During these last
few days of the year, it is good for us to remember that, unless the Lord comes
for us, there will be for each of us a year into which we do not enter. The Bible says that “sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in
this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” All of us will die unless the Lord comes
first because “the wages of sin is
death.”
How do we cope
with our own mortality? How can we
depart this life in peace? The way that we
answer that question-- and the way that we find to deal with the specter of
death-- determines not only what happens on that day when we draw our last
breath-- but it determines where we will spend eternity—and how we will live
our life until that last day.
God’s answers about our eternal life--
and finding meaning for this earthly life-- and what the day of our death will
be like for us-- are found in our text today as we see two faithful people of
God—Simeon and Anna—who are at peace with their own mortality because they had
seen the salvation of God in Christ. The
Bible says that:
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…"
Forty
days after the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph were in the temple doing what
the law demanded: offering a sacrifice
for Mary’s purification and offering a sacrifice for Jesus as the firstborn
Son. That is what the Law demanded and
that is what they did.
The obedience and
faithfulness of Mary and Joseph and especially of Jesus would be a recurring
theme throughout our Lord’s life as we see him faithfully keeping the demands
of the Law—for he was born under its demands just as we were. The Bible says that:
“When the fullness of
time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to
redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”
It is Good News
for us that, from the very beginning of his life—in moments like the one before
us today-- and throughout his life--Jesus kept the law perfectly—fulfilling
what we are unable to do because of our sinfulness.
When we look back
upon our life there are plenty of regrets—a lot of wasted time--plenty of
things that we wished we had done differently.
But what sustains us day by day is the knowledge that Christ’s
righteousness is ours through faith in him.
What consoles us in the hour of our death is that our heavenly Father
regards Christ’s righteousness as our own-- and counts it in his sight as our
salvation.
Peace with God in
this life and peace with God when we depart this life comes from knowing the
Good News that the righteousness of Christ is for us. Simeon knew that salvation
had come for him and all people in the birth of the Christ Child. Taking baby Jesus into his arms he was at
peace. He 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."
We
don’t know much else about Simeon other than what we have before us today in
Luke’s Gospel. He was righteous and
devout. He eagerly awaited the coming of
the Messiah. God had blessed him with a
special gift of the Holy Spirit and had promised him that before his death he
would see the Savior.
His song of
praise—known as the Nunc Dimmittis
from the Latin translation of the first two words “Now dismiss”—has been sung
in the church for two thousand years.
When
Mary and Joseph brought Jesus into the temple to fulfill the demands of the
Law, Simeon recognized by the Holy Spirit that the little baby in their arms
was the Savior of the world--the promised Messiah who would set us free from our
sin-- and he blessed God for that moment and expressed his readiness to depart
this life, for his soul was at peace in the presence of God’s salvation.
That is exactly
where we find the peace to deal with our own mortality as well—in the Messiah
of God, Jesus Christ. No less than
Simeon have our eyes of faith beheld the salvation of God in Christ.
In fact, much of
what was still to come in the salvation story, Simeon would not see-- while we
have it before our eyes in the pages of the Gospels: Jesus’ miracles, his death, his resurrection
and ascension. And seeing the salvation
of God—we have peace with God and peace in our hearts.
We have peace
because our sins are forgiven—peace because Jesus is with us as our
Immanuel—peace because Jesus has guaranteed another life for us by his
resurrection. Peace in life and peace in
death for all people who will receive it in faith from the Christ Child like
Simeon did that day. He told Mary:
"Behold, this
child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for
a sign that is opposed (and a sword will
pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be
revealed."
Simeon knew the
peace of God because he saw the salvation of God in Jesus and believed in him. He had been waiting and hoping and yearning
for the Messiah of God to be revealed because he believed the promises of God.
This is an
important lesson for us in the life of Simeon—the most important lesson of all
if we are to know the peace of God in this life and at our death as Simeon
did—and that lesson is that the salvation
of God in Christ must be believed if we are to receive God’s peace. But not all do.
Simeon prophesied
that Jesus would cause the rise and fall of many—that he would be opposed—and
that he would reveal the hearts of many.
His prophecy was true from that moment on.
The wise men
believed in Jesus and worshipped him.
Herod tried to put him to death. Many
of the common folk believed in Jesus while many of the religious leaders rejected
him. Some of Jesus’ own people jeered at
him as he was dying on the cross --while a Roman soldier and a repentant thief came
to saving faith that same day. That
division between faith and rejection is the way it has always been.
Then
and now Jesus is the dividing line between those who are rising to heaven and
those who are falling to hell—between those who are being saved and those who
are being condemned—between those who have forgiveness for their sins and life
everlasting and those who stand under God’s judgment in time and eternity. It all hinges on Jesus.
Those of us like Simeon,
who by the Holy Spirit recognize and believe in Jesus for who he is, are saved. Those who reject the work of the Holy Spirit
on their heart as he calls them to faith in Jesus will be condemned.
It has always been
that way and will always be that way until our Lord’s return in glory. It was that way for another elderly person in
the temple who rejoiced in Christ’s birth along with the Holy Family and
Simeon. The Bible says that:
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, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart
from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.
Anna
is another person who we don’t know a lot about except for what we have here in
Luke’s Gospel. She was a faithful child
of God who was devoted to worshiping God.
She had the spiritual gift of understanding and interpreting and
applying God’s Word and her life spent with God in worship was perfect
preparation for eternal life.
Like Anna, we can
depart this life in peace only when we have come to enjoy the very things that
eternity will consist of: worshiping in
the presence of God and receiving the gifts of forgiveness and salvation that
God gives in his Son and responding with praise and thanksgiving and holy
living.
Anna not only
worshiped but she also witnessed to other faithful Israelites who were waiting
for the redemption of Jerusalem—the deliverance of the people of God from sin
and death by the blood of the Messiah. The
Bible says that:
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.
Worshiping and
witnessing—that’s a pretty good summary of the Christian life. To live like this doesn’t mean that we have
to spend every waking moment in church or walking the streets aggravating
people with our literature like the cults.
What it does mean
is that “day by day” our hearts are full of thanksgiving and praise for
everything that God has done for us in Christ—that our lives are a shining
witness of what it means to be the redeemed people of God—and that there is a
deep and abiding peace that fills our living and—one day--our dying-- because
we have seen and believed the salvation of God that he gives in the Christ Child. Amen.
