WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:14.120 Well, again, let me say welcome to you all and Merry Christmas. 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:23.019 This is our final Christmas Sunday, and because of that, we're going to be singing Christmas 00:00:23.019 --> 00:00:23.559 carols. 00:00:23.559 --> 00:00:27.960 We're going to be focusing on Christmas themes. 00:00:27.960 --> 00:00:32.000 And these themes are wonderful because the more you understand about Christmas, the more 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:35.660 you understand about Christianity as a whole. 00:00:36.520 --> 00:00:41.520 And this morning, we're going to be looking at this passage that I think often gets overlooked 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:44.840 when we're telling the Christmas story, when we're thinking about the Christmas story. 00:00:45.100 --> 00:00:51.760 It's this encounter that happens at the temple at some point in Jesus' childhood when His 00:00:51.760 --> 00:00:54.439 parents bring Him to present Him and dedicate Him. 00:00:54.439 --> 00:00:57.899 And we see one of the world's first Christmas carols. 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:06.539 It's uttered by Simeon, this old prophet who's at the temple who has the honor of meeting 00:01:06.539 --> 00:01:07.819 Jesus face to face. 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:14.060 And as we look at this, as I said a moment ago, what I hope becomes clear is that as we understand 00:01:14.060 --> 00:01:18.439 the meaning of Christmas that we see embedded in this Christmas carol, we're going to begin 00:01:18.439 --> 00:01:23.840 to understand more clearly the meaning of the Christian faith, why it offers hope unlike 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:26.500 anything else we will find. 00:01:27.019 --> 00:01:32.019 This story, this encounter breaks down into four parts and each tells us something vital 00:01:32.019 --> 00:01:35.879 about Christmas and the Christian gospel. 00:01:36.159 --> 00:01:44.900 A spiritual longing, a salvation for all, a sign opposed, and a sword that pierces. 00:01:44.900 --> 00:01:46.200 Let's pray. 00:01:48.140 --> 00:01:52.820 Lord, we thank You for the freedom to gather together and worship Your name. 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:57.040 We know that the world, there's so much uncertainty right now in the world, so much anxiety. 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:05.520 We know that there are people who maybe wanted to be here but are fearful of COVID, and there 00:02:05.520 --> 00:02:08.900 are lots of people whose plans got disrupted because of these things. 00:02:08.900 --> 00:02:16.060 And Lord, this is a time of unrest, and I pray that, Lord, You in this time would minister 00:02:16.060 --> 00:02:18.099 and speak to us in ways that we need to hear. 00:02:18.180 --> 00:02:20.879 Some of us are here this morning just longing for comfort. 00:02:21.460 --> 00:02:25.819 Some of us are here and we're angry and we're frustrated or we feel alone, we feel isolated. 00:02:26.719 --> 00:02:30.680 Lord, whatever our needs are, whatever we're feeling this morning, I pray that You would 00:02:30.680 --> 00:02:33.540 speak through Your Word to us in ways that we need to hear. 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:36.860 We need to hear from our Heavenly Father this morning. 00:02:36.860 --> 00:02:41.060 We pray this, Lord, for our good and the power of Your Spirit and for Your glory. 00:02:41.420 --> 00:02:41.640 Amen. 00:02:43.960 --> 00:02:48.340 So first of all, a spiritual longing. 00:02:49.540 --> 00:02:56.320 Luke 2 is about, this passage in Luke 2 is a place where we meet two very important people 00:02:56.320 --> 00:02:58.180 in the Christmas story. 00:02:58.300 --> 00:03:01.240 We meet Simeon and we meet Anna. 00:03:01.780 --> 00:03:03.060 And they have a lot in common. 00:03:03.200 --> 00:03:05.120 They're both advanced in years. 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:11.740 They're both very devout and they spend much of their time praying and fasting at the temple. 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:14.980 And they are both doing the same thing. 00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:19.300 They're both waiting for the consolation of Israel. 00:03:20.439 --> 00:03:21.500 What does that mean? 00:03:22.219 --> 00:03:26.860 Well, the Jews at this time in history are living under Roman rule. 00:03:27.319 --> 00:03:28.319 They're occupied. 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:34.439 So while they have a certain amount of freedom, they're really overseen, dominated, controlled 00:03:34.439 --> 00:03:35.879 by Rome. 00:03:36.060 --> 00:03:39.659 And they had experienced a lot of suffering during this time. 00:03:39.780 --> 00:03:43.060 There had been attempts at uprisings that had been absolutely crushed. 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:53.159 They're people who felt like all of the glory, all of the greatness of their nation was in 00:03:53.159 --> 00:03:53.740 the past. 00:03:53.740 --> 00:03:57.280 And so they're waiting for God to do something. 00:03:57.420 --> 00:04:02.360 They're longing for God to come and sort of redeem them, bring them some kind of ultimate 00:04:02.360 --> 00:04:03.040 consolation. 