Author: missionspaul

The search

Luke 2: 44-45

“Thinking he was in their company, they travelled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.”

They assumed everything was the same as it had always been.

They were returning home as a family, Mary, Joseph and Jesus plus their extended family and friends. It was a coach full of people who all knew each other. It was probably a noisy crowd as they chatted along the way of the wonderful Festival of Passover they had just attended. This scenario had repeated itself for many years. This year was no different.

They travelled from Jerusalem back to Nazareth a fifth of the way and then the dawning realisation that this year was very much different because though they had thought Jesus was with them, he actually wasn’t.

I wonder if that was the first marital row! “He was with you”, “No, he was with you!” Perhaps!

So the search began amongst the relatives and then the friends, surely Jesus was there. They could not find him, so they did the smart thing and that was to take some steps back, all the way to Jerusalem, they were determined to find him.

Is it possible that we are in exactly the same position?

Is it possible that we have thought that Jesus was with us after all he had promised never to leave us?

If we have ever thought that a particular church had so lost its way that we described it as ‘dead’ then yes it is possible that even in our liveliness and flamboyancy of church that we too have lost the presence of Jesus.

If we have ever used the words ‘so-called Christian’ in a derogatory way then it is also possible that we as true disciples have lost the presence of Jesus.

If we have ever stood outside a building that used to be a church and is now derelict or apartments and judged it for losing its witness because Jesus said, “I will build my church” then it is also possible worshipping in a church that is in decline is an indicator that we think Jesus is with us but maybe we have lost him.

Is it possible that the problems in church life over division and strife, gossip and slander, jealousies and bitterness is simply due to the fact that we have lost his presence. We think Jesus is with us and even fighting for our opinion, but we have moved from him.

Yes. It is possible and it needs to be said.

The search must begin sooner rather than later.

Admission is so important. We have lost the ‘presence’.

We will try familiar places (the relatives and friends) to try and get the presence back (we will try worship, evangelism and good works). But he is not in those things.

We must retrace our steps. We must go back to where we were when Jesus was definitely with us.

The search must begin there.

 

 

UNAWARE

 

Luke 2: 41-43

 

“Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it.”

 

For 12 years the same thing, the journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem took approximately 5 days, but it was worth it for the festival. The Passover, the celebration of the deliverance by God of the Children of Israel from their enemy is the most important Jewish festival.

Can you imagine what must have gone through Mary and Josephs mind each year as they carried and then as Jesus got older walked with him to the Passover. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world with them at the Passover. It must have been so special.

When you do the same thing in the same way for so many years then it is easy to become blinded to any changes that may happen, even major ones!

The attention you give to a child is different to the attention you give to a 12 year old. On a child your eyes are never far from them. With a 12 year old you are content with some distance.

I think the danger for Christians in the UK is that we have become content with distance that has developed between the presence of Christ and the practice of our Christianity. When the practices take our attention more than the presence then we can become blind. The practices will prove we still believe Jesus is who He is, we still love Him, we still go to worship Him, we still speak of Him and we still hold to the fact that He is with us. Yet we can be unaware because practices can blind us to the presence. If someone had asked Mary and Joseph if Jesus was with them their response would have been, “Yes totally.”

We lose the presence of Jesus because of routine, this is how we always do it. The festival is over, people leave Jerusalem and go home. It is what everyone is doing. The moment was amazing again but now we leave the moment and we get on with our lives. We exchange the moment for the mundane. We miss the fact that Jesus wants to stay in that moment longer.

Christians, unaware that there is an incredible and growing distance between ourselves and the presence of Christ.

Perhaps that is why Christians have become mute and Churches are in decline.

We have a vision of the journey but Christ is not with us.

We are unaware.

 

Things are really cool in Nazareth

Luke 2: 39-40

“When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.”

One of the many highlights of having relaxing time at Christmas is to watch the many great films that become personal traditions. For my family it is the film called NATIVITY. Lots of humour and lots of really good songs that remain in your head. Like this one:

Things are really cool in Nazareth,

Our city is full of joy,

‘Cause this is where girl meets boy.

