Do You See What I See

Well, why don't you grab your message notes that look like this. They're in the middle of the bulletins that you were handed when you came in. I mentioned I attended here on my first weekend away. On my second weekend away, I went to church. And another church, I love to do this. We've got some wonderful churches here in Santa Cruz County. I've got a lot of friends who are pastors. And I went to Christian Life Center over on Mission. I got a good buddy, Ryan Moore, who moved out from Springfield, Missouri, who is pastoring that church right now. He's been there about four months, but he's doing a great job. And so I wanted to attend to kind of show him my support.

And I sat toward the back, just about one row from the very back, and was loving it. And then during the greeting time, I stood up and said hello to some people. And there were three women sitting right behind me in a row. You could tell they were all very close friends. And during the greeting time, I said hi. The first one of these women looked at me and said, "Has anyone ever told you that you look almost exactly like a pastor at another church here in town?" And I figured, "This is too good to be true. I got to play along with this." I said, "Really? Who is that? What's his name?" And she said, "Well, his name is René." I said, "That's a girl's name." She said, "I know!"

And I said, "What church?" She said, "Twin Lakes." And then the second lady who was sitting next to her said, "You know, it's true. You should visit that church sometime because it's like you've got a doppelganger out there. You've got some kind of evil twin out there somewhere." I said, "Really?" And then it got better because I kid you not. The third lady said, "Yeah, I've never been to Twin Lakes, but I watch the services sometimes on TV. And I wouldn't say you look exactly like that guy. Like maybe like a cousin or a brother or something, right?" So it was great because they kind of had this argument about whether or not I looked like René and I was loving it.

At the end of the service, you're wondering, "Did you ever reveal who you were?" At the end of the service, I had to find them. I had to say, "Look, I got something to confess to you. I am René." And they said, "No, you're not. So what can you do?" But I was thinking about this and I thought the story that we're looking at today in our Christmas blessing series is really a story about the Bible, from the Bible, about an instance just like that. It's funny how we cannot quite recognize people for who they really are, even when they're standing right in front of us.

And this story is about the very first time Jesus ever goes to the temple and there's thousands of people there probably and only two recognize Him for who He really is. I call the message, "Do You See What I See?" And if you have your Bibles turned to Luke 2:22–38, I'm super excited about just telling you this story today because I think it's probably the least known Christmas story in the Bible and yet it has the most direct application to the way we celebrate Christmas today.

This happens very soon after Christ's birth, starting in verse 22 of Luke 2, "When the time of their purification, according to the law of Moses, had been completed, Joseph and Mary took Him," the baby Jesus, "to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord." Now what's this all about? What's the time of purification, first of all? Well, the Jewish religious law required that women wait 40 days after giving birth before they went to the temple for ritual purification. So they wait 40 days after giving birth, then they go up to Jerusalem to the temple. Why? Well, to present Jesus to the Lord as verse 23 says, "As it is written in the law of the Lord, every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord." So this is kind of like the baby Jesus' baby dedication.

Now I really want you to picture all of the lead characters in this story. So I want you to picture Jesus at this point. Only when I say picture Jesus, you think of the adult Jesus, right? But I want you to picture who He was at this point in His life. The Bible says this happened about 40 days after His birth. He's about 40 days old, about six weeks old here. And I Googled pictures of six-week-old male babies. And here are some of the pictures that I got. Jesus would have looked something like this, right? Or this. Or maybe this. What I'm trying to get across is at six weeks, babies are entering into their very first high cute quotient stage. At this point, he's a gurgling little bundle of cute, right? Got this in your mind's eye?

All right. Then they take him to the temple to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the law of the Lord a pair of doves or two young pigeons. Now that phrase, "a pair of doves or two," you probably go, "Yeah, whatever," and just kind of skip right over it. But this is a very telling detail. The Bible in Leviticus 12 says that at this time couples are, in those days, they were supposed to bring a lamb as an offering to the temple. But two doves or two pigeons are the low-income offering alternative for the people who can't afford a lamb. And so this little detail means one thing. Mary and Joseph were very, very poor. And this is huge to me. This means when God came to earth, he chose to be born into a poor household. And this means Jesus really gets it.

