Jesus.
You'll turn in your Bibles to page 857 in the Black Church Bible.
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I'll work out that people learn as much by observing models than they learn in the classroom.
In fact, people learn more by observing models than they learn in the classroom.
That's been my experience, and I suspect it's been yours, and I think it's certainly the
teaching in the New Testament.
For those of you who are parents, where did you learn about parenting?
For those of you who are married, where did you learn about marriage?
In your job, where did you learn to do it?
In preaching, it's certainly the case, isn't it?
That you learn more from models than you do from the classroom.
You've seen people who've done it well, and you've got to learn often their voice sounds
the same, isn't it?
There's a generation of Welsh preachers that were trained under Barbara's husband, Geoff
Thomas, and they all speak like this with big hands, and they wave like windmills.
And you observe the model, and you seek to emulate the model, don't you?
And I want to say to you this morning that we learn far more from observing models than
we do by listening to all the theories of education.
It's why reading Christian biographies is so really vital and important.
It's why finding people in this congregation who you can look to, and they can be your model,
is so vital.
And Luke understands this.
Let's just look at his purpose.
Come back with me to the start of his gospel.
You'll see why he's writing.
He's writing for his patron, the man who supports him.
A man who's called Theophilus, that's his name.
And he says, well let me read you one more, it's fine.
Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative, a report of the things that have
been accomplished among us, have been fulfilled among us.
What has happened in Jesus is a fulfilment.
Just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers, servants of the
word, delivered them to us.
That is, my source is eyewitnesses.
And so therefore it seemed good to me, also having followed all these things closely for
some time past, to write an orderly account for you.
Most excellent Theophilus.
Do you see, my research method is, Luke says, I want you to know that I investigated very
carefully in order that I can write down an orderly account for you.
I didn't just sit down one day and think, oh, what do I remember about the Lord Jesus?
Let me write it down.
Now look at the first verse, that you may have certainty concerning the things which you've
been taught.
In the original it is this, that you may know the things which you've been taught, certainty.
The last word in which Luke uses in verse 4 is the word certainty.
Because he wants Theophilus' patron, the man who's supporting him, above all things, in
this orderly account, this eyewitnesses sources that he's researching.
He wants Theophilus to be certain, to back his life on it.
Certain of what?
Well, Luke proceeds to give us the fullest account of Jesus coming into the world.
So look at chapter 1, verse 8.
Here's the coming of John the Baptist.
He's the forerunner.
He's the one that goes before the Lord Jesus.
The angel speaks to Zechariah and tells him that his angel, his aged wife, Elizabeth,
is about to give birth to a son.
Verse 18.
Zechariah said to the angel, how do I know this?
If I'm an old man, my wife is advanced in years.
And so sure enough, Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, the wife of Zechariah,
she becomes pregnant in her old age.
And in her sixth month of pregnancy, the angel Gabriel comes to Mary.
Look at verse 31.
Verse 31.
And the angel says, behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall call his name Jesus.
And he will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High.
And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and ever and ever.
And Mary said, well, how will this be?
Because I'm a virgin.
The angel answered, the Holy Spirit will come upon you.
And the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child will be born to you and be called Holy, the Son of God.
In the Creed, already this morning, we confessed together, haven't we,
that Jesus is both of Mary and of God.
Early Christian, David Ignatius said that he was both made, that is, of Mary,
and he is not made, that is, of the Holy Spirit.
Both of Mary and of God.
And Matthew and Luke both account the virgin birth.
Matthew and Mark, on the other hand, report that he is not the son of Joseph,
but he is the son of Mary.
The Bible is very clear that it wants to say to you that Jesus Christ is truly human.
But he is truly divine, he is not tainted by sin, he is born of God.
And therefore, because he is both fully God and fully man,
he can bridge the gap between man and God, the God and man,
because he is the God-man.
Look at verse 38.
And Mary said, behold, I am the servant of the Lord,
let it be to me according to your word.
And the angel departed from her.
And I want you to notice the song in 52-53.
Mary praises God.
In verse 52, she says this,
He's brought down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of humble estate.
He's filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he sent away empty.
And so the birth of this child, who is the son of God,
the birth of this child, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
in the womb of the Virgin Mary,
is going to be marked by humility.
And if you come to chapter 2,
you will see that the Lord Jesus is born in Bethlehem.
