Merry Christmas, church family. It's good to see you all this morning.
Our sermon text is from Luke chapter 2, verses 21 through 40.
That's page 805 in the Pew Bible.
Let me encourage you to turn there. We'll have it on the screens when I read it the first time,
but it'll be good to have it open in front of you as we kind of walk through the text today.
As we come to God's Word, let me pray for us.
Lord Jesus, before your resurrection and ascension, you promised your apostles that you would send your Spirit
to bring everything that you had taught them to mind and to guide them into all truth.
Lord, we thank you for the work of your apostles preserving for us your Word,
and we thank you that your Spirit is still at work today,
bringing light and knowledge and love and peace to our hearts as we come to you through the means of your Word.
So we pray now, Holy Father, that as we come to you this morning,
you would open our eyes and ears to hear what your Spirit is saying to us through your Word.
We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
All right, Luke chapter 2, verses 21 through—I'm going to read through 38 this morning.
Luke writes this. He says,
Now 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.
And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
And he came in the Spirit into the temple,
and when the parents had brought in the child Jesus 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, that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples
a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.
And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him.
And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
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 the thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.
And 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 84.
She did not depart from the temple 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.
Well, waiting can be hard, can't it?
We've just spent a whole month waiting for Christmas,
waiting to open presents, waiting for school to go on break,
waiting for vacation from work.
Waiting can be pretty hard.
But what about when the waiting is over?
What about when the thing you've been waiting for finally arrives?
Well, that can be hard too.
You spend so much time waiting,
sometimes we don't know exactly how to live once the waiting's over.
How's life supposed to change?
What are we supposed to do now?
Now, our passage shows us four people who've spent a long time waiting.
First, there's Mary and Joseph.
They've been waiting nine months for their baby to be born.
Then Simeon, waiting for the consolation of Israel,
but also waiting for the fulfillment of God's particular promise to him
that he would see the Lord's Christ before he saw death.
Now, we don't know how long Simeon had been waiting,
but presumably for many years.
And then we have Anna, 84 years old, a prophetess,
living a life of prayer and fasting and worship in the temple,
waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.
Waiting along with all the other faithful Israelites mentioned in verse 38.
Lots of waiting.
But then, at last, their waiting's over.
The thing that they've been waiting for has finally arrived.
And how do they respond?
You know, this time of year, the Christmas season for Christians
is about more than waiting for gifts and waiting for vacations, right?
It's about reliving again that wait and the longing,
reliving again that longing for Christ to come.
It's about putting ourselves back into this long story of God,
longing for our Redeemer.
And then, as we relive this story, Christmas arrives,
and the angels sing, and the incarnation happens,
and we celebrate with joy all over again,
and we light candles on Christmas Eve, and it's a lot of fun.
But what next?
The waiting's over.
Now what?
How do we live the day after Christmas?
You know, there's an important spiritual principle here, actually.
Sometimes our spiritual life grows stagnant
because we don't know what's next.
We hear the good news about Jesus.
We see our need for a Savior.
We place our trust in Him.
We experience His love.
But then what?
Isn't it true that becoming a Christian is often like realizing
that you've been waiting for something your whole life,
and you might not even have realized exactly what it is,
and then in the person of Jesus, at last,
you feel like you've found it.
Or rather, He's found you.
And you realize that He's the one you've been waiting for.
But what next?
The waiting's over.
Now what?
But this doesn't just apply to those of us who are new in the faith.
It actually applies kind of across the board for us.
If you've been following Jesus for some time,
you know that your spiritual life can get a little stagnant sometimes.
It can sort of feel like that Christmas gift you opened,
but then a few years later,
it just sort of sits there on the shelf,
not really doing anything.
The waiting's over.
Now what?
Right?
Well, this is where our passage comes to speak to us.
How do we live the day after Christmas?
How do we live when the waiting's over?
When we're new to the faith?
Or maybe stagnant in the faith?
Well, each of the characters in our text
show us something about how to live
now that Jesus has arrived in our lives.
So let's look first at Mary and Joseph.
And what we see through their example is,
is now that the waiting's over,
now that Christ has come into our lives,
we delight to obey his word.
Look again at verses 21 through 24.
