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Matthew 14: 22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while Jesus dismissed the crowds. 23 And after Jesus had dismissed the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. 

IMMEDIATELY following the miracle of feeding the 5000 plus, a miracle has just taken place. Can you imagine the scene? Thousands of people were fed both spiritually and then physically! Amazement was in the air.  Awe and wonder were palpable. This wasn’t a miracle where one person was healed and the crowd witnessed it, no, every one of them had received fresh fish, fresh bread, as much as they wanted for free. They didn’t have to buy it. It was served to them.  They didn’t have to go get it. The disciples got to be the givers of this wonderful meal and receive first hand the peoples gratitude, delight.  Heady stuff I would imagine.  Now they’ve all eaten, it’s late and many might want to linger, enjoying the fullness of their tummies and spirits.  But Jesus, the Great Shepherd, doesn’t linger there. No, Jesus didn’t linger in the afterglow and bask in the excitement of the successful ministry effort.  Immediately, He sent his disciples on ahead of Him, immediately He dismissed the crowd. Immediately after this amazing miracle, He went alone to pray. 

It’s been said that we’re more vulnerable to sin after a victory than a defeat.  How easy it is to misappropriate all the wonder, the gratitude as you hand yet another hungry family loaves and fishes and see their delight, hearing the kids squeal with joy as they get their fish too.  How easy to start taking pride in your involvement and take our eyes off God. In our ministry world today, we eager beavers, would want to get together on Zoom ASAP and begin brainstorming about how to duplicate this great success and make improvements to the process so it can be even better next time. If the shoe fits…take it off!

Jesus knows how to lead. Sometimes excitement can dilute devotion.  The best thing we can do after a successful ministry event? Climb a mountain, get alone with God, and pray. Let Him frame your perspective.  It’s not that its wrong to reminisce and enjoy the fact that many people were fed, or our event went well, but do it after you’ve been with God, humbled yourself and allowed Him to give you understanding.  After a victory, go to prayer. Jesus does this.

He sends the disciples to row a boat…right into a storm. I don’t know about you, but I think this is brilliant Shepherding.  What better way to guard against pride and foster humility after you’ve distributed untold loaves of bread and fish to a hungry crowd, than to put you in a boat, give you a physical work out rowing against the wind, with a storm coming to remind you of your limits and powerlessness.

So Jesus begins to climb the mountain and the disciples begin to row. Picture it.  The disciples begin rowing their boat looking toward the shore, watching Jesus climb the mountain.  I wonder if the wind was against them from the beginning? I wonder if they called to Jesus hoping he might hear them and come with them, or bid them return until the winds die down? To their credit, they obeyed and even though the winds were against them, they didn’t quit.  They kept rowing. Jesus didn’t come. The winds got stronger. They kept rowing. Jesus still didn’t come.  They fought the wind, boat tossed and beat, making little progress, kept rowing and kept obeying. Might they have become discouraged?  Probably.  Might they have become confused?  Maybe.  Might they have been exhausted? For sure. 

What do you think the conversation was like on the boat?  I can imagine what it would be like if I had been in the boat.  Where is Jesus?  Why did He send us away without Him? This is a waste of time and energy! What possible good could this do? Why couldn’t we have stayed with Him? Does He care that we’re out here about to die!!!  

What might you have said?

Beloved, you ever been in that boat?  Are you in it now? Have you ever felt like in obedience to what You believe God has asked you to do, that He sent you straight into a storm and He didn’t even get in the boat with you?  Hour after hour, month after month, or sometimes year after year, and you’ve been rowing and rowing, obeying and obeying, being beat up by the wind, tossed back and forth by the waves, and He’s not coming. He’s still not coming.  Ever questioned His leadership in your life? 

What do you think He’s doing?

HE’S PRAYING!  Jesus is praying!  Be honest, not a satisfying answer, is it? He’s praying! Ok, sure, but why doesn’t He do something?!  We don’t like to admit it, but I’m not sure we understand the value of prayer like Jesus does.  He’s with the Father, talking to the Father, about you! That’s good news. He prays perfectly. His prayers get answered. 

As in our text, while the disciples were on the water fighting the storm, Jesus was on the mountain praying. So today, in the midst of our storms, “It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” Rom 8:34, and, “Therefore Jesus is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25 and I John 2:1,  “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Jesus is talking to the Father, interceding on our behalf right now.  He is the Great Intercessor, our Advocate. Hallelujah. THATS GOOD NEWS CHURCH.  And the Spirit of Christ, Holy Spirit is also with us!

What if Jesus did know the storm was coming,  and as the Good Shepherd that He is, He knew there was ground to be won in prayer on behalf of his disciples, and His “immediate” sending away and dismissing crowds was due to His urgent desire to get to the Father and intercede? Could His urgency in addition to being alone with His Father, have included the thought, “Father must be sought, there is a storm ahead?” I can tell you He wasn’t seeking solitude for selfish reasons.