 

The town of Nazareth is not mentioned in the Old Testament neither does it appear in the Talmud (the first written collection of the Oral Jewish Law). In the time of Jesus it is definitely insignificant. Nathanael says in John 1:46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” The name means uncertain and it sits half-way between the Sea of Galilee (and how many miracles and stories of Jesus would come from there?!) and Mount Carmel (often used to describe a fruitful place, Is 35:2; Elijah defeated 450 false prophets there 1 Kings 18).

So today …

You may describe your situation and place of life as the following:

1. Insignificant
2. Uncertain
3. In limbo – believing in miracles but not seeing them, believing in fruitfulness and victory but not experiencing it.

This is Nazareth.

And before you dismiss this place read what Luke writes again:

“And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.”

It is here in this place which Nazareth signifies, that Christ in you will grow, that as you host His presence then His influence through your life will increase and that you will be marked by grace.

When the circumstances are most difficult that is where God seems to enjoy growing.

Nazareth is a good place to be after all. Things are really cool in Nazareth.

 

Jesus our hope

Luke 2:36-38

“There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”

 

Luke never wastes a character, they are included for a reason. So to add to the wonderful occasion of Jesus being presented in the Temple and Simeon taking him in his arms accompanied with the sacrifice of birds that Mary and Joseph had brought to God, here comes Anna.

Luke tells us that she came from the tribe of Asher.

Asher had been one of the 8 northern tribes of Israel, the other 2 were in the southern kingdom where Jerusalem was, Judah and Benjamin.

In the 8^th century the Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and then no one knows for sure what happened next to these tribes. But we do know that some made it back to Israel because Anna has traced her lineage.

Luke has successfully shown us that Simeon was a priest in the temple and therefore from the tribe of Levi who though had no land given to them were associated mainly with Jerusalem in the south.

So can you see this picture as Luke describes it?

Here is baby Jesus in the middle of someone from the southern kingdom and someone from the northern kingdom. United at last because of Jesus.

Anna’s ancestry had stories of division and being overcome by the enemy.

Anna’s personal past also contained regret and sorrow over losing her husband and maybe not having children.

But where do we see Anna? And what is she doing?

She is serving continually in the Temple with worship, fasting and prayer focusing on the hope of a coming Redeemer.

That’s it.

Our past, whatever it is, division, defeat, guilt, sorrow does not have to have the last word. We can move forward with the hope found in Jesus our redeemer!

Let’s talk about Jesus and pay the price

Luke 2: 33-35

“The child’s father and mother marvelled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said 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.”

Talk about what your Church does for people and it isn’t hard work. There is no threat in the main because your Church is a good community organisation with its projects and helps that it offers.

Talk about God and in the main everyone responds in agreement even though their names for God differ from Higher Power to whoever he or she is, the man upstairs, put a good word in for me!

However, talk about Jesus and it is a whole different story.

Two days ago my friend in Africa sent me this report:

“… however we are really saddened, at the start of this New Year by continued terrorist attacks in Burkina Faso that caused a number of deaths in the military. Yesterday terrorists slaughtered several people in a northern village where a trainee Church planter comes from, again yesterday radio stations reported that terrorists slaughtered several members of a traditional chief’s family members including the chief. The government has now decreed a State of Emergency in seven out of the thirteen regions of Burkina Faso. There is widespread fear and suspicion in people.”

 

We must pray for the Christians in Burkina Faso.

But we need to pray extensively for many more nations where Jesus followers face persecution every day. Last year it was estimated that 215 million Christians faced discrimination and violence simply because they followed Jesus.

 

Pray for Asia Bibi! We have friends in Pakistan who face constant struggles over this issue.

 

It is estimated that on average 250 Christians are killed every month in the world. Simply because people are offended because of Jesus.

 

Simeon was right. Jesus would cause offence. People have from day one spoken against him and his followers. He will cause the falling and rising of many. Whatever that means it is true that every day Christians fall because of Jesus but those that fall will indeed rise and reign with Him forever.

 

So will you continue to talk of Jesus or will you resort to the Church and to ‘God’?

May God grant you courage to boldly proclaim Jesus wherever you are and whoever you are with.