00:04:03.300 --> 00:04:08.420 And many of them believed that the main thing they needed, the greatest consolation they could 00:04:08.420 --> 00:04:14.900 imagine, would be for God to overthrow Rome and restore them to their former glory. 00:04:14.900 --> 00:04:16.879 So that's what a lot of people are waiting on. 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:23.139 And God has given Simeon a crucial piece of information. 00:04:23.300 --> 00:04:25.519 We see this alluded to in verse 29. 00:04:26.340 --> 00:04:34.160 Simeon has been told by God that he's never going to ultimately be able to find peace until 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:35.560 he meets God's Savior. 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:43.060 He's never going to ultimately be able to find peace until he meets God's Savior. 00:04:43.060 --> 00:04:47.000 In other words, Simeon's deepest longing is not political. 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:50.220 It's spiritual. 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:54.280 His biggest problem is not political. 00:04:55.280 --> 00:04:56.500 It's spiritual. 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:04.439 His longings, in other words, would never be ultimately satisfied by any kind of revolution. 00:05:05.100 --> 00:05:11.220 His deepest longings could only be satisfied by a relationship with God himself. 00:05:11.220 --> 00:05:17.660 So he's waiting at the temple to meet God's salvation, a person who's coming. 00:05:18.620 --> 00:05:20.380 Now, why would this be the case? 00:05:20.520 --> 00:05:23.880 Why would his deepest longings, our deepest longings, be spiritual? 00:05:24.540 --> 00:05:30.180 Why would it be true that we will never know peace, never know ultimate consolation until 00:05:30.180 --> 00:05:32.860 we have a relationship with God? 00:05:32.860 --> 00:05:38.060 Well, very few people have written more thoughtfully about this than St. Augustine. 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:40.660 He reasons it this way. 00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:46.120 He says, well, if we understand God rightly, then God is a trinity of persons. 00:05:46.699 --> 00:05:52.840 One God, three persons in perfect eternal relationship with one another. 00:05:52.980 --> 00:05:57.160 Each person of the trinity is wholly other-centered. 00:05:58.860 --> 00:06:01.160 Wholly other-centered, right? 00:06:01.160 --> 00:06:04.420 And so within God's essence, there is relationship. 00:06:04.640 --> 00:06:08.840 So this is what it means when the Bible says that God is love. 00:06:09.820 --> 00:06:12.380 God's nature is loving relationship. 00:06:13.820 --> 00:06:21.520 And since we are made in the image of that God, we are made for the same thing. 00:06:21.620 --> 00:06:27.000 We're made for that other-centered, loving relationship with God. 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:34.259 And so Augustine reasons that without that, if we don't have that, then we end up turning 00:06:34.259 --> 00:06:34.860 inward. 00:06:35.100 --> 00:06:36.519 We become cut off. 00:06:36.620 --> 00:06:38.519 We become spiritually isolated. 00:06:38.740 --> 00:06:40.439 We become distorted. 00:06:41.660 --> 00:06:46.220 Much of the evil in the world flows out of that turning inward. 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:52.540 And Augustine says that we're actually less than human if we are not in that relationship 00:06:52.540 --> 00:06:55.180 that we were made to have with God. 00:06:55.180 --> 00:06:58.540 And ultimately, he says, we're incomplete. 00:06:59.540 --> 00:07:05.800 No matter what we do, we can't make ourselves whole because wholeness can only be found in 00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:08.740 relationship with God because that's why we were made. 00:07:10.199 --> 00:07:16.879 And so he says, you know, our lives are sort of pervaded by a kind of restlessness, a kind 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:18.040 of discontent. 00:07:18.040 --> 00:07:21.560 And it sits underneath everything. 00:07:22.520 --> 00:07:27.560 And, you know, we deal with this restlessness and this discontent in different ways. 00:07:27.660 --> 00:07:30.780 There's a lot of things that we do to self-medicate. 00:07:31.100 --> 00:07:32.900 Some of us do it by overeating. 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:36.560 Some of us do it by drinking too much. 00:07:36.660 --> 00:07:38.160 Some of us do it by shopping. 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:42.939 We're probably all thinking about the last couple of weeks and thinking, check, check, 00:07:43.080 --> 00:07:43.300 check. 00:07:43.300 --> 00:07:46.600 We do it by vegging out on devices. 00:07:46.819 --> 00:07:48.400 Some of us do it through pornography. 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:55.960 There's lots of ways that we self-medicate to try to deal with this pervasive restlessness. 00:07:56.180 --> 00:08:00.240 And, you know, a lot of these things bring momentary relief, but some of them are followed 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:05.220 by a sense of hollowness and self-loathing. 00:08:05.759 --> 00:08:06.920 They don't make us whole. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:09.080 They actually make us feel the opposite. 00:08:09.280 --> 00:08:10.240 They make us feel empty. 