I find again and again in my life when I am struggling in a storm like a global Pandemic, a national shaking, political cancer that is ravaging the country, relationships strained to a breaking point, that my all to quick assumptions about God are usually wrong.  There is more to His ways than I know. What is Jesus doing now?  Praying.  If we understood and appreciated the power of prayer and the way the Lord governs, we would rejoice and take courage that Jesus is talking to the Father about us, about what’s going on right now. And we might do the same, pray.

Verse 25 continues,  And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus came to His disciples, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw Jesus walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 

Between 3-6 am Jesus comes.  By this time they had been rowing for hours and only made it about 3 miles, still having a couple of miles to go. They had likely stopped watching for Him, were sleep deprived and cross with one another, fear gripping their hearts so that when Jesus came, they didn’t even recognize Him but freaked out and started screaming…GHOST!  

IMMEDIATELY Jesus speaks to calm their fears, identifying Himself.  “Take heart, it is I, Do not be afraid.”  He immediately comforts them and admonishes them to not fear.  How do you hear “Do  not be afraid?”,  as a suggestion or a command?

Doubt in God can blind us. You will not see what you don’t believe. As we are beaten by the winds and tossed in the boat of this national storm…are we so weary, upset, angry, doubtful that we have quit watching for, expecting Jesus?  God is present and at work.  Jesus is talking to the Father about our situation and at the perfect time He will come.  I wonder if we will recognize Him?  Nevertheless Jesus takes no offense.  He knows our frame.  He remembers that we are dust. He immediately identifies Himself so His own can come back to Truth.  This comforts me greatly. He will come and He will be known. Take heart beloved…Do not be afraid.

Verse 28, And Peter answered Jesus, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when Peter saw the wind, Peter was afraid, and beginning to sink Peter cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of Peter, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Peter wants to do what Jesus is doing – walk on the water.  This is how I picture it:  Jesus is getting close to the boat, when Peter asks if he can walk on the water, Jesus stops so Peter can come to Him, the storm still raging moving the boat away, Jesus waits, smiling.  Peter steps out, walks on the water and Peter comes to Jesus.  How cool was that?  Wouldn’t it be great it the story ended there? Peter and Jesus dancing together on the waves, doing cartwheels on the water, laughing with joy and delight. Peter experiencing personally, Jesus, the Son of  God, like never before, in total command of nature, free from fear of the storm, of drowning. 

But, that’s not the end of the story. Peter, like me and perhaps you, was too weak to keep His eyes on Jesus.  The temptation (or should I say desire) to look elsewhere too strong; He paid attention to the wind.  Think about it, Peter is walking on the water.  Jesus is walking on water.  Peter is with Jesus, close to Him. Peter sees Him, has heard His voice, has been commanded to come to Him on the water, and has been told not to be afraid. And what does Peter do? He pays more attention to the earthly goings on than to Jesus. Somewhere deep inside him, there are traces of doubt in hiding.  We have doubts we know not of…doubts that are buried deep, that won’t surface on the mountain, but are excavated in a storm.  Beloved, we don’t know ourselves.  But our great Intercessor, the Great Shepherd of the sheep does know us and He doesn’t condemn us. 

What does Jesus do when Peter begins to sink and cries out, Lord, save me?  He immediately reaches out His hand and saves Peter.  Not from the storm, from himself – Peter’s own misdirected attentions, His own doubts caused Him to sink in the presence of Jesus.  

With Jesus present, is the storm an issue?  No!  Why did Peter sink?  He paid attention to the wind and doubted Jesus. 

When I am sinking in a storm, it’s easy to blame others, sometimes that other is God, sometimes it’s Joel, (sorry, honey!) sometimes it’s “they and them,” or government, or a leader, or a pastor.  But if I am sinking in a storm, the finished work of the cross a realty, Jesus interceding for me, the Spirit of God with me,  it’s most likely because I am paying attention to the wind and doubting Jesus.  

Blaming a situation, another person, a system, a political party, a pandemic for our sinking is to miss the real enemy. Sin is the problem: my sin, our nations sin. And as horrible as abortion, racism, social injustice, pick your pet national ill, these are symptoms of the deeper sin of an unsurrendered heart to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, a vulgar hunger to go our own way and live as if He’s of no consequence. 

Today, in your personal storm, in our national mess, is Jesus present?  He is.  Hear Him say church, “Take heart, It is I. Do not be afraid. O you, of little faith, why did you doubt?”  

What to do?  Did Peter fail?  No! Peter did the absolute right thing, indeed the only thing to do in light of his taking his eyes off Jesus, paying attention to the wind and doubting.  He looked back to Christ, ignoring the wind and waves and cried out to Jesus.  “Lord, save me,”  It took sinking to help him to that! But he did.

He prayed a tremendous prayer:  Lord, save me.

It’s not too late for me, it’s not too late for you, it’s not too late for our nation to be saved, no matter the depths we have sunk.  If you think so, ask Jonah.  Dying in the belly of a great fish, all hope lost, no rescue fathomable.  That’s what it took for him to turn back, to get his eyes of his perceived injustice that God would save such a wicked city and once again pay attention to the God Who does as He pleases and Who alone can save.  

