Luke 2:22-38
Barry Unwin, Venue: Ripple Church, Benefice Service, 29 January 2017
22 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 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord’), 24 and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.’
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon;[d] this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
29 ‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which 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 the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed 35 so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’
36 There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, 37 then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped there with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
In 1945, three extraordinary American evangelists started preaching. Chuck Templeton, Bronn Clifford and Billy Graham. Everywhere they went, Thousands would pack auditoriums to hear them.
Now I dare say you’ve heard of Billy Graham, but how come you haven’t heard of the other two?
Well in 1950, Chuck Templeton quit his church to pursue a career on TV. Seven years later he underwent a crisis of faith and declared he was no longer a believer in Christ.
And Bron Clifford? By 1954 alcohol had cost him his family, his ministry, his health, and then his life. [1]
In the Christian life, how we finish the race matters more than how we start it.
You see being a Christian, It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. Going the distance matters.
And our gospel reading this morning, Has three things in it, That I think will help us go the distance.Three habits we can cultivate that will help us see the race through.
Now our reading from Luke chapter 2 took place about 40 days after Jesus was born…That was when the Jewish law required the rituals of purification and dedication to take place.
So Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus head off up to Jerusalem, where unknown to them, someone is waiting for them :
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout…and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. (Luke 2:25)
Simeon’s a godly Jewish man, Filled with the Holy Spirit, And a man who had received a strange promise from God: That he won’t die until the Messiah comes.
So, Mary and Joseph arrive at the temple, With their fashionable Bugaboo buggy – light blue colour Well if it’s good enough for the Beckhams…
And Mary’s pushing it like a snow plough through the crowded temple courtyard, to join the baby dedication queue.
And as they dedicate Jesus to the Lord, Simeon steps forward and takes baby Jesus in his arms and praises God saying,
‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.’ (Luke 2:29-32)
That’s Psalm 98 and three prophecies from Isaiah he’s quoting by the way.[2] All fulfilled by the baby he’s holding in his hands.
But even more importantly, Simeon is saying: Lord God you have kept your promise to me.Now I can die happy.
Which brings us to our first habit:
1)The habit of trusting God’s promises.
Can you imagine being so confident in God’s promises that you could die happy. That you could die without fear? That’s Simeon.
But God’s promises aren’t just about Heaven. They’re all about here and now too.
The Bible is full of promises about God’s love, About who we are as people, about how we’re to live, and about what is truly important.
And Simeon’s there in this story to give us a glimpse of what it’s like to live trusting in those promises. He gets to see God. He gets to hold the Messiah in his hands. Simeon lived his life longing for that moment.
Now most of us, we live life longing for certain moments, But not the Messiah moment.
The moments we tend to trust in are the things we daydream about, they’re often to do with family, or friends, or jobs, or money or property or sex. But good as those things are, they will fail us.
But God never will. We might misunderstand his intentions, but he’ll never break his promises.
And that’s the God Simeon had built his life on. The God whose promises never fail. The God the bible calls a rock. And that’s why he’s so happy and overjoyed.
And if we can build that habit of trusting God’s promises into our life we’ll know that joy too.
Question – where do you get to hear about God’s promises? Answer: The Bible.
You will never know God’s promises, unless you let him speak to you.Why not challenge yourself – as we build up to Lent to use February to read through Matthew’s gospel? 28 days. 28 chapters. And write down every promise that God makes. And see how they’re calling you to live.
So there’s our first habit – trusting in God’s promises. But how do we do it?
Well that brings me to our second habit
2) The habit of obedience.
Simeon shows us that wonderfully.Let’s take a look at how he came to be in the Temple that day.
Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple. (Luke 2:27)
How does that work? Do you think it was like a remote control thing? God is sat up in Heaven with a cheap plastic remote control, and 3 aa batteries, trying to get control of Simeon: he shoves the batteries in, flicks the on-switch, and waits for the red LED To show that the controller and Simeon are working in sync?
It’s nothing as silly as that. The Spirit spoke to Simeon, and said “Go to the temple.” And Simeon listened and chose to obey.
That’s how the Spirit guides us.
He speaks, we obey. And as a result Simeon gets to hold in his hands the baby who holds the world in his hands.
I don’t know what your experience is of responding to God when he speaks to you.
I remember a pastoral situation, a long time ago, I was visiting a young couple with a marriage problem, and as I sat in the car outside their house, I prayed and asked God to help me to help them, and he told me to ask about their sex lives.
Now Jane Fraser’s here today, and she’ll tell you that most young couples need to be asked that question as a matter of course. And she’s right.
But you know what. I’m not a sexpert, and as a newly qualified curate, sex was the last thing I wanted to talk to anyone about.