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:15.360 Some of us sort of have more sophisticated ways of seeking consolation. 00:08:15.720 --> 00:08:18.100 Maybe we seek it in the affirmation of others. 00:08:19.400 --> 00:08:23.400 Maybe we seek it through getting attention from the opposite sex. 00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:26.100 Maybe we seek it simply through escape fantasies. 00:08:27.139 --> 00:08:30.439 You know, fantasizing about what it would be like to have a different life or a different 00:08:30.439 --> 00:08:32.759 family or live somewhere else or have a different job. 00:08:33.139 --> 00:08:38.100 Some of us pour ourselves into our work and try to make ourselves whole that way. 00:08:38.100 --> 00:08:42.240 Some of us give ourselves to meaningful pursuits or social causes. 00:08:42.379 --> 00:08:46.340 You know, all of these are things that we do to try to create some semblance of wholeness. 00:08:46.580 --> 00:08:50.120 But what we find is, and I think that you would agree, I've certainly found this to be the case, 00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:53.300 none of these things ever really leads to true lasting peace. 00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:56.040 They never really leave us feeling whole. 00:08:56.300 --> 00:09:02.180 A lot of times they leave us feeling empty, robbed, let down, disillusioned. 00:09:02.179 --> 00:09:05.819 So the implication of this first point is this. 00:09:07.019 --> 00:09:15.079 Whatever you think your biggest need is, and man, with this year we've had, we could list a lot of valid things. 00:09:15.799 --> 00:09:22.239 You know, we mentioned COVID and we think about the ongoing sort of political instability in a country 00:09:22.239 --> 00:09:26.259 adjusting to all that's happened in the world of politics over the last couple of years. 00:09:26.259 --> 00:09:30.139 And think about the racial reckoning that's happening in our society right now. 00:09:30.240 --> 00:09:34.100 And there are lots of things that we could point to and say, that's the biggest need we have. 00:09:34.120 --> 00:09:36.100 And they're all valid needs, don't get me wrong. 00:09:36.439 --> 00:09:43.659 But whatever we think our biggest need is, our biggest need is actually spiritual. 00:09:45.019 --> 00:09:45.200 Right? 00:09:45.259 --> 00:09:48.360 So Israel thought their biggest need was for God to overthrow Rome. 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:50.120 We might think of some of the things I listed. 00:09:50.419 --> 00:09:53.179 We might think, you know, I just really need to find someone to marry. 00:09:53.299 --> 00:09:54.539 I need to finally have kids. 00:09:54.539 --> 00:09:57.279 I need to feel safe and secure. 00:09:57.959 --> 00:10:00.019 Maybe it's the approval of your parents. 00:10:00.539 --> 00:10:03.319 You know, you think, man, if I had that, then my life would be different. 00:10:03.419 --> 00:10:09.879 All valid needs, but the biggest need that we have is to be in relationship with God. 00:10:10.559 --> 00:10:12.679 That's the only thing that can make us whole. 00:10:13.519 --> 00:10:14.980 That's true consolation. 00:10:16.159 --> 00:10:18.559 And so this is why Christmas is such good news. 00:10:19.500 --> 00:10:22.559 If we move on to the second thing that we see in this passage, 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:25.839 we see the promise of salvation for all. 00:10:26.479 --> 00:10:31.819 Mary and Joseph bring Jesus as a child to the temple to present and dedicate him. 00:10:31.939 --> 00:10:34.699 They're simply following the law in that regard. 00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:37.139 And then they encounter Simeon. 00:10:37.419 --> 00:10:41.199 And here's what Simeon says upon meeting the child Jesus. 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:44.480 Lord, now you're letting your servant depart in peace. 00:10:44.940 --> 00:10:49.860 Finally, according to your word, from my eyes have seen your salvation, 00:10:50.440 --> 00:10:55.140 that you've prepared in the presence of all peoples a light for revelation to the Gentiles 00:10:55.140 --> 00:10:57.200 and for glory to your people Israel. 00:10:58.160 --> 00:11:01.740 You know, what's amazing here is that Simeon is realizing a few things here. 00:11:01.800 --> 00:11:06.280 He's realizing, number one, that Jesus is not merely God's consolation. 00:11:06.480 --> 00:11:08.259 He is God's salvation. 00:11:08.259 --> 00:11:12.299 This isn't just about making people feel better. 00:11:13.559 --> 00:11:15.939 This isn't just about comfort amidst grief. 00:11:16.039 --> 00:11:17.580 This is an answer to suffering. 00:11:19.259 --> 00:11:21.259 God's salvation has come. 00:11:22.659 --> 00:11:26.240 And notice he doesn't say, finally, this person knows how to gain salvation, 00:11:26.319 --> 00:11:28.080 and now he can tell us how to gain salvation. 00:11:28.259 --> 00:11:30.379 He says he is God's salvation. 00:11:30.379 --> 00:11:40.220 People are going to rise and fall, not depending on whether they implement this person's teachings, 00:11:40.439 --> 00:11:42.220 but on their relationship with him. 00:11:43.139 --> 00:11:47.559 People are going to rise and fall depending entirely on their relationship with Jesus, 00:11:47.720 --> 00:11:52.019 not having anything to do with what they've done, but whether or not they know him. 00:11:52.019 --> 00:11:56.740 And then he realizes that this isn't just for Israel, 00:11:57.699 --> 00:12:02.079 that Jesus offers true consolation for all people everywhere 00:12:02.079 --> 00:12:06.720 by saving them and bringing them back into relationship with the God who made them. 00:12:06.840 --> 00:12:09.919 So he realizes that the implications of this are profound. 