Tuesday, Dec. 10

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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.  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. 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, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
“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.”
- Luke 2:25-32

In order to understand Simeon, we need to keep in mind the times in which he lived. The Jewish religious leaders were largely political and not deeply spiritual. There had been no prophet in Israel for 400 years. Israel had been oppressed by one foreign power after another during those long centuries, and even now they were ruled by the corrupt Herod under the dominion of Rome. It would have been easy for Simeon to get caught up in the political fervor of the times and to wonder skeptically, “Where are these great promises of God for His people?” 

Simeon is described as “righteous and devout” (2:25).  These are not words we use to describe people today but they are important to understand this faithful old man.  “Righteous” means that his behavior in the sight of God and towards his fellow man was in accordance with God’s standards. He wasn’t a phony, practicing his religion only to be seen and admired by others. He quietly and consistently obeyed God, even when people weren’t looking. “Devout” has the connotation of reverent. It sometimes means careful. It means that Simeon wasn’t careless about the spiritual life. While you can skim over these two words in a flash, they reflect a lifetime of cultivation. No one accidentally becomes righteous and devout. Simeon cultivated his walk with God.

The key to Simeon’s righteous life can be seen in his view of himself in relation to God. In verse 29, the word “Lord” is an unusual one, used only five times in reference to God. We get our word “despot” from it.  The word means “absolute ownership and uncontrolled power.” Simeon saw God as the Sovereign Lord who had prepared His salvation, and had graciously allowed Simeon to see it.  Simeon also called himself the Lord’s “servant”, this is the same word that the Apostle Paul used to describe himself as the “bond slave” of Christ in Romans 1:1.  This means that Simeon saw himself as the slave of this Sovereign Lord. Slaves have no rights. They belong to their owner and their only obligation is to obey. Simeon had a high view of God and a humble view of himself.  Simply put, Simeon had a very high view of the importance of God and a rather low view of his own importance.  This is why he was able to say that his eyes had seen the salvation of the Lord.  

We will never  see the glories of God right in front of us if our eyes are too focused on ourselves.  If your view of yourself is large and your view of God is small, what do you think you will spend most of your time focusing on?  Simeon spent his entire life combing the Word of God, trusting in the promises of God, and looking for the salvation of God.  This is not a bad model for us today.  

Oh God, grant us an ever enlarging vision of You and an ever shrinking view of ourselves.  Help us in this advent season to focus our minds and our hearts not on ourselves, but on You - Amen.

Jeff Frazier

Monday, Dec. 9

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 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  (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “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 turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 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.  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. 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, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

“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.”

- Luke 2:22-32

Charles Eliot, the president emeritus of Harvard University. During the summer of his 90th year, he made his way slowly down the road from his cottage in Northeast Harbor, Maine, to the cottage next door. His neighbor greeted him warmly and invited him into the living room. After a brief conversation, Eliot asked if he might hold her new baby.  Mystified, she lifted her infant son from his crib and laid him in the arms of Harvard’s venerable president emeritus. Eliot held the baby quietly for a few minutes. Then, with a little gesture of thanks, he returned him to his mother, explaining, “I have been looking at the end of life for so long that I wanted to look for a few moments at its beginning.”

We all need hope. Especially in old age, but also at all other points in life, we need hope. One of the blessings that comes along with the little ones God entrusts to us is hope.  And yet, the hope that comes with children is an uncertain hope at best. There is always the uncertainty of disease or death. What parent of a newborn has not gone in by the crib in the middle of the night and put his or her ear down close enough to make sure that the little one is breathing?  And we don’t stop worrying once our children leave the crib.  Every stage of life brings with it a new set of uncertainties and new things to worry about; school, the influence of friends, dating, choosing a spouse, finding a job or career, the corruption and violence in the world, etc.

Given all of the uncertainties of life, when we meet an elderly person who is filled with hope, we need to sit up and take notice. Here is someone who could be pessimistic, cynical, filled with fears and anxieties. But he is brimming over with firm hope. We had better listen. We might learn some things.

Simeon was such a man. When he held the infant Jesus in his arms in the temple courtyard, we see more than just an old man taking hope in any newborn. Rather, we see an old man who has put his hope in the promises of God. This was no ordinary newborn! He was the fulfillment of all God’s promises to His people.  Think about that for just a moment... All his life, Simeon has been studying the promises of God and watching & waiting for them to come true...and now he stares into the tiny face that will be God’s answer to them all!  Simeon is holding in his own arms the answer to all of his prayers and the hope the entire world!  