He's placed in a manger, chapter 2, verse 10.
And the angel comes and announces the birth to shepherds.
Shepherds, we learned last week from Chris Humphrey,
that the lowliest of society,
they literally have no name.
There's no names of the shepherds.
They are lowly people.
You don't worry too much about shepherds.
They were not people of status.
So chapter 2, verse 10,
the angel said to them,
Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy,
and it would be for all the people.
Chapter 2, verse 20,
And the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them.
Augustine said this famously to me,
Without ceasing to be what he eternally was,
he became what he eternally was not.
God became flesh.
Luke says, I want you to have absolute, rock-solid certainty.
Now let's follow what happened to Jesus.
He's circumcised on the eighth day.
On the fortieth day, he's brought for presentation.
Verse 21, I seduce them.
The visit is timed by the law.
It's not random.
Circumcision on the eighth day,
They say that's the day
that vitamin K,
the blood-clotting agent,
is at its maximum.
So it's a good day for circumcision.
Forty days later, he's presented at the temple.
There's nothing haphazard,
nothing random.
The time table has been set down by God's law,
and this is no chance encounter.
And he goes to Jerusalem,
verse 25,
and he meets Simeon.
Now there's a man in Jerusalem
whose name was Simeon.
And this man was righteous
and devout,
waiting for the consolation,
the comfort of Israel,
and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
And then it had been revealed to him
by the Holy Spirit
that he would not see death
before he'd seen the Lord's Christ.
So Simeon is getting on in years,
but he had a conviction
that he will not die
until he'd seen the Christ of God,
the anointed ruler of God.
And he sees him.
Verse 29.
Lord, you are letting
your servant depart in peace
according to your word.
Why?
Because my eyes have seen your salvation.
He's seen Christ Jesus,
the Son of Mary,
the Son of God,
the second person of the Trinity,
forty days old.
I've seen it.
I've seen him.
But I want you to notice
that people were divided
in their response
to the Lord Jesus.
Look at verse 34.
Simeon blessed them
and said to Mary his mother,
Behold, this trial is appointed
for the fall
and for the rising of many
in Israel,
for a sign that is opposed.
And a sword will pierce
your own soul also.
Mary, you'll see him suffering.
He will bring about division.
There will be those
that rise up and greet him.
There will be those
that fall at him
because they won't recognize him.
There will be those
that follow him.
There will be those
that recognize him
and those that don't.
And a sword is going to
pierce your heart.
There will be those
who Christianity,
they will not even give him
a second thought.
They'll think he's unimportant.
And there will be those
for whom Christianity
is of infinite importance.
C.S. Lewis said,
The only thing that
Christianity cannot be
is moderately important.
There will be those
for whom Christianity
is utterly irrelevant
and unimportant.
And there will be those
for whom it is
infinitely important.
Now notice a prophet.
An old man.
A six week old
fragile little baby boy.
There's another prophet there.
A prophetess.
Her name is Anna.
Who's 36.
And notice that Anna
is the daughter of
Fanuel of the tribe of Asher.
She is very old.
I know that when you're 23,
everyone seems very old,
don't they?
Maybe you're young.
You're a teenager here
this morning.
And
you're mid-twenties.
She was very, very old.
But we notice she was 84.
She's been widowed
after seven years of marriage.
And she was so devoted
that she virtually lived
at the temple.
And she gave thanks to God
and she praised God
for the child.
Look at verse 38.
And coming up
at that very hour,
she began to give thanks to God
to speak of him
to all who were waiting
for the redemption of Jerusalem.
Now, just notice
what we've seen this morning
in the kind of whistle-stop tour.
What have we seen?
We've seen in Luke's gospel
that the gospel,
the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ
comes from the humble.
Look at how Luke gives prominence
to women.
To Elizabeth.
To Mary.
To Anna.
And it's not as though
he neglects the agent,
is it?
The agent Zechariah.
The agent Elizabeth.
The agent Anna.
The agent Simeon.
All of those are involved
in the coming of the Christ.
The gospel is going to come.
The Christ is going to come.
And he's going to solve
the greatest problem of humankind.
But he will not do it
in a way that pays
any concession to our pride.
He will do it
in the way of humility.
And the people involved
will be women and aged people.
Look at verse 39.