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:16.379 So Christmas is the good news that God has made a way for all people everywhere 00:12:16.379 --> 00:12:20.959 to be reconciled to himself by sending his son into the world. 00:12:21.059 --> 00:12:22.679 That's what Christmas is all about. 00:12:22.740 --> 00:12:23.860 We say, well, great. 00:12:24.620 --> 00:12:25.620 What else is there? 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:27.620 That sounds like the end, the climax. 00:12:28.740 --> 00:12:30.039 There's a problem, though. 00:12:30.199 --> 00:12:36.339 There's a problem that we need to deal with for this news to really become good news for us. 00:12:36.340 --> 00:12:39.600 A sign opposed. 00:12:40.960 --> 00:12:42.040 Simeon goes on. 00:12:42.100 --> 00:12:43.160 The carol doesn't end. 00:12:43.560 --> 00:12:49.120 Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:52.340 and for a sign that is opposed. 00:12:53.780 --> 00:12:58.620 So then we ask, well, if Jesus freely offers salvation to all people, 00:12:58.800 --> 00:13:01.660 Jew, Gentile, Democrat, Republican, rich, poor, 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:04.900 if Jesus freely offers this to all people, 00:13:04.899 --> 00:13:10.459 then why would anybody oppose what he represents? 00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:15.819 Why would anybody oppose this sign of God's salvation and consolation? 00:13:16.740 --> 00:13:21.539 And the answer is that the only way to be in relationship with Jesus 00:13:21.539 --> 00:13:24.539 is to give ourselves completely to him. 00:13:25.819 --> 00:13:27.620 Yes, there's the rub. 00:13:28.899 --> 00:13:30.139 Here's the problem. 00:13:30.139 --> 00:13:35.340 On the one hand, God's consolation, his answer to suffering, 00:13:36.039 --> 00:13:39.319 comes in the form of a person. 00:13:40.759 --> 00:13:43.919 Jesus, who reconciles us to the God who made us. 00:13:44.460 --> 00:13:46.000 There's the wholeness that you're looking for. 00:13:46.360 --> 00:13:47.539 On the one hand, that's true. 00:13:48.100 --> 00:13:52.199 But on the other hand, in order to have that kind of relationship with Jesus 00:13:52.199 --> 00:13:54.679 that gives us peace, that makes us whole, 00:13:54.840 --> 00:13:57.960 we need to be willing to give ourselves fully to him. 00:13:57.960 --> 00:14:01.220 Which means, and here's the thing, giving up our independence, 00:14:02.220 --> 00:14:04.060 giving up our autonomy, 00:14:04.780 --> 00:14:09.240 giving up our sense of our ability to sort of determine our own course, 00:14:09.740 --> 00:14:12.139 to judge for ourselves right from wrong. 00:14:12.320 --> 00:14:14.680 We have to be willing to surrender ourselves to him 00:14:14.680 --> 00:14:16.820 and then depend on him 00:14:16.820 --> 00:14:19.000 and then follow him 00:14:19.000 --> 00:14:21.040 and ultimately to live for him. 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:25.159 So here's the problem in a nutshell. 00:14:26.259 --> 00:14:32.319 We have to choose autonomy or wholeness. 00:14:34.039 --> 00:14:37.120 Autonomy or wholeness. 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:38.179 What's it going to be? 00:14:39.819 --> 00:14:43.379 If we want wholeness, we have to give up autonomy. 00:14:44.120 --> 00:14:45.860 We have to give ourselves to Jesus. 00:14:45.860 --> 00:14:52.320 When we do that, the gospel says we can begin to taste and experience the wholeness 00:14:52.320 --> 00:14:55.120 that we're meant to find in relationship with God 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:56.259 because that's why he made us. 00:14:56.340 --> 00:14:58.399 We begin to realize, oh, this is why I'm here. 00:15:00.220 --> 00:15:01.600 But we have to give up our autonomy. 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:03.360 If you want to hold on to your autonomy, 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:05.519 if you want to hold on to your autonomy, 00:15:06.139 --> 00:15:09.480 you have to give up any hope of ever finding wholeness. 00:15:09.480 --> 00:15:13.779 You know, the benefit is we get to keep living as we please. 00:15:13.899 --> 00:15:15.620 We get to keep doing what we want. 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:18.740 But with that comes restlessness. 00:15:19.659 --> 00:15:21.300 There's a kind of irony in that. 00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:24.279 You can do whatever you want, but you'll never be satisfied. 00:15:26.759 --> 00:15:27.200 Isolation. 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:33.000 And ultimately that sets us on the road to dehumanization and self-destruction. 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:34.899 Think about that list I gave us earlier. 00:15:34.980 --> 00:15:36.779 Think about how many of those things that we do 00:15:36.779 --> 00:15:39.879 and then we overdo and then we overdo a little more 00:15:39.879 --> 00:15:41.319 and they end up destroying us. 00:15:41.419 --> 00:15:43.019 They end up breaking down our relationships. 