Listen to His prayer:  

I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and He answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice.  For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all Your waves and Your billows passed over me.  Then I said, “I am driven away from Your sight; yet I shall again look upon Your holy temple.”  The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains.  I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; Yet You brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.  When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to You, into Your holy temple.  Those who pay regard to vain idols (read, pay attention to the wind) forsake their hope of steadfast love.  But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to You; what I have vowed I will pay, “Salvation belongs to the Lord!”

And the Lord spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah out on dry land. Jesus immediately reached out His big, strong, overcoming hand and takes hold of Peter. It’s not too late church. God saved Jonah. God saved Peter. God save us.

Can you imagine the scene when Jesus grabbed Peter’s hand and saved him? I bet they locked eyes as He drew Peter to Himself and they had a glorious moment on the water, in the midst of the storm, perhaps dancing a bit, laughing, hugging and enjoying the walk to the boat. Peter did walk on the water.  He did. In the storm, with Jesus, only with Jesus, his eyes fixed on Him. Peter knows more now than he did before…more about Jesus and more about himself. And the storm is of no consequence.

Verse 32, And when Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped Jesus, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Indeed He is the Son of God. 

What “wind” might you be paying attention to, in the presence of Jesus?  

What if we prayed in the midst of whatever storm we find our selves in, the storm we are in as a nation with Jonah’s and Peter’s self awareness? What if we prayed, “Lord, save me,” recognizing and owning our own doubts, repenting of blaming others, repenting of paying attention to any and everything more than Jesus.

Church, we have doubted, we have look away. Can we pray on behalf of our selves, on behalf of the church, on behalf of our nation, “Lord, save me”?

This week, beloved, why don’t you turn off the news. You know we have this misconception that the news is a public service.  It’s not.  It’s big business.  And what they sell is fear and humanism.  Quit consuming it.  Quit paying attention to it.  And instead, lets do this together:  Read the words in red.  What if you sit down with your Bible, start by getting still and silent, allowing your thoughts, fears to settle, then after a few minutes open to a gospel and begin reading Jesus words.  Read them slowly, listening to Him. Let Him speak to you.  He will comfort you.   He will strengthen you.  He will reach out His hand and pull you up above the storm.  Turn your eyes to Jesus, look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.  And then pray, believing. Three times in this passage Jesus immediately acts to lead, shepherd, comfort, save. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. Take heart.

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord sits enthroned as King forever. May the Lord give strength to His people!  May the Lord bless His people with peace.  Amen.

This is a homily I preached Sunday, the week after Easter Sunday. The text is John 20:19-31. Be blessed.

The text opens with the disciples behind closed, locked doors on the evening of that day, (of Christs resurrection) the first day of the week, for fear of the Jews. Mary had testified to seeing Jesus earlier and several had seen the tomb empty, but Jesus was still gone. These are people, like us, who have lost Someone they loved. They didn’t just believe in Jesus, they loved Jesus.  And Jesus had been killed.  They believed He was the Son of God, but He was also their Friend, their Companion, their Teacher.  The one with whom they felt secure.  Jesus would know what to do if He were here, He always knows what to do.  Furthermore, this One they loved had been betrayed by someone they thought they knew who had then committed suicide.  This One they loved had been unjustly accused, violently beaten, raged against, publicly killed while people mocked and scoffed.  Not to mention the guilt they might have felt, many of them had deserted him themselves in those last hours. Talk about trauma. 

The effects of all that on our psyche, emotions, bodies, beliefs, are enormous.  All that Jesus’ empty tomb meant had not penetrated their grief.  A few days is not enough time for hearts to heal, for heads to clear, for promises to matter.

Have you seen death up close and personal? Have you sat with a loved one as they slipped from your grasp, passing to somewhere beyond your physical presence? Think for a moment about that time.  The one you love is gone.  For some, like me, it was a child, too young to die. For some, perhaps a violent ripping away in an accident of some kind, or worse in an act of rage or criminal activity, for some perhaps a sudden physical malady, like a heart attack or aneurysm that took their life before you could say goodbye. For some, an aging parent who had lived a long life and you had time to say what needed and wanted to be said, but still…they are gone and your heart is crushed. I would suggest to you that this is where the disciples are this evening. 

And in this context, JESUS CAME.

Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.” How would you feel if your loved one whom you had buried just days before walks in the room; not a vision of them, but them truly?  If my daughter walked back into the room after her death, I can see myself looking deeply into those blue eyes, “Is it you, really my Mikal?”  I can imagine patting my face to see if I was awake, looking around the room at everyone else to make sure they are seeing her too.  Is this real?  And what joy! Oh my, what joy! Wouldn’t you do the same if your loved one suddenly appeared from the dead?  How happy would we be?  Overjoyed.  Our grief would vanish in joy. The questions around our confusion and sorrow, would lose their importance. All the “Why’s?” we ask, trying to understand or make sense of loss, no longer there. She’s back!  

