Do you ask the question, what do we do now? Christmas is over. We're getting ready for a new year, but now what? But can you imagine that same question as approached by Mary and Joseph? Here's been this huge anticipation. I mean, you've got centuries of anticipation of Messiah is coming, Messiah is coming, Messiah is coming. And then you had the nine months of anticipation for Mary and Joseph specifically. Messiah is coming and you are going to bring him into the world. And so there was all that anticipation of what was coming and Then he's born, and the angels sang, and the shepherds arrived, and everything is there. Now what? He's here. Now what do we do? I mean, could you imagine that would have been a question, a quandary for them? What about the shepherds? Remember, after the shepherds heard the announcement from the angels, and they said, let's go into Bethlehem and see this thing which has come to pass, and they saw the child, and they worshiped, and then the scripture says that they went everywhere telling everybody about all the things that they had seen and heard. Then what? What do you do after that? The baby's here. He's the Messiah. But how is that going to work? You can imagine the question. I mean, the most anticipated and prophesied event in history has now come to pass. Now what? What do you do to follow up on that? And if we start off with, well, What do Mary and Joseph do? The answer for them was, well, let's obey the commands of the law. We read that passage this morning already from Luke chapter two, where it says at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. 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. So they had a responsibility. to raise this child in faithful obedience to God. And so, in keeping with the law, after eight days, he was circumcised according to the law. It was at this time that he was formally given a name, the name Jesus, just as the angel had revealed to them that that would be his name. And you may remember that They had traveled from Nazareth and Galilee down to Bethlehem because of the census ordered by the Roman government. It was at Bethlehem, six miles south of Jerusalem, where the child was born. And eight days later, they're still there. You've got to think about the census methods in those days. They didn't have computer tabulation. The census probably took a year or maybe more. to accomplish all these things. So they were going to be long-term transients in Bethlehem until the census was done and they were given the all-clear to be able to go back home. But here they are in Bethlehem with this new child. They go through the days of purification according to the law. They go through the circumcision according to the law. They name the child Jesus according to all that the angel told them. they presented him at the temple as the law demanded. As it is written, verse 23, 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 turtle doves or two young pigeons. And so, as we look at this, Mary and Joseph knew that The first order of business for them was just obey the law. Do what God told us to do. And that had been their practice from everything that we can understand about them. That was their model of life up to this point, which is why God chose them. They were faithful in the little things. By the way, when we talk about this sacrifice that they offered, a pair of turtle doves or a pair of pigeons, when we look back in the law, the reason that they would offer that particular sacrifice was because they could not afford a lamb. They were poor. And so this gives us an indication of their status in society. They were among the poor of the land. Why are all of these details told to us? Why are they important for us to notice? Because holiness begins in the small things. Faithfulness in the little things. Simple obedience to what God has commanded. They didn't do these things simply because Jesus was special, though He was, and they knew it. But they did them because it is what God commanded them to do. Mary and Joseph were accustomed to doing things because they were right. Because they wanted to please God. And that's why God chose them for this special task of raising his son. But as they come to the temple in Jerusalem to present the child Jesus, to dedicate him to the Lord, and to offer the sacrifices of purification and dedication, As this is going on, then we're introduced to a man by the name of Simeon. And he's described for us here a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. I love it when we are introduced to people like Simeon in the scriptures, because he was a nobody. We're not told his family. We're not told his tribe. We're not told his status, his job. We're not told anything about that. He doesn't appear to be a priest or a Levite. I think it probably would have said so if he was. All we are told is he was righteous and devout. The word devout literally means taking hold well. He was holding onto, carefully, the words of God's law. It indicates a careful obedience to what God had said. Taking care to show proper reverence to God in the daily things of life. That is how God describes Him to us. Just like Mary and Joseph, Simeon did not attain status by holding some important office or performing some notable task. It was simply the result of daily obedience and love for God. That's why God took notice of him. Maybe nobody else noticed Simeon, but God did. We're also told here that he was waiting for the consolation of Israel. Why do you suppose he would be expecting, waiting for the Messiah to come in his lifetime? Perhaps it was because he had read the Old Testament prophecies and realized that the time was right for Messiah's appearance. Daniel's prophecy of 70 weeks would have led him to that expectation. So he was a student of the Scriptures. God's Spirit was upon him, we're told here. And the Spirit of God revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And so, he was careful to study and obey the Scriptures. He took great pains to honor God with his life and the application of the Scriptures. And then as he studied the Scriptures, saw the prophecies, came to an understanding and said, wow, this would be the time. Lord, let it be so. And then God responded to him and affirmed to him that his