 

 

Praying the song of Simeon 4

Luke 2: 32 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

Simeon quotes Isaiah 49. “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles, and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth” (49:6). Jesus is the one who shines God’s light for all nations and brings God’s salvation to all people.

The Christmas lights may be down now and what was glistening has gone. Houses are not beaming their lights down the street. It seems darker now.

I was asking someone yesterday what it was like in their home. Sadly they portrayed a darkness all too familiar in this world.

There are people near you today and the lights have gone down, they have been boxed away and they face darkness.

But you are holding Jesus!! You are hosting His presence. The light has come and the glory of the Lord rises upon you (Isaiah 60)

And so we declare …

To those who once walked in the promises of their God but now wallow in self-pity, bitterness and hurt – YOU CAN RISE AND SHINE AGAIN.

To those who have long since given up the fight, their armour and weapons of war are stored up with dust, their youthful passion for souls and their energy to give up all for one soul to find Jesus is now a faint dream, hear the wake-up call – YOU CAN RISE AND SHINE AGAIN.

To those who couldn’t hold on any longer, something had to give, you gave away your destiny, you broke up your potential, you ruined your desires and were ruined by new ones. You can regain your footing, it’s time to walk – YOU CAN RISE AND SHINE AGAIN.

To those who came under a stronghold that so gripped their life it paralysed them. An area of your life is now not functioning like it used to, you feel a lesser man, as a woman you feel your beauty has been taken, you are tarnished, you are stained and impure. But listen – get up – YOU CAN RISE AND SHINE AGAIN.

It may be that for the shouting it’s all over, your faith is dead, your anointing is dead, that relationship is dead, you cannot pretend anymore, you have got to be realistic and say ‘It’s over’. It’s never over till the Master has touched you and called you to get up. YOU CAN RISE AND SHINE AGAIN.

Here is my prayer

Light of the world

Let your glory shine through me to those around me today.

Every word that comes from my mouth let it be filled with bright hope.

Let me brighten the darkness.

I arise and choose to shine today.

Amen

Praying the Song of Simeon

Luke 2: 31

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all nations …

No distinction.

That’s what Simeon realised. This unveiling of salvation through Jesus was not only for the Jews. Jesus was certainly for the comfort of Israel but he was far more than this. This salvation was spilling over from Israel to the whole world, to all peoples of all nations.

We need to be reminded of what Simeon saw.

• Last year I subscribed to a conservative Christian newspaper which I now need to unsubscribe to as I became tired of its attacks on other Christians for not holding to its own viewpoint.
• I read a moving book last year by a popular media personality who is a Christian but states her sexual identity is gay. She recently stated online that she had to remove herself from social media because of the endless abuse she was getting from Christians.
• I ended the year being given a letter regarding a complaint of spiritual abuse that someone has suffered.

That was last year. No doubt this year will contain the same.

I am not being negative. The truth is that it is all too easy to believe that what Simeon said was this: For my eyes have seen your judgment which you have prepared in the sight of all nations.

Salvation for all. No distinction. Our message is salvation. It is the only thing that matters.

We all need a Saviour. The sins we see in others are equal or even less than the sins that are in our lives.

Simeon didn’t see salvation for the Jews and judgment for the nations. It was salvation for all. Salvation for people who are different to us. Who look different, have different cultural practices, different languages, behaviours and offences. Salvation.

Today when we meet people who are different don’t think judgment thoughts think salvation thoughts and who knows they may have known the salvation of Jesus long before you!

Here is my prayer

Dear Saviour

Forgive my dismissive and hurtful judgments that I have publicly and privately made about people.

Thank you for my salvation.

Thank you for saving me every day.

I soak myself in your salvation so that when people see me they see a Saviour first.

I live in a world where people are different and for all kinds of reasons.

I live in a world where sin is being expressed within and outside the Church.

Help me find a way to live in that complexity of sinfulness declaring salvation rather than dismissing through my prejudiced judgment.