If he ever struggled to make ends meet, he knows what it's like. This means that Jesus grew up hearing mom and dad talk about, "How are we going to make ends meet this month? I love this." He gets what we're going through at every level, at every level. And then at the temple they meet this mysterious old man, verse 25. Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon him. Now I want you in your Bibles or in your notes to circle some key words in this story. He was waiting. In fact, say those three words out loud with me. Say it. He was waiting. I don't want you to miss this because this is really a story about waiting.

When Jesus was born, the whole nation of Israel was waiting for the consolation of Israel. That means waiting to see the Messiah. The Messiah was the promised national hero, the warrior king who would liberate Israel from foreign oppression. And this wasn't just some contemporary idea. Prophecies about this Messiah were all through the Hebrew Scriptures. People had been studying and dreaming and praying and waiting for the moment the Messiah would appear. This superhero person for hundreds of years they'd been waiting. And one Bible scholar, Alfred Edersheim says one question was in the minds of every Jew at this point in history and it was this, why does the Messiah delay his coming? Like what's been taking so long? Where is he?

And maybe you can relate. Maybe you're sitting here today and you've been waiting for years for things to get better. Really, that's what you could summarize this as, waiting for the consolation, waiting for things to get better. Maybe you're young and you're just waiting for school to be over. Maybe you've graduated and you're waiting for a job. Maybe you're in your 50s or 60s and you're looking for a job. Maybe you have your own business and you've been waiting for the economy to turn around. Maybe you're single and you've been waiting so long for a spouse. Or you're married and you've been just waiting to have kids. Or maybe you have kids and you're waiting for the kids to move out. Maybe you're waiting for the sermon to end. I don't know, but everybody's waiting for something.

At some level we can all relate to Simeon. Waiting's tough, but check this out. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. We don't know how it was revealed to him, but somehow he knew he wouldn't die until he'd seen the Christ. Christ is another word for Messiah. It's the same word. I showed you how I pictured Jesus. Here's how I pictured Simeon. There's a famous American photograph called Grace. It was taken in 1918 in a rural town in Minnesota. This was an old door-to-door peddler who knocked on the door of the photographer's studio. And he took one picture of him and this is it. And it's become one of the most famous photographs in American history taken back in 1918, this old wrinkled devout man. But I see Simeon as this kind of a guy, right?

Day after day he had prayed for the Messiah to finally appear. And as he grows older, his anticipation grows stronger because he'd been promised he wouldn't die until the Messiah came and he knows he can't live forever, right? So maybe at this point in the story he's 75, 80, 85 years old and he keeps praying, "Please God, please, why are you waiting so long?" Now again, along with everybody else, he was probably expecting a warrior. So every time a strapping young man strides into the temple with a look of resolve, he says, "Lord, is that the one?" And now by this time he's getting old, so maybe he's looking at the young couples with their babies and every time a young couple comes to the temple with a baby he whispers, "Well, Lord, is that the one?" Each day he watches and he looks and he waits and he asks God and each day the answer comes back again and again and again. No, keep waiting.

And then one day here comes Mary and Joseph holding that little six-week-old baby. And my guess is when Simeon sees this unlikely poor couple with their popper's offering, they're carrying a baby and two pigeons, he probably almost looks right past them, but he asks the question anyway for maybe the 10,000th time, "Lord, is this the one?" And this time the Holy Spirit whispers, "Yes." And his heart skips a beat and he thinks the long days of waiting are finally over, the Messiah is in front of him. And I see him walking up to Mary and Joseph and saying, "Do you mind if I hold your baby?" And I love Rembrandt's painting of this moment. Simeon, this old man, is holding the baby so tenderly and he's kind of half holding the baby and half praying. And he looks down and he almost can't believe it. The moment is finally here.

And the Bible says, "Moved by the Spirit, he took the baby into his arms and he praised God." And he actually breaks down into song, just like Mark talked about, Mary did months before this in his message last weekend based on the Magnificat at Luke 1. And just like Mary revealed some truths about God and about Jesus, so also Simeon's song reveals three truths about Jesus that are huge. And remember, he only ever sees Jesus as a baby. This is very important for the story. But he sees him through the eyes of the Spirit and he sees the truth. So do you see what he sees? Jot this down. First he says, "Jesus is what I've been waiting for." What I've been waiting for!