understanding of the Scriptures was correct. And told him, you won't see death until you have seen the Lord's Christ. God blessed him for his faithful anticipation of Messiah's coming. So then we read that 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, he took him up in his arms and blessed God. Now, I may be reading things into the text a little bit. Bear with me. But I can just imagine the surprise and confusion that this may have caused for the priest. Because here you have this anonymous poor couple, possibly just one couple among many who were coming to the temple on that day to present the sacrifice for purification for the birth of a child. And they're just standing in the queue, waiting their turn. And the priest is just going through the normal routine of, this is what you do. This was his assignment for that day, is to receive the sacrifices and the rites of purification for the children, pronounce God's blessing on the children and the families, and send them on their way, and the next one comes. And as he's going through this, just all these nameless, Nobody's coming through to do that. And while he's in the middle of doing this with Mary and Joseph and Jesus, up comes this man, Simeon. Maybe he interrupted them. Maybe he was waiting on the outskirts, like, I can't wait till they're done, because then I can go and talk to these people. But it kind of gives the impression that Simeon came up right in the midst of what was happening there. And it says that when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God. It's like, who is this guy that's just coming in the middle of this, grabbing this baby, and making a big fuss over this baby? Who is this guy? Why is he here? I could imagine the priest going through some of this thought process. In fact, if we add in this context that we already saw of they were poor because they were offering a pair of turtle doves rather than a lamb. Maybe the custom was that those that could afford a lamb went first in line. And those that were poor were at the end of the line. So they're waiting. So maybe Simeon was anticipating waiting. They're getting closer. They're getting closer, getting closer, getting closer. Here they are, okay there, now it's time. The priest received their sacrifice, pronounced his blessing. He was ready to move on to the next one in line. And here comes Simeon, rushing up to the young couple, taking up their child in his arms, and now proclaiming, 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. He's now making a prophetic proclamation in the temple. And the priest may have been thinking, who does this guy think he is? Who gave him authority to do any of these things? Is he a prophet? What is he talking about? Even Joseph and Mary marveled at Simeon's words. But they were probably wondering, how does he know about us? How does he know about our child? Who told him that this was the Messiah? When you look at his words, you definitely get the indication that he believed that this child was the long-awaited Messiah. And so you see this coming together unexpected plans as Mary and Joseph. We walk through the entirety of the, from the time of the enunciation to Mary and Joseph of what was going to happen. And you, you see how Elizabeth knew as soon as Mary walked in her door and her, her child, John the Baptist leaped in the womb. It's like, This is the Messiah. This is my Lord. And then you have the shepherds who are told by the angels, and they came and they worshiped. And now you have Simeon in the temple. And you could imagine Mary and Joseph, as they've been trying to process all of these things throughout these months, the confirmation, it is exactly as God has said. And God's confirming it by declaring to other people outside of their realm the same truth that he had told them. And so then Simeon, after making this proclamation that this child is the long-awaited Messiah, that he is a light for the revelation of the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel, then he turned to Mary and Joseph. And he told Mary, 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. I'm sure Mary and Joseph wondered at the meaning of these words. Was he telling them that Jesus would be rejected by his own people? In what way would a sword pierce through Mary's soul? What does that mean? I mean, there was a mystery, and yet there was a foreshadowing of things to come that we know of. God had revealed to Simeon his plan of salvation. And it was right in line with everything that had been said in the Old Testament prophets. He was despised and rejected by man, man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He was pierced. He wore our stripes, right? All of those things had been foretold and now God was confirming that through Simeon to Mary and Joseph. And I'm sure they must have thought deeply, what does this mean? How is this going to be? And what is the impact on us and our child? This Messiah, this promised savior that God has given. And while they were pondering these things, then we got another person. that enters the scene in verse 36. 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, and then as a widow until she was 84. 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. So Anna, a prophetess of the tribe of Asher. Does anyone know anything of the tribe of Asher? What comes from Asher? I mean, it's like, it's one of those, well, I know it's a tribe. But it's like, who declared her a prophetess? And why? But obviously, God recognized this. God called her. But here is this woman who not only is she spoken of as a prophetess, but she is a lifelong widow. She had been married for seven years, and her husband died. And then for the rest of her life, until she's now 85 years old, she remained a widow. I mean, you think about what that means for her. She had no family, no hopes of having a family. And yet, Though she had long ago given up hope of having a family in this world, she still served God faithfully. She still found her hope in his word. She did not depart from the temple worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. What we find here is that Anna was very much like Mary and Joseph and Simeon. an insignificant person in the sight of man, someone without position, without prestige, and yet