[Read Luke 2:22-38; 2 Peter 3:1-13]
This Advent season, we are going to be spending some time looking at the connections between Christmas and the End Times. There’s been a lot of talk about the End Times over the past few months. It’s been a year where we’ve seen a plague, natural disasters, rioting and division, and even murder hornets. For many, the world—and our country—are in the most turmoil they’ve ever seen. As a result, people start asking the question, “Is this the End?” I’ve had numerous people ask me that question over the past few months. So, I thought we should begin talking about it.
And to be honest, it’s a great fit with the Advent season—although many wouldn’t naturally think it is. The word Advent means “coming.” And throughout the history of the church, the focus during Advent has been on BOTH the first coming of Jesus AND the second coming of Jesus. So, we’re going to take the opportunity to focus on both this Advent season.
Advent is also a season associated with WAITING. And, as I spent time this past week thinking about waiting I realized that waiting usually requires two things: Struggle and Hope. It requires the recognition that things are not the way they’re supposed to be BUT something better is coming. So, we STRUGGLE as we experience what’s not supposed to be and we HOPE in that something better to come.
And, in general, people don’t like to struggle—which is why we don’t like to wait. This is why so many people love Google. We don’t have to struggle to figure out certain answers…and we don’t have to wait. We simply pull out our phone, type in a question, get our answer, and go on with our day. There’s no struggle and there’s no waiting. And most of our lives have been designed so that we don’t have to struggle and we don’t have to wait.
We can even get a glimpse of this as we walk through the stores. Basically everyone has noticed it. I hear people talking about it all the time. When did the stores begin displaying Christmas decorations and Christmas shopping? WAY EARLY this year, right? Why? Well, here’s the answer I’ve heard going around: “People are sick and tired of 2020. They’re ready for it to be over. So, they’re already looking ahead to Christmas.” I hate to be a bearer of bad news, but it doesn’t work that way. It doesn’t matter how soon you try to get out your Christmas decorations, it will take the exact same amount of days to get to Christmas. And, whether you like it or not, you will have to WAIT.
But, the longer we have to wait, we get more tired of waiting. Our patience runs out. We wait and wait and wait and wait and eventually get sick of waiting and give up. That’s what was happening when Jesus was born. It’s pretty incredible isn’t it? The Savior of the world is born into the world and only a few people recognize it, only a few people hadn’t given up waiting. Luke says, “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.” (Luke 2:25, NIV). The only reason it’s important to point out Simeon is because he was an anomaly. Many had given up waiting, but he hadn’t. Then there’s Anna: “There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old…She never left the temple but worshiped 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 2:36–38, NIV). So we see a picture of Simeon, Anna, and a handful of other people who were still waiting—looking forward to the coming Savior.
Can you blame those who gave up? It had been around 400 years since a prophet had spoken the Word of God to the people. 400 YEARS!! Think about it. Our country is only 250 years old. 400 years ago, the pilgrims were just landing on the shores of this continent. John Calvin died about 450 years ago. Think about how you would be feeling if John Calvin was the last pastor to ever speak God’s Word. Would you still be waiting? Would you still be hopeful? Would you have given up and grown cold? Would you have turned your hope elsewhere?
We see similar things happening today, don’t we? The Apostle Peter writes, “Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”” (2 Peter 3:3–4, NIV). Have you ever heard anyone say something like this? “Do you really believe Jesus is still coming back? I mean, he’s been gone for TWO THOUSAND YEARS!! How can you still believe that?!? Things will keep going on like they always have. Nothing is going to change.” They mock you and try to make you feel like a fool.
So, how do we hold on? Look at what is said about Simeon: “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.” (Luke 2:25–26, NIV). And then when he sees Jesus he praises God saying, “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace.” (Luke 2:29, NIV). Simeon kept waiting because God had said Jesus was coming and God always keeps his word. So, Simeon heard God’s promise, believed God’s promised, hoped in God’s promise, then waited for God’s promise. Then, as Luke describes Anna, we get a clearer glimpse of what that waiting looked like: “She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.” (Luke 2:37, NIV). Because they heard God’s promise, believed God’s promise, and hoped in God’s promise, they worshiped and fasted and prayed as they waited. They continually looked to God as they waited. They could look at the world around them and recognize that things are not the way they’re supposed to be BUT God had promised that he would do something so that everything would eventually be the way they are supposed to be. So, they believed God, worshiped Him, and waited in hope.