Simeon says in Luke 2:29, and let's read these verses out loud together. Look at the screen or your notes or your Bible. Let me hear you. "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people." His first thought is, "Ah, now I can die. Now I can go home because my eyes have seen your salvation." Now wait just a minute. "The eyes of senior salvation, remember all..." Listen. "All Simeon saw was a baby." Simeon won't live to hear the great teaching. Simeon won't see a single miracle. Simeon won't be healed of whatever's ailing him. Simeon won't see Jesus on the cross. Simeon won't see the empty tomb. In fact, nothing in Simeon's situation changes the nation of Israel, still oppressed. Simeon's health, Simeon's finances, Simeon's prosperity, Simeon's lifespan, none of that has changed.

But he says, "My eyes have seen your salvation." And he had, what does he say? Peace. Why? Because he was reassured God is sovereign. God is Lord. God is in control. He has a plan. It's going to be okay. And listen, I really want to emphasize this. No matter what you're waiting for, at some essential level, the same thing holds true for you and for me. Jesus is what you've been waiting for. How's that? But we talked about how life is full of waiting, right? And sometimes waiting can actually hurt. It can feel like waiting can feel like grief. Only you're grieving for something that you've never had. And follow me here. The temptation with waiting a long time for something is to think, "If only I got what I'm waiting for, then I'd be happy when I get married, when I get a better job, when I have kids, then I'll be happy." But of course those things never make you happy unless your happiness is grounded in something deeper.

I mean, they give you happiness, but they don't satisfy that emptiness in your soul. Example, I was watching a documentary about Mike Tyson. Remember the boxer, the pro boxer Mike Tyson? It's brand new. It was on ESPN this week and they say he made about $400 million in his career, $400 million and lost it all, spent every dime of it and in fact went $50 million into debt. And in this interview, he keeps talking about how he was trying to fill a hole in his soul that all his fame and all his riches and all his skill couldn't fill. I want you to watch just a 60 second clip of that interview.

You might as well say you have it all, but it's still that empty hole that you're trying to fulfill. That's an interesting clip. It's just you spend as much you can to try to get that satisfaction, fulfill that hole that just is bottomless. And what was that hole that you were trying to fill for you? I don't know what it was. I don't know. Sometimes at the state I'm in, I'm in now, I say to myself, "What was that all about? What was that period all about? What was the late 90s? What was that all about? What was I angry about? What was I depressed about? What was I seeing all these times? What was that all about? What was that year? What was all that stuff all about back there? What was wrong with me?" Has that hole been fulfilled now or do you still find yourself trying to look to fill it?

I don't know what I want. I know I don't want what I already had. What a statement, right? I don't know what I want, but I know I don't want what I already had. Man, I tell you, I wish that I could say to Mike Tyson from the bottom of my heart, "I believe that Jesus is what you've been waiting for." I mean, are you waiting for love, waiting for significance, waiting for forgiveness, waiting for a family? Man, first you've got to realize in Christ you are loved. In Christ you have ultimate significance. In Christ you are totally forgiven. In Christ you have a family of a billion people all over the planet. When you first get that, then every other success is gravy. You see what I'm saying?

This baby didn't change the circumstances of Simeon's life, but God is showing Simeon and you and me, he's in control. He's never late. Simeon's always perfect. He has a plan. Jesus is what he's been waiting for. Then second, Simeon says, "Jesus is the savior of the world." The savior of the world. Now we're so used to this phrase that it doesn't blow us away. But remember, at this moment Simeon thought he was waiting for Israel's Messiah, but now he sees that Jesus will be something much greater. And again, I want us to read this verse out loud, Luke 2:32. Look at the screen and your notes. Let's say it together. He will be a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.