And when they performed everything
according to the law of the Lord,
they returned into Galilee
to their own town of Nazareth.
Absolute obscurity.
And the child grew
and became strong,
filled with wisdom
and the favour of God
was upon him.
So where's my model for living?
That's my point this morning.
When I go into the sales this week,
I'm confronted with all the bargains.
As I face 2020
with all my plans
and all my thoughts of getting fit,
who is my model?
Who is my model?
My model is Simeon and Anna.
And your model is Simeon and Anna.
They are a pattern for Christian living today.
And I cannot think of anyone in the Bible
who is more of a pattern for me today,
living the Christian life.
Today in 2020,
than Simeon and Anna.
Apart from the Lord Jesus himself.
Look at them.
Here is our mentor.
Here is our pattern.
This is my pattern for living.
Simeon and Anna.
Here they are in Jerusalem,
in the city of God,
living in the shadow of the temple.
The huge religious infrastructure
is in place.
You've the Sadducees
and the Pharisees
and the Sanhedrin.
And then there are these two little people.
I don't know if you've been to the Vatican in Rome.
I went when I was about 12 years old.
I was visiting my aunt in Rome.
And at that point,
our church didn't have a building.
It met in a kind of sixth form common room.
And what I remember about that room was for you
is that it was very serious,
that kind of church series.
But there were deaf leopards
and Iron Maiden posters
all along the walls.
And there was kind of...
We met in a...
We met in Forest and Comprehensive
in Cumberland y Cayule.
That was the name of the place.
It was obscure.
You kind of went up these steps
and you went in.
And then we went to Rome
and you visit the Vatican.
If you've ever been there,
it is magnificent.
It is a multinational corporation.
And it was like I...
We kind of went to this little corner shop
church.
The Vatican was so impressive.
And yet we met in a...
Dirty, sixth form common room.
And Simeon and Anzal
must have been overwhelmed by this,
wasn't they?
All the religious structures in place.
But Jesus is fragile.
Born out of wedlock.
Born in obscure Bethlehem.
Born in a stable.
He's placed in the animals' feed trough.
We were given...
You know, where's Wally?
A friend of mine says a book called
Find the Dragon.
You know where's Wally?
And you have these scenes,
don't you?
Really, really busy scenes.
Really important scenes.
And you have to find
either Wally or the dragon.
And you look and you can see everything,
but you can't see Wally.
And then once you spot him,
once you spot him,
you can't unspot him, can you?
He's so insignificant in the drawing.
But once you see him,
you can't see,
that's what this is like here.
It seems so insignificant.
This baby, born out of wedlock,
born in obscure Bethlehem,
born in a stable.
He's placed in an animal feeding trough.
He comes to the Holy City
at six weeks old, barely.
And here's an old man
who has received a promise.
And here's a woman,
they're 84 years of age.
And they're very, very much
in the minority,
but they're looking for the Christ.
And the religious hierarchy
is in place.
The chief priests are meeting.
The elders are meeting.
And they all seem to be
going through the motions.
They've got no sense of expectation.
And so what you have,
at this point in history,
is you have a nation of hope,
living in hopelessness.
And you have a people
of expectation,
living without any sense
of expectation.
And he comes to the world,
but the world doesn't recognize him.
And it does not receive him.
But Simeon does.
And Anna does.
And they are people of hope,
living with hope,
surrounded by a people of hope,
living in hopelessness.
And I want to say to you,
that's exactly our situation.
Next week,
the business of church life
will start up, won't it?
Little stars will start up,
gloriously,
on a Monday morning.
We'll move things around.
And put things out.
And language class
will start up
on a Wednesday.
And kids clubs
on Thursday.
and Ealing Lumpstein talks.
And the book tables.
And Sunday school.
And presbytery
will come.
And there will be
committee meetings
for those of us.
And discussions
and decisions
all in place.
But if we're honest,
little
real expectation
of the coming of Christ.
People with hope,
living as if there was no hope.
If
Simeon and Anna
were here today,
they'd be quaint.
They'd be oddities.
They'd be oddballs.
Barely
holding
onto life.
Waiting.
But this is
authentic Christianity.
Authentic
Christian experience.
We are,
as God's people,
anticipatory people.
When looking
to the future,
God has promised me
that in life
I'll have six experiences.
