In this sermon, Pastor Mike Salomon explores the concept of being devoted to God by using Luke 2:22-40 and other prominent biblical figures to demonstrate it and its significance in the Christian faith.
The sermon starts with God's ultimate act of devotion: the sacrifice of His only son, Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind.
Pastor Mike underscores the commitment of Joseph and Mary, who despite their struggles, remained steadfast in their faith and devotion to God's laws.
Shifting to Old Testament characters, Simeon was also devoted to God. Simeon faithfully awaits the prophecy of the consolation of Israel, the coming of Christ, demonstrating his unwavering devotion to God's word. Also, Simeon acknowledges and praises God when he encounters baby Jesus at the temple. Similarly, the model of devotion to God exemplified by the Prophetess Anna is discussed.
Described as tireless in her service to God, Anna worshiped fervently with fasting and praying night and day, embodying complete surrender to God's will.
There is someone or something that's way more significant than anything that we could be devoted to on earth: God himself.
But before delving into the sermon, please turn your Bibles in Luke 2:22-40. Mary and Joseph's devotion to God, verse 22. And when the time came for their purification, according to the law of Moses let me just quickly stop there. This is 40 days after the birth of Christ.
So what we've seen already is Jesus was born. Eight days later he got circumcised. Now 40 days later, they're bringing him to the temple for this purification process. They brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. Verse 23.
As it is written in the law of the Lord, every male who first opens up the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. Joseph and Mary just took a long walk up to Jerusalem.
This is before little calming music, white noise music to calm the child down. They're walking into this temple and they want to find a priest because they want to fulfill their obligations under the law of Moses.
And so when they're going, what we learn about them is this, that they are devout parents. They are great Godly parents.
See, I think one of the greatest things that we could do in this lifetime and the most important things that parents can do is raise their children by being devoted to God, as Mary and Joseph were.
They are committed to raising Jesus in a godly way. Now, for Mary and Joseph, this is obviously their firstborn and this is how they wanted him to be raised. And they were extremely Godly parents.
In our book, Luke repeats five times people did something in accordance with God’s desires. They did what God wanted them to do. Let’s check them one by one.
The first thing they did to show their devotion to God, is precisely that: they brought Jesus up for purification. Mary needed it because according to the law of Moses, because of birth, she was unclean.
Jesus needed it because, as he said, the first one comes out, the womb shall be cult holy. So you need to present your baby to the Lord and purify him or her from their sins.
So what in the world is this purification all about? Why would a sinless man need to be purified? And what's also interesting about the life of Christ is the Bible says that all of us, myself and you, were born under what's called Adam's sin. Adam, the original man, he sinned. But not Jesus.
He was born of the seed of the Holy Spirit. So what does he need purified from? I think this is the beginning of Jesus relating to us. I believe this is the beginning of God making him to be sin who knew no sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God. It is Jesus' way of stepping into humanity to fulfill what we couldn't fulfill.
And then the second thing they did to show their devotion to God, was sacrifice. According to verse 24, they went 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 once again we see just how devoted to God Joseph and Mary were. They did tough things for them by bringing this sacrifice to the temple.
Why would I say this? Because in the law what they are supposed to bring is a lamb. Read Leviticus. A lamb, a male without blemish. They were supposed to bring their best offering to God something that would have been costly, something that would have been expensive.
But that's different from what they brought because the law made provisions for poor people. The law says if you are too poor to even bring a lamb, bring some parakeets to the temple.
What God actually loved from Mary and Joseph’s sacrifice is not the lamb or the parakeets. It actually is the sacrifice of giving to Him something that is valuable, precious to us.
And so what we offer to God is not our good deeds, our good works. We offer him our brokenness. And as they presented Jesus to the Father, we present our very lives to the Father.
Bear with me a bit longer. We still are at the temple, watching a family with a little baby walking in looking for someone, ready to make their sacrifice. And now we see the third person in our story who's devoted to God, is a guy whose name is Simeon.
Look at verses 25 through 30. 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.
It says he had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit and that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. So what he's being told is, you're going to see this baby show up in the temple before the day you die. Verse 27.
And he came in the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child 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, and so do you see it. Jesus walks in. He's taking his baby Jesus up in the air and thanking God for salvation. And I could see Simeon's trembling arms. I could see his heart racing.
And then, Simeon's conclusion was, I'm ready to die. Why? Because he believed in what he said. He had faith. For my eyes have seen the salvation of the Lord. That is being devoted to God, by standing on mere faith.
Let's look at Anna's devotion to God. This is the last lady we're going to look at in our story, verse 36, and says there was a prophetess. This is somebody who makes a proclamation of God's word.
In the Scriptures, there are only seven women up to this point mentioned as prophetess. So this is a very unique and beautiful situation. Her name was Anna, the daughter of Phenule, born in the tribe of Asher.
She was advancing years. Having lived with her husband for seven years from when she was a virgin and then as a widow until she was 84, she did not depart from the temple.
She was 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 served God and was devoted to God by being somebody who was just committed to Him. She would praise God. She would show her worship of God by praying.
This woman is old, and what her life teaches us is that regardless of what God brings into our life, we are to be devoted to Him and faithful, because this woman suffered something that some of y'all have suffered in here, losing a spouse.
For 80-plus years as a lonely widow, she continued to love and bless the Lord. She continued to show up. She continued to serve, she continued to worship. She continued to be a prayer warrior.
She continued to love God with her life. That’s is being devoted to God.
As Christians, this is a fact that we all know. In our older age, we don't get to retire from serving God. We don't get to retire from ministry. That's not an option for us.
Like most of our lives, we live to build up this nest egg, retire from our jobs, and relax. Over time, your ministry is going to change. The things you do in the church will change. Nonetheless, we will continue to serve God out of a devoted heart until the day we die. That also is a good way to be devoted to God.
And here's how Luke puts it in verses 39 and 40, when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee to their own town of Nazareth, and the child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom and the favor of God was upon him.
And as I pondered this sermon this week, these four individuals we met, I thought, what caused them to be so devoted to God? Why did they live a life of devotion? Whether it was being patient, whether it was through old age, whether it's the hurts, whether it's from being widowed?
Why were they devoted? And I think we could get a little bit of a clue and an answer through our first church value as a church.
Our church value as a church is devotion. And it reads this way we are committed to being devoted and striving for excellence in service, in everything that we do.
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