WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.200 Thanks very much, Eden and Beth. Good afternoon, everyone. My name's Ian. I'm on the staff team in the church here. 00:00:05.500 --> 00:00:09.679 Delighted to join you, join with Graham, and welcome you this morning. 00:00:11.439 --> 00:00:18.460 I want to introduce you in a second to the oldest member of our church here, whose name is Jenny Oliver. 00:00:19.160 --> 00:00:20.940 I think we have a picture of her. There she is. 00:00:21.379 --> 00:00:29.560 Jenny is 95 years old. She's not been very well at all recently, and she's just looking forward to going to be with Jesus. 00:00:30.620 --> 00:00:36.219 But a few years ago, when Jenny was able to come to the church services, our family knew her as the cookie lady. 00:00:37.020 --> 00:00:42.920 And the reason for that was every Sunday, when Jenny came to church, she brought along a bag of chocolate biscuits. 00:00:43.399 --> 00:00:46.060 Might be Kit Kats and blue ribbons and things like that. 00:00:46.060 --> 00:00:52.299 And she went around the church, and she gave them to all the children who were out at church on Sunday. 00:00:52.299 --> 00:01:01.579 Because Jenny really loved children, and she wanted them to feel welcome and wanted a church and to look forward to coming here. 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:06.319 And I think in our church, we've got a lot of older people who are like Jenny. 00:01:06.420 --> 00:01:12.400 They maybe don't bring chocolate biscuits along with them every week, but they love seeing all the young people in the church. 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:21.020 The young people in the front row, you will know the older people who speak to you or say hello, and many others perhaps talk to your mum and dad about you and pray for you. 00:01:21.400 --> 00:01:24.800 A lot of older people who love younger people. 00:01:25.020 --> 00:01:31.360 Eddie Mitchell, who passed away this week, as we heard earlier, he worked as a lollipop man down at South Morningside School. 00:01:31.740 --> 00:01:36.219 Someone else who really loved young people there and in the church. 00:01:36.219 --> 00:01:44.000 And this morning, this afternoon, we're thinking about two old people who took great joy in young people. 00:01:44.739 --> 00:01:47.319 Now, the old people were called Simeon and Anna. 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:53.239 We don't know exactly how old Simeon was, but I think we can assume he was an old man. 00:01:54.019 --> 00:02:03.519 He was ready to go and to be with God, to leave this world, and he was just waiting until he saw the Messiah God had promised, and then he knew he would die. 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:06.000 I would think he was quite an old man. 00:02:06.739 --> 00:02:08.020 We know a little bit more about Anna. 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:10.599 I said in our reading, Anna was 84 years old. 00:02:11.159 --> 00:02:23.500 Actually, a lot of people think Anna was quite a bit older than that, because it may be that the correct way to translate what the original language said was that Anna had been a widow for 84 years. 00:02:23.500 --> 00:02:26.000 It's 84 years since her husband had died. 00:02:26.579 --> 00:02:31.340 And if she was like that, that would make her well over 100 years old. 00:02:31.560 --> 00:02:34.219 She was a very old woman. 00:02:34.219 --> 00:02:46.020 But as Jesus came with his mother and with Joseph to the temple, and Simeon and Anna saw them, they were really happy to see them. 00:02:46.020 --> 00:02:48.320 And there were two young people involved. 00:02:48.320 --> 00:02:49.140 It wasn't just Jesus. 00:02:49.240 --> 00:02:51.140 Of course, they were happy to see the baby Jesus. 00:02:51.340 --> 00:02:54.480 Everyone loves a baby, and they knew this was a special baby. 00:02:55.060 --> 00:02:58.960 But they were also really happy to see Jesus' mother, Mary. 00:02:59.100 --> 00:03:01.379 Mary was probably just a young teenager. 00:03:01.379 --> 00:03:03.659 She was a very young person. 00:03:03.859 --> 00:03:11.120 And Simeon and Anna, as they saw her, they rejoiced with her in the joy that she had in having her baby Jesus. 00:03:11.539 --> 00:03:19.579 And they wanted to help her, and Simeon in particular, to tell her a little bit more about what God wanted her to know. 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:24.199 Older people who loved younger people. 