Why are you Placed on the Earth?
Have you found, and are you fulfilling the central purpose of your life? This is the question Os Guinness poses his book, "The Call". He asks, "Are you looking for purpose in life? For a purpose big enough to absorb every ounce of your attention, deep enough to plumb every mystery of your passions, and lasting enough to inspire you to your last breath?"
When you're young, you're passionate about everything. You're going to be an astronaut, a grand musician, president of the United States, a fearless soldier, a scientist, a doctor, an artist, an actor, or Superman. So you buy a model rocket kit and imagine yourself blasting off into outer space. My brother Mike and I made awesome model rockets! We'd rig them up with fireworks so that they would explode in the air. Or if you dream of being a soldier, you run around your neighborhood with a toy gun, pretending to be Rambo, and shooting at dogs, cats, and your friends. Okay, that's frowned upon these days. Or, if you dream of being a doctor, you're rivited by the smell of formaldehyde as you dissect that frog in biology class. My parents always encouraged me to explore my passions and interests. And by the way, one thing I never pretended to be when I was a kid was a preacher. No way!
Life has a dizzying array of possibilities. But then along the way something changes. The possibilities narrow. Making one choice seems to limit you from making other choices. Chasing one dream closes the door of possibility on another dream. This continues until one day you wake up and realize that your life is different than you imagined it to be. You're not becoming everything you dreamed. You traded your dream for a stable career and family. You traded a sense of adventure for the security of a salary. And you begin to reflect. "If only I had made a different choice, or tried harder while I had the chance, or played my cards differently, or said yes earlier, or said no..."
But by the time you are thirty or forty years of age, life is accelerating. You're doing life, raising your kids, forging a career, hoping to pay your bills, save for retirement, and provide good things for your family. The kids are growing up and soon they'll be moving out, starting their own families, and wrestling with their own set of problems. A lot of middle age folks say, "Where has the time gone? After college, everything was just a blur."
Someday though, by the grace of God, we'll all live into old age. The things that matter to you in youth or middle age won't matter so much in old age. In old age it's not the dizzying possibilities, but the dizzying realities that consume you. You're alarmed at the increase of wickedness, at the erosion of all that is righteous and good in life. In old age, it's not what more you can get out of life, but what more you'll leave behind to your kids and grandkids. You wonder if your life has mattered for the good of this earth, the good of others, and the good of your family. In old age, redemption matters more, not less. Salvation matters more, not less. Hope matters more, not less.
In Luke 2 we meet Simeon and the prophetess Anna. Luke 2:25 (ESV) says that Simeon was, "... righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him." He had waited his whole life for the Messiah of Israel to be revealed. He lived well, but he was staking everything on the possibility that the Messiah, the Christ, would come within his lifetime.
And then there is the prophetess Anna. She was married at a young age, then widowed after seven short years of marriage. At eighty four years of age, Luke 2:36-38 (ESV) tells us that Anna was, "...advanced in years." She never left the temple and was, "...worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day." Like Simeon, her hope and prayer was that God himself, the Christ, the Messiah, would come and restore her great nation.
So where did they get this notion that Christ would come? In Malachi 3:1 (ESV) the Lord Almighty promised, "And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts."
The mere prospect of Christ's arrival absorbed every ounce of Simeon and Anna's attention. Their sole passion in life was plumbing the depths of the mystery of Christ-- a mystery that had been kept hidden for generations. The possibility that Christ could come in their lifetimes, that Christ would redeem their nation, inspired every breath they took. They could have been anywhere, but they stayed at the temple, watching, waiting, praying, fasting, and worshiping. Who or what will you be watching and waiting for, hoping and praying for this Christmas? Where will your attention be trained?
The temple was where the desired of nations, Christ, would come, and indeed he did. In Luke 2:22 Jesus is brought into the temple by Mary and Joseph. In your sermon notes, I'd like you to take note of five characteristics of Christ's arrival.
Jesus Arrived According to the Law of God
Luke 2:22-24 (ESV) says, "And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, 'Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord') and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, 'a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.' "
In every stage of his life, from birth, through childhood, and into adulthood, Jesus lived a sinless life. In so doing, he exemplified the character of God. Matthew 5:17 tells us that Jesus didn't come to abolish the law or the prophets, but rather to fulfill them. Jesus' parents did what was required of the law for all firstborn. They sought purification from God, presented their child to God, and offered the appropriate sacrifices. By fulfilling the law, Jesus would become perfect sacrifice for sin.
Jesus Arrived According to the Spirit of God
Luke 2:25-27 (ESV) says, "Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law..."
It's a fascinating thing to consider Jesus' relationship to the Holy Spirit. Led by the Spirit, the prophets foretold the exact circumstances of Jesus' birth. This is how the magi were able to track Jesus down. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit. In baptism, the Spirit descended upon Jesus. After baptism, the Spirit led and drove Jesus out into the wilderness to be tested by Satan. In Nazareth, Jesus declared himself to be anointed by the Holy Spirit through whose power he proclaimed good news, set the captives free, gave sight to the blind, gave freedom to the oppressed, and declared the Lord's favor. Jesus would later be raised through the power of the Spirit. His arrival in accordance to the law of God and the Spirit of God were powerful credentials of his identity.
Jesus Arrived According to the Word of God
Luke 2:28-32 (ESV) continues, "...he (Simeon) 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.' "
We'll come back to these verses in a minute. What I want you to notice is that Christ's arrival unfolded according to the exact word of God. If you look at the gospels, you will notice how the gospel writers repeatedly refer back to the Old Testament, documenting all the places where events in Christ's life corresponded to things God promised centuries earlier.
On the road to Emmaus Jesus would use the same approach. Luke 24:27 (ESV) describes how, "... beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he (Jesus) interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." In the sermons in Acts, the apostles would also allude to scriptures. God never contradicts his word, so the scriptures were proved true. Jesus' arrival in accordance to the law, the Holy Spirit, and the word of God were powerful credentials of his identity as Messiah.
Jesus Arrived According to the Wisdom of God
Luke 2:33-35 (ESV) continues the story, "And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, 'Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.' "
Simeon alludes not just to the joy, but also the sorrows that would come in Jesus' life. According to the wisdom of God, Jesus would suffer and die. His soul and his very hands and feet would be pierced. His death would expose the sin of all men. But his death would also overthrow the powers and rulers and authorities of this world. Mary herself would be pierced with grief over the death of son.
Jesus Arrived According to the Purpose of God
Luke 2:36-38 (ESV) says, "And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem."
Anna understood that in Christ, all the world would be reconciled to God. From the foundations of the earth, God knew the exact way he'd redeem sinful man. 1 Peter 1:18-21 (ESV) says, "... you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb with blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God."
I want to take you back to what Simeon says in Luke 2:28-32 (ESV). "...he (Simeon) 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.' "
Os Guiness, in "The Call" challenges us to consider a purpose that is, "big enough to absorb every ounce of your attention, deep enough to plumb every mystery of your passions, and lasting enough to inspire you to your last breath."
For Simeon, his purpose was to take up Jesus in his arms, and behold the wonder of Christ's life. He beheld the wonder of Christ's birth, his life, his eventual death and resurrection, his ascension to the right hand of God, his victory over sin, and victory over the rulers of this world. I suspect that our attention might be turned elsewhere this Christmas. These songs are an invitation for us to find ultimate meaning and fulfillment in Christ, the lover and savior of your soul.