What alone can take grief of death away? Reunion!  Not time. I buried my daughter over twenty years ago.  In a heartbeat, I could be on the floor weeping and missing her like it happened yesterday, save for the grace of God. Love knows not time, and the pain of separation from those we love we never get over. But reunion, reunion eradicates grief. That’s what happened to our brothers and sisters in this passage…reunion. Jesus is here! Feel that joy for a moment. I can imagine how I would feel and it’s glorious. Beloved, reunion is coming, a living hope because of the resurrection of Jesus. I want to invite you to believe that with me all over again. Embrace it fully and let it inform your life, both sorrows and joys. Jesus is coming back; the dead in Him will be raised; a glorious reunion is coming and all grief will be vanquished…forever.  Dwell on that a while. 

And what does Jesus say and do? He says, “Peace be with you.” This was a post-resurrection, “Peace be with you.” One commentary noted: This symbol-laden greeting is the equivalent of “it is finished”(John 19:30). This was the peace of reconciliation to God. Then He shows them His wounds. The display of wounds is not only an act of identification, a proof to the disciples that the man standing in their midst is Jesus, but also, they explain the wellspring of His peace. The peace of God was entirely dependent on these specific wounds—the scars from the crucifixion declare peace for the world.  Beloved, because of the resurrection of Jesus, we have PEACE WITH GOD! All other kinds and types of peace we desire hang upon this greatest peace and we have it! When we pass the peace, do we know what we are doing? Real peace has been won for you. Embrace this by faith and rest in that a while.

And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. In Genesis 2:7, God creates humanity by breathing into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life. What God did in the OT to create humanity, the glorified Jesus does to create a new humanity, which has new life by Jesus’ breath.

Jesus breathing His Spirit on them is a beautiful picture of Jesus helping them to understand the new way of relating to Him. They were not going to “be with Him” physically for a while, but by Holy Spirit, His very Spirit He would be in and with them always. Instead of being limited by a physical body that can only be in one place at a time, Jesus, by His Spirit was going to be in all of them at all times.  Now, we are never alone.  Jesus is with us, in us, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Rejoice in that a while.

When the disciples told Thomas “We have seen the Lord.”  He wasn’t having it. His pain at the death of Jesus was too great to risk getting his hopes up and them being dashed again, so he stated his conditions to believe in no uncertain terms, “Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.” Wow. What a statement. Sadly it’s a statement I’ve heard numerous times. Usually it’s more along the lines of, “After the way they treated me, I will never believe!” Or, “If God loved me, He wouldn’t have (fill in the blank). I’ll never believe.”

Jesus understands. His raw emotional pain was saying: I loved Jesus and I thought this was going to go another way, and the way it went, is so horrible, so not what I thought, so hard to understand, so messed up, that I’m not taking that chance again.  I think Thomas may have thought, I saw Him heal so many.  I saw Him multiply bread and fish.  I watched Him walk on water and speak to a storm to be still and it obeyed. I saw him raise Lazarus who had been dead 4 days!  But He didn’t come off the Cross. He died. So, I want definitive proof before I engage my heart again. I trust my senses, and my understanding, more than your words, your testimony.

Ever felt like Thomas?  Have you ever had your Christian hopes dashed?  Have you ever walked with Jesus, hearing Him say things and seeing him do things, and thinking you knew where you were going and suddenly hell seemed to break into your Christian life and rob you of something dear, all the while, it seemed, Jesus stood by and did nothing: Didn’t answer your prayer like you wanted, allowed something to happen, dare we voice it, that He shouldn’t have let happen to you?  Ever been there? We run ahead of Jesus in our minds so easily and so often. We think we know…and when we find out we don’t know, we begin to doubt God’s love. We don’t understand the mercy in the restraining love of God.  It’s too big for us. When you think God didn’t do what He should have done, I want to encourage you to look at the cross of Jesus Christ. Because on that day, His very Son was hanging on that cross dying and He had power to save Him, yet He restrained His power for love of you. The day my daughter died, I used everything within my power to save her. If I had had more power I would have used it all. To have power to save my child and yet restrain my power for love of another is beyond what I could do. Yet, God restrained His power and did not save His only Son so He could save you and your children. That’s power, a mysterious love beyond our understanding. The next time He doesn’t seem to answer your prayer the way that you want Him to, consider the Cross of Jesus and thank God He restrains Himself sometimes and doesn’t do what makes sense to us, what we would do. Hallelujah!

Eight days later, His disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came. 

Again, Jesus came.  Pronouncing the blessing of Peace, this time to Thomas as well, he helped Thomas, loving him, patiently teaching him.  This is a beautiful reality in our life in God.  He comes.  Again and again, He comes to us.  He comes to us primarily through His written word which carries His breath – His life giving Spirit. He also comes in dreams, visions, through other people, in countless ways, He comes.

Believe that.  Take courage.  Jesus comes.

And the faith that Thomas had in Christ, came forth in his response, 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” What a statement! It’s a beatitude for me and you.

