Calvary Lutheran Church

May the God of peace fill you with all joy in believing. Amen.

Luke 2:25-35

My dear Christian friends:  

          “Have you heard the news? Isn’t it exciting? Do you believe it? What does it all mean? First, it was the priest Zechariah right here in our own temple. The angel Gabriel appeared to him telling him that he should have a son whose name should be John, and that he would prepare the way for the Christ, the promised Messiah.”

          “And now this happens. Shepherds spreading the news all over the countryside that they too have seen angels who told them that the Christ has now been born in Bethlehem, and that they actually saw him. Could it be true? Shepherds are usually practical, honest people, aren’t they? But it all sounds so bizarre. It is getting to be that you just don’t know what to believe anymore.”

          This is how the conversation must have sounded around Jerusalem shortly after the birth of Jesus. And everyone, no doubt, had their own opinion. First, there were the deniers—those who long ago had become weary of waiting and hoping for the fulfillment of God’s Old Testament promises. If there was to be a messiah they were tired of waiting for him, and even if he did come they really didn’t care. They had more important matters to tend to, like making a living in their every day lives.

          Secondly, there were the skeptics. They, too, had become impatient, so their waiting and hoping had turned into mere tradition. They went through the motions of the Jewish faith. They did all the right things of observing the festivals and holidays, but their hearts just weren’t in it. If the Messiah had been born, they would need further proof, and he better do something to make their personal lives better.

          And finally, there were the faithful—men like Simeon and women like Anna who were still waiting, still hoping for the Christ, the Lord. And when the news of Zechariah and the shepherds reached their ears, everything fell into place, and they said to themselves, “This is it. The time has come. God is now connecting himself directly with mankind just as he promised.”

          And so it is today. Many throughout the world have just completed their celebration of Christmas, and the news of the Christ-Child has been received in perhaps the same three ways. First, there were the deniers. For them, Christmas simply meant gifts and decorations and parties and Santa Claus and time off from work, and that is all it meant.

Then there were the skeptics. They knew Christmas had something to do with religion, and they might have even attended a Christmas service or two. But it was all just head knowledge. It never sank into their hearts, and it certainly did not change their lives.

And finally, there were the faithful—those who realized the full significance of that birth in Bethlehem and said to themselves, “This is it. The time has come. God had connected himself with me once again in a real and personal way.” This last group is the one you and I fall into, because the Holy Spirit has helped us to

RECOGNIZE THE FULL IMPACT OF CHRISTMAS

just like Simeon.

          The biographical sketch that Luke gives us of Simeon is extremely short and yet most revealing. He tells us only three bits of information, but with just these we have everything we need to know about him—he was just, devout, and he waited for the consolation of Israel.  

          When Luke writes that he was just, he tells us Simeon’s relationship with his fellow man. He treated them equally with respect. He was fair to all. He did nothing to harm them. When Luke writes that he was devout, he tells us Simeon’s relationship with God. He was devoted and dedicated to the Lord. He was not just a once-a-week Jew. He lived and breathed his religion every day.

          And when Luke writes that he “waited for the consolation of Israel,” he meant that Simeon believed the promises that God made throughout the Old Testament to send the Messiah. That Messiah is called the “consolation of Israel,” because he would console, he would bring comfort to his people Israel. But in Simeon’s case, he was also favored by the Lord in a special way. The Holy Spirit came upon him and told him that he would not die before he had seen with his own eyes the Lord’s Christ, the Messiah.

          So we can well imagine how the news of Zechariah and the shepherds must have excited Simeon. Because it told him that God was about to fulfill his promise not only to the world but to him personally. So Simeon went to the temple each day with great expectation, thinking perhaps this would be the day he would see the Christ. Simeon didn’t know how the Holy Spirit would direct him to the right child, he just knew he would.

          And then one day, a young couple walked into the temple. They must have been poor, because they were not well-dressed. But they were carrying a child, and Simeon knew immediately who he was. He went over to Mary and Joseph, took the child in his arms, and said those words that are so familiar to us; words which have been put to music and which are often sung after the distribution of the Lord’s Supper; words which reflect the full meaning of Christmas.

          Permit me to paraphrase those words: “Lord, I am now ready to depart this life. I’m ready to die in peace, because I have seen with my own eyes your salvation, the very means by which you have chosen to save your Jewish people, and, that is, through this infant child I’m holding. And even the Gentiles who have sat in spiritual darkness for so long, can now live in light also, because this child is their salvation too. Oh, the glory of your people Israel, that the Christ would come to their nation.” Beautiful thoughts, beautiful words, words which reflect the full impact of Christmas.

          Have you been so affected by Christmas this year, have you been so moved by God’s awesome act of love in sending his own Son, have you been so assured that this child in the manger is your means of salvation, that you too would be willing to die right now in perfect peace knowing that in the very next second you would be with your Father in heaven? Christmas can have that impact.

