Apostles Church

Merry Christmas! Since we will not be gathering together this Sunday to worship, we wanted to provideyou with a devotional for worshipping at home with family and friends. We hope that this is a wonderful Christmas for you and look forward to worshipping together on New Years Day at our combined service at St. George's at 6pm.

Christmas Day Devotional:

Begin by reading the account of Simeon receiving the baby Jesus in the temple from Luke 2.22-35.

The poor and humble are cast in the birth narratives. They are those who put their confidence in God and are trusting in his promises. Simeon is one of those people. The text does not tell us his age, but it would seem that Simeon is older. He has been waiting his entire adult life, hoping to see the consolation of Israel. This is a phrase that speaks of the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a Savior King who would bring forgiveness to God’s people, renew God’s presence among them, and reign among them freeing them from the oppressive power of their enemies. The land is occupied by a powerful oppressive nation – Rome. While others in the nation have just accepted the way things are, Simeon has believed a promise from God that the Messiah is coming to bring salvation. God is going to step in and bring hope and renewal to the world. God is going to save the day. Simeon is waiting with hope for God’s salvation.

Where do you need to experience God’s salvation? For some, it is at the deepest level. You need to experience God’s love and forgiveness in Christ. You need to know that Christ is a Savior King who has defeated your greatest enemies: sin, guilt, shame and death, by dying for your sins and rising from the dead so you could be forgiven and have eternal life. He has died to bring you to God and know him as Father and friend. For others of us who know salvation at the deepest level, we need to experience God’s salvation in specific areas of our lives. You need a breakthrough where God steps in and begins a work of renewal. Are you waiting with hope? Or have you just resigned yourself to the way things are?

God has made so many promises to you. Psalm 50:15, “Call on me in the day of trouble and I will answer you and you will glorify me.” Sometimes the waiting is long period. Simeon waited into his final days, but he would not resign himself to the way things were. God has given him a promise and he believed God for it.

Simeon is given this promise, and the Spirit leads him to the temple on this day when Jesus is being presented by his mother and Joseph. Simeon approaches the parents, takes the child into his arms and blesses God in song. What does this song tell us: Jesus is God’s provision of Salvation for all Peoples. Salvation – the forgiveness of sins, restoration to fellowship with God, and inclusion in his plan to bring about the renewal of all things. For All Peoples: Jew or Gentile, for all peoples. Jesus is the hope of the nations. Mary and Joseph marvel at this – Jesus will not be a local or national king, but a Savior for the World.

Now if this scene had a soundtrack to it, the music so far would be in a major key and it would be climatic and it would feel joyful and moving and hopeful, but then the music changes. It hits a minor key and turns grave and ominous and Simeon’s facial expression changes from joyful to serious and intense; the smile disappears, the eyes widen. And he says things that have yet to be spoken about this child. He will be rejected. He will be opposed by many. Not all will receive this King, in fact they will reject him. This rejection will mean painful suffering for him and Mary will feel the pain of it as well - a broad two edged sword will pierce her soul. This is fulfilled at Jesus’ crucifixion where Mary looks on weeping in anguish at the death of her Son. Jesus is physically pierced through the hands and feet and side, and Mary, is emotionally pierced through the heart, through her soul. Jesus is going to suffer. He is going to be rejected. He will be a King, but He will be a suffering King.

This means that he will be divisive. There will be those who believe in him and receive him and others who oppose and reject him. He will divide Israel and all humanity. He is appointed for the falling and rising of many. Those who reject him will fall (they will in turn be rejected by God – excluded from his mercy and kingdom), and those who receive him will rise (they will be lifted up and received by God – receive God’s mercy and belong to his Kingdom). In other words, how you respond to Jesus will determine your direction and your destiny.

Jesus has always divided people. Advent is a line in the sand that divides history, and it divides humanity. Notice that the text says, “so that many hearts may be revealed.” How one responds to Jesus reveals one’s posture toward God. You cannot be positive toward God and negative toward Jesus. To receive Jesus is to receive the One who sent him. To reject Jesus is reject the One who sent Him. How one responds to Jesus exposes the hearts condition. Jesus is the light but people reject the light because they love the darkness. They close their eyes to the light because the darkness is more pleasing to them.

The Song of Simeon teaches us that Jesus is God’s provision for our salvation. He is the One we need. Forgiveness and restoration to God is found in him. Life abundant and eternal are found in receiving him and knowing him. And though he came to bring peace between people and God, he divides people. Some will receive him others will reject him. The Spirit will reveal Christ to some and they will see him as Savior and Lord, the greatest treasure and our only hope. Others will not see him, but will close their eyes to him and prefer the darkness over him. For those who see him and receive him and experience God’s salvation, they continually trust in Him, looking to him to bring about his good purposes in their life. They know he has decisively dealt with the greatest trial of their lives (sin and guilt) and they can trust him to deal graciously with the lesser trials of their lives. They wait on him to see his saving help come to their personal lives and relationships. They continually hope in Him. They do not resign themselves to the way things are but look to the one who has saved them and trust in Him to save them even now. This is the beauty of Advent; this is the beauty of Jesus. Enjoy him today as you celebrate his coming among us. Merry Christmas.