.

If you're about to break one of these rules,

whether or not it's okay.

And we're going to call these referees lawyers.

And that way you can go and ask a lawyer.

And what they did was they created

a system where people just went around

and looked for loopholes.

How do I get around this?

So the majority of the questions to the lawyers were,

how do I get around this?

How do I get past this?

It reminds me of W.C. Fields

was an actor in the old-timey Hollywood

in black and white films

and he led a life of great excess.

And at the end of his life,

one of his friends saw him in the garden

reading his Bible.

And the friend said to him,

what are you doing?

And his response was,

I'm looking for loopholes.

A modern example of this

is a man by the name of Smokey Yunk.

Now, many of us have never heard of this man,

but during the 60s,

he was the leading crew chief in NASCAR.

And the NASCAR officials hated Smokey

because his cars would go so much further

than anybody else's cars.

And they would test his cars

and they would fill them up with fuel

and they would hold exactly the right amount of fuel.

Well, the reason is because Smokey would

inflate basketballs in the gas tank.

And that way they would hold the exact amount of gas

and then he would deflate the basketballs

and pour more gas into them.

So they wrote a rule called the Smokey Rule

that you could not have anything else in the gas tank.

But his cars were still going so much further

than everybody else's cars.

So they wanted to inspect the car.

They brought it in.

They removed the gas tank.

And in my favorite Smokey story,

Smokey gets in and starts up the car

and drives off even though it has no gas tank.

Because Smokey had discovered

if you put enough fuel line from the gas tank to the engine,

you could hold an extra five gallons of fuel.

He was so prolific

at working around and finding loopholes

if you drove to church this morning,

there is a good chance you used one of his loopholes.

He had 12 patents when he finally retired from NASCAR.

I tell you this because

this is how the Pharisees thought

about the law of God,

not the rules of NASCAR.

How do we get around?

Mary and Joseph were humble.

The Pharisees prayed to be admired.

This is the difference.

You see, if you are trying to manipulate God through obedience

to get better kids,

a better marriage,

a better job.

What do you do when the wheels come off?

And the wheels will come off

because we live in a fallen world.

Some false prophets will say,

well, you just need to do more.

You just need to give more.

You just need to sacrifice more.

That is a lie from the pit of hell.

You can't sacrifice enough

to earn God's favor.

What are you going to give God

that He doesn't already have?

What are you going to do for God

that He can't do for Himself?

Joseph and Mary were pious.

And they were devoted to the law.

But it was not to earn God's favor.

It was because what God had already done for them.

C.S. Lewis says it this way,

and he has a way of saying things

very clearly and succinctly.

God does not love you because you are good.

God makes you good because He loves you.

You understand the distinctive there?

They followed God's law

because God's word said to.

And He is a loving Father

who wants what's best for them.

God's love for you.

God's love for you.

God's love for you.

God's love for you.

So that's Mary and Joseph's piety.

Simeon's prophecy

is the next thing I'd like to look at.

We're told that He was a man of Jerusalem,

that He was righteous,

that He was devout.

We're also told that He was waiting

on the consolation of Israel.

Or another way of saying this,

He was looking for the salvation of Israel.

I think sometimes when we picture this scene

of Simeon waiting for Mary and Joseph,

we tend to think these are the only two people

in the temple.

And that's not accurate.

I think a better way to think of it

is a busy market,

or even better, a mall at Christmas.

And there's no crowd control devices.

People are just a sea of humanity

going back and forth and back and forth.

And Simeon, over years of waiting,

has a good vantage point.

And he's watching.

And the Holy Spirit,

the third member of the Trinity,

has said,

Simeon, today's the day.

Something good is going to happen.

You're going to see the second member of the Trinity.

The salvation of Israel.

So Simeon, at a good vantage point,

head on a swivel,

looking back and forth across the crowd

and looking around

and waiting

as he's waited for so long.

And finally,

he sees Mary and Joseph.

Joseph more than likely

has now secured the two birds

and he's clutching them.

Because if they get away,

he's got to go buy more

and he doesn't have enough money

for more birds.

Mary is clutching Jesus.

