The Original Christmas Playlist Simeon s Song December 17, 2017

The Original Christmas Playlist Simeon s Song December 17, 2017 I want to begin with a Christmas confession I m not a very Christmassy guy. I m not one to decorate much, if at all. I don t put up lights outside. I don t put wreaths on my front door. I don t sing carols. I DO though eat Christmas cookies. And I also don t listen to Christmas music on my own. My wife Tammy however, is a Christmassy person especially when it comes to music. A couple weeks ago she was preparing for her daughter to come over and make Christmas cookies, and part of the preparation was the making of a Christmas music playlist on Spotify for them to listen to. Of course I was of no help in this, so I continued to get myself ready to leave and let the ladies have free reign of the house. I had other manly things to do, like play cards with my friends. So, as I prepared to leave I heard 10 second snippets of various songs that she was putting on her playlist. She d have a song in mind, but had to listen to the beginning of every version of that song before you placed on the playlist. And so, without realizing what was happening, I was getting brainwashed into the Christmas music spirit. How did I know? Well, I m glad you asked. You see, an hour later as I was sitting around the table with seven other guys I caught myself humming this Christmas song that I had heard just before I left. See if you know it. [Frank Sinatra Jingle Bells 50 seconds] Kinda catchy huh? Christmas and music just go together. They re like peas and carrots, peanut butter and jelly, shoes and socks, nerds and Star Wars they are just meant to go together. And it s been that way since the beginning. Over the last three weeks we ve been looking at the original Christmas playlist of songs recorded in the Gospel of Luke and today we are going to look at the last of them, the song of a man named Simeon, which can be found in Luke Chapter 2. Now, there are some important things that set the stage for what we re looking at today. One thing we ve got to take into account is that Jesus parents, Mary and Joseph were devout Jews, and they lived by the Jewish laws and customs. And one of those laws was that after a woman gave birth she had to purify herself by making sacrifice at the Temple in Jerusalem 40 days after a baby boy born. So the story we re looking at today happened when Jesus was about 6 weeks old. Well after the Christmas day. So Mary and Joseph make the journey from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, about 6 miles, probably on foot carrying their baby with them. But they were also probably carrying their sacrifice with them. Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph came bringing two doves to present to God. By the way that s the designated sacrifice of a poor family. [PICTURE: Mary and Joseph at Temple] So I picture Mary walking into the Temple courts holding her six-week-old son. And Joseph is by her side holding a little wooden cage with two doves in it. The place where this scene unfolds is in the Temple Courts. There would have been hundreds, if not thousands, of people coming and going that day. Dozens of parents would have been there with their six-week-old babies and their sacrifices. Some people were at the Temple to make special thank offerings, and guilt offerings, and all kinds of other things. Some were there from far away making a yearly pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Some were there to learn from a famous Rabbi, or teacher, who would have had a spot in the Temple courts to gather students. So Mary and Joseph walk into this swarm of people and animals with their baby and their little wooden cage looking for the place where they need to go to make their sacrifice. They re on a mission, and I imagine that they want to do what they have to do and get out, but as they are 1