At the end of eight days,
when he was circumcised,
he was called Jesus,
the name given by the angel
before he was conceived in the womb.
And 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,
a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.
So we see Mary and Joseph here
obeying God's word.
Now there are three ways in particular
that Mary and Joseph obey God's law
in this short passage.
First, as Genesis 17 says,
they circumcised Jesus on the eighth day.
And then as Exodus 13 says,
they are presenting Jesus,
their firstborn son to the Lord.
And finally, as Leviticus 12 says,
they're coming to offer appropriate sacrifices
for ceremonial purification after childbirth.
Now consider all that's just happened
to this young couple.
An angel has appeared to both of them
on separate occasions in Luke 1 and Matthew 1,
telling them that their child
was going to be the Messiah
and to be born to Mary as a virgin.
Then after giving birth in a stable,
a group of shepherds burst in
with news about angels singing Gloria,
excited to meet the newborn king,
that's all pretty wild stuff, right?
Those are the sort of experiences
you could write about
and get a book contract in no time.
But notice how Mary and Joseph
respond to the fact
that God has fulfilled his promise.
Notice how they respond
to the great news
that their son
is being heralded as the Messiah.
After being such radical recipients
of God's grace and favor,
how do they respond?
They obey God's word.
God's law for them
isn't some arbitrary code.
It isn't some kind of cosmic killjoy.
No, this is the word
of their awesome, faithful, loving God,
and they delight to keep it.
It's the same for us, you know.
When Christ comes to us,
when we receive him,
when our waiting is over,
and we find in him
all that we've been longing for,
suddenly,
God's commands
aren't some burdensome,
tiresome thing.
No, God's commands
are the life-giving paths
of our loving God.
Maybe you've had the experience
of opening up a Lego set
on Christmas.
Has anyone here
opened up a Lego set
on Christmas?
Okay.
Some of you have.
Imagine it with me.
You open up the package,
tiny pieces fall out,
they scatter across the table,
some of them sometimes
are in different bags,
and the thing looks nothing
like it looks
on the front of the box, right?
But then,
as the pieces are all over the table
and you're looking at the picture,
out of the box drops,
the instructions.
And then,
step by step,
you see how the pieces
go together,
how it all fits
to make this cool-looking thing
on the front of the box.
You know,
when we become a Christian,
it's a little like that.
You open the gift,
and on the front of the box
is this glorious picture.
And the picture on the front
of the box is you
in all the glory
of Christ's likeness.
That's the goal.
Your life,
radiant with the glory
of Christ in you.
And then you open the box,
and all the pieces fall out.
In other words,
your Christian life starts,
and you realize
that you've got
a lot of broken pieces,
and the pieces
don't seem to fit,
and there are some pieces
you just don't know
what to do with.
And you can get
a little discouraged.
You can get
a little frustrated,
and you can be tempted
to give up.
But then out falls
the instruction manual.
And in the pages
of God's word,
we see the means
whereby God,
through his spirit,
is going to slowly
start putting the pieces
where they're meant to go.
He'll slowly start
building you
into the image
of his son
through the means
of his word.
Of course,
now that Christ has come,
we no longer live
under the particular
customs of the Mosaic law.
Things like circumcision,
the presentation
of the firstborn,
ritual sacrifices
after childbirth.
These ceremonies
are no longer binding
now that the Messiah
has come.
But as you read
the New Testament,
you see that God
has continued
to give his church
the guidance
and instruction
we need
to become like Jesus
in this era
of the new covenant.
He's shown us
practically
how to love him
with all our heart,
soul, mind, and strength.
He's shown us
practically how to love
our neighbor as ourself.
But of course,
some of these instructions
seem a little odd
at first, don't they?
Even if we're not called
to go up to Jerusalem
and sacrifice
after we have a baby,
still,
some of the instructions
of the New Testament
strike us
kind of culturally
against the grain
at times, don't they?
Some seem odd.
Some seem challenging.
Sometimes God's instruction
through his word
can seem impossible.
But you know,
if you look again
at our passage here
in Luke chapter 2,
what you see
isn't just
a young couple
obeying God's word.