devoted to God and noticed by God. Just like Simeon had been told by God that this was the child he had been waiting for, Anna seems to have been directed by God. And here we go back to this picture of trying to visualize how this would have happened. You've got Mary and Joseph waiting in line for their turn to be able to offer the sacrifice and receive the blessing of the priest. Seemingly right as that was going on Simeon rushes in makes his proclamation holds the baby and gives thanks and praise to God gives us this Warning of things to come and then at that very hour Anna comes up and began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who are waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem Put yourself in the place of the priest Who are these people coming in the middle of my ceremony? What is going on? Why haven't I been told what's going on? I could imagine, you know, there's a certain amount of confusion by the priest. And so either the priest found himself in utter confusion wondering why he had not been informed of all these things and who was in charge of all this or perhaps he was one who had been anticipating the arrival of Messiah and he saw God at work and fell on his knees in worship recognizing God's work. We don't know. He could have been either one of these two positions. What we do know is that between Simeon and Anna, all who were in the temple that day were told this is God's Messiah. They were told God has fulfilled His word. He has sent the promised Savior. The people were given the gospel, the good news. They told the people that God had kept His promise. The Messiah had arrived. Going back to the shepherds, you remember how after seeing the child in the manger, we're told back in verse 17 of this chapter, they made known the saying that had been told them, and all who heard it wondered." Sometimes I wish we had a little bit more insight into the people around Bethlehem and Jerusalem in these days. Because all the people in the environs of Bethlehem, six miles south of Jerusalem, had been told by the shepherds, there were angels And they proclaimed the Messiah was born in the city of David. And we saw the child. This is the fulfillment of God's prophecies. And then eight days later, the people at the temple in Jerusalem only six miles away. I mean, that's here to Cavendish. All the people in Jerusalem at the temple heard what was going on, this proclamation. This is the child. This is God's light to the Gentiles. This is the fulfillment. Blessed be God. He has sent salvation to his people. This is not done in a private thing. This was in the courtyard of the temple. This is a very public proclamation. The people were informed that the Messiah had arrived. But the other thing that we see in this is that God revealed the truth of His work, His fulfillment of His prophecies. He revealed it to simple people. People who were simply seeking to worship and obey Him in their daily lives. Nobody's. Simeon and Anna, Joseph and Mary, poor people, people with no position, but people who were faithful in serving God, faithful in seeking God, faithful in reading His Word, and seeking to obey it and apply it in their lives, God took notice of them. What does that say to us? Do we need to be world famous? Do we need to have position and prestige? Or do we just need to have the Word? Be in the Word? faithful to the word, honoring God, seeking to please him with our lives. God takes notice of that sort of people. You and I can be used of God in a similar fashion to how Simeon and Anna and the shepherds were used by God. We don't need a notable position. We don't need to do extraordinary things. We just need to be faithful in the little things. We need to be ready to respond when God acts. I go back to my opening question. What do we do now that Christmas is past? Or maybe I should rephrase it. If we want to be used by God, how do we get started? Well, we tell others what God has done. We tell others, what has God done in my life? How has God shown Himself faithful to me? We tell them. That's our story. We tell others what He's revealed in His Word. We serve God in the daily little tasks. Honoring Him in the way that we live. Go back to Joseph and Mary, Simeon and Anna, in the years leading up to the birth year of the Messiah. Did anybody else take notice of what they were doing? Maybe not. But God did. It doesn't so much matter whether others in the church or outside of the church notice your faithfulness. What matters is that God notices. When we give ourselves to Him, allow Him to guide us, teach us, lead us. I don't think Anna probably sought to be a prophetess. That was something given to her by God as a result of her faithfulness. I don't think Simeon sought to be the one to take up the child Jesus and proclaim him to the world, God gave him that privilege as a result of his obedience. I don't know that Mary sought to be the mother of the Messiah. God gave that to her as a result of her obedience and faithfulness. I don't think Joseph sought to be the adoptive father of the Son of God. God gave that to him as a result of his faithful obedience. We have no idea what God may have in store for us. And we don't have to seek big things. What we have to seek is to be faithful in the little things. To honor God in the daily ins and outs of life. and then allow God to take the lead and show us what he has next for us so that he is honored and glorified in and through our lives. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for your grace, for how you use insignificant people from man's perspective. to do great things. You take surprising methods to accomplish your will. Lord, help us to be prepared and willing participants in your work. Help us to prepare by doing those daily little things, remaining faithful to you in the study of your word, in worshiping You and submitting obediently to all that You tell us. And then that we would be willing to be used by You in whatever way You call us to so that You would be glorified in us. We thank You for Your grace, for Your salvation. We thank You for the gift of a Savior. Lord, help us in the days to come to be your witnesses, to proclaim to others the great things that you have done. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen.