Luke 2: [22-32] 33-40 - Christmas I - December 30, 2012
Remembering
and Waiting for Christmas
Simeon waited for God
to redeem Israel. He waited for God to
bring salvation to the Gentiles. He
waited for the Temple once again to be filled by the Glory of the Lord. He
waited for what God had promised.
But, unlike his fathers
who went before him, to Simeon the Holy Spirit actually revealed that before he
died, he would see with his own eyes the promised Messiah. And he finally did. And when he did, he gave two blessings. He blessed God. And he blessed Mary and Joseph. I’d like to consider both of these blessings
this morning.
Now, of course, God
doesn’t need our blessing. What thing
that we have could possibly benefit God?
Nothing. But what does God
want? He wants us. He wants us to
believe that for the sake of His Son Jesus Christ we have eternal life through
the forgiveness of our sins. We bless
God by confessing what God does. We
point to His promises and we say Amen. That’s what Simeon did: Lord, now You let Your servant depart in peace according to Your word.
His waiting was
over. God said it would happen, and it
did. He saw his salvation. He saw the Light to lighten the
Gentiles. He saw the Glory of God’s
people Israel – not filling the Temple and forcing everyone out, but hidden in
the form of an infant and inviting everyone in.
His joy was filled. Since there
was nothing left to wait for, Simeon confessed rightly the significance of what
he saw. It meant that he could now die
in peace. It meant that the Child in his
arms was the very Prince of Peace Himself who, in bearing all his sin away, would
also destroy the fear of death.
We have peace with
God. It is as the angels announced at
Jesus’ birth: “Glory to God in the
highest, and peace on earth, goodwill toward men.” Jesus earns peace between God and man as true
God and true man. He does what only God can do.
He does what man must do. He lives a holy life. He sheds His holy blood on the cross. He makes peace between God and man by
offering the final sacrifice that God required.
This is what we devoutly celebrate week in and week out, and year after
year. As St. Paul says, “For as often as you eat
this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.”
We live by faith – just
like Simeon did. God confirmed Simeon’s
faith and made His promise more certain when He gave Himself to be held in
Simeon’s arms. And that’s why we also
sing his words of blessing to God – not when we hold Christ in our arms, but
when He gives to us His own body and blood to eat and to drink, in order that
we might become partakers of the sacrifice that bought us our peace with God. “Lord,
now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace according to Thy word.”
Simeon teaches us how
to bless God: “Now I can die.” Without any explanation, it sure sounds like
a strange way to bless God. But if that
is strange, consider the ominous words that Simeon includes when he blesses
Mary and Joseph. It’s as if he reasoned
in his mind: If this Boy is the One who
makes for my peace with God, then there is much in store for Him that will
shake the world and grieve this mother.
Simeon turned to Mary
and said, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and
rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (yes, a
sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts
may be revealed.” Simeon foretells
of this little Baby’s death. This little
Child would be despised and rejected by those He was sent to save. He would suffer and die a painful and
shameful death at their hands. How else
could a prophet tell a mother that this would happen to her own Son before her
own eyes than to say that a sword would pierce her soul? But this death would serve a great purpose as
we know. This death would pay for the
sins of the world. By this violent
death, all sinners, including Mary herself, are given hope of dying at peace
with their God.
But many would be
offended by this. Why? It is such good news! But Jesus was destined for the fall and
rising of many in Israel. This doesn’t
mean that this was Jesus’ purpose or pleasure or intention that people be
scandalized by the Gospel. It means that
the self-righteous would reject him. Those
who refused to see their war with God would make war on Jesus. Simeon does little more than affirm what the
prophets had always said:
“Behold, I lay in Zion
a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and
whoever believes on Him will not be
put to shame.”
or what Paul makes clear in 1 Corinthians, which words have become
familiar on our bulletins:
For
Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a
stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
Jesus is the very obstacle that sinners cannot overcome. The self-appointed wise expect something that
makes more sense, and persuade them. But their minds are dark. The religious types are looking for a sign
that proclaims their own virtue. But the
cross publishes the wages of their sin. “Behold,
this Child is appointed – He is destined for a sign that is spoken against so
that the thoughts of many hearts might be revealed.” This sign is the cross of Jesus. It is the crucifixion. It offends. It reveals the death that sin deserves. It reveals what unbelief does and how
God’s wrath responds. But it
reveals what God has done for us, to take our place under the law and redeem
us. But for those who do not find in this
death the guarantee of a peaceful death for themselves, the cross of
Christ is nothing but a sign to speak against, a sign to oppose - foolishness. But in their rejection, their thoughts are
revealed. Because the heart that
despises what God has arranged for our peace right here is a heart that is
filled with vain and evil imaginations.