Jeff Frazier

Friday, December 6

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Ephesians 1:7-8

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

I’ve visited Niagara Falls three times in the last 10 years or so; each time with one of my boys on the way to a baseball tournament in Cooperstown, N.Y. If you’ve ever visited Niagara Falls you will know what I mean when I say I will never forget the sight and sound of the falls!

People who measure this kind of thing tell us that roughly 200,000 tons of water plunge over the falls and into the Niagara River gorge every minute.  Think about that for a moment: 200,000 tons of water roaring over the falls every minute; 60 minutes an hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The result is a thunderous ovation to the lavish, generous, creativity of God. 

I think that’s why people come from all over the world to see Niagara Falls; the overwhelming lavishness of the roaring waterfall!

I also think that’s a picture of God’s grace! 

God’s grace toward us is not squeezed out of an eye-dropper or carefully rationed like water during a drought. His grace is a Niagara Falls of favor so lavish that we marvel at the sheer unabated and unstoppable power.

Do you think of God's grace in this way? Do you think of God as “lavish”? I hope you do!

But, I fear that many of us, including those of us who have been Christians for a long time, tend to minimize God's grace and to project onto him a kind of stinginess that reflects our own “smallness of heart” and not the God we see in the advent story. Thus, we live in fear that we will somehow manage to exhaust God's grace; that one day he will say to us, “That’s enough! No more grace for you!”

But God is not stingy with his grace! 

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us...” 

The word is “lavished.”

I think I understand that word at least in part.

Lavishly is how I want to love my wife and my boys.

Lavishly is how I want to love God.

Lavishly is how I want to give.

But I struggle to live and love as lavishly as I would like because my resources are limited; my heart is limited; my love, my joy, my grace, my forgiveness are all limited and imperfect.

The good news is, and this is the gospel, that there is one who can and does love lavishly. There is one who has the resources; who can give extravagantly and at great cost. There is one who can forgive and can offer grace that is undeserved.

And at just the right time; 

God so loved the world that he gave...

Pastor Brian Coffey

Thursday, December 5

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Ephesians 1:7-8

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

Christmas is a time of expectations! 

As time goes on we learn to temper our expectations a bit; we don’t really expect a Lexus to be in the driveway, but for children expectations are what Christmas is all about!

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

There’s nothing more fun than coming up with a gift that exceeds a child’s expectations; a gift that truly surprises!

I can remember coming down the stairs on Christmas morning as a boy and finding a “Johnny Quest Space Station” set out under the tree! That toy still sticks out in my memory as one of the great gifts I received in my childhood!

In Ephesians Paul describes the extravagant and surprising gift of God:

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

There are three extravagant and costly gifts in these verses; each exceeding all expectations.

First, we see the gift of redemption.

The root Greek word translated here as redemption is lutroo, meaning "to obtain release by the payment of a price." The word was often used to refer to the act of buying freedom for a slave.

So how is it that we need the gift of redemption? The gift of redemption makes no sense unless we understand that we are captives who need to be set free.

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from a college student. The student, who is a follower of Jesus, described several conversations with fellow students who are, in a sense, trapped by a life-perspective that does not include God. 

The student wrote, in part:

I hope to learn as much as I can so that I can reach a group of individuals that I think is possibly the hardest to reach with the gospel despite how close they are in proximity to it - the American college student. 

I find that many of my peers, whether through just pain of past experiences, personal beliefs, desire to fulfill stereotypes, egotism, or hunger for independence, tend to live by principles of atheism rather than rely on God, (and the result is often unspoken loneliness and sadness).

I’m sure these students do not think of themselves as “captives” needing to be set free; but, the truth it, until they receive the gift of redemption, they are captive to their own desires and the expectations of the culture around them; and, ultimately, to sin. 

The second gift is forgiveness. 

The Greek word translated as forgiveness is aphesis and it refers to release from bondage or imprisonment. It points to a pardon from penalty as if the offense had never occurred.

Now we all know what forgiveness is; and we all know we need forgiveness because we carry within us the regrets of a thousand words, deeds or thoughts that we know have hurt others, including those we love. But the part of forgiveness that we struggle to understand is the “as if the offense had never occurred” part. 