00:15:43.299 --> 00:15:45.159 They end up dehumanizing us. 00:15:47.100 --> 00:15:50.240 Because all of the other sources we turn to for consolation 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:51.679 are ultimately going to eat us alive. 00:15:53.019 --> 00:15:54.639 Live long enough, you'll start to figure that out. 00:15:56.679 --> 00:15:58.419 Now some of us try to do both. 00:15:59.419 --> 00:16:02.319 And I would absolutely put myself in that category 00:16:02.319 --> 00:16:04.919 as I look back over the last 20 years of my Christian life 00:16:04.919 --> 00:16:08.559 and I think about what my relationship with Jesus has been like. 00:16:08.860 --> 00:16:10.979 I realize that many times, I hate to admit it, 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:13.539 but I probably try to have my cake and eat it too. 00:16:13.740 --> 00:16:15.519 A little autonomy, a little wholeness. 00:16:16.719 --> 00:16:19.279 You know, so we say that we want to follow Jesus, 00:16:19.419 --> 00:16:22.379 but what we really mean is there are some parts of my life 00:16:22.379 --> 00:16:23.579 that I'm willing to give to you, 00:16:23.740 --> 00:16:26.679 but other parts I'm going to hold back for myself. 00:16:27.779 --> 00:16:30.219 You know, we want the peace that Jesus offers, 00:16:30.379 --> 00:16:32.639 but we also love our autonomy. 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:35.659 So we say, you know, I love you and I'll follow you, Jesus, 00:16:35.799 --> 00:16:38.279 when it comes to liberating the oppressed or bringing justice, 00:16:38.439 --> 00:16:40.080 but not when it comes to my love life. 00:16:41.159 --> 00:16:42.600 That's for me. 00:16:43.659 --> 00:16:46.299 You know, we'll trust Jesus when it comes to our job 00:16:46.299 --> 00:16:49.080 and deciding what career path we're going to be on. 00:16:49.139 --> 00:16:52.019 We want vocational counseling that reflects our gifts 00:16:52.019 --> 00:16:53.980 and our wiring and our talents and all of those, 00:16:54.279 --> 00:16:56.500 our Enneagram and our Myers-Briggs and all of that. 00:16:56.559 --> 00:16:59.019 We want God to speak into that and tell us what to do with our lives, 00:16:59.019 --> 00:17:00.679 but not with our spending habits. 00:17:01.960 --> 00:17:05.079 That will hold back for ourselves, right? 00:17:05.180 --> 00:17:07.839 And this is why I think that there are so many of us Christians 00:17:07.839 --> 00:17:11.099 who have never really experienced peace or wholeness. 00:17:11.180 --> 00:17:13.319 We hear people talk about it up front on stage. 00:17:13.720 --> 00:17:15.160 I've never sensed that. 00:17:15.559 --> 00:17:18.759 My experience of Christianity is a lot of guilt. 00:17:19.160 --> 00:17:21.079 It's a vague feeling that I'm not doing enough. 00:17:21.379 --> 00:17:23.200 It's a lot of emptiness and disillusionment. 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:24.879 I'm not even really sure what I believe anymore. 00:17:24.880 --> 00:17:29.640 I think part of that is because we've never really given ourselves fully to Jesus. 00:17:31.180 --> 00:17:34.700 We sort of lived all of our Christian lives trying to have a little bit of wholeness 00:17:34.700 --> 00:17:37.480 and a little bit of autonomy, and a little bit of wholeness and a little bit of autonomy. 00:17:37.800 --> 00:17:38.260 And guess what? 00:17:38.280 --> 00:17:39.180 We don't have that option. 00:17:39.260 --> 00:17:40.020 It's one or the other. 00:17:41.720 --> 00:17:42.580 It's one or the other. 00:17:42.680 --> 00:17:44.440 That's why Jesus is a sign opposed. 00:17:46.600 --> 00:17:46.960 Right? 00:17:47.020 --> 00:17:48.240 That's why he's a sign opposed. 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:51.280 That's why he's always going to be opposed in this world. 00:17:51.279 --> 00:18:00.980 It is hard to imagine any culture anywhere at any point in history being more opposed 00:18:00.980 --> 00:18:03.399 to this idea than our own. 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:04.440 Right? 00:18:04.519 --> 00:18:08.539 Because personal autonomy may be our highest sacred value. 00:18:09.099 --> 00:18:11.639 That's the thing that many of us prize above all else. 00:18:11.740 --> 00:18:18.379 And so the idea that a faith would say, you know, you can finally find that wholeness that 00:18:18.379 --> 00:18:20.740 you're looking for, but you have to give up all of your autonomy. 00:18:20.740 --> 00:18:26.660 You have to give yourself fully and completely and unreservedly to the God who made you and 00:18:26.660 --> 00:18:29.099 to loving the people in the world that God made. 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:31.440 And then you're going to find wholeness. 00:18:32.339 --> 00:18:35.720 Many of us say, no, that runs against my wiring. 00:18:35.960 --> 00:18:36.700 And it does. 00:18:37.940 --> 00:18:39.640 Our culture says something very different. 00:18:39.640 --> 00:18:45.340 So we ask sort of, okay, well, you know, what hope is there? 00:18:45.980 --> 00:18:50.860 If our hearts are hardwired against this idea and our culture is hardwired against this idea, 00:18:51.100 --> 00:18:52.040 where do we turn? 00:18:53.100 --> 00:18:59.580 And that leads us to the last word from Simeon on Jesus and Christmas. 00:19:01.100 --> 00:19:07.020 He says, Jesus and the coming of Jesus is going to be a sword that pierces. 00:19:07.420 --> 00:19:08.940 A sword that pierces. 