People resent the suggestion that they have no life apart from Jesus. They won’t tolerate the
idea that one’s status before God depends entirely on his relationship with Christ—that
all the things they do and give for God do nothing to gain eternal life, but that
they must come here to receive it. To teach that no one can find eternal
life except through faith in the obedience and suffering of Jesus, the
incarnate Son of God, is to teach that every other religion in the world –
every other religious impulse in the heart of man – is fundamentally
useless. No wonder they oppose Jesus.
But for us who confess our sins and the vanity of our thoughts, we find
in Christ our life. For us who recognize
the warfare that exists between sinners and God, and admit that it is our
fault, we find in Christ our peace. For
us who are loaded down by guilt and the weight of sin’s burden and confess to
God our need for Jesus to retrieve us from our wandering, this Christ was
appointed for our rising. What thoughts
are in your heart? They are revealed to
God. Sure, you see sin. You see regrets – perhaps particularly
at this time of year as yet another New Year closes in. These painful thoughts that wallow in our
hearts, we lay on Jesus. And He takes
them. For this reason He was born. For this reason He comes to us in such a
lowly and unthreatening way. He comes to
forgive us – to raise us up and give us confidence and faith that we are God’s
true children just as He promised when He baptized us.
But there’s another pain that we still feel. It is a pain that Mary felt when she saw her
countrymen, her family, reject and despise her Son who was their Savior. The sword that pierced Mary’s soul pierces the
soul of the Church as well. It hurts to
see others reject and ridicule what we love.
It is a very sad thing to see the world around us deny the gospel. Gentiles regard the Light to lighten the
nations as inconsequential darkness. The
Glory of God’s nation Israel is rejected by those who call themselves Israel
today. The enemies of the Church whose
assaults we must withstand are the very ones for whom Jesus died to save. They are often the ones we love: our friends,
our parents, our siblings, our children and grandchildren who do not believe
who do not wait like Simeon, who are not devout in hearing the word of God at
church. They are the ones for whom we
never stop praying. It is therefore very
painful to see what is the most precious thing on earth ignored and discarded
as useless.
But our joy in the
gospel is in spite of this pain. It does not take away our joy, because the
world’s rejection of Jesus is not a sign that we are spoken against or opposed
by God, as though His promise has become less sure. No. It
is a sign that we are spoken against by the world. Go figure.
So was Jesus. But Jesus never
grew bitter against those who persecuted Him, but prayed for their repentance. So do we, even as we never fail to point them
to the cross. That’s what Anna did, and
she didn’t stop no matter how old she was, no matter how many years she had
waited in sorrow and disappointment – she pointed everyone she saw to the cross
where God would curse His own Son so that He might bless you and me, and yes
even those who don’t seem to care.
We are blessed by God. We have
heard it. We know it. We are glad.
And so we bless God who prepares us to depart in peace from this vale of
tears. We are ready, because we have the
sign of the cross in our midst, that is, the message of Christ crucified by
whom God has reconcile even the most doubting, bitter, and disobedient sinner to
Himself.
That’s what happened when you were baptized. “Receive the sign of the cross to mark you
as one redeemed by Christ Jesus.” And then
God gave to you His own sign and seal that you are His. Do not speak against your Baptism. Do not stumble because you still see sin in
yourself. Do not be scandalized to see
this precious blessing ignored by others.
Do not lose heart when your Savior is opposed. Rather go to where Jesus continues today to bring
you that joy that no sorrow can dim, and that peace that no sin can cancel
out.
Go to where God still demonstrates
His goodwill toward you, where Jesus gives His own body and blood to eat and to
drink in the Sacrament of the Altar as a pledge of the peace that is yours
forever. Because this is freely given to
us in the forgiveness of our sins, we also can bless God as Simeon once
did. Pay close attention to the words
you will soon be singing, called the Nunc
Dimittis. We sing these words when departing in peace
from the Lord’s Supper. Simeon said
these words when departing in peace from life on earth. There is no difference. Ready is ready. This peace is ours and it is safely kept for
us in Christ. It prepares us for everything—both
life and death—and so it also gives us the strength and confidence in God to keep living
and waiting for what God has promised.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
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