Then, when Simeon sees Jesus at the temple, he cries out, “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.” (Luke 2:29–32, NIV). Now, when we read that prayer of praise, we are reading it with the end of the story in mind. Take a moment to put yourself in Simeon’s shoes. He had been waiting his whole life to see God’s promised salvation. He had been patiently, worshipfully waiting for this glorious day. Then, what does he see? A little baby. You could almost imagine him getting frustrated with God, saying, “Is this is? This is what I’ve waited my entire life for! This little child!!!” Yet, he doesn’t say that, does he? No. He says, “My eyes have seen your salvation…” (Luke 2:30, NIV). But, he hadn’t seen God’s salvation, had he? Jesus hadn’t died for the forgiveness of anyone’s sins. But Simeon looked in the face of that infant baby and saw the salvation that God would bring about through Him. He and Anna saw the tiny little seeds of salvation that existed at that moment—the sprout of God’s promise breaking up through the dry ground. And that was enough for them. They knew it. They knew this child was the fulfillment of God’s promise to bring salvation to His people. So, they rejoiced in Hope.
It’s really no different for us as we wait for Jesus’ second coming. Peter says, “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” (2 Peter 3:13, NIV). There’s the promise God has given us. God has given us the promise that there will be a new heavens and a new earth. God has promised that righteousness will dwell there—everything will be made right. That’s the promise God has given us. The question is: Do you believe it? Do you place your hope in that? Do you live your life worshiping and waiting in hope of this day when Christ will return and make things right again?
Here’s a quote from John Calvin that jumped off the page this week. He was writing this about Simeon and Anna’s day, but it forces us to think about our response to our current situation. He says, “All had on their lips the name of the Messiah, and of prosperity under the reign of David: but hardly any one was to be found, who patiently endured present afflictions, relying on the consolatory assurance, that the redemption of the Church was at hand.” (Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Vol. 1, 142). Hardly any were patiently enduring present afflictions, relying on the comforting assurance that God has promised to redeem his church and IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN—come hell or high water.
Our current situation—the difficulties of COVID, the division in our country—is a reminder to us that things are not the way they are supposed to be. This is not heaven. The United States is not the Kingdom of God. It’s not fully here yet. It’s still coming. So, we have to wait. The division we’re experiencing in our country forces us to longingly wait for the unity we will experience when Christ comes again. The spread of this virus across the globe forces us to longingly wait for the day when Christ will come again and bring in an eternity where there will be no death. The rioting in the streets forces us to longingly wait for Christ to usher in his kingdom of peace when he comes again. Things are not the way they are supposed to be BUT that day is coming. So we wait.
And we wait in Hope, not despair. It’s easy to become cynical and despairing as we watch things fall apart around us. It’s easy to give up and quite waiting, settling for the subpar reality of right now. It’s easy but it’s not Christian. Christians wait in HOPE. We are not pessimistic about history because we know that our God is in control and He WILL accomplishes his purposes and He WILL fulfill his promises.
And we wait with hope for the same reason Simeon and Anna waited with hope—Jesus Christ. They held fast to God’s promises and rejoiced when they saw the seeds of salvation in Jesus Christ. We have so much more than they did. We have the opportunity of knowing what Christ has fully accomplished. We have the opportunity to see the life Christ lived, and the death Christ died, and His resurrection from the dead. We have the opportunity to know that Christ has overcome sin and death and Satan NOW and has promised to throw all of them in the lake of fire when he comes again.
Simeon and Anna rejoiced in the small seeds of salvation they saw in the face of that infant child. We have much more than they did. We have the opportunity to rejoice in the large tree of salvation that has grown from that tiny seed—and will continue to grow until it fills the earth and Christ comes again. Even now, in the midst of our current difficulties and struggles, the salvation of Jesus Christ is growing. We can see it growing in our own lives. We can see it growing in our families. We can see it growing in our church and community. And not only should that cause us to rejoice in God’s growing salvation, but it should also give us HOPE and strength in our waiting.
Yes, things are not the way they’re supposed to be right now, but Jesus Christ was born into the world to save sinners and bring redemption as far as the curse is found. It’s coming. We can catch glimpses of it now. So, rejoice as you catch glimpses of his salvation. Then, “patiently endure present afflictions, relying on the [comforting] assurance that the redemption of the Church [and the world, is] at hand.” (Calvin, p, 142).