What you also see here
is your Savior
coming under the law
for you
in his circumcision,
in his presentation
at the temple,
the Lord of the universe
is taking the law
upon himself
and he will obey it
and he will keep it
to the very end.
Jesus here truly
is God with us.
So when the commandments
of God seem burdensome
or seem impossible
to us,
remember
that your Savior
has walked this road
for you
and he will continue
to walk this road
with you.
In his obedience,
he accomplished,
yes,
a perfect righteousness
for you,
but now through his spirit
he's working out
this righteousness
in you.
In other words,
he's justified you
through his obedience
to the law
and he will go on
and sanctify you as well.
So this is part of
what it means to live
when the waiting's over.
We don't just sort of
twiddle our thumbs
and wonder what's next.
We have the very word
of God directing us,
showing us how to become
the sort of people
he created us
and redeemed us to be.
We get to put the pieces
of our life together
according to the plan
of our creator
and our redeemer
and we get to become
more and more
like Jesus.
But that's not all.
Because after Mary and Joseph
enter the temple,
they're met by another person
who's been waiting
for the Christ
and he's been waiting
longer than nine months.
Simeon's been waiting,
it would seem,
for many years.
And what we see in Simeon
is that now that
the waiting is over,
now that Christ
has come into our lives,
we receive his peace.
We receive his peace.
Look with me again
at verses 25 through 32.
Now 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
and it had been revealed
to him by the Holy Spirit
that he would not see death
before he had seen
the Lord's Christ.
And he came in the Spirit
into the temple
and when his parents
brought in the child Jesus
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
that you have prepared
in the presence
of all peoples
a light for revelation
to the Gentiles
and for glory
to your people Israel.
Now Simeon's blessing
here in verses 29
through 32
is often called
the nunc dimittis
which is just a Latin
translation of verse 29.
Now you are dismissing.
Now you are letting
your servant depart
or dismissed
in peace.
Notice how this peace
for Simeon
is both personal
and global.
It's personal
and global for Simeon.
On the personal level,
Simeon here is talking
about his own death.
The Lord had promised him
through the spirit
that he would see
the Lord's Christ
before he died.
And now
that he has seen Jesus,
he's seen the Christ,
he knows
that he can depart
from this life.
Now the fact
that Simeon
is talking about
his departure,
his death,
that's what makes us think
that Simeon
is most likely
in his later years,
that he's an old man
in the temple.
But notice,
now that he's held
Christ in his arms
and seen Christ
with his own eyes,
he's ready to meet
the end of his life
with what?
With peace.
And of course,
that isn't just true
of Simeon, is it?
It's true of everyone
who has seen
in Jesus
the fullness
of God's salvation.
Did you notice?
Simeon says
of the child,
my eyes
have seen
your salvation.
Simeon is saying
that all of God's
saving purposes
are found
in Christ.
There's no salvation
apart from him.
He's the storehouse
where all the rich
blessings are found.
And that means
that if you have Christ,
then you have it all.
There's nothing
God has withheld
from you
if you have his son.
And that means
we can face anything,
even death,
like Simeon,
with peace.
Imagine what it
would look like
to live your life
without the fear
of death.
Some of us
are afraid of death
because we're not sure
what might happen
to us after we die.
But if you're united
to Christ
through faith,
then all of your sins
are forgiven
and God promises you
eternal life
in his own presence.
So if you belong
to Christ,
you need not fear
what happens
after you die.
But some of us
are afraid of death
because we're afraid
of what we might
not have accomplished.
We're afraid
we might not
have accomplished
all that we want
to accomplish
before we die.
In other words,
we're sort of afraid
of death coming
because we're afraid
that maybe we won't
have experienced
everything we want
to experience
before death comes.
So we're afraid
of the end to come.
Maybe we won't
accomplish everything
we want to accomplish.
And so the prospect
of death simply
as the end
of this life
fills us with dread.
And it casts
a shadow over our life,
a shadow of anxiety
or pressure
or fear
or regret.
But for the Christian,
this need not
be the case.
We can view
the prospect
of death
not with anxiety
or fears
of regret,
regret,
but with peace.
Why?
Because we know
on the one hand
that it's our sovereign God
who numbers our days
and like Simeon,
we can trust
God's timing.