Amen

Praying the song of Simeon

Luke 2: 30

“For my eyes have seen your salvation …”

This old man shows us that salvation is not in a set of commandments, it is not a religion or a set of beliefs. It is not a lifestyle. It is a person. It is the baby that Simeon has in his arms. Cradling baby Jesus he looks down and realises this is God’s salvation. Amongst all the other babies in the Temple that day the Spirit has prompted Simeon to realise that this baby is the One. Still today, many have watched the baby in the nativities around the world, but it takes the Spirit to open our eyes to see the Saviour.

What do these 7 words say to us as we begin our new year?

Simeon was waiting for the comforting of Israel. He was prayerfully expecting God to move in his lifetime and more than this the Holy Spirit had filled him with hope that he would see the Messiah before he died.

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope. 1 Timothy 1:1

We continually remember before our God and Father … your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 1:3

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3

 

We need to keep hope alive. We need to keep hoping. No matter what it looks like’ My hope is in Christ’. You are in danger of losing everything if you have lost your hope. There needs to be an awakening of Hope. The best is yet to come.

 

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus’ Name

On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to veil His face

I rest on His unchanging grace;

In every high and stormy gale

My anchor holds within the veil.

 

His oath, His covenant, and blood

Support me in the ‘whelming flood;

When all around my soul gives way

He then is all my hope and stay.

 

When He shall come with trumpet sound,

Oh, may I then in Him be found;

Dressed in His righteousness alone,

Faultless to stand before the throne.

On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

 

We are not like the many who put their hope in circumstances. Our hope is in a person. Simeon held weakness and vulnerability in his arms and yet hope flooded his life. Our hope is in Jesus and you may not see him clearly enough and his voice may be quiet compared to the loud messages all around but Jesus is the hope of the world and He is your hope this year.

2. No fear.

Have you seen what Luke has been doing at the start of his gospel? Zechariah and Elizabeth, righteous and devout, the parents of the last prophet and yet Luke is clear in his writing, they are old in years. Simeon (and Anna, her age is actually detailed) is old and near death and is holding Jesus in his arms, passed to him by a young mother, Mary.

It is only Luke who records an additional teaching of Jesus in 16:16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached…”

Up to and including John the Baptist the Word of God had been proclaimed through the law and the prophets but now through Jesus it is encountered through him, He is the Word.

Why does Luke mention the 4 old characters and the young Mary centred on the arrival of Jesus with the forerunner of the prophetic messenger John?

It is because he is showing the end of a chapter and the start of a new one.

It is because he is showing their willingness to embrace that change.

It is because he is showing that there was nothing to fear in that change. He is showing that this change honours the past. He is keen to use the phrase ‘as it is written in the law of the Lord’ in a way that honours the past not rubbishes it.

The Law and the prophets could never fulfil a person’s satisfaction, only Jesus can do this. You can try to be perfect but you will be imperfect by trying. Only Jesus can make you right before God.

Let this year not only be a year of focusing less on effort and more on the relationship we have with Jesus but let it also herald a year of change where you are not afraid to move forward. Instead you embrace that change with no fear.

3. Experience

Have you held Him in your arms?

Not have you been to church?

Are you holding Him?

Are you carrying the presence of the Saviour?

One thing I know about carrying babies is that you carry them gently, carefully and lovingly. You don’t become distracted, your attention is on them in all you do whilst they are in your arms. You become a different person when carrying a baby.

Have you held Him in your arms?

May this year be a year of experiencing His presence for longer moments than you have ever known. May it change the way you live, speak, think and do. May everyone notice you are walking differently, living differently, that there has been an incredible change in your life since you started carrying Him.

 

Here is my prayer

My Salvation,

You came for me. My hope has always been in you even before I knew you. Today it has not changed. You are my hope. On this hope, my solid rock, I choose to stand.

I choose not to fear. No matter what comes to me this year. No matter which storms of life that beat against me, I will not be afraid.

I embrace any change that you bring to my life. I will not resist it, I will be thankful for it.

I count it an eternal privilege to host your presence in my life. I hold you in my arms as I am in yours. In all that I do and all that I am let it come through the filter of the experience of your presence.

This is my desire for this year.

Amen

Praying the song of Simeon

Luke 2: 25-29 “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 on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

²⁹ ‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace…’

 

So what does Luke tell us about this man?