And Simeon is making his way

through the crowd.

The sea of humanity.

And he approaches Mary

and probably just holds out his hands.

And Mary,

Joseph, unable to let the birds go,

really can't step in front and say no.

Mary now seeing,

she's seen the shepherds appear.

She's had Gabriel come in.

She's just,

just miraculous things are happening.

And she just hands Simeon her baby.

And Simeon,

what does Simeon do?

He says,

now I can die.

Now I can go.

Old Testament prophets have been,

this is not the first Old Testament prophet

to ask to die.

Elijah asked to die

because he wanted to escape his pursuers.

Moses wanted to die

because he wanted to escape his responsibilities.

Simeon is the first one that says,

I have seen the salvation of Israel.

I can go now.

I am complete.

I am full.

And then,

he sings.

As Matthew told us last week,

singing is the thing that,

the one thing that connects your heart

and your head

and your soul.

And Simeon sings

and praises the Lord with these words,

Lord,

now you are letting your servant depart in peace

according to your word.

For my eyes have seen your salvation

that you have prepared

in the presence of all peoples

a light for the revelation

to the Gentiles

and for glory

to your people Israel.

Now this is a radical song.

I mean,

if this had been playing over the loudspeakers

at the temple,

it would have been banned.

And that's the reason why we know

it's from the Holy Spirit.

This is not something that he picked up

at the temple.

Salvation was for the Jews,

not the Gentiles.

He then turns and prophesies to Mary.

We're told in verse 33

that Mary marveled

at these words.

Mary has been witnessing miraculous event

after miraculous event.

And when she recounts these words

to the beloved Dr. Luke,

who is writing this down for us,

she recalls these words,

Behold,

this child is appointed

for the fall and rising

of many in Israel

and for a sign that is opposed.

A sword will pierce through

your own soul also,

so that thoughts from many hearts

may be revealed.

Simeon tells her

that not only is your son

going to be opposed,

but some of this opposition

is going to spill over

onto you.

Simeon's prophecy

is as true today

as it was

when Simeon uttered it.

As I drive around

Colorado Springs,

I see lots of the little fishes

on the back of cars.

I also see

the little fish

with the feet

coming out of it

with Darwin written

in the middle of it.

I've seen the little fish

taken away on UFOs.

I saw one fish

in the mouth

of a Tyrannosaurus Rex

with Evolution

written on the side of it.

I don't see

the Muslim

or the Islamic scales

treated that way.

It's because

Simeon's prophecy is

Christ will be opposed,

not Muhammad.

And if you don't think

that Christ is oppressed

even today,

please see me

after the sermon

so I can inform you

of what's going on

in China.

Christ is opposed

even today.

And as Mary

is thinking

as she's telling Luke

and Luke is writing

this down

and she's remembering

these words

that Simeon

has told her

about how Christ

is going to be opposed

and it's even

going to pierce

her soul.

At the time

it would have been

like taking

your infant child

to the doctor

and the doctor

saying,

yes,

there's something wrong.

We'll just have

to wait and see.

And the anxiety

that that carries

with it.

But don't you think

as she is relating

this to Luke

after the resurrection,

the twinkle in her eye

as she has been comforted

by her resurrected son,

the Savior of the world,

don't you think

that she had

a little bit

of a grin

as she is recounting

this to Luke?

So,

we've looked at

Mary and Joseph's

obedience.

We've looked at

Simeon's prophecy

and his psalm.

Anna.

So,

now we turn

our attention

to the fifth

character of this

story,

Anna.

In these three

verses,

we're told about

Anna's lineage.

We're told that

she was the daughter

of Phanuel,

of the tribe

of Asher.

We're told that

she was old.

Not that it matters,

but I tend to side

with I.H.

Marshall on this

that the 84 years

means that she

was a widow

for 84.

It's not important

other than

she's between

84 and 103

years old.

She's old.

And at this time,

that's not unheard

of,

but not common.

So,

if you and I

were walking

down the streets

of Jerusalem

and I said

the old woman

at the temple,

more than likely,

we both knew

who we were

talking about.

And you have

to ask yourself,

why are all

these details

in here?