How could one believe in the risen Lord without the benefit of a resurrection appearance? For Thomas, faith came by hearing the word of the risen One addressing him personally. For those who come after, me and you, faith comes through hearing the risen One speak to us personaly through the written word of God by the Holy Spirit. I think that’s what Jesus was saying. Thomas, you can believe without seeing me in person.  My words will come to you now, through others by the Holy Spirit. 

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.

Beloved, we do not have to see to believe.  We do not have to understand everything that happens to believe. We can embrace the mystery of God, there will always be things we don’t understand or didn’t see coming.  We do not have to like everything that happens to believe.  We don’t have to have perfect relationships to believe. Our faith in Jesus comes by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God.  All the things written by people who saw Jesus alive have been written so we can believe. I want to encourage you today not to decide whether you are going to believe or not believe based on church people. Base your belief in the Word of God. Because that excuse will not stand in The Day. The Word of God is a means of grace to help us believe. Read and meditate on God’s word, live in it and give the Holy Spirit a lot to work with.

I would guess that most, if not all, reading this have been touched by death in some way, some perhaps very recently.  In the midst of this pandemic, we are made aware of our vulnerability to something we can’t control, and we can’t see.  An invisible, airborne virus, potentially lethal lurks about. We can’t see it, but we believe in it.  I also believe its true because someone I know and trust personally had it, was very sick, was in ICU, was put on a ventilator and didn’t know if he would ever come off of it. He did recover. And I believe his testimony.  He experienced it up close and personal. I choose to believe him about this virus.  I believe it and it’s caused me to change my behaviors.  Patterns have been altered, and perhaps permanently changed.  There were things I used to do that I don’t do any longer, and things I didn’t do that I am finding myself doing now. Pandemic or not, death touches us. And we believe in things we don’t see all the time.  

In I Peter 1: 3 and following, the Apostle Peter, likely at the very end of his life, has a fuller understanding of Jesus’ resurrection than he had on that first Easter night. He’s come through that liminal space he was in and has walked with Jesus, not in the flesh, but in the Spirit for some time.  

He encourages us, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  By His great mercy He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead… In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that …your faith…may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Although you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Consider taking verse eight of I Peter 1 and making it your prayer of proclamation:  Make it personal.

Although I have not seen Him, I love Him; and even though I do not see Him now, I believe in Him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for I am receiving the outcome of my faith, the salvation of my soul.

Hallelujah and Amen.

It has been said, “With any invitation from the Lord there is a cooperative dimension, and we must set our hearts toward obedience.” 

Father, speak through Joseph and Mary and give us open hearts to receive.  In Jesus Name,  Amen.

 Let’s consider Joseph and Mary.

In Luke 2:1,  scripture says,  “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered…And all went to be registered, each to his own town.  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem…to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.”  

Just months prior to our text today, Joseph and Mary’s plans were upended by the conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit.  This bright young couple, favored of God, now had a stigma attached to them, great upheaval and radical reordering of their lives ensued.  Decisions had to be made, heart choices tested as they responded to this divine invitation. Additionally, when it was close to time for Mary to deliver, Caesar Augustus further complicates their lives by issuing a decree to all the known world – Register! This had not been done before.  And proved a major inconvenience.  It was over sixty-five miles between Nazareth and Bethlehem.  This wasn’t an easy request Caesar made of the people.  

Now I don’t know about you, but I can see myself not reacting well to this news.  “What?  Why on earth does this matter?  And why now?”  Can you imagine the noise around something like this in our culture today?

What did Mary and Joseph do?  They went to register.  Yes, she was with child and they weren’t fully married and everyone knew it.  Yes, she was not far from delivering and likely she would have preferred her mother and the Jewish midwives her family knew in Nazareth to assist her.  She was young, this was her first baby.  Joseph was still likely getting his bearings to this not so picture perfect way to begin married life.  Regardless of the circumstances, the timing, their stage of processing, what did they do?  They went.  The beauty of simple, humble obedience to the law of the land radiates from this passage to me.   It testifies to a deeper trust in a higher power than Caesar,  resonating a willingness to trust that God is at work through and in spite of those He sets in places of power.  It testifies to the humility of simple obedience.  

In Luke 2:22 “And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought Jesus up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, (‘Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.’”

As I sat with this passage, I noticed three times in as many verses, “the Law of the Lord.”  It stood out as something to pay attention to.  Joseph and Mary were guided well by the law of God in the midst of unknown waters and uncertain territory.  And they humbly obeyed.  They simply did what they were instructed to do. 

Joseph and Mary seemed to live Romans 13:1-7 which exhorts us: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.  Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good…Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.”