He is righteous, he’s a good man to have around, you can count on him, dependable, walked with God, he chose wisely.

He is devout, he’s a devoted to God kind of man, someone who served God, who gave his life to Him and the work of God.

He embraced the suffering of Israel and their desperate need for a Messiah to come and strengthen the people, ‘comfort my people’ would have been his prayer.

 

What else?

Oh yes!! The Holy Spirit was on him. Such beautiful words. It is all that matters. Already on this first day of 2019 I have heard of people being thought not qualified enough or experienced enough. Friends, the only thing that matters, above all else, is this one thing. You can have all the degrees possible and years of experience and yet not have this one thing. Is the Holy Spirit on you?

 

What happened?

The Holy Spirit orchestrated this meeting. No one had noticed Jesus other than he was a baby with his parents being presented as the Law of Moses required. He’s at the right time in the right place. The Holy Spirit opened his eyes to see Jesus.

 

What was the effect on Simeon?

He had now seen an answer to his many years of praying. This was the one thing he wanted to see before he died. He had seen it.

 

Here is my prayer:    

 

Sovereign Lord, Master of my life,

I commit my ways before you. I commit to living right and to being devoted in all my ways to serving you. I choose to work for you with all my soul, strength, heart and mind.

I live amongst people who need Jesus. They are blind and lost, they are in chains and trapped behind prison doors of addiction and brokenness. Comfort these people. Come Lord Jesus Come.

Start in me! Come on me! I need your presence. I desire you. I have nothing without the Holy Spirit being on me. I wait for you.

There is one thing I need to see and that is your work in my life. Speak to me, move me to the place you want me to be. I want to be where you want me to be. Open my eyes to see Jesus. Open my eyes to see what you are doing. Let me see what others miss or dismiss.

This is my life goal, this is what I want to see before I die. Come Lord. In your Sovereignty let it be.

Amen

When you can’t afford the offering.

Luke 2: 22-27

When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord’), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: ‘a pair of doves or two young pigeons’.

 

After the birth of a child the mother became unclean according to the Jewish custom and couldn’t be permitted to worship at the Temple or even be seen in public.

If the child was a boy this would last for 40 days and for a girl it would be 80 days.

After this time the parents would have to purchase the sacrificial lamb or birds in order to be clean again. The birds were for the poor people’s offering, which Joseph and Mary at that time were.

Can you imagine what was going on in the minds of these parents knowing they could not afford the lamb? That they had to bring a poor man’s sacrifice?

Mary had given birth to the Son of God, the Christ and he deserved a better offering than they could bring.

Joseph and Mary would never have bought a pair of cheap birds for the sacrifice if they could have afforded more.

However, I see a different picture. I see this couple walking to the temple carrying the Lamb of God in their arms. Their lamb was more superior to all the other lambs.

You see, if you are carrying His presence then you might not have what others have, but you certainly have all that is needed.

It is important for us to read ahead.

V25-27. “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 on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts.”

V38 “She never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she (Anna) gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.”

So picture this: on that day we have 2 poor parents carrying the Lamb of God into the Temple and they meet 2 old people, Simeon who is concerned with the comforting of suffering Israel and Anna who knows first-hand how the people were longing for their redemption and a Saviour to come.

So Luke is clearly showing us what is important. Can you see it yet?

Poor Joseph and Mary … carrying the lamb of God.

Suffering Simeon … who had the Holy Spirit on him, who received from Him and was moved by Him.

Longing for change Anna … a worshipper.

Today however you describe your situation and circumstance:

The question is are you carrying His presence?

You may be poor but are you carrying His presence?

You may be suffering but are you carrying His presence?

You may be longing for change but are you carrying His presence?

You may be well on in years but are you carrying His presence?

The list continues and you fill it in. Your life is not perfect by any means but are you carrying His presence?

This incredible world-changing story tells us that life may not look like what people had expected. There may be suffering and difficulties. But this story can become your story. Here are 4 people of different ages gathered around a little baby. This baby is for all ages. Immanuel. God with Us. As we end this year make that commitment to learn to host Him and to know that hosting Him is all that is needed.