Now Gentiles, Israel, that covers the whole planet. That covers every single last breathing human soul, right? Because Gentiles, that means every nation other than Israel and for Israel too. So for every single person on the planet. Now what's interesting here, this is for kind of a DVD bonus extra for your Bible scholars. Simeon here is quoting Isaiah 52:10. You might want to write, jot down that note in the margin of your bullets in there, Isaiah 52:10. What's interesting about this is that Mary in the Magnificat quotes the first half of Isaiah 52:10. The first half of Isaiah 52:10, it's a great image. It says, "The Lord has bared his arm and shown his strength." That means God is rolling up his sleeves and he's flexing his bicep. And Mary quotes that part in the Magnificat. And then Simeon quotes the second part which says, "And all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of the Lord." And I'm thinking this is confirmation for Mary because Simeon had no way of knowing what Mary's song was.

And now he's quoting the second half of a verse that she quoted the first half of. I'm thinking Mary's like, "Wow, this is a God thing that's happening here." But I love Ron DiCiani's painting of this. Simeon is in ecstasy, right? And he's holding the child. And if you look carefully at the background, it's a map of the globe. I love this painting. Simeon just overwhelmed by the revelation that baby he's holding is going to change history. He's going to be for everybody on the planet. And when I say everybody, you got to apply this personally. This means you. If you've ever felt rejected maybe by your own family, Simeons including you. If you are lonely this Christmas season, Simeons including you. If you feel forgotten, depressed, discouraged, down on your luck, Jesus came for you. Whatever sins you feel like are holding you back and God must not love you and you must not be a good Christian because you have these sins. You can be forgiven because Jesus came for you.

So this is amazing news. Again, picture of the six-week-old baby. And Simeon is saying all of this about the baby, right? The Bible says Mary and Joseph marveled at what was said about him. This anticipated Messiah, everybody's been waiting for the Savior of the world, this little harmless child, right? Do we have a picture of this baby? Let's look at the little six-week-old baby again. Simeon says something next though, so surprising, so startling that you almost can't believe it. Simeon says this little harmless little innocent baby will also be the divider of humanity. The divider of humanity? What? And if this throws you for a loop, imagine how Mary and Joseph must have felt when this happens. Verse 34, "Then Simeon blessed them." So now he's going to give a blessing, right? Like maybe I would at a baby dedication or something, only his is inspired by the Holy Spirit.

And he says to Mary, his mother, "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be spoken against so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed and a sword will pierce your own soul too." Now what kind of a blessing is this? Can you imagine me doing this on stage here? What a cute baby. Let me see, "A sword will pierce your soul because of him." Here you go. I'm sure Mary's going like, "Thanks so much. Is there another blessing in there for me?" But this was true. Jesus was divisive and is divisive. Exhibit A from last week here in America, here's the scene 12 days ago in Santa Monica you might have heard. 60 years they've displayed 14 different scenes from the Nativity story in a town park there.

Well last week in the city of Santa Monica they pulled all the scenes down after being sued by an atheist group. However in the stalls once occupied by the Nativity story, they're now allowing these displays things like a picture of Jesus along with Santa Claus, Greek gods, the caption, "What myths do you see?" Now I don't bring this up to upset you or get you riled up. What I'm saying is Jesus just draws fire. He is divisive to this day. And Simeon prophesies this. And you might think, "What is it about this little baby that could possibly cause controversy?" Two thousand years later. Well actually God designed it this way. If you look at the ministry of Christ, Jesus intended it that way.

You look at the things Jesus said and did, he wanted his ministry to be a lightning rod. And listen, I feel like if my presentation of Jesus doesn't at least include one element that's potentially controversial, potentially offensive, that potentially somebody listening could disagree with, then my portrayal of Jesus is probably not accurate. Because if you see Jesus accurately, he really is polarizing. He was in his life and he is now. Now it's popular in the states, especially in places like Santa Cruz, to want to downplay this, right? To sit on the fence about Jesus, to emphasize, "Well he's a good teacher, he was a great person, a moral example, and he was all those things." But Simeon did not prophesy, "This baby will grow up to be a lovable man that nobody in their right mind could ever possibly disagree with or find controversial." Now he said, "Yes, he will be the savior of the world, but he will be a sign spoken against." Mary some people are going to hate your baby boy.