In our individualistic, post-Christian society with skepticism of authority rampant, how easy it has become to rail against the powers that be, to assert our own way.  I want to challenge us with the example of Mary and Joseph.  Beloved, we trust in God who appoints and disposes Kings, rulers, Presidents, Prime Ministers, when we honor the office, regardless of the personality or the positions and obey the laws of the land.  Let’s remind ourselves that God is not limited by what might seem to limit us.  God is not inconvenienced by what seems inconvenient to me.  God is not restricted by what might feel restrictive.  God will meet you in the seeming confines of His way, the laws of the land, or the construct of our particular expression of faith in Christ.  This is a place and time to say, dear friends, let’s practice the humility of simply following the law whether it be in the land, God’s laws or in the Church guidelines.  This may really rub some of us. I’m not saying we don’t discern and I’m not speaking of abusive authority.  I’m simply saying there is something stunning about the humble willingness to simply do what is required, without complaint and without resistance.  It’s a sign of deep trust in God Who is above, behind and through all things.  Joseph and Mary remind us to recognize the presence of mystery in following God. God is able to work His will and bring about His blessing, His revelation even when the Caesar Augustus’s of the world make us register, even when we are majorly inconvenienced, even in less than ideal circumstances, God is able.   I hear this message ringing from the picture of Mary and Joseph we see here and it’s beautiful.

There were certain shepherds, God wanted to come see the babe Jesus.  There was a certain city where Jesus was to be born.  There was His perfect judgement on Herod that was at play, so much more than Mary and Joseph could have possibly understood.  Now, I understand we are talking about our Saviors birth, but I’m convinced when Christ is birthed in me or you, God is at work in our lives just as much with the same level of activity on His part present and I am unable to understand what all He is doing in and through the laws, the circumstances, the inconveniences, the even potential spiritual attacks just like Joseph and Mary.  I have a choice to make like they did.  I can rant and rail against, or I can trust, as manifest in simple obedience. To have a humble, trusting spirit willing to simply follow and obey like Mary and Joseph is a lesson for us.  

In Luke 2: 27b “And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, Simeon took Him up in his arms and blessed God…And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him.”  Certainly presenting Jesus at eight days to be circumcised and named and then presenting Him in the temple after the forty days of purification had cultural energy behind them, in addition to being the law of God they lived under at the time, but they still made the choice to obey.  And in the obeying, they were blessed and protected.  They were given insight and understanding of this child, that amazed them.  They marveled.  They were also prepared by the prophetic word to Mary,  “a sword will pierce through your own soul also.” Even though the word Simeon spoke was a hard word, it was merciful.  She didn’t understand what “a sword will pierce your soul too” would mean really, or how it would come about, but it was a necessary word for her and she received it. Again, we note the humility in Mary to simply take it in, trusting the God behind the man, behind the word given. Often the prophetic is unclear to us initially.  We carry a word in our hearts receiving it by faith, and when the thing happens, the word once blurry comes into focus. “This is that,” we say, realizing how blessed we were to have been told before, so we would recognize now.  

I don’t want to belabor this, but I wonder if some of us might need to pause and ask Holy Spirit if there are areas in our heart needing to receive more of the love of God, so that we might trust Him in the midst of a crazy governmental environment, to obey His word, to accept in humility to hard words, things we don’t understand trusting that He is behind and can use all things for our good and His glory.  Mary and Joseph manifest beautiful simple humility in their obedience to the laws of the land, to the laws of God, and their willingness to receive hard words.  How they set their hearts to obey God invitation by invitation is stunning.  Let their life speak to us.  Amen.

In Luke 2, Joseph and Mary go to Jerusalem, to the temple to offer sacrifices according to the Law of Moses, for Jesus, their first born son.  They encounter two people, Simeon and Anna.

Father, speak through Simeon and Anna’s life today and open our hearts to receive. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Consider Simeon –

Luke 2:25 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. 26 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. 27 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, 28 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.”

33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 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 opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” This is what we know of Simeon: 

He was a man.  Nobody famous it seems. We know nothing of his pedigree, education, the blueness of his blood. Only that he was a man.  It’s comforting somehow.

He was righteous and devout.  Someone right with God in both his heart and his actions.  Not perfect, but motivated by faith in, true love for, and fear of God. He had integrity of heart. He was careful, intentional in his life.

He lived in Jerusalem – a deeply religious context, where the learned, positioned, religious leaders lived.  In the midst of lots of “religion”  void of relationship, Simeon had a true relationship with God. It appears you can have one anywhere.

The Holy Spirit rested on him.  What a statement!  If we just meditated on that statement, I’ve no doubt it would uncover desire within us we might not have voiced in a while.  Is there a longing somewhere in you to be someone Holy Spirit rests on?  Get in touch with that desire and say to God in your heart, “I want Holy Spirit to rest on me!” I know the Holy Spirit is in us now, that Simeon was pre-resurrection and we are post. I’m not trying to make a theological statement, I’m inviting us to connect with desire for Holy Spirit in our hearts.  Who doesn’t want more capacity for the Holy Spirit to be active in our lives in a manifest way? I know I’m not the only one.  This was Simeon, it was evident Holy Spirit and he were close.  