00:03:24.199 --> 00:03:28.679 And I want just for a few minutes, it's not really in Simeon's song, though we'll refer to bits of it. 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:35.139 I just want for a few minutes to talk about older people and some of the things those of us who are younger can learn from. 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:40.659 When I say younger, I do mean children of school, but it might be people in their teens, 20s, 30s. 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:43.439 And if you're older than that, you can decide whether you're young or old. 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:51.879 But I want to talk about some of the things that younger people can learn from older people that we see in the passage we read this morning. 00:03:51.879 --> 00:03:58.180 And the first thing is we can learn a lot about prayer from people who are older. 00:03:58.699 --> 00:04:07.219 When we're older, often we're not able to do as much as we could when we were young in working and in serving in the church. 00:04:07.460 --> 00:04:09.060 But everyone can pray. 00:04:09.560 --> 00:04:16.259 And a lot of the older people in this church, I know, spend a lot of time praying for the church in general, 00:04:16.579 --> 00:04:20.839 but particularly for the younger people in the church. 00:04:20.839 --> 00:04:31.759 People who just want younger people to know and to love Jesus and to want the church to grow and to be really blessed by him. 00:04:32.419 --> 00:04:37.000 In this passage, we have two older people who really knew how to pray. 00:04:37.559 --> 00:04:43.199 When we look at Simeon's song, we can see he had a really close relationship with God. 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:49.300 The passage that Beth read from Isaiah 42, he quotes from in his prayer. 00:04:49.740 --> 00:04:51.459 And you can see this isn't the first time. 00:04:51.519 --> 00:04:52.779 This isn't something unusual he does. 00:04:52.860 --> 00:04:54.120 He comes to God in prayer. 00:04:54.560 --> 00:05:00.699 He is really someone who knows God, who loves him, and who spends a lot of time praying. 00:05:00.699 --> 00:05:11.279 Even more remarkable is Anna, because it tells us that Anna spent all her time in the temple praying and fasting. 00:05:11.860 --> 00:05:15.019 She came to church every day and she stayed there. 00:05:15.099 --> 00:05:22.500 And what she wanted to do was to pray and to bring her requests and her thanksgivings to God. 00:05:22.500 --> 00:05:25.899 So much so that she gave that priority over eating. 00:05:26.019 --> 00:05:31.240 She was quite happy not to eat so that she could concentrate on praying to God. 00:05:31.980 --> 00:05:39.199 So one of the lessons I think we all need to learn this morning is how important it is that we have that kind of relationship with God, 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:45.620 that we come to him and we pray and we speak to him very regularly. 00:05:45.620 --> 00:05:49.360 That's something I think older people can teach younger people. 00:05:51.160 --> 00:05:53.720 Same thing I was thinking about was patience. 00:05:54.319 --> 00:05:57.439 When we're young, we want everything immediately. 00:05:58.100 --> 00:06:01.600 When my grandson Archie comes to our house, he immediately wants to play. 00:06:01.660 --> 00:06:04.000 He says, now, Grandad, now, Grandad, I want to play now. 00:06:04.540 --> 00:06:06.420 And he's very impatient. 00:06:06.519 --> 00:06:09.840 It's not unusual that all young people are to some extent impatient. 00:06:09.920 --> 00:06:14.040 Even as we get a little bit older, we want things to happen quickly. 00:06:14.040 --> 00:06:23.200 Older people have more time and life goes at a slower pace and they've learned the value of being patient. 00:06:24.260 --> 00:06:29.020 Simeon and Anna were older people who had learned how to be patient. 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:37.340 They were both looking forward to God coming and to moving in his people Israel. 00:06:37.339 --> 00:06:44.560 Simeon, it says, was waiting for the consolation of Israel, waiting for the one who would be the saviour of Israel. 00:06:45.099 --> 00:06:49.859 And Anna was someone who's looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:52.339 And they'd been waiting a very long time. 00:06:53.879 --> 00:06:59.679 The Old Testament, the last bit of the Old Testament was written about 400 years before Jesus was born. 00:06:59.680 --> 00:07:06.019 A lot of the prophecies, Isaiah, for instance, where there's a lot of talk about the Messiah and the one who was coming. 