Heartache at Christmas
Luke 2:21-35
December 16, 2018
During this Christmas season, we’re talking about “Christmas Expectations.” We tend to enter the season with high and lofty expectations. We want magical, sugar plum visions of a Norman Rockwell Christmas. A Christmas where everything is just perfect!
But all too often this happens ~ VIDEO of FUNNY Christmas events. (45 seconds)
Not quite what we wanted, and sometimes our reality isn’t what our expectations were.
Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a Stanford professor of psychology initiated a study about delayed gratification that became known as the Marshmallow Test. They put 4 year olds in a room by themselves and the psychologist would pull out a bag of marshmallows, take one out, and put it right in front of that four-year-old.
They’d say, “I’ll be back in a little while, I’m leaving this marshmallow on the table in front of you. You can eat this marshmallow at any time. But if you don’t eat it, when I get back, I’ll give you two! But if you eat this one, it’s the only one you’re going to get.
Then the researcher would leave the room with the child all alone — sitting on that chair and staring at that marshmallow. They would be left alone for 15 minutes! It must have seemed like torture for the children.
The Marshmallow Test was a battle between impulse and restraint, desire and self-control. Some kids would immediately devour the marshmallow. Others would cave in and eat it after awhile, while some made it the 15 minutes.
The kids did all sorts of things to avoid eating the marshmallows. While I’m comparing our life situations to the kids, sometimes our lives mirror what the kids were going through.
We’re only 9 days away from Christmas morning! What are your expectations? Even more so, what are your heartaches that you may be dealing with? We have hopes of what should be, but what should be is not always our reality.
We may think about those who are no longer with us, those who are emotionally, mentally, spiritually wounded, we think about broken relationships. We wonder when our wounds will heal! Will anyone even notice I’m hurting. Will I finally be able to beat my addiction? How can I return to a healthy relationship with my kids, my spouse, my God?
How long will I be able to endure my family this Christmas! Will they accept me for who I am, I’m finally happy, but they won’t be.
AND how long until we eat and open presents!?
In some ways, the heartaches of Christmas we experience are like living in that marshmallow test. How do we survive and pass that test?
The greatest way to not only survive but to pass the test with flying colors is to embrace Christmas and what it really means. Can you embrace the reality of Christmas? Can you do it like a guy named Simeon . . . a man of God who waited and waited for the Messiah.
After Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph go through all of the Jewish ceremonies, which included dedicating Jesus in the Temple, establishing their family before God. We find this story in Luke 2, beginning in verse 21 ~
21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the Child, He was named Jesus, the name the angel had given Him before He was conceived.
This ceremony would officially confirm Jesus as Jewish. It’s what every Jewish parent would do when they had a male child. Joseph would announce His name as Jesus to everyone there. That was the first part.
The next verses describes what came next ~
22 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
23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”),
24 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.”
Then 40 days after giving birth, according to Leviticus 12 they went to the temple in Jerusalem where they would offer sacrifices for Mary.
That was all very customary according to the law. Joseph and Mary are simply doing what the normal Jewish folks did. In fact, they were so ordinary and poor that they couldn’t offer a lamb and a bird. All they could offer were two birds.
They would have blended in with all of the other folks at the Temple. They were just two young parents among the crowd. But there’s another person in this story, it’s someone we don’t know much about. But he’s going to surprise Mary and Joseph in good and not so good ways. The story continues ~
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 on him.
26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.
We don’t know much more about Simeon. We know he’s a righteous man and a devout Jew. That really speaks volumes about him. He’s righteous. He seeks to do what is right. He seeks to live in a manner which glorifies God, and he’s devout. He’s God fearing, and deeply sincere in his faith.
Simeon’s a model citizen. An older man you’d want to adopt as your grandfather. We also learn something else about Simeon . . .
He was waiting. God promised Simeon he wouldn’t die until he saw the Messiah. So Simeon waited. And he waited. And he waited some more. We don’t know how long he waited, but we can assume it was years! And he waited because God had promised him another marshmallow - the Messiah
Some people become very unhappy, even rude and bitter while waiting. We aren’t a patient people are we. Sit too long at a stop light. Have someone need a price check while you’re in line. Get stuck 2 times by the same train. We’re not patient.
Simeon was waiting and patient. He hadn’t become cynical and jaded. He’s not an angry old man, waiting for the Messiah to appear. He’s waiting and going to the Temple with hopes and expectations that he would meet God’s chosen One.
He trusted God’s promise. He was obediently following God. He kept going to the Temple - hoping, waiting, longing and looking for the Messiah.
Simeon shows us what it’s like to wait well on God. When we’re in those seasons of life which are a struggle, waiting isn’t easy. Waiting for answers from the doctor, waiting for healing, waiting for a loved one to return home, waiting for that new job, waiting for the pain to go away.
We’re just 9 days from Christmas, as we wait, it means we’re not bitterly waiting, demanding and being a bear to live with. When we wait well, we wait with hope, with expectancy, with a prayerful attitude, even if there’s brokeness and heartache. It’s obediently trusting God, as we continue to worship, praise and give thanks! Waiting for God to bring us that marshmallow - healing, hope, grace, restoration.
As we wait, don’t give up, don’t become cynical, don’t become angry and bitter - - instead can you wait with hope, knowing God loves you and really does want the best for you, even if that means you’re going through a season of heartache and suffering. Would you trust, pray, and obey God until He brings resolution?
As we wait, we also have an opportunity to grow in Christ. Interestingly, when the researchers did that Marshmallow Test, they followed up on the kids. They tracked them into adolescence and early adulthood.