00:19:09.640 --> 00:19:15.820 What do you do if you're holding on to your autonomy and you're opposing the sign of Jesus 00:19:15.820 --> 00:19:17.400 because you can't imagine giving it up? 00:19:17.600 --> 00:19:18.840 You need your heart pierced. 00:19:21.360 --> 00:19:26.580 And in one sense, Simeon's talking about the impact of Jesus on all of us. 00:19:26.580 --> 00:19:31.680 He says that through Jesus, hearts are going to be pierced and the thoughts of many hearts 00:19:31.680 --> 00:19:32.920 are going to be revealed. 00:19:33.180 --> 00:19:33.980 What's he talking about? 00:19:33.980 --> 00:19:39.860 Well, on our own, most of us don't really know that we need saving. 00:19:40.099 --> 00:19:42.720 You know, I talk about that restlessness and that discontent, 00:19:42.819 --> 00:19:46.660 but most of the time I don't think we're really consciously aware of that. 00:19:46.740 --> 00:19:49.200 Most of us are actually pretty content in our lives. 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:54.319 And that longing for consolation is only something that we experience every now and then. 00:19:55.160 --> 00:19:58.259 But then Jesus begins to work on your heart. 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:03.100 And the way you know that Jesus is working on your heart sometimes 00:20:03.099 --> 00:20:08.599 is that you become less satisfied with the things that used to satisfy you. 00:20:09.259 --> 00:20:13.439 You go to all your go-to coping strategies to deal with the restlessness, 00:20:13.699 --> 00:20:15.639 but they just don't really do it for you anymore. 00:20:17.799 --> 00:20:20.219 They don't really satisfy like they used to. 00:20:21.299 --> 00:20:24.279 You know, food, drink, shopping, job, romance, vacations, 00:20:24.279 --> 00:20:27.139 they all kind of leave you feeling empty and you're more aware of that. 00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:28.699 Jesus is working on you. 00:20:28.700 --> 00:20:30.700 He's revealing the truth about your heart. 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:33.200 And then, and here's the real kicker, 00:20:33.420 --> 00:20:34.980 you start to become less satisfied, 00:20:35.080 --> 00:20:37.360 not just with what you're doing in your life, but yourself. 00:20:38.380 --> 00:20:40.400 That's the real sign that Jesus is at work. 00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:43.580 You begin to actually see the truth about yourself. 00:20:44.779 --> 00:20:46.900 You start to realize that you're not that good, 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:51.779 omnicompetent, sort of compassionate, enlightened person 00:20:51.779 --> 00:20:54.299 that you like to think that you are, that you project. 00:20:55.180 --> 00:20:57.340 You start to kind of see your own selfishness. 00:20:57.339 --> 00:20:59.579 You start to see your own pettiness. 00:20:59.779 --> 00:21:05.039 You are to, you know, you begin to see your sort of sense of overblown self-importance. 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:07.459 And these things begin to kind of stand out to you. 00:21:08.480 --> 00:21:13.500 And I think often Jesus uses the experience in our lives to reveal these things to us. 00:21:13.539 --> 00:21:16.019 You have an argument or a fight or you say something that you don't mean. 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:17.679 Right? 00:21:17.699 --> 00:21:20.019 You have some major failure and you're kind of reflecting on that. 00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:22.199 You're like, wow, I'm really not that good of a person. 00:21:22.379 --> 00:21:23.539 I'm actually pretty selfish. 00:21:23.539 --> 00:21:29.559 That's Jesus working on you, piercing your heart, exposing the truth about you to you. 00:21:31.420 --> 00:21:31.839 Right? 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:33.099 And so this begins to happen. 00:21:34.420 --> 00:21:39.759 So in one sense, this Simeon's talking about Jesus and the work that he does in all of our hearts, 00:21:39.879 --> 00:21:42.779 but he's also saying a specific warning to Mary. 00:21:43.059 --> 00:21:45.960 He says, and a sword will pierce through your own soul also. 00:21:46.859 --> 00:21:47.680 He's talking to her. 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:51.000 Now, Simeon's a prophet. 00:21:51.120 --> 00:21:52.299 We know that God speaks to him. 00:21:53.220 --> 00:21:58.500 And you can imagine as Simeon is holding Jesus and looking at Jesus, 00:22:00.299 --> 00:22:10.720 you can imagine God allowing Simeon to begin to see the awful, wonderful truth about the peace of Christmas. 00:22:11.240 --> 00:22:12.759 And here's that truth. 00:22:13.640 --> 00:22:16.240 The peace of Jesus does not come peacefully. 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:19.880 The peace of Jesus does not come peacefully. 00:22:21.059 --> 00:22:23.680 You can imagine Simeon beginning to put the pieces together. 00:22:24.039 --> 00:22:32.720 How can God offer salvation and consolation freely to people who would rather be their own gods than follow him? 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:36.099 How do you save people like that? 00:22:36.339 --> 00:22:41.339 How can Jesus possibly offer salvation to people who oppose him? 00:22:41.339 --> 00:22:44.220 How is Christmas possible? 