Perhaps
we don't accomplish
all we hope to
in this life,
but we still live
in the confidence
that God is doing
his good work
in us and through us.
But you know,
on the other hand,
we also serve
a risen Savior
who promises
a new creation.
And what this means
is that this life
isn't the end,
but just the beginning.
Yes, you know,
there are notes
that are being played
in this life
full of beauty
and full of power
and yes,
it's very true
that we don't want
the music of this life
to end, do we?
And we think about
all the great things
and desires that we have
and we don't want
that music to stop.
But if we serve
a risen Savior,
then these notes
that we hear
in this life
are just a prelude
to a greater symphony
to come
in the new creation.
And so we can face
death now,
not with despair
or with regret
of things we may not
have done
or may not have experienced,
but we can face it
with peace
because we know
that God has
much better in store.
And you know,
Simeon shows us
that this is not
just a personal peace
that we can experience
in our own lives,
but it's also
a global peace.
It's a peace available
to everyone
without distinction.
In verses 31 and 32,
the salvation of Christ
is set before all peoples.
He's a light
for both Gentiles
and Jews.
For Jews,
Christ is their glory.
He's the one
they've been waiting for,
the one who sums up
their long history
with God
and brings it
to its climax.
For Israel,
Jesus is their glory.
But for the Gentiles,
Christ is light too.
He's their revelation.
Christ is the unveiling
of the one
they were looking for
when they didn't
even know it.
So this peace
isn't something
that greedily belongs
only to a select few.
No, it's freely
offered to all.
It's not just personal.
It's global.
It's not just for Simeon.
It's for you.
But Simeon goes on
to say that it's not
just personal and global.
This peace is costly
as well.
Look again at verses
33 through 35.
And Jesus' father
and mother marveled
at what was said
about him.
And Simeon blessed them
and said to Mary,
his mother,
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.
Now, Simeon here
is warning
these young parents
that the road ahead
for this child of theirs
will not be an easy one.
You know,
you might think
up until this point
in the birth narrative
that everything's going to be
one sort of
triumphant parade
to glory.
The king is here.
The angels are singing.
Old men and women
are dancing.
And yet,
the road
will not be an easy one
for this child.
Simeon says
he's going to be
sort of like a litmus test.
Some will encounter Jesus
and they will fall.
They will not
see in him
God's salvation,
but in pride
they will reject him.
Others will encounter Jesus
and they'll rise.
They'll behold him
with the eyes of faith
and in humility
call out to him
for rescue
and he will receive them
and raise them up.
In other words,
Christ,
as Simeon says
at the end
of verse 35,
he's going to expose
the innermost thoughts
of the heart.
And he still does that today.
Christ poses a question
to each one of us
and there's no neutral ground.
Will we receive him
as king,
as Lord,
or will we reject him?
Will we humble ourselves
before him?
Or will we turn away
in pride
and live for some other Lord
of our own choosing?
There's no getting around
this decision.
Each of us must face
the question of whether
we will bow to Jesus
as Lord.
But these verses
don't just speak
of the decision
that Christ poses
to each of us.
It also speaks
of the decision
Christ made
for each of us.
We see here
that when Christ came,
he humbled himself.
He submitted himself
willingly
to the rejection
of his own people.
He was willingly opposed,
as verse 34 says.
And then Simeon speaks
of a metaphorical sword
that will pierce
Mary's own soul.
And most readers
of Luke's gospel
have taken this piercing
as a reference
to Mary's sorrow.
Where?
At the cross.
Mary would see
her own son
rejected and crucified.
And sorrow
would stab her heart
like a sword.
And so we see
in this text
not just
an old man,
Simeon,
living in the peace
of Christ.
We also see
our Savior
and the costly price
he would pay
to win us
that peace.
You see,
it's only because
our Savior was rejected
that we can be accepted.
It's only because
he was opposed
that we can be received.
Why?
Because our sins
deserve God's rejection.
But on the cross,
Christ is rejected
in the place
of our sins.
That's why peace
can be ours
and is offered
to everyone.
Because the debt
of sin
has been paid
in full
through his sin-bearing death.
Now,
if we reject him,
we will fall,
as Simeon says,
under the weight
of our own sin.