Whether we are offering or receiving forgiveness from others we find it impossible to experience such complete forgiveness. We almost always retain a morsel of guilt or resentment as a kind of sludge that sticks to our hearts. 

Not so with God.

The word used for “sins” here is best translated “trespasses” and is synonymous with “sins,” but the nuance indicates not just “sin in general” but specific instances of sin. It’s as if God is saying that in Christ our sins are forgiven; including that specific sin...and that one too, oh, and that one that you thought no one knew about as well! All of the specific acts and thoughts and words and unkindnesses and failures we have ever committed against God and against others; all the sludge that sticks so stubbornly in our hearts and minds; all are forgiven through the blood of Jesus Christ.

This kind of forgiveness can never be expected or earned; it is always undeserved.

This is one of the truths that many, many people struggle with in forgiving others. We have a tendency to want the person who hurt us or wronged us to somehow deserve our forgiveness. But, the truth is, they can’t. Forgiveness is never deserved; it can only be offered as a gift!

The third gift is grace.

Grace is often defined as the “unmerited favor of God.”

Grace is the “upside down” power of the gospel itself.

In Philippians Paul writes:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

Grace is “upside down” because God’s grace precedes our “goodness.” Most religions assume that human beings must learn to be good in order to receive God’s grace and favor. Christianity teaches that God offers us his grace in Christ in order to produce good in us. Grace comes first; our good works come second!

Grace, therefore, is always undeserved.

Pastor Brian Coffey

Wednesday, December 4

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1 Peter 1:18-19 

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

In his beautiful and timeless short story, “The Gift of the Magi” O. Henry tells the story of a young couple named Jim and Della.

It’s Christmas time and Jim and Della each want to give the other a special gift but have little money to do so. 

Della eventually decides to sell her beautiful long hair for 20 dollars so she can buy a chain for Jim’s gold watch; while Jim decides to sell the gold heirloom watch he inherited from his father and grandfather to buy a fancy set of combs for her hair.

The story ends with Jim and Della realizing that, by their mutual sacrifice, they have given the other the greatest gift  of all; sacrificial love.

The Bible tells us that when God gave the gift of Jesus, he gave a gift of great cost.

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

The gift God gave was the gift of redemption; that is, the gift of salvation. Scripture says that gift was purchased with the blood of Christ.

Economists tell us that the value of anything is determined by the price someone is willing to pay for it.

A 90-year-old baseball card may be worth next to nothing to me; but to a collector of sports memorabilia it could be worth a million dollars.

A certain painting might seem garish to me; but to an art collector an original Van Gogh might be worth $10 million.

While it’s true that most of our possessions come down how much they cost in terms of silver and gold, we all know there are things that can’t be purchased with any amount of money!

Consider the family member or friend who willingly donates a kidney to a loved one who needs a transplant to survive.

Consider the price paid by a soldier who lays down his life for his comrades and his country on the battlefield.

Simply put, there is no price greater than blood.

As un-Christmaslike as it might seem to say, this gift, the gift of this child born to Mary, was given with blood in mind.

In Hebrews 9:22 we read, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin.”

This verse, of course, takes us back to Leviticus 17:11, where God explains, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls...”

Centuries later, when God announced the gift of his Son through the angels, he said,

“And you will give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins...”

When John the Baptist saw Jesus he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

What all this means is that only by the blood of sacrifice could sin be forgiven and that Jesus was, in himself, the Lamb of God who would make the final sacrifice for all sin.

When the child born to Mary become a man he would say, 

“This cup is the new covenant in my blood - shed for the forgiveness of sin...”

At Christmastime we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.   But we don’t celebrate just because Jesus was born; we celebrate because Jesus was born to die. We celebrate because Jesus came into this dark world as the Lamb of God, whose blood would atone for the sins of the world, past, present and future; and not only the sins of the world, but for my sins and your sins; all of them.

So as we celebrate Jesus’ birth, let us also remember his death; for only in his death, in the shedding of his precious blood, do we see the price paid for the gift we have received.

In Jesus God gave an extravagant gift at an unimaginable cost. May we never forget that the shadow of the manger is a cross.

Pastor Brian Coffey

Tuesday, December 3

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Tuesday, Dec. 3

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I used to love to collect books; old books; out of print books; and I would spend hours poring through used books stores to find them.

Well, my brother Joe did the same thing for a while, and one day he called me all excited about his latest find. He had discovered a copy of an out-of-print book by one of our favorite authors, Frederick Buechner, entitled “The Faces of Jesus.”