Simeon also heard and believed what God said to him, that he would not die before he saw the Lords Christ.  How long had he carried this word? A week? How many of us think that, God by the Holy Spirit said, “Hey Simeon, by the way, you aren’t going to die until you see the consolation Israel, and He’ll be in the temple next week.”  That is not my understanding or experience walking with God.  No, likely this desire Simeon had began as a whisper in his heart many years before. And as God does, He allowed the leaven of desire to grow slowly and work it’s way into Simeon and work a lot of out of Simeon until both the desire and Simeon were matured, seasoned, ripe for the fulfillment. Simeon had a life like we do.  I don’t believe his life was easier than mine or yours.  He had heartache.  He perhaps had multiple times where he thought surely this year.  And the year came, and went, and surely not.  But he held on to the desire. I don’t know how old Simeon was but he was elderly.  He could have been waiting in faith believing to see this for years and my guess would be likely he waited 10, 15, 20 years.  We don’t know about his physical health, his family, his career. There were times, when he must have thought it was never going to happen, or he wasn’t going to make it, yet he held on, believing God.  It sounded like he was ready to die, because as he took Jesus into his arms that’s the first thing he said, “Lord, now I can go in peace…”  I liken him to Abraham where in Romans 4 we read: Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed… Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead…Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”  I think we have the same kind of faith in Simeon, also called righteous.

He was led by the Spirit Whom he listened to and obeyed.  “Simeon, go to the temple now.”  He did.  It doesn’t say he knew why, it just says, he was led to go to the temple at that time by The Spirit.  

WHAT A RESUME!  That’s the kind of resume, we want, isn’t it?  He wasn’t about, what can I go do for God? or “God, what is my ministry?” “How can I make an impact?”  Simeon reminds us that the way of the cross is not up and to the right, it’s righteousness born of love for God, it’s openness, listening to Holy Spirit, it’s obedient following of Holy Spirit, in faith not sight. We see a beautiful picture here. His anointing was not based on youth, strength of body,  intellect, or right circumstances, power, position or resources. It was relationship. He had been waiting to see the Lord’s Christ, holding in intercession a longing before the Throne immensely pleasing to God.  What a longing, “Father, let me see your salvation.  Let me see your Christ.” Can you hear in this longing both love for God and love for the world? It’s there.  Be glorified and save your people. Send your Messiah!

His spiritual insight is remarkable.   He didn’t see one miracle or hear one teaching of Jesus. He didn’t see Jesus take His throne but he recognized the triumphant Savior, God’s Messiah in infancy, In its beginning,  in a budding of a flower yet to unfold, Simeon recognized Jesus. He had spiritual eyes to see what all this child, less than 2 months old would accomplish. He saw what Peter was shown in a rooftop vision years later, that this child would not only be the glory of Israel, but salvation for Gentiles.  Simeon had a sense of the price to be paid, by Jesus, and the cost by those who truly loved him, His mother particularly.

If I could talk to Simeon, I’d have one thing to say to him, “Won’t you be my neighbor?  Please won’t you be my neighbor!?”  I’m serious. I want to know Simeons.   When I sit by someone who has a life lived in the presence of God, they look at me and can see what’s budding, being birthed, perhaps recognizing something in me I don’t even see yet, and they call it forth releasing not only marvelous  encouragement but also words of preparation. A “Simeon” speaks life to others because their relationship with God is deep and wide and long and high. Does the world need Simeons?  Indeed we do. What a man! 

Ok lets look at  Anna

What do we know about Anna? Verse 36, And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanual of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

She was old woman.  At least 84.

She was widowed after only 7 years of marriage.

She stayed in the temple night and day worshiping God with fasting and prayer.  In that culture, if your husband died, and there wasn’t an heir, you got to marry your brother in law! Yippee! My husband,Joel, is the youngest of four boys.  You know that passage in Matthew 22 where the Sadducees are asking Jesus about the resurrection, “Whose wife is she?”  That passage shakes me every time…poor woman! I thank God that’s not our culture! Marrying my brother-in-laws, whew!  Can you imagine?  OK, I digress.  My point, is that as I sat with this verse and contemplated Anna, I thought, “She probably had no one.  No brother-in-laws to marry her.”  And for a moment, I thought, “Well maybe she had to go to the temple.” Like it was a default option for her; no other choice.  As I was pondering that, I had a check in my spirit, and sensed the Lord say, “Jo, everyone always has a choice. Even within very limited opportunities, we have choices, how our heart leans. The heart chooses God or not God regardless of circumstances.  And don’t think being in the temple is a default option.“ I repented. 

It made me realize that somewhere deep inside me, I was feeling sorry for Anna.  “What a dumb deal she got!” But did she?  In the midst of a tragic reversal in her life, her husband died at a very young age, she may have been alone, the dreams she and her husband had of life together, having children and all she thought her life might entail, gone, this woman, Anna, chose God.  How many look at Anna’s choice and think, “What did she really do with her life?”  How many of us on some level think she really coped out?  “Where’s her mission? What kind of fully orbed life can you have never leaving the temple?”  I would suggest to us today, Anna’s life was a living testimony, and still is, to the worth-ship of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  I said, “Worth-ship.”  Beloved,  she too had a life like you and me.   She was a woman with emotions, dreams, needs, personality who chose well, a Mary.  Anna lived an intercessory life.  Stephen Venable said, “God is of such inestimable worth, our whole life would be well lived if our number one priority would be to worship Him night and day.”  To pray to Him, to commune with Him, to be available to Him fully is the right choice always. And anyone who has given themselves to prayer of any length, will know that prayer is hard work.  It’s no cop out.  She chose to give herself to night and day prayer.  That’s a remarkably wise response to a remarkably tragic situation. She didn’t default. She chose well to being in God’s house, beholding His beauty, for the love of God. 