making their way through the crowd their mission is interrupted by an elderly man that they don t know. Simeon. Aside from what we are told in Luke 2, we know nothing about Simeon. We don t know his background, his hometown, his education, or even his occupation. We assume he was a priest because of his devoted time in the temple. We also assume he was an old man but even that is not a certain fact. He simply appears on the stage of history as a small player in the events surrounding the birth of Christ. After his part is over, he fades from the scene, never to be heard from again. Here comes Mary, here comes Joseph, and here comes Simeon. Simeon has never seen Joseph or Mary before, and they ve never seen him before. But a divinely-planned encounter is about to take place. Luke tells the story this way: At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord s Messiah. (Luke 2:25-26) So, from this we know that Simeon was a righteous man, he was a devout, he was waiting for the Messiah to come. He was also a Spirit-filled man, and most importantly, he was eagerly awaiting the imminent appearance of the Messiah. But the last part of this verse is fascinating. The Holy Spirit had told him, You will not die before you see the Messiah. What a promise that was. If Simeon is now an old man, as we assume, then he s been waiting in the Temple for many years. Day by day he had prayed for the Lord s Christ to finally appear. Year after year his prayers were to no avail. As he grew older, his anticipation grew stronger because he knew he couldn t live forever. Perhaps he is now 70 or 75 or even 80 years old. Perhaps he has a long gray beard, stooped shoulders, wrinkled face, bushy eyebrows, and trembling hands. If so, then he knows it can t be long. The Lord s Messiah must be coming at any moment. Can you imagine the scene? Early every morning Simeon goes to the Temple, watching and waiting for the Messiah to come. How would he know him? What should he look for? Did he know to look for a baby? Or was he looking for a teenager or a strong young man? No one knows the answer to those questions. Day by day he kept watch over the people coming into the Temple. Each time a young couple came in with a baby, he whispered, Lord, Is that the one? If he saw a teenager, he would say, Is that the one, Lord, or is it someone else? Each day he watched, and looked, and questioned. Each day the answer came back, time and again, No, that s not the one. Keep looking. Keep watching. Keep waiting. Here comes Mary holding the baby in her arms with Joseph by her side carrying some birds in a wooden cage. Jesus is only forty days old. Never was there a more unlikely couple. They are obviously from the country. They obviously don t have much money. If you were people-watching, you wouldn t give them a second glance. They re not college educated. Not from the upper-crust. There just from a small town of Nazareth. And on this day they ve traveled to the cosmopolitan city of Jerusalem. Timidly they walk into the Temple courts. And when Simeon sees them, he asks his question for the 10,000th time, Is this the one? And the Holy Spirit says, Yes. This is the one Simeon. Suddenly Simeon s heart leaps within him. The long days of waiting are finally over. The Lord s Christ is before him. Here is the One for whom the nation has been waiting. He walks over, introduces himself, and says, Do you mind if I hold your child? As Mary gives the infant Jesus to Simeon, the thought hits him, I am holding the salvation of the world in my arms. 2

At that point Simeon breaks out into a song of praise, a song that is so beautiful that it has come down through the centuries to us as the final and climactic song of Christmas. We don t know the melody to this song, or how Simeon sang it. Maybe he was into country music, so he had a twang in his voice or maybe he was more of a Motown soulful singer, or maybe he sang more like old blue eyes himself. But regardless of how he sang it, the words the lyrics are want matter. Check this out. Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel! (29-32) Simeon s first thought is that he is now ready to die in peace. The long wait is over, the years of anticipation are over, his duty is finished, for he has seen and personally held the Lord s Messiah. Sometimes we hear stories of terminally ill patients who say, Doctor, I d like to stay alive until Easter. Then when Easter comes, they quietly slip away. Or they say, I d like to stay alive until my granddaughter gets married. My grandfather had believed that God had told him he d live ten more years after the death of my Grandma Vi. And so, when he was days away from dying, he kept asking about what day it was. Finally his last morning came and he began to say, today is the day. I made it didn t I? And, even though it was still a week or so away, my aunt loving told him yes, today is ten years, you can go now. Later that day he breathed his last breath. This happens often. People live long enough to see her down the aisle, or see the birth of a grandchild, or make it to a special anniversary and then they are gone. Doctors see it happen all the time. Once the goal is reached, life is complete and death comes quickly. That s exactly how Simeon feels. He won t live to see the Lord grow up. He won t witness any of the great miracles. He won t see Jesus walk on water, feed the 5,000 or raise the dead. Simeon will be long gone when Jesus stands before Pilate. The crucifixion is hidden to him, as is the resurrection. But it doesn t matter that he won t see the end because SIMEON HAS SEEN THE BEGINNING, AND THAT IS ENOUGH. What is something so important for each of us that, even if we were just in on the beginning of it, it would be enough? For followers of Jesus, our mission is to lead people to an active faith in Jesus Christ; loving God, loving others, and serving the world. What does it look like to be a part of that mission, and be joy-filled to see and contribute to only the beginning of that? Would you be the one standing at the door or in the lobby, offering a genuine, grateful welcome to someone who is new? That might be your only contact ever with that individual, but you could be at the beginning of that person realizing that the way you welcomed him or her represents the welcome of Jesus. You might be preparing a gift for our, planning to spend half of what you would spend on presents for others, and giving the rest, or sacrificing as much as you would spend on gifts. You ll never see what that offering will do. But what you give could be the gift that helps awaken faith for a college age person or helps a family in Los Rosas, Nicaragua start a business that changes their very existence. Is that important enough that you d be content to be only a part of the beginning? To what beginning in love of God, love of others, and service to God s world is God calling you right now? For Simeon he had seen the messiah, the beginning, and it was enough. Now, look at the end of the song at what Simeon says about Jesus. Jesus will be a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel! LOOK AT THE LAST ONE FIRST JESUS IS THE GLORY OF ISRAEL. In this baby, Simeon sees the fulfillment of all the hopes and dreams of the Jewish people across the centuries. To call Jesus the glory of the people of Israel takes us back to the time of 3