And so far
I've only had two.
I was born
and by His grace
I was born again.
What are the other four?
What are the other four experiences
I will have?
Death,
resurrection,
judgment,
and entering into the new heavens
and the new earth.
So I've had two
and I've got four to count.
Don't you think we should be like Simeon and Anna?
We live in anticipation,
future focused mindset.
Will it be today?
Chapter 2,
verse 25.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem
whose name was Simeon
and this man
was righteous
and devout
waiting.
Waiting
for the consolation of Israel
and the Holy Spirit
was upon him.
Chapter 2,
verse 38.
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.
Listen,
if you will,
to the song of Simeon
in the Anglican prayer book.
Which comes,
it's in the Anglican service
of morning
and evening prayer every week.
Listen to these words.
Now let your servant
depart in peace
according to your word.
For mine eyes
have seen your salvation
which ye prepared
before the face
of all people
to be a light
to lighten the Gentiles
and to the glory
of your people Israel.
You see,
Cranmer got it.
That Anna and Simeon
were to be a constant reminder
to prayer book Anglicans
that Simeon is our model
and that Anna is our model.
That we're looking
for the day.
It's a weekly reminder.
Do not live
for the day today
but live for the day
which is coming.
And allow our hope
to spur us on.
How are we to live
holy and godly lives
as we wait for the day?
How are we to live
while we wait
for the blessed hope?
And in the light
of waiting for that
blessed hope
Titus says we say
no to ungodliness.
And we live
for holy, godly,
upright lives.
That is how we're to live.
So here's Charles Simeon.
Charles Simeon
was an African rector
in Cambridge.
And his church
you can still go and see it
today.
It's opposite
King's College Chapel.
And Charles Simeon
laboured there
for the gospel
for over 50 years.
He endured great opposition.
But Charles Simeon
saw many young men
and women
become Christians.
And one of those
young men
was a young man
by the name of
Henry Martin.
And Henry Martin
had a wonderful career
ahead of him.
He was a remarkable
linguist.
But when he came
to Christ
he shaved his back
and all that.
And he went to India.
And he went to Iran.
He lived in Iran.
modern day Iran.
And he began
to translate
the scriptures
in those countries.
Fluent
Farsi speaker.
At the age of 31
Henry Martin
went to Turkey
but he died.
At the age of 31.
Charles Simeon
his old minister
his old boss
placed in his drawer
a portrait
of Henry Martin.
And every morning
one biographer said
Simeon would walk
past that portrait
and stop.
And he would look
into the face
of the painted
Henry Martin
and he would say
be serious.
Be earnest.
Don't trifle.
I won't trifle.
And that's living
for the day isn't it?
Be serious.
Be earnest.
Don't trifle.
I won't trifle.
Simeon and Anna
expected
waiters
for the day.
The first advent
has come
with all its fun.
But through it all
the second advent
is still coming.
I don't want you
to know the story
of Bishop Frank Retief.
He was a minister
in Cape Town
in 1993.
Four men
broke into
his church
in the evening service.
They took out
automatic weapons
and they killed
11 members
of the congregation.
There were 58 people
in that church
wounded
as a result
of the breaking.
And as a result
of that
Frank Retief said
I formulated
my five minute rule.
And my five minute rule
is this
whatever is causing
me anxiety
and worry
right now
imagine I was
to die
and go to heaven
in five minutes
or the Lord Jesus
was to come back
in five minutes.
How does the issue
look in the light
of my five minutes
till my death
or the coming
of the Lord Jesus?
Think about this week.
What have you got
stressed with?
What have we got
anxious about?
What have we lost it
with the children
over?
How does that look
in the light
of the five minute rule?
Frank Retief
said
he formulated
the five minute rule
not to live
for now
but to live
in the light
of the imminence
of eternity.
And that is how
Simeon and Anna lived.
They had a promise.
Anna was looking
every day
84 years of age
but she did not
lose that sense
of expectation.
What about you?
Will you and I
as we move into 2020
will we live
by the five minute rule?
He is coming
and it could be
at any moment.
And how does that
which causes
myself
and you
so much anxiety
how does that
look
in the light
of his return?
Simeon and Anna
are examples
are models
are patterns
are mentors
be serious
be honest
don't trifle
I won't trifle
let's pray
but I will
as far as
as