00:07:06.120 --> 00:07:09.220 It was written about 700 years before Jesus was born. 00:07:09.879 --> 00:07:15.600 King David, who is very much seen as the forerunner of Jesus, was about 1,000 years before Jesus was born. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:18.600 There had been a long, long wait. 00:07:19.460 --> 00:07:26.680 And Simeon and Anna were waiting patiently and looking forward to God coming and to working among his people. 00:07:26.680 --> 00:07:29.100 They were patient. 00:07:29.840 --> 00:07:38.480 And we all of us need to learn to be patient, to remember that God's time and the way God works isn't necessarily the same as our time. 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:40.079 We like things to happen quickly. 00:07:40.680 --> 00:07:43.800 God sometimes says, no, and you need to wait. 00:07:44.199 --> 00:07:50.960 And my best thing for you is that you wait and you get my real blessing after a period. 00:07:51.139 --> 00:07:54.639 We've been waiting 2,000 years for Jesus to come back again. 00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:56.459 He's promised he'll come back. 00:07:56.740 --> 00:07:58.019 It hasn't happened yet. 00:07:58.180 --> 00:07:59.219 We need to be patient. 00:07:59.319 --> 00:08:03.899 We know it will happen one day and we need to be ready for it. 00:08:04.399 --> 00:08:11.279 Many people here have been praying for their families or for friends for many years and they haven't yet become Christians. 00:08:11.399 --> 00:08:12.800 And God just says, be patient. 00:08:13.300 --> 00:08:13.959 Keep going. 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:15.479 My way is best. 00:08:15.860 --> 00:08:17.620 My timing is best. 00:08:17.699 --> 00:08:19.300 We need to be patient. 00:08:19.479 --> 00:08:21.620 Older people are very often patient. 00:08:21.620 --> 00:08:21.819 patient. 00:08:22.699 --> 00:08:27.420 The last thing, and the one I'm going to spend longest on, is old people have a sense of perspective. 00:08:27.540 --> 00:08:30.860 Now, perspective is being able to see a picture kind of the way it should be. 00:08:31.060 --> 00:08:36.560 So this picture up on the screen now, it looks like a huge dinosaur with lots of little people in the background. 00:08:36.700 --> 00:08:44.820 In fact, if you look closely, it's a little plastic dinosaur, the kind many children might get this Christmas, and the people are just a long way away. 00:08:44.940 --> 00:08:49.659 You need a sense of perspective to be able to see the right picture. 00:08:49.659 --> 00:08:54.279 And older people very often have a good sense of perspective. 00:08:54.839 --> 00:08:56.759 They've been around for a long time. 00:08:57.139 --> 00:08:58.860 Lots of things have happened to them. 00:08:59.299 --> 00:09:05.919 And they don't get too excited about things that are maybe not that important because they can see the bigger picture. 00:09:06.500 --> 00:09:12.620 Again, when we're young, we tend to focus on ourselves and the things that are immediately in front of us and important to us. 00:09:12.620 --> 00:09:16.919 And perhaps we don't always see the big picture. 00:09:18.139 --> 00:09:26.519 I'm very struck by a number, a lot of older people in this church who rejoice in what God is doing among us in the church here. 00:09:26.519 --> 00:09:34.179 And I know that for them, it is not the way that they would choose to worship or to do things, not the way they've been used to. 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:42.639 But they can see that the bigger picture is that God is with us, that there are lots of young people coming to the church and growing up to love Jesus. 00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:47.500 And they rejoice because they've got that perspective that says, God is at work. 00:09:47.879 --> 00:09:54.279 And what immediately might be important to me isn't really important in the grand scheme of things. 00:09:54.340 --> 00:10:02.539 And we need to learn a perspective to see the big picture, see what really matters, and not just necessarily what's right in front of us. 00:10:03.259 --> 00:10:09.379 And so as we come now eventually to look at Simeon's song, I want to talk about Simeon's perspective. 00:10:09.379 --> 00:10:18.379 What was it that Simeon saw as Mary and Joseph and the baby Jesus came to the temple? 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:21.419 Well, there were some things that were fairly obvious. 