00:22:44.220 --> 00:22:48.480 If God is looking at a world full of people who oppose everything that he represents, 00:22:48.619 --> 00:22:51.980 when the angels show up and announce Jesus' birth to the shepherds, 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:56.679 why was their declaration one of peace and not a declaration of war on humanity? 00:22:56.680 --> 00:23:00.320 Why is Christmas about peace? 00:23:00.320 --> 00:23:06.100 And why isn't it a kind of heavenly D-Day where God finally brings what's coming? 00:23:08.880 --> 00:23:09.500 How is this? 00:23:09.560 --> 00:23:12.200 And you can imagine Simeon putting all of this together, 00:23:12.560 --> 00:23:16.740 and he's looking at Mary's face and Joseph's face and looking that they're beaming at this child. 00:23:16.740 --> 00:23:19.200 And you can imagine him saying, how is all of this possible? 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:21.279 Jesus is going to pierce the hearts of many. 00:23:21.539 --> 00:23:25.500 But in the end, and here's the crushing realization, 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:28.279 Jesus himself is going to be the one who's pierced. 00:23:29.640 --> 00:23:30.940 And that's the secret. 00:23:32.519 --> 00:23:35.779 How do you pierce the hearts of many, expose the truth about people's hearts, 00:23:35.900 --> 00:23:38.319 bring salvation to people who don't even want it? 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:44.359 Jesus is the one who's going to be pierced. 00:23:44.359 --> 00:23:45.359 Jesus is the one who's going to be pierced. 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:49.319 Mary's great burden was not having to give birth to Jesus in a cattle stall. 00:23:49.519 --> 00:23:53.539 It was having to watch Jesus die on a cross. 00:23:53.619 --> 00:24:00.179 You can't celebrate Christmas without understanding the looming and the shadows of that cattle stall. 00:24:00.859 --> 00:24:01.759 We see the cross. 00:24:04.119 --> 00:24:08.279 Such an experience for a mother would be like having your very soul run through. 00:24:09.659 --> 00:24:14.099 But this is where we see God's answer to this dilemma. 00:24:14.359 --> 00:24:24.379 Because when that love enters your life, when you look at the cross, 00:24:24.819 --> 00:24:30.459 there's a point at which the love of the cross jumps off the page, as it were. 00:24:30.539 --> 00:24:33.479 It ceases being theoretical, and it pierces your heart. 00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:38.939 You begin to see that there's nothing in the world that can compare to Jesus. 00:24:38.940 --> 00:24:44.940 You begin to realize that this kind of love is worth sacrificing everything for. 00:24:45.820 --> 00:24:48.980 And that's when we begin to be willing to let go of our autonomy 00:24:48.980 --> 00:24:53.840 and begin to take our first cautious steps into wholeness. 00:24:55.039 --> 00:24:59.880 And what we need to understand is becoming a Christian isn't about taking a blind leap of faith. 00:25:00.220 --> 00:25:04.360 It's not about making a kind of intellectual assent to something. 00:25:04.359 --> 00:25:07.519 Becoming a Christian is about having your heart pierced. 00:25:08.599 --> 00:25:10.199 It's about having your heart pierced. 00:25:11.719 --> 00:25:14.219 You know, N.T. Wright, the historian and Bible scholar, 00:25:14.359 --> 00:25:17.399 tells the story of a Roman Catholic archbishop. 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:21.139 He was listening to this archbishop preaching a sermon one Sunday. 00:25:21.879 --> 00:25:26.000 And he says this archbishop told a story about three young boys who thought it was funny 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:29.799 to come into the Catholic church and to come in the confessional booth 00:25:29.799 --> 00:25:33.359 and to confess all of these kind of wild, outlandish things, 00:25:33.500 --> 00:25:35.000 just to see what the priests would do. 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:36.799 And then they would laugh and they would run out. 00:25:36.900 --> 00:25:38.160 And they had done this a couple of times, 00:25:38.259 --> 00:25:40.400 and the priests started to catch on what was happening. 00:25:40.559 --> 00:25:44.480 And so the next time these boys ran in and started to make their outlandish confessions, 00:25:44.900 --> 00:25:45.660 they laughed. 00:25:45.740 --> 00:25:47.500 And as they ran away, the priest jumped out. 00:25:47.640 --> 00:25:49.720 And two of them got away, but he got hold of a third. 00:25:49.720 --> 00:25:53.120 And he looked at that boy and he said, 00:25:53.240 --> 00:25:54.940 okay, you've made your confession. 00:25:55.339 --> 00:25:56.980 Now I'm going to give you a penance. 00:25:57.660 --> 00:25:58.460 Here's your penance. 00:25:59.480 --> 00:26:02.839 You see that painting on the far end of the church of Jesus on the cross? 00:26:02.920 --> 00:26:05.660 I want you to go over and I want you to stand in front of that painting of Jesus, 00:26:05.779 --> 00:26:07.559 and I want you to look at Jesus hanging on the cross, 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:09.660 and I want you to look at his face, 00:26:10.059 --> 00:26:11.220 and I want you to say this, 00:26:11.799 --> 00:26:14.420 you did all that for me, and I don't care. 00:26:15.400 --> 00:26:16.940 And I want you to say it three times. 