With Expectation…

For whatever reason maybe it’s 2020, I don’t know but my kids are so excited for Christmas.  We wrapped their presents a couple of nights ago and they went through the roof.  They can’t wait for Christmas the expectation of gifts, good food, fun, no school.

To be honest I used to be the same way.  COULD NOT WAIT.

And it’s not that I don’t like Christmas now, I do, its just that maybe it has lost a little of its magic.

Age will do that to you.

Living does that to you.

Hurt, pain, distraction, trauma, does it to you as well.

We quit living “with expectation.”

I was google searching “with expectation”and the first thing that comes up is “comes disappointment.”

That’s it in a nutshell really, we quit expecting because we have been disappointed one to many times.

We found out Santa Clause wasn’t true, and for that matter the easter bunny, and the tooth fairy too.

Fairytale endings are just that fairytales.

Life hurts, a lot.

But perhaps we have put our expectations in the wrong thing.

Because there is ONE, that never fails.

Luke 2:22-38

Jesus Presented at the Temple

Now Jesus has been visited by shepherd, and also been circumcised.

²² And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses (Leviticus 12 this law is found and after circumcision on the 8^thday, they would have to wait 33 days to bring the child before the priest and be cleaned (it was longer if the child was a girl) with a year old lamb and a pigeon or dove and then should would be ceremony clean, if they were poor that only had to bring two pigeons of doves), they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”

²⁵ 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.²⁶ 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. ²⁷ 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, ²⁸ he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

²⁹ “Lord, now you are letting your servant^[e]depart in peace,
    according to your word;
³⁰ for my eyes have seen your salvation
³¹     that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and for glory to your people Israel.”

³³ And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. ³⁴ 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 ³⁵ (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

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, ³⁷ and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.^[f]She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.³⁸ 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.

How did they stay devout, what was their secret?  How did they keep their expectation?

We would want to ask, and I think the text gives way to how you to can be filled with an unmoving expectation of Christ and His work.

Look at Luke 2:25 ^“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.”

1. Righteous and Devout

This is first for a reason.  There is a great moving when someone is righteous and devout.

If you walk out of this room back into you sin, your anger, your grumbling, your murmuring your unforgiveness, your being around the wrong people, your impurity, even your addiction, it will be incredibly hard to walk in expectation. 

You might be able to do it for a season, but eventually you hold on to one and let go of the other.  You can’t continue in your habitual sin, it will destroy you.

EVERY SINGLE TIME IT WORKS THIS WAY

If we are to live in expectation of what Christ is going to do in and through us, we have to live righteous and devout.

1 Peter 1:15-17 But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, 16forit is written:“Beholy,becauseIamholy.”17Since you call on a Father who judges each one’s work impartially, conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners.…

(object lesson, I want to be filled with expectation (gifts) but….I hold on to these instead)

2. Waiting on God

This is a big part of expectation, waiting. 

My kids are waiting for their gifts this Christmas. 

I know what the gift is, I know they will love it.  But in waiting for the proper time, the time that has been assigned to give the gift that will bless them.

Simeon was waiting on the proper time, with expectation.

Between Malachi and Matthew 400 years of silence, no prophetic word, no angels, but to think God wasn’t moving wasn’t true he was setting up the stage, the eternal stage.

There is principal in waiting, there is a stretching of your faith in waiting.

“But those who wait on the Lordshall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31 NKJV).

As you are waiting be continual like Anna with worshipping, with fasting, and prayer night and day. That has to continue as we wait or we will lose expectation, we will lose faith.

So the disciplines of our faith have to be exercised as we are waiting.

3. And the Holy Spirit was upon Him

This isn’t talked enough about anymore, the power of the Holy Spirit upon you.

We know God, we know of the redemptive work of Jesus, but the power of the Holy Spirit.

Coming upon you. Yes, He lives in you but also wants to come upon you with power.

The Holy Spirit was upon Simeon.

⁸ But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power to testify about me with great effect, to the people in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, about my death and resurrection.”  Acts 1:8 (Living Bible)

There is an expectation there, an anticipation there, so much so that holy and devout peoplewere waitingon the promised Holy Spirit.  There is nothing like the power of the Holy Spirit.  There is nothing like testifying about Jesus with great effect, there is nothing like

-sensing His presence

-knowing His power

-filling of the broken and hurt places in our lives

-participating in His miracles and gifts

So are you live in expectation, righteous and devout, waiting, with Holy Spirit Power…

How are you feeling about going into work tomorrow, with expectation!

God is going to move, my coworkers will come to know Christ.

How are looking forward to hanging out with your family during the holidays, with expectation!

It may be another catastrophe but I am sure that my light will shine.

How is mothering or fathering going,with expectation!

I may not see it while I am changing diapers but God is working in me.

What about going to Hope to the Streets today, with expectation!

There will be people who know, God’s work will be done.

What about your children growing up into adulthood, with expectation!

I know the world is rough, but the expectation is they will be men and women of God.

What about a situation that looks grim right now, with expectation!

God is working, the power of the Holy Spirt is moving.

What about a disease that’s in your body, with expectation!

He can heal, he will heal, and even if He doesn’t…

Our lives are to be lived in the same expectation of Simeon and Anna.

An expectation centered around Christ.