Abraham when the Lord said, I will make your name great, and make of you a great nation, and through you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. After that came the reaffirmation to Abraham s son Isaac, and then to Jacob. Still later God told Moses that one-day a great prophet would come who would be unlike any other prophet before him. Still later God promised David a son who would reign on his throne forever. Still later God spoke through Isaiah and promised that a son would be born of a virgin, and that his name would be called Immanuel God With Us. Still later, Micah predicted that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. For generations the promises were repeated from father to son, from mother to daughter, from family to family, from the older to the younger, and Jewish children were taught to pray for the Messiah s appearance. By the time you get to the first century, you have all these centuries of expectation built up. And now, after all these years, all God s promises are coming true. That s what Simeon means when he calls Jesus the glory of Israel. Simeon has the one, the beginning of the changing of the world. He has seen Jesus, who will forever altar the soundtrack of all mankind. Simeon saw the beginning, and the beginning was good enough. Simeon also calls Jesus a light to reveal God to the nations. And right here, Simeon declares a new idea. You won t find this in the other songs of Christmas. Mary s song is completely Jewish. She thinks in Jewish terms and expresses her thoughts in Jewish ways. The nations or as other Biblical translations say it, the Gentiles are nowhere in view. The same is true of Zechariah. The angels song broadens the viewpoint by mentioning, Peace on earth, goodwill toward men. But nowhere in any of the previous songs are the Gentiles mentioned by name. But Simeon s song explicitly says that this baby will not only be the glory of his own people Israel. He will also be the light of revelation for the Gentiles. He s not just for Israel. He didn t come just for their benefit. He came to shine a light of the revelation of God into every nation, every tribe, every kindred and every tongue. The Jews couldn t say, He belongs to us and you can t have him. Nor could they say, You have to become a Jew to enjoy Messiah s benefits. No! He s the Savior of the whole world. He came to shine the light to be THE LIGHT to the whole world. And that means there is hope for you at Christmastime. 2,000 years ago Simeon sang the words that have become the defining story of my life. I ve had my share of darkness. I ve let the darkness of failure cling to me for years when I wasn t a good father when I was 20. I ve lived in shame, carrying around lies of my past. I ve lived in fear facing a cancer diagnosis. I ve lived in hell going through divorce. I ve stayed awake at night with only the darkness to keep me company as I worried about my kids, about my career, about my future. I ve accepted the words inside my head that told me that I m worthless, that I m not good enough. The dark always has a way of reminding you of your worst. But the light, Jesus, THE LIGHT was born to overcome that darkness. HE overcame my darkness. Simeon saw the beginning in Jesus that day. He saw the child that would actually save me from my darkest times. And if Jesus could do that for me, I know he can do the same for you. If you are lonely this year, Simeon s song includes you. If your family has rejected you, Jesus means to include you. If you feel forgotten, depressed, discouraged, and down on your luck, be of good cheer, Christmas is for you! Whatever sins are holding you back this year, Christmas means that you can be forgiven, because Jesus came for you. It s true that our Lord was a Jew. But he didn t come just for the Jews. In all of this, Simeon is telling us something crucial. By sending his Son to the earth, he is not only fulfilling his promises to the nation. He is also bringing to the world a Savior for all people everywhere. That s what Christmas is about. It s seeing that the gift that you ve been waiting with anticipation is here. 4

The gift of a child messiah that changed the world can change your world. And that s something worth singing, now shouting about! But here s the thing about a gift. We often say it s better to give than to receive. But at Christmas, the opposite is true. Accepting this gift of The Light, the messiah to the world accepting this child as not just the savior of the world, but the savior of you story, your song, is the most important part of Christmas. Accepting this gift is the beginning, and to see that beginning today, is just enough. And so that s how we end our playlist. Simeon sings, Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people. He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel! (29-32) Prayer: Holy Spirit help me receive today, for the first time, or once again, The Light. Jesus, become a part of my story, my life s playlist, and let it begin today. 5