00:26:16.940 --> 00:26:21.580 He says, the boy says, okay, walks over, he stands in front of the painting, 00:26:21.700 --> 00:26:22.820 he looks up at it, he says, 00:26:23.160 --> 00:26:25.340 you did all this for me, and I don't care. 00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:27.660 And then he says it again, 00:26:27.860 --> 00:26:30.360 you did all of this for me, and I don't care. 00:26:31.960 --> 00:26:33.980 And then he says he couldn't get it out a third time. 00:26:35.120 --> 00:26:38.120 Because at that moment, that love began to seep in. 00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:40.480 His heart was pierced. 00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:43.100 Chokes up, eyes filled with tears. 00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:45.140 And then the archbishop says, 00:26:45.140 --> 00:26:48.400 the reason I know this story is because I was that boy. 00:26:49.640 --> 00:26:53.880 And that's what set me on the course of coming into relationship with God. 00:26:54.540 --> 00:26:55.660 Changed my life forever. 00:26:56.440 --> 00:26:57.580 His heart was pierced. 00:26:58.360 --> 00:27:01.140 You can hear this stuff a thousand times, ten thousand times, 00:27:01.220 --> 00:27:04.580 but at some point, through the work of God in your life, 00:27:05.140 --> 00:27:06.759 this love pierces your heart. 00:27:07.520 --> 00:27:08.600 It pierces your heart. 00:27:08.599 --> 00:27:17.240 And only then do you begin to see the truth about the autonomy that we so desperately crave. 00:27:18.399 --> 00:27:20.559 That it is a worthless illusion. 00:27:22.019 --> 00:27:23.500 It is a worthless illusion. 00:27:23.500 --> 00:27:28.740 Having your heart pierced is painful, but it is also wonderful. 00:27:29.079 --> 00:27:31.960 Because that's what leads to true repentance. 00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:36.799 And repentance is really the only way we can begin to access that peace, 00:27:37.339 --> 00:27:42.279 and that rest, and that satisfaction that Jesus offers. 00:27:42.279 --> 00:27:47.220 You know, because repentance is really just about admitting the truth about ourselves to God, 00:27:48.059 --> 00:27:52.240 admitting that our hearts are hopelessly selfish and turned inward, 00:27:52.539 --> 00:27:55.339 and that our only hope is the cross. 00:27:56.599 --> 00:27:57.539 But here's the thing. 00:27:57.619 --> 00:27:59.440 When you experience mercy, 00:28:00.639 --> 00:28:05.000 you begin to realize why people who have been Christians for a very long time love to repent. 00:28:06.660 --> 00:28:08.359 Repentance isn't just something that we do once. 00:28:08.359 --> 00:28:10.719 What you begin to learn is, man, I love repenting, 00:28:10.759 --> 00:28:13.599 because then I get to access and experience more of God's grace 00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:16.059 and more of God's mercy pouring into my life. 00:28:16.519 --> 00:28:18.299 And then you begin to taste wholeness. 00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:19.919 And then you begin to feel peace. 00:28:21.740 --> 00:28:25.439 There's a sense of peace that comes after confession and absolution 00:28:25.439 --> 00:28:28.079 that is indescribable, 00:28:28.439 --> 00:28:29.439 that you just have to experience. 00:28:29.639 --> 00:28:32.000 But that's just a taste of what's on offer. 00:28:32.959 --> 00:28:35.819 And what you begin to realize is that repentance becomes a lifestyle 00:28:35.819 --> 00:28:39.740 because it's the way that we access God's grace and wholeness. 00:28:40.019 --> 00:28:43.779 And that's where we begin to find peace and rest and relief 00:28:43.779 --> 00:28:48.339 from this perpetual longing for consolation. 00:28:49.659 --> 00:28:51.480 And the more we experience God's grace, 00:28:51.559 --> 00:28:52.619 the more we learn the truth 00:28:52.619 --> 00:28:55.919 that a God who is willing to take on flesh 00:28:55.919 --> 00:28:58.700 and then to suffer and die, 00:28:59.659 --> 00:29:02.059 a God who's willing to give His life for you, 00:29:02.059 --> 00:29:05.379 is the kind of God that you can give your life to 00:29:05.379 --> 00:29:08.240 and trust that it's going to be in very good hands. 00:29:08.700 --> 00:29:09.299 Let's pray. 00:29:11.179 --> 00:29:12.819 Lord, we thank You for Your Word. 00:29:14.079 --> 00:29:16.240 We thank You that just as we just said, 00:29:16.319 --> 00:29:19.099 that there's more here going on than words and ideas, 00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:21.919 that there's a living, active God who's at work. 00:29:22.480 --> 00:29:25.720 And I pray this morning that You would be at work in us 00:29:25.720 --> 00:29:28.000 in all of the ways that we need, 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:31.980 that You would comfort those who need to be comforted, 00:29:32.119 --> 00:29:32.740 who are mourning, 00:29:33.339 --> 00:29:36.180 but that You would pierce the hearts of those who are complacent, 00:29:36.380 --> 00:29:37.779 who need to be stirred up. 00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:40.539 And we pray that in all of us, 00:29:40.599 --> 00:29:42.140 You would give us that sense of peace 00:29:42.140 --> 00:29:44.400 that is not only a promise, 00:29:44.740 --> 00:29:47.339 but a guarantee for those who walk with You, Lord. 00:29:47.380 --> 00:29:48.759 We pray this in Your Son's holy name. 00:29:49.000 --> 00:29:49.240 Amen. 00:29:49.240 --> 00:29:49.359 Amen. 00:29:58.000 --> 00:29:59.000 Amen.