She was a great lover of God.  You don’t sustain that kind of devotion and faithfulness over the long haul out of a sense of duty or because you defaulted. Only love will sustain you in that place. Say she married at 15, she would have been widowed when she was 22.  That means she had been in the temple over 6 decades…60 years. In her twenties, how many couples happily married, came to the temple?  She saw them.  She had to have grieved her loss countless times. She stayed.  In her 30’s, 40’s  how many couples came to dedicate their first born sons?  She saw them, perhaps prayed and prophesied over countless precious babies. She didn’t have one, never would.  She grieved, but she stayed the course. In her  50’s, 60’s, her energy levels wained, her joints swelled, her body ached, she realized she wasn’t seeing or hearing as well as she used to, but she stayed, persevering.  Decade after decade, year after year, month after month, day after day…Beloved, that’s true passion for God.  Passion isn’t some hyped up emotion, loud talking excitement about some new thing happening.  It might start with that.  But true passion is day in, day out, showing up, staying the course, faithful in the ordinary, mundane service over and over and over again.  Stephen Venable again reminds us, “Longevity and steadfastness in the place of prayer and worship is one of the rarest virtues on the earth.”

Anna was a prophet.  What is the spirit of Prophecy, you ask?  Revelation 19:10 says, “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”  Anna was able to recognize the Christ and testify of Him to everyone she saw.  Her life before the Lord enabled her to also recognize the Savior of the world, in infancy form.  And we know there were many who came and went from the temple, who held positions of public trust, were learned, had status and power with a better resume culturally who never recognized Him.  Even following Him around, seeing miracles they had never seen before, hearing profound teaching with undeniable authority, even in the midst of out-of-this-world kindness, concern, care, they never saw Him.  She did!  She acknowledged His worth-ship by the way she lived her life and that’s a powerful testimony. It’s a worthy calling to the life of prayer.  It’s a worthy calling to worship.  Not as part of something else, but as a high and noble and right response to Who God is. She was a deep well.  You don’t become a deep well quickly… or cheaply.  Her life was costly.  It’s easy to read over her, diminish her. Let’s not.

She practiced gratitude, she was thankful.  That might have been a key to her longevity.  Gratitude, one of the most important yet underdeveloped spiritual disciplines.

She was an evangelist.  You won’t have to worry about evangelizing when you are living out of the presence of God.  Spending time beholding Him, being with Him, meditating on His word, you will come to know yourself loved. God’s love for you, will motivate your love for Him and for others and you will be a light. There’s no dichotomy between a life of prayer and a life of evangelism. One will lead to the other, but the order matters. 

Beloved, life doesn’t go as we think it will go, we have heartache and pain.  We suffer. But we have choices just like Anna.  Anna gave herself fully to the Lord in the midst of her heartache. She is a beautiful picture, encouraging and inspiring us to do the same.  I wonder if we need to pause and rethink how we have responded to some heartache in our lives, some disappointment and pain?  Might we need to repent for choosing bitterness, self-pity, anger instead of trust in God?  God loves us…so much so He gave His only Son to die for us, and He Who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all – how will He not also along with Him, graciously give us all things?  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness of danger or sword?  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  That’s Anna!

Where are the Anna’s today? Where are the Simeon’s?  We need them.  

Both Anna and Simeon were in the winter years of life, but they had so much to offer. Both of these people rare treasures.  Culturally, they would have been easy to overlook.  An old woman who never leaves the temple, and old man mumbling about the consolation of Israel all the time. Did they have a big public ministry?  Were they invited to conferences as keynote speakers? Were there names plastered all over the internet or on billboards?  No, but they knew Christ at first glance.  And I’m convinced they are great in the kingdom of God.

Although it’s not obvious to the unspiritual eye, they are in the very center of what is relevant.  God Himself is the ultimate center of all things. Importance of someone or something hinges solely upon its relation to the God of the universe, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “Though the political, economic, and military leaders of the earth appear to be very influential, in God’s eye they are but a vapor that appears for a moment and then vanishes.  As those of wealth and political standing consolidate power, the derangement of their pride leads them to believe they have become mighty when in truth they are growing more and more irrelevant through their failure to esteem God and give Him glory” says Stephen Venable. Both Simeon and Anna are vitally important and highly relevant because they chose to live close to the ultimate Center of all things, God, esteeming and giving Him glory. 

People of God,  Anna and Simeon were common people just like me and you.  But their cooperation with God in the invitations of life set before them have much to teach us.  Rise up Simeons.  Rise up Annas.  God deserves you. The world needs you.  Amen