But if we receive him,
we will rise,
having been released
from the burden of sin
through his death
on our behalf.
And for those
who do humble themselves
and receive
this gift in Christ,
it is a peace
that not even death
itself can take away.
Why?
Because our Savior
has died for us.
We can live in peace
even in the face of death.
So now that the waiting
is over,
now that Christ
has come into our lives,
we receive
and live in peace
with courage
and freedom
from the fear of death
and from the guilt of sin.
But there's one more figure
Luke wants us to see.
One last way
that Luke here
charts out for us,
sketches out for us
how to live.
And that is Anna
in verses 36 through 38.
And what we see in Anna
is that now
that the waiting is over,
now that Christ
has come into our lives,
we proclaim his kingdom.
We obey his word,
we live in peace
and we proclaim his kingdom.
Look again
at verses 36 through 38.
And 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 84.
She did not depart
from the temple,
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.
Now Anna is sort of
this wonderful contrast
to Simeon,
isn't she?
Simeon,
you know,
after he meets Jesus,
he's like ready to retire,
right?
He's like,
Lord,
okay,
you fulfilled your promise to me,
I'm good,
let me go.
But,
we get the sense
that Anna is just getting started.
If Simeon shows us
the serenity,
the peace that Christ brings,
Anna shows us the vitality,
the energy that Christ brings.
She might be 84 years old,
but now that Christ has come,
she can't help but proclaim
the arrival of her king
and the restoration of Jerusalem
and the arrival of God's kingdom.
So friends,
let this be an encouragement to you.
If you feel
that you are reaching
your later years,
God still has a plan for you
to use you
to advance his kingdom.
And that's true of all of us.
Just think of all the characters
we met in Luke 1 and 2.
Young and old,
some who work in the temple,
some who work in the fields,
some who are named,
some who are unnamed,
but all together,
God is gathering his church
around Jesus' son,
the Messiah,
our Lord,
and in Anna,
we see this first lighting
of the flame
that will continue to burn
through the gospel of Luke
and then especially
in Luke's sequel,
the book of Acts,
where like Anna,
the early church
filled with the Spirit
will take this news
of their Redeemer
and begin telling it
to all who will hear.
A message of good news,
of great joy
for all people.
A message of repentance
and the forgiveness of sins
for all people.
A message of eternal life
and freedom
for all who believe.
You see,
Anna understood
that when the waiting
was over,
the real mission
had just begun.
Now that Christ was here,
the world needed to know.
The kingdom of God
had arrived
and the great renewal
had begun.
So for us,
as the year ends
and another year begins,
who will we tell
this year
about the good news?
A co-worker,
a friend,
a neighbor?
Who in your life
needs to know
that God has come
in Christ
to give us His peace
without charge,
fully of grace?
let's begin praying for them.
Let's think about
how we might
open up
spiritual conversations
with them.
And friends,
do all of this
with a deep sense
like Anna
of joy
and thanksgiving.
God wants to use you
to bring this good news
to those who need it.
What a wonderful privilege
to be bearers
of good news.
the good news
that God loves us
and sent His Son
to be our peace.
So the waiting's over,
friends.
Christ has come at last,
but the adventure
has just begun.
Through His Word,
He's making us
more like Jesus.
Through His peace,
He's giving us courage
and freedom
even in the face of death.
And through His mission,
He's advancing
His kingdom
through us.
So church,
may we live
like Anna
and Simeon,
like Joseph
and Mary,
who when the wait
was over
had their course set
by the arrival
of their King.
Amen?
Amen.
Let's pray.
God,
we thank You
for the many pictures
that You've preserved
for us
from this history
of the earliest days
of Jesus our Lord.
and how men and women,
young and old,
insiders and outsiders,
were all gathered
into Your people
and given this great purpose
to live for Your kingdom.
We pray for a fresh pouring out
of Your Spirit, God,
upon us
as this year ends
and another begins.
Oh Lord,
make us like Simeon,
confident in Your peace.
Make us like Anna,
excited and thrilled
to share the news
of the One
who has come
and is coming again.
God,
do all this
for the glory
of Your great name
and the upbuilding
of Your church,
we pray.
Amen.
Thank you.