And the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. He's saying your response to Jesus actually reveals the thoughts of your own heart. And so that begs the question, what's your response to Jesus? You know, if you filled in the blanks there on page one, Jesus is, Jesus is, Jesus is, what would you say? Well, there's a great positive example of how to respond to Jesus, and this can be an example for us at Christmastime in the conclusion of the story, verse 36. Now we meet the third and final character in the story. There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Fonuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old. And listen to what sounds like a real tragic life. She had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was 84. She never left the temple, but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying.

Now I showed you what I picture when I think of Jesus as a six-week-old baby, and what I think of when I think of Simeon. But you know who I picture when I think of Anna? Trudy Nagel, one of the people at 10th church here at Twin Lakes Church. Here she is just a few weeks ago wearing a sign, "Blessed 88 years today." This was on her 88th birthday. And like Anna, Trudy is a widow. She often sits in the very front row of services here at Twin Lakes, and she loves to worship. In fact, during our worship time, a lot of times she dances and twirls around and lifts her hands in praise during worship at this church, where a lot of us don't do that. And if you don't know Trudy, it's easy to dismiss that, like, "Oh, brother, she's one of those holy rollers, right?" But do you know Trudy's story? She's told me just part of it. For most of her years, she lived very religiously but dry.

She thought Christianity meant something like you had to keep a long list of rules to be perfect or God wouldn't love you. And then at the age of 73, as a widow, Trudy discovered the message of God's grace for the first time, which means you don't have to keep crucifying yourself. Somebody was already crucified for you. God loves you unconditionally, wants to lavish His mercy on you. And now she just revels in God's grace. So, frankly, I say, "Let her dance, man." You know? If you'd lived in chains for 73 years and then were free, I think you'd dance till the day you died. But Trudy is kind of how I picture Anna in this story. In fact, the word Anna is related to the name Hannah, which means grace. I picture an old widow who really gets God's grace, worships around the clock. Right?

Well, the Bible says coming up to them at that very moment, excuse me, now God's timing is perfect, right? The very moment that Simeon is apparently wrapping up his dire prophecy, God sends Anna along maybe to make Mary feel a little bit better. And again, Rembrandt's painting of this moment is so great here. That Rembrandt, I predict big things for him, man. He's got something going on. I love this though. Anna's just kind of wandering along going this direction and suddenly, "What?" She sees Jesus for who He is. And look at Simeon in this picture. He's all serious. He's just saying, "And a sword will pierce your soul." Mary's eyes are big. What did he just say? And Anna's just like, "Give me that baby!" and she's about to explode and rejoicing.

And I love this because it says she spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Israel. You know what? This Christmas, be like Anna. What a great example. See Jesus for who He really is and then rejoice and give thanks to God and speak about the child to others. You say, "What are you talking about? René, this sounds suspiciously like evangelism and that makes me uncomfortable. Yes!" Well, one great, non-threatening way that we want to equip you with to tell people about Jesus is our Christmas concerts and Cadillac services. You know, we don't do those things just to let our musically talented and set construction talented people show off here at Twin Lakes Church. Those are really strategic.

You can invite people to church for the Christmas concert and for the Cadillac services and help them see the child like you see the child. This year our theme is a Celtic celebration. People love Celtic music and that Celtic atmosphere. We're going to be talking a lot about the history of the Celtic celebration of Christmas so it's a seeker-friendly way to introduce people to Jesus Christ. And you might be thinking, "What difference would one invitation to a Christmas concert make?" It might just change the way people see the Christ child forever. Listen to one man's story. Watch the screen. Meet Rick Weewal. Eight years ago I was your typical non-believer. The wife and kids would go off to church every Sunday and I was on the couch watching sports as I usually did.

And then my daughter was in the young adult choir at Twin Lakes Church for the Christmas concert. I got invited to go and I had never been to Twin Lakes before other than dropping the kids off or cruise kids for the summer program. I went to the concert. I was just amazed at the production that happened there. The performers, the singers, the lights, it was just terrific. I was so moved by the concert that I just opened up my heart to Jesus that day, that evening. I had a concert and I looked at my wife and I told her that I wanted to start coming to church here at Twin Lakes. And she was just amazed. The good news was I wanted to come to church. The bad news was I had to pick her up off the ground. She was just amazed that I would say that.