          A man was on his death-bed dictating a letter to his wife which was to be sent to a close friend. He said, “Write this: ‘I am leaving the land of the living and will soon be with the dying.’” Then he thought about those words and stopped her and said, “No don’t write that, instead write this: ‘I am leaving the land of the dying and will soon be with the living.’” Christmas changes our thinking that way when we realize its full impact. If this is beginning to sound like an Easter sermon, it is because you can’t separate Easter from Christmas. Easter is the reason for Christmas.

          So Simeon saw with his own eyes the Lord’s salvation. He actually held the infant Jesus in his arms. What that must have done for his faith! How God blessed him in a very personal way! If only we could have had that same opportunity. How our faith in life and in death would have soared!

          My friends, this was not a privilege unique to Simeon. It has happened to all believers, including you and me. Notice Simeon said, “For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people” (Luke 2:31). All people have the opportunity to see what Simeon saw—God’s salvation.

          Oh, it is true, we haven’t taken up the infant Christ physically into our arms as Simeon did. And we haven’t looked upon him physically with our own eyes like Simeon. But it wasn’t the physical holding or the physical seeing of Jesus that made the experience of Simeon such a life-changing event. Many in Israel touched him, and large crowds saw Jesus with their physical eyes, and they still rejected him, betrayed him, and some even crucified him. Remember, all Simeon was looking at was a baby—a crying, drooling, helpless infant. Jesus had no halo around his head like we often see in pictures. He didn’t have a special twinkle in his eye to tell people that he was the Son of God. All Simeon had to go on was a promise of God, “This is your Savior, this is the consolation of Israel.” If anything, it was harder for Simeon to believe then for us today. We not only have the promises of God, we have the fulfillment of all those promises in this Word. We know what Jesus went on to do. We know Jesus’ life and work and miracles as recorded in this Word. We know Jesus’ suffering and death and resurrection. This Word has become our “light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to God’s people Israel.” It was Simeon’s faith that made this experience such a privilege. And we can sit or stand in this temple today with the same eyes of even clearer faith than Simeon’s, thanks to the Holy Spirit poured out on us through this Word.

          And by the way, we say that we haven’t seen the Christ with our physical eyes, and that we haven’t physically touched him. What about the Lord’s Supper? Every time we come to the Lord’s Supper we also see and feel and taste the very body and blood of the Lord through the bread and wine. And that is why Simeon’s song, the Nunc Dimittis, “Now Let Us Depart,” is such an appropriate hymn to sing after receiving communion. Yes, we truly are ready to depart from the worship service and even this life, if need be, in peace, because our eyes have seen our salvation. We have eaten his own body and drank his own blood, and we have been reminded of that great sacrifice of Christ on the cross for us personally. And if this is beginning to sound like a Lenten sermon, it is because just as you cannot separate Easter from Christmas, so you cannot separate Lent from Christmas either. The three are so tightly woven together.

          In fact, Simeon makes reference to Lent when he turns to Mary and says, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will piece your own soul too” (Luke 2:34-35). This Christ-child would cause many to fall and many to rise. Those who reject Christ as their Savior from sin will fall from God’s grace to their own eternal destruction. Those, who by God’s grace, accept him as Savior will rise and live to eternal life.

          And those who speak against him would reveal what was in their hearts. We immediately think of the Pharisees and Sadducees who so hated Jesus that they falsely accused him and handed him over to crucifixion. And Mary would be there to see it all, and it would be like a sword piercing her own soul. And 33 years later she sat at the foot of Jesus’ cross, grief-stricken.

          But why must Simeon bring these disturbing thoughts up now? Joseph and Mary up to now had heard only good things that would result from the birth of the child, like Elizabeth’s kind words to the pregnant Mary—blessed are you among women; and the praise and adoration of the shepherds and later on the worship and gifts of the Magi. Why does Simeon ask them now to mediate on such sad thoughts?

          So also, why does Simeon ask us today who have just finished celebrating a joyous Christmas, to turn our thoughts to the cross? The reason is this: That we might realize the full impact of Christmas. Christmas is not just “Merry Christmas” and “love to all” and “Joy to the World” and “peace on earth.” Our Lord’s birth marked the beginning of a hard and bitter life for the Christ-Child. We must view his whole life from birth to death and realize that it was all a sacrifice. It was the price he had to pay for our sins that eventually ended on the cross. Yes, he truly was born to die.

          For many today, Christmas is a depressing time of the year. The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy and celebration, but for many they are anything but. Depression, loneliness, lack of fulfillment can occur at any time of the year, but especially at Christmas. With the bombardment of all the advertisements showing images of smiling families and friends, people start to question the quality of their own relationships, “Why is everyone else so much happier than I am?” Many are without family, many are reminded of happier Christmases in the past, many are stressed out as to how they will pay all those credit card bills they know are coming in the mail.

          But what they really lack is the full impact of Christmas. They have a God who loved them enough to send his Son to be born in a stable for the specific purpose of dying on the cross to save them. They have the eyes of faith to be able to see and touch this Savior through the Word and Sacrament.

They can go on with life and even be dismissed from this life knowing they are at peace with God and therefore with themselves. Simeon knew it. Anna knew it. And thanks be to God, after celebrating another Christmas, we know it too. Amen.