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:24.679 He saw a young mother and her child. 00:10:24.899 --> 00:10:29.399 And I'm sure he saw the delight that Mary was taking in the baby Jesus. 00:10:30.519 --> 00:10:34.279 He also saw a couple who were really devoted to God. 00:10:34.279 --> 00:10:36.539 That was at the start of the reading from Luke. 00:10:36.620 --> 00:10:39.799 Why did Mary and Joseph go to the temple with Jesus? 00:10:40.459 --> 00:10:46.419 They went so that they could do what the law from the Old Testament said they had to do. 00:10:47.100 --> 00:10:50.019 Mary had to be purified because she had just had a baby. 00:10:50.980 --> 00:10:59.539 They wanted to dedicate their son to God, to say this is our first son and we really want him to be devoted to God. 00:10:59.539 --> 00:11:03.980 And of course they knew from what had been said by the angels that he would be. 00:11:05.939 --> 00:11:14.099 I suspect they also saw a couple, a family who lived in some poverty, who didn't have very much money. 00:11:15.259 --> 00:11:18.500 And that is evidenced by the fact that they brought two turtle duff. 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:23.759 They brought a sacrifice that was designed for people who were relatively poor. 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:27.500 More well-off people would have brought a lamb or something as a sacrifice. 00:11:27.500 --> 00:11:30.379 So they saw a relatively poor family. 00:11:31.220 --> 00:11:34.419 But of course Simeon saw much, much more than that. 00:11:34.860 --> 00:11:37.139 He saw the fulfillment of the prophecy from Isaiah. 00:11:37.860 --> 00:11:43.220 And he saw two things that this new baby would bring to the world. 00:11:43.960 --> 00:11:46.299 He saw God's salvation. 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:47.539 Verse 30 in the passage, 00:11:47.700 --> 00:11:54.340 My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations. 00:11:54.340 --> 00:11:58.220 Salvation is the great theme that runs through the Christmas story. 00:11:59.019 --> 00:12:04.399 Jesus was given his name, Jesus, because he would save his people from their sins. 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:06.600 It means God saves. 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:10.240 The angels, when they came and they spoke to the shepherds, 00:12:10.600 --> 00:12:16.960 they talked about one who was born, who is a saviour, who is Christ the Lord. 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:19.879 And Simeon picks that up and he says, 00:12:19.960 --> 00:12:26.800 What I see in front of me in this little child, in this little baby, I see salvation. 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:35.360 I see God coming into the world through his son to be the saviour of the world. 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:40.840 And as I see it, I recognise that it's not just for me. 00:12:41.320 --> 00:12:44.560 It's not just for the people in Jerusalem or in Israel. 00:12:45.279 --> 00:12:50.279 God's son has come into the world to be the saviour of the world. 00:12:50.379 --> 00:12:54.779 He says, you've prepared it in the sight of all nations. 00:12:55.500 --> 00:12:57.279 And above all else at Christmas, 00:12:57.279 --> 00:13:05.519 we should think about the fact that Jesus came into the world to be the saviour of the world. 00:13:06.360 --> 00:13:09.779 And Jesus came into the world so that each of us who trusts in him 00:13:09.779 --> 00:13:17.360 can be saved from the sin that we have by the punishment that he took through his death on the cross. 00:13:18.100 --> 00:13:22.620 Simeon saw salvation in the baby in front of him. 00:13:23.500 --> 00:13:24.799 He also saw revelation. 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:25.879 That's in verse 32. 00:13:26.019 --> 00:13:32.179 He talks about light for revelation to the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. 00:13:32.959 --> 00:13:35.339 How do we know what God is like? 00:13:35.939 --> 00:13:39.139 Well, we know what God is like to some extent by looking around us at creation 00:13:39.139 --> 00:13:41.899 and seeing the greatness and the wonder of creation. 00:13:42.479 --> 00:13:46.779 But we know particularly what God is like by looking at this baby 00:13:46.779 --> 00:13:52.079 who grew up to be a man and who lived as God with us. 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:56.780 God has revealed himself to us through Jesus. 