What I didn't realize was I had friends, relatives in two different areas. Portland and San Jose were praying for me. My wife's small group was praying for me. The next Sunday the couch was looking good for the sports, but I had told my wife that I was going to come to church. The kids were excited that I was coming to church. It's been eight years now. I have missed. The only church I've missed is for vacations or illness. I've been here every Sunday. Christmas means so much more to me now that I have Jesus in my heart being God's own son that came to earth to save me and to die for my sins. And you know what? Rick is sitting right there. Rick, why don't you stand up for a second? What do you think of that? Go on. That's awesome. Thank you for sharing that.

But you got to know there's other Rick Riewalls out there and there's other people praying for them. So don't take it for granted, "Oh, well, we're going to have 17,000 people at this concert." Well, not unless we invite them. One thing that Laurie and I do is we always bring cookies or bottles of Martinelli's or little chocolates to all of our neighbors with a little invitation card. You can pick up more invitation cards at the info desk today. So before I wrap up this message, I got to say when I see Anna Ansimian's story, I see two people who waited well for a long time. And I think we can't leave this story without observing some tips for waiting well from their story. I'm going to write these down real quick because waiting's a part of life.

So the first thing I see in their story is keep looking, right? Don't give up. Stay hopeful. They waited a lifetime. And if you're waiting, God will come through. In ways maybe you didn't picture. They expected a warrior. They got a baby. But He will come through. Second, keep close to God's people. Do you get this? Ansimian and Anna didn't isolate. Says Anna was at the temple daily. Stay around people who can bless you and people that you can bless. And third, keep worshiping. Worshiping. Now, why is this so important? Because worshiping is basically focusing on God. And I don't know about you, but when I'm waiting, often I can get a really bad case of what I call ingrown eyeballs. You know what ingrown eyeballs are? That's when all you think about is yourself. Why aren't I getting what I want? Why aren't my needs being what? In my time, well, when you're worshiping, it feels so good just not to be thinking about yourself all the time.

So do you get these three tips for waiting well that just scream out at us from the story of Simeon and Anna? But I want to wrap this up by looking at the whole story, the big picture of what happened here. One of the things I love about this story is that Anna and Simeon were encountering Jesus as a baby. And to me, this story validates Christmas. It validates the sense of reverence that I have when I approach Jesus as a baby, because Anna and Simeon encountered Jesus as a baby, and they were moved to such worship. In fact, more than validating Christmas, I really see a challenge in this story. Let me challenge you. It's Christmas time. In the next two weeks, you will see so many pictures of the baby Jesus. You will hear so many songs about the baby Jesus. You'll see major displays with little plastic baby Jesuses.

And it's so easy to just rush right past that like the other people in the temple this day, and just go on with your busy schedule. Let me challenge you. Be like Simeon and Anna. Stop. And see those moments as times of prophetic possibility. And by that, I mean times when you can connect with God and hold that baby. You can't hold that baby in your arms, but hold that baby in your mind for a moment and think of who he is. In fact, I think it's very biblical to imagine being Simeon or Anna. And the Holy Spirit has revealed to you who this little child is, and holding this little 40-year-old, 40-day-old, six-week-old baby, and looking at him in his eyes and saying, "Hello, Savior of the world. Hello one I've been waiting for." And then take time to worship.

Like that song, "Light of the world, you step down into darkness. All for love's sake you became poor. Humbly you came to the world you created. And so here I am to worship you." It's really the Christmas question, "What do I see when I see the baby Jesus? Do I rush right past, or do I see him for who he is?" I encourage you to meditate on his identity to recognize Jesus and rejoice like Simeon and Anna did. In fact, let's pray and rejoice together right now. Would you bow in prayer with me? Heavenly Father, thank you so much that you did not leave us alone in our sins and in our stress and in our darkness and poverty. Thank you that in all our stress we can remember you didn't forget us. You came for us. You sent Jesus to rescue us, the Savior of the world, the one we've been waiting for.

God help us to see what Anna and Simeon saw in the Christ child all during this Christmas season. Thank you for coming for me that I might be safe now and safe forever. We thank you. We worship you. In Jesus' name, amen.