And the reason

that,

because they don't

move the narrative

forward,

they don't move

the story forward,

why are these

details here?

And the answer

is,

Luke doesn't

want to entertain

us,

he wants to

be accurate

with the

information.

When you see

details like this

in here,

it's proof that

the Bible is

true.

So,

Anna,

confronted with

the Christ

child,

the Savior,

the Messiah,

her response

is different.

Her response

is,

the same

response that

we all have

when we

encounter

something that

moves us.

We want to

tell people

about it.

If you eat

a meal at a

good restaurant

downtown,

some of us

take a picture

of it and

post it on

Facebook.

If you hear

a song that

just moves you,

you download it

and email it

to people.

When you

take a picture

that just

excites you,

you put it

on Instagram,

Anna is

not any

different.

The only

thing different

is the

technology.

She immediately

rushes out to

those people

that are waiting

on the redemption

of Jerusalem

and says,

guess what?

He's here.

her.

She's excited.

So here we

are, five

days after

Christmas.

Presents have

been unwrapped.

You're hopefully

enjoying them.

But did

Christmas this

year live up

to the hype?

Was it

everything that

you thought it

would be?

You see,

when we get

angry or we

get frustrated

or we're sad,

it's because of

unrealized

expectations.

We set up in

our minds

how the

event or the

activity or

the holiday is

going to go.

And if things

don't go exactly

the way that we

have them laid

out in our

mind, we tend

to go,

yeah, it was

great.

It just didn't

go the way I

thought it

would.

Anna and

Simeon were

waiting with

expectation for

the Messiah.

They were

waiting on the

Savior and they

were open to

God's provision.

Anna and

Simeon placed

their hope in

God.

Those that had

gathered at the

temple looking

for the

Redeemer of

Jerusalem were

putting their

hope into a

warrior, not a

five-week-old

infant.

The people

gathered there

at the temple

were paying

attention.

They were

waiting expectantly,

just like Anna and

Simeon.

But they put

their hope in

the wrong

thing.

They missed

it because

Jesus wasn't

what they were

expecting.

Anna and

Simeon point

to the one

thing that you

can put your

hope in that

will not

disappoint.

There is

someone who

will not let

you down.

He is the

gift of the

world.

Christmas is the

holiday that

marks when he

came in the

flesh.

As we sing at

Christmas,

incarnate.

He came to

this earth as

a real person

because it

takes a real

person to

save real

people.

He lived the

perfect sinless

life that we

cannot.

He died on a

cross to pay

for all of our

sins.

Let that sink

in.

He paid for

every sin

that you

ever committed

and every

sin that you

are ever

going to

commit.

Everything that

you're going

to do wrong

or that you

should have

done right

died with

Christ on

that cross.

If you are

in Christ

Jesus,

your account

is now

marked

paid in

full.

And the

reason we

know that

the check

cleared is

because on

the third

day he set

aside the

grave clothes,

moved the

rock, and

stepped out

of the tomb.

This is the

Messiah Simeon

and Anna were

waiting on.

This is the

Messiah they

had placed their

hope in.

gift.

This is why

when they

encountered

Christ they

sang and

they rejoiced.

This is the

gift that they

could not wait

to share with

others.

Christmas is

over and we

have received

the greatest

gift ever.

And I

implore you,

I beg you,

enjoy him.

Let's pray.

Father, we

thank you,

especially during

this season,

for the gift of

your son,

Jesus Christ.

Your son,

the servant who

appeared not in

power or as a

warrior or as a

conqueror.

He came in the

form of a

helpless babe,

born in

humility to

proclaim peace.

The servant who

set aside the

honor due him

in his name,

came to

redeem us.

Not because of

anything we had

done, no,

while we were

still sinners and

even worse,

enemies of God.

Christ suffered

and went to the

cross for us.

Such was the

Father, Son, and

Holy Spirit's love

for us.

This is the true

story of Christmas

that we love to

hear season after

season.

That the Father

loved us so much,

he sent his

son in human

form to do

what Adam could

not, to live a

perfect life, to

die on our

behalf, and to

say on the cross,

it is finished.

Amen.