So God had to wait patiently for me, to chat about all sorts of other stuff with this young couple.
Is it money? Is it the mother in law? All the obvious stuff.
And time and again they evaded the issue, and talked about,well, anything else. Until after about an hour of faffing around, I thought, “okay Lord, you win” and I asked about their sex life.
And immediately everything changed. It took another hour to talk it all through, but by then they were a lot happier and well on the way to a resolution.
Sometimes God speaks to us and tells us to do stuff, and when God speaks he’s expecting us to respond.
But maybe you’re thinking,
“Hang on a minute Barry, how do you know it’s God speaking?”
That’s a good question isn’t it?
Well the first thing you might want to check is, “Does what God seems to be saying contradict the Bible?” If it is – it’s not God speaking.
If it doesn’t, but your still unsure, chat it through with me, or with a trusted Christian friend.
But usually that isn’t the big issue with God speaking. The big issue is nearly always “Will you obey?”
But what if you don’t understand what he’s saying? Well God does say some odd things in the Bible.
Isobel, my daughter, and I sat up really late on Thursday night, trying to make sense of something Jesus says in John’s gospel.
Sometimes to understand a complex verse it takes two heads or more.
That’s why Bible studies are great. You can all learn together, and we’re gonna run some in Lent. And one of them will be this side of the River!
Now I firmly believe that all the big stuff God needs us to know is in the Bible. He leaves most of the smaller details to us. That’s why he made us in his image with brains.
But there are times when the small details matter – perhaps where he needs us to do something specific. Like get Simeon to a certain place at a certain time,
And the challenge then is – whether it’s a big thing or a small thing, will we make a habit of obeying when he speaks?
Right, before we get to the final habit, can I show you something beautiful in this passage? Something that shows just how much God loves his people?
Simeon lifts up the baby, praises God and then he says something a bit odd to Mary,
…and a sword will pierce your own soul too. (Luke 2:35)
Now most of the theologians reckon that’s a prophecy about how it will feel for Mary, when Jesus is crucified.
Perhaps you can picture the crucifixion in your mind’s eye, and if you can – who is standing watching? Well there’s a small crowd of women, including Jesus’ mother Mary.
We often say no parent should have to bury their own child, but how much worse to have to watch him be executed? Especially given all the promises about him being the Messiah.
Mary has given her whole life over to her son. She’s faced family humiliation, been a refugee in Egypt, had the hassle of following him around Galilee, the excitement as he heads to Jerusalem the final time, and then suddenly he’s executed. What must she have been thinking.?
If Id’ been her, I’d be thinking
my whole life had been a lie. A waste.
So I just wonder if these words from Simeon, are actually God’s way of preparing Mary for what was to come 30 years later.
Through Simeon God is saying, Jesus’ death was always part of the plan, so your life has not been wasted.
This is our loving heavenly father’s way of helping a distraught mother, through the worst three days of her life. Until her son rose from the grave, and she knew her life had not been wasted.
Let’s pick up the story back in v36, when a lady called Anna appears.
And Anna is old. We’re not sure how old. The verses talking about her age can be translated 3 ways, Making her either 84, 91 or well over 100.
Anyway they say 80 is the new 60. Which must make 100 the new 80. Which perhaps explains Frenchman Robert Marchand.Did you read about him?
He cycled 14 miles around a track in an hour. Not bad for a 105 year old![3]
Anyway, Anna is at least 84, and without any help from the NHS doctors, or a pension, v37 tells us she’s active in temple, Worshipping there and fasting and praying night and day.
You know in God’s kingdom, old age isn’t a reason to stop serving. You never retire from serving your creator. Which means we need to learn a final habit.
3) The habit of perseverance
It sounds such an obvious point – but you can’t reach the end of the race unless you keep going round the track.
And Anna’s been round the track more times than most. And she keeps going. Because she loves the Lord.
Jesus said,
Those who persevere to the end will be saved. (Matthew 24:13)
Perseverence is one of the ways you spot someone who is truly a believer in Jesus. They keep going when others give up.
So I want to encourage any of you, who feel like giving up: Too tired. Too hassled. Too busy for God. If we want to finish well, it’s not time to give up, it’s the time to persevere.
You can’t reach the end of the race unless you keep going round the track.
So:
- the habit of perseverance.
- The habit of obedience,
- And the habit of trusting God’s promises.
If you build them into your life, you will reap the benefits.
Let’s pray.
[1] Finishing Strong, Steve Farrar, page 14-15
[2] Psalm 98:2-3, Isaiah 42:6-8, Isaiah 52:10 and Isaiah 60:1-3
[3] https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/04/105-year-old-man-sets-record-cycling-14-miles-hour-robert-marchand