00:13:57.680 --> 00:13:59.740 And again, it's not just to the Jews. 00:13:59.860 --> 00:14:02.980 It's not just to God's historic people that he's revealed. 00:14:03.520 --> 00:14:06.520 He has revealed himself to us, to the Gentiles, 00:14:06.900 --> 00:14:12.220 to everyone in the world who is willing to look and to consider this baby, 00:14:12.340 --> 00:14:14.940 this man who came among us. 00:14:15.460 --> 00:14:20.140 It's a glory for Israel because it was a nation of Israel that the Lord Jesus first came. 00:14:20.139 --> 00:14:26.439 But he came to be a light so that all of us could see and to reveal God to each of us. 00:14:26.519 --> 00:14:30.699 Simeon saw salvation and he saw revelation. 00:14:32.279 --> 00:14:35.759 But then Simeon moves on from what I suppose we think of as a song. 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:37.639 And he has one more thing to say. 00:14:38.340 --> 00:14:40.340 And he has that to say to Mary. 00:14:41.379 --> 00:14:44.559 Now, the Christmas story in Luke is very much Mary's story. 00:14:44.659 --> 00:14:48.980 Jesus' story, of course, but very much Mary's story seen through Mary's eyes. 00:14:48.980 --> 00:14:55.279 And the gradual way in which God reveals himself and what this new baby really means to Mary. 00:14:56.580 --> 00:14:59.259 And so here we have it through Simeon. 00:15:00.840 --> 00:15:03.580 And Simeon foresaw two things. 00:15:04.539 --> 00:15:07.320 He saw and he foresaw. 00:15:07.580 --> 00:15:14.360 He foresaw that this child who came, such a source of joy and of happiness for Mary 00:15:14.360 --> 00:15:16.440 and for those who are willing to listen. 00:15:16.980 --> 00:15:19.700 He would be someone who would experience great sadness 00:15:19.700 --> 00:15:23.019 and who would bring division in the land. 00:15:23.860 --> 00:15:24.620 So Simeon says, 00:15:24.700 --> 00:15:28.980 this child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel 00:15:28.980 --> 00:15:32.039 and to be a sign that will be spoken against 00:15:32.039 --> 00:15:36.139 so the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. 00:15:36.139 --> 00:15:39.340 Yes, the Christmas story is a really happy one. 00:15:39.399 --> 00:15:43.059 There's real joy as we go through in Luke's Gospel and elsewhere 00:15:43.059 --> 00:15:47.559 as we see all that God does for us through the Lord Jesus. 00:15:48.620 --> 00:15:54.379 But we mustn't forget that Jesus came as someone who was here 00:15:54.379 --> 00:15:58.279 to divide people between one another. 00:15:58.279 --> 00:16:04.819 He came with the offer of salvation and revealed God to us, 00:16:05.100 --> 00:16:07.959 but he also presents us with a choice. 00:16:08.679 --> 00:16:12.159 And Simeon says the choice that will be made by many people in Israel 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:14.759 will be to reject Jesus. 00:16:15.839 --> 00:16:19.639 And ultimately it would be his own people, the Jews, 00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:23.179 who would lead to him being crucified on the cross. 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:25.500 He divided the people. 00:16:25.500 --> 00:16:28.740 And Jesus still divides people today. 00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:31.379 We may look around and think, 00:16:31.500 --> 00:16:35.539 yes, great, everyone here loves Jesus and wants to know him. 00:16:36.019 --> 00:16:37.759 And yet he does divide us, 00:16:37.820 --> 00:16:41.179 and perhaps there are those here today who don't yet know Jesus 00:16:41.179 --> 00:16:46.139 and who don't understand all that he has done for us. 00:16:47.019 --> 00:16:49.399 And I would urge you, if you're in that group, 00:16:49.620 --> 00:16:52.519 to recognise that people are divided into those who know Jesus 00:16:52.519 --> 00:16:54.460 and who have eternal life 00:16:54.460 --> 00:16:56.740 and those who don't know and trust Jesus 00:16:56.740 --> 00:17:00.720 and will face the consequences for their sins. 00:17:01.259 --> 00:17:03.840 Jesus is someone who brings division 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:07.700 because we have to decide whether we're going to accept 00:17:07.700 --> 00:17:10.000 or to reject him. 00:17:11.180 --> 00:17:11.940 And then finally, 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:15.779 Simeon foresaw for Mary desolation. 