It was a beautiful book; filled with artistic renditions of Jesus from cultures all over the world, along with Buechner’s extraordinary prose. It was a great find and I was envious! So I spent most of the next year trying to find my own copy of “The Faces of Jesus”; but with no luck.

Then at Christmas later that year, almost a year later, the gift my brother gave me was “The Faces of Jesus.” But he didn’t give me another copy that he had found somewhere; he he gave me his one copy; for all I knew the only existing copy of that book in the entire midwest.

In the 20 years since then we have found a number of other copies of “The Faces of Jesus” and the book was even reprinted in a soft cover edition, but I still have the copy that he gave me, and I treasure it, because it was an extravagant gift; an extravagant gift given out of scarcity.

And such was the gift God gave long ago:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son...

Do you see it? Our of his great love God gave his “one and only.”

One of the determining factors in the value of a painting, or an autograph, or a book is how many of them are in existence? 

One of my sons likes to collect baseball cards. He knows that the fewer of a certain card that are in circulation the greater the value. The most valuable baseball card to collectors is the Honus Wagner 1909 card; with only 57 cards known to exist. And if there were only 1 such card, it’s value would be astronomical among collectors.

The Bible teaches that when God wanted to give the greatest gift he could give the world, he chose to give a “one of a kind” gift.

There was only one Son of God; only one baby born to a virgin.

There was only one who was called the Word become flesh; only one that is called Emmanuel. 

There was only one who fulfilled the word of the prophets; only one who would live a sinless life. 

There was only one who would heal the blind and cause the lame to leap for joy; only one who would preach good news to the poor.

There was only one who would turn water into wine and feed the multitudes with a few loaves of bread and fish.

There was only one who would say “Not my will but thine” and go to the cross to atone for the sins of the world.

Only One.

And that One God chose to give.

To you and to me.

Pastor Brian Coffey

Monday, December 2

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Monday, Dec. 2

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Have you noticed that all of a sudden it’s Christmastime? Maybe it’s just me but doesn’t it seem like the Christmas season came early this year? Like, way early!

You can tell it’s Christmas time by the lights popping up all over your neighborhood.

You can tell by the music playing at Walmart or wherever you shop.

And you can tell by the commercials you see on TV.

There’s one ad, in particular, that starts running every year about this time; and every time I see it I think, “Who does that! Who buys that and leaves it in the driveway?”

You know the one; it’s the “Lexus in the driveway” commercial where a husband or wife comes out on Christmas morning to find a brand new $50,000 luxury car sitting in the driveway with a huge red bow on top.

I mean, who does that?

“Merry Christmas, I just got you a $700 per month car payment!”

Just out of curiosity I did a little research and found out that, contrary to what I expected, a lot of people really do buy cars for Christmas; more than you would ever think!

Lexus began running those commercials in 1998 and now they sell more cars in December than any other month of the year.

A marketing company estimated that 57,000 new and used cars were given as Christmas gifts last year. One Lexus dealer in Florida alone sold 50 last December and delivered 25 on Christmas Eve.

One industry expert said it this way: “It’s the notion of extravagance that makes the commercials memorable; extravagance is the whole point!”

That brings us to the story we celebrate this time of year. We all know the basic details; how a young virgin named Mary was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit; how her fiancé Joseph was instructed by angels to take her as his wife anyway; how they were told to name the child “Jesus” for he would save his people from their sins.

We know the story of the shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night when the “Heavenly Host” appeared to them and glory of the Lord shone around them.

We know the story of the Magi, the Wise Men, following the star to worship the newborn King.

We know the story and we’ll celebrate it again this advent season, but this week I want to focus on the nature of the gift itself; a gift that beautifully and completely demonstrates the extravagance of God.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son...

We don’t often see this as a “Christmas text” but it’s really the whole Christmas story rolled into one verse! Just as we give gifts at Christmastime to those we love, notice that when God wanted to express his love for the world, for each one of us, he gave a gift. The difference, of course, is that God gave a gift far more extravagant than a nice car!

God loved; God gave; and the gift God gave was more extravagant than we could ever imagine!

Just as Lexus executives know that their commercials work because we all want to give or receive an extravagant gift, God wants us to know the extravagance of his love through the gift he chose to give.

The gift was Jesus; who is the extravagance of God!

Pastor Brian Coffey