Luke 2:22-40
Plans…We all make them…we all seem to have the need to have ours days planned out just so…and when something happens (and with me this is a usual occurrence in my life)…it is as if our world comes crashing down. Why do so many of our plans fall apart in some way or another? I remember one time (OK…not just one time), I had plans to spend the day studying for school. I had my day planned out…I was going to get all this reading and such done. I was so proud of my plan. Well…wouldn’t you know it…one of our daughters was home sick…and not only was she home sick…I had to take the time…out of my plan…to take her to the doctors. Now don’t get me wrong…I love my daughters and would do anything I needed to keep the safe and healthy…but…I had a plan for the day…I was going to be so productive that day. Why did she have to be sick on that particular day?
Well today I want to talk about another kind of plan…by someone whose plans are ones that comes to reality...if we but follow it instead of our own. I am talking about God’s plan for the world. When I think about Christmas I think about the plan that God made and carried out in the form of a babe a manger. You see...God’s plan for our salvation started in that manger so long ago. But this is not a plan that started on that night. It began to take form back in Isaiah’s day way before Christ was born. In Isaiah 61:10-62:3, Isaiah states (read scripture)
Isaiah knew that the salvation of the Lord would come. He knew that God’s people would be called by a new name that the lord would give them. Isaiah could not keep quiet about the salvation to come through the Lord. Unfortunately Isaiah was not around to see that babe born in the manger. But there was someone, who was waiting to see the righteousness and salvation from God, who lived to see it come to pass. I’m talking about Simeon and Anna. They both were able to see the promise come to pass.
Their reaction to this event is found in Luke 2:22-40 which states (read scripture)
Simeon and Anna knew who the child was and what this child would do…whose plan this child would fulfill…The “great plan of salvation” that God had planned for his people and for those who would be taken into the flock as sisters and brothers of His chosen people. You see, the plan was already mapped out. In the Galatians reading from this morning we can see it clearly. At the right time…God sent his Son…to redeem those under the law… that we might receive full rights as sons (and daughters). What an Awesome plan…what a Great plan…and one that came to pass (unlike some of our own plans that fail). The NIV bible uses the word Abba for the name in which our souls cry out. The word Abba means “Daddy”. Just think about it…Our souls cry out to Daddy, our Heavenly Father. What a great plan…we can call Him daddy!
But you see…the plan doesn’t stop there. God also has a plan for our lives. A plan that is far better than the plan’s that we might make. What we need to do is believe and trust that God has a plan for our lives. There are some who feel that their lives have no purpose…the just exist going day to day with no real purpose in life. That is so untrue because you see…God has a plan for each and every one of us. God created everything with a purpose. We need to live a Purpose Driven Life…we need to discover our purpose…which God will reveal in His time.
God has a great plan for me and for you. We need to trust and believe that and in the believing we will see the plan for our lives. When we discover that plan we need to follow that plan so that we can fulfill that plan in our lives that plan he started so long ago in the form of a babe in a manger. Plans…we all have them but it is the Master’s Plan that will bring us hope and peace that goes beyond our understanding. It is that plan that brings us purpose in life. Amen!
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