00:17:16.440 --> 00:17:16.819 He says, 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:20.380 a sword will pierce your own soul. 00:17:20.380 --> 00:17:23.700 Mary, who was so happy at the birth of Jesus, 00:17:23.820 --> 00:17:24.920 and as she came to the temple, 00:17:25.040 --> 00:17:28.100 was able to show him off and to present him to everyone there. 00:17:28.840 --> 00:17:30.100 Thirty-odd years later, 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:31.740 she would be sitting under his cross 00:17:31.740 --> 00:17:34.060 and would be in desolation, 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:36.000 would be in real anguish 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:40.040 as she saw her son being crucified by the Romans. 00:17:40.740 --> 00:17:42.360 For her, there was happiness, 00:17:42.900 --> 00:17:44.520 but there was also to be sadness, 00:17:44.519 --> 00:17:48.259 and Simeon was preparing her for that. 00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:51.079 And as we look at the birth of Jesus, 00:17:51.539 --> 00:17:54.180 we must also look forward to his death. 00:17:54.259 --> 00:17:55.920 The two go together. 00:17:56.619 --> 00:17:59.099 He was born so that he could live a perfect life 00:17:59.099 --> 00:18:03.619 and so that he could die for us on the cross at Calvary. 00:18:03.619 --> 00:18:09.219 And we need to remember the sadness that that brought to Mary. 00:18:09.319 --> 00:18:10.679 And the sadness it should bring us 00:18:10.679 --> 00:18:13.139 because we know that it was our sins 00:18:13.139 --> 00:18:15.819 that he was there to die for. 00:18:16.479 --> 00:18:18.519 By great joy that he is alive today 00:18:18.519 --> 00:18:21.139 and that the one who came many years ago 00:18:21.139 --> 00:18:22.319 is coming back again 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:25.719 to take those who love him to be with him. 00:18:26.459 --> 00:18:27.879 So Simeon saw, 00:18:28.279 --> 00:18:30.739 he saw salvation and revelation, 00:18:30.740 --> 00:18:35.319 and he foresaw division and desolation. 00:18:36.359 --> 00:18:37.839 And so we go towards Christmas 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:39.059 in the next couple of days, 00:18:39.319 --> 00:18:40.539 and Christmas for all of us, 00:18:40.720 --> 00:18:42.759 whether we're young or we're old, 00:18:43.019 --> 00:18:46.319 I hope will be a time of real joy. 00:18:46.900 --> 00:18:49.299 But let's make sure particularly it's a time of joy 00:18:49.299 --> 00:18:51.740 because our trust is in Jesus 00:18:51.740 --> 00:18:54.559 and we know his salvation 00:18:54.559 --> 00:18:59.059 and we know that we have through him eternal life. 00:18:59.059 --> 00:19:01.259 That that babe born in Bethlehem, 00:19:01.879 --> 00:19:03.200 presented here in the temple, 00:19:03.700 --> 00:19:05.460 is the one who is alive today 00:19:05.460 --> 00:19:09.779 and can be our saviour and our Lord. 00:19:10.740 --> 00:19:14.440 I want to end with the words of another old man. 00:19:14.919 --> 00:19:17.319 Timothy Dudley Smith will be 92 this week. 00:19:18.119 --> 00:19:19.200 And Timothy Dudley Smith, 00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:20.779 I particularly associate with Christmas 00:19:20.779 --> 00:19:23.299 because every year when he sent his Christmas card, 00:19:23.539 --> 00:19:25.200 he wrote a little poem to go in it 00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:28.259 and many of his poems have become Christmas carols. 00:19:28.319 --> 00:19:30.200 We sang one of them earlier on. 00:19:30.680 --> 00:19:33.100 Timothy Dudley Smith wrote a poem 00:19:33.100 --> 00:19:36.019 that was a meditation on these verses 00:19:36.019 --> 00:19:37.580 on the Song of Simeon. 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:38.460 So it's quite short. 00:19:38.519 --> 00:19:39.640 I'm going to read the whole poem 00:19:39.640 --> 00:19:43.200 and then the last verse we'll use as our closing prayer. 00:19:43.299 --> 00:19:44.799 I'll highlight when we come to that. 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:45.840 Here's what the words say. 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:48.180 Just a reminder of what Simeon said. 00:19:48.180 --> 00:20:14.940 Now here's our prayer. 00:20:14.940 --> 00:20:17.259 Christ, your people's glory, 00:20:18.080 --> 00:20:19.900 watching, doubting cease, 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:23.259 grant to us, your servants, 00:20:24.160 --> 00:20:26.600 our discharge in peace. 00:20:27.340 --> 00:20:27.740 Amen. 00:20:27.840 --> 00:20:28.779 May God bless his word.