They learned that the 4 year olds who were able to wait - - - grew up to become more socially competent, better able to cope with life’s frustrations, and less likely to become rattled under pressure and stress. While the 4 year olds who couldn’t wait - - grew up more likely to be stubborn and indecisive, to be overwhelmed by stress, to be resentful about not getting enough, and prone to jealousy and envy.
Pretty amazing to learn all this from a marshmallow experiment. So, maybe if we can wait well on God, we can learn and grow in positive ways.
Waiting isn’t easy! We can repeat that about 1,000 times over. I don’t know of anybody who enjoys waiting! Yet, that’s what Simeon was doing and often what we’re called to do.
As the story of Simeon continued, Luke tells us ~
27 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,
28 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.
30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”
Simeon got what he was waiting for - - - well - - - kinda sorta. Somehow, in that Temple throng, Simeon spots Jesus. He makes a bee line for Him, walks up to Mary and Joseph and took Jesus into his arms.
Can you imagine the gall of the guy? Who just grabs a baby from His mama’s arms? Especially a guy you don’t know. Then this old guy starts to sing a song. The song in Latin is called Nunc Dimittis. It means “Now You dismiss.” That’s the first line of Simeon’s song. Can you picture this guy, holding Jesus, singing and smiling, maybe even crying at finally seeing and now holding the Savior of the world?
He sings this baby is the light of the world, not only to the Jewish people, but also to the non-Jewish people. He proclaims Jesus is the salvation of the world!
The coming of Jesus Christ was better than what he was waiting for. His wait was more than worth it, because Christmas was more than what he expected for his wait. Jesus didn’t only come for the Jew, but also for those who were not Jewish! The world was going to be rocked by this little baby!
Yet, the wait wasn’t fully realized. Isn’t that true in our lives as well? Sometimes we wait and we kinda sorta get what we hoped for.
On the one hand, Simeon saw the salvation of the world. He even held Him. The hope was that through Jesus, the Jewish people would find healing. That’s what the consolation of Israel means. The people would find rescue and healing through the coming of the Savior. We see that in Isaiah 49 ~
13 Sing for joy, O heavens and exult, O earth, break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord has comforted His people and will have compassion on His afflicted. – Isaiah 49:13
That’s who the consolation of Israel is. He’s the One who brings comfort and healing for the afflicted. In a sense he was waiting for the One who would take away the heartache of the people. Isn’t that what we’re often waiting for too?
Simeon’s hope was that God would make everything right — everything that had gone wrong from all our sin and this world’s evil.
When Simeon sees Jesus, his waiting was over, because Jesus was real and here!
Yet, Jesus hadn’t fulfilled all that was to happen. Simeon didn’t know how it would all play out, yet he had an inkling as we’ll see in a bit. The consolation of Israel was just getting started. There was much more to come, as Jesus would be the sacrifice for our sinfulness, so we could stand before God and be viewed as righteous because Jesus was and is the only righteous One.
As we move through some of our struggles, heartaches, and waiting over the next days, we have hope in the coming of Jesus Christ.
Maybe we’re waiting for a new season where we’re not as lonely, or we want a healing, maybe we’re grieving, or we’re waiting for a job, maybe it’s a sin issue to be healed. That we would break the cycle of addictions we’ve been stuck in.
Maybe, we’re just waiting for peace in our lives. For a good doctor’s report, to believe God really has forgiven us of our sinfulness, in spite of ourselves. It really doesn’t matter what you’re waiting for, as we wait - - know that God has something for us. And it’s bigger and better than a marshmallow.
We need to have hope that Christ came to give you and I a relationship with God, where we’re called children of God, adopted into His family, holy, dearly loved, forgiven, freed from guilt, pardoned from death, declared innocent and righteous.
As you wait, trust in those words and actions from God.
Finally, Luke comes to the end of the story for us ~
33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about Jesus.
Mary and Joseph are stunned. Here’s some stranger who grabbed their little boy, and declares Him to be the Savior. The word to MARVEL literally means ~
astonished out of one's senses; wondering very greatly.
But Simeon had more to say. It’s information that the angels never passed on. They passed on the good news. Simeon is sharing both sides of the same coin.
34 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,
35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” – Luke 2:21-35
They learn their precious child is going to cause many to fall and rise. He will be spoken against and Mary’s heart will be pierced. UGH! Can you imagine on this joyful day, what’s going through their hearts. Especially Mary! You don’t want to hear that news, and she would be powerless to do anything about it.
Jesus would reveal the true nature of people’s hearts. There would be divisions because of Him. I’m not sure how Mary dealt with this news and pain. Imagine the waiting she endured. Not knowing if those words would really come true.
We know they did. So, will we trust God by embracing what Jesus did to bring us to Him? He is the One who answers our waiting . . . all in His time. Or will we trust ourselves to do it our way, and to hold onto our heartache? To own it, because we won’t give it to the Son who came to bring us comfort and consolation?
We can experience relief in Christ and what He did at the Cross. We can be assured of God’s eternal resolution, as God sent His Son to die for us.
Look to Christ. See Simeon holding that baby, singing, crying, praising, proclaiming. One day, some day, He’ll take away the sin of the world. Yours and mine!
Ask Him to forgive you of your sinfulness, to heal you, to comfort you as you wait.
There’s more to come, when, how, where . . . I don’t know?
There’s something bigger than a marshmallow coming for you and me. It’s more than you and I can ever imagine! It’s the holy and powerful presence of Christ! We must embrace it, even in the midst of heartache and brokenness. He promises to be with you, to love you . . . today and always!
