"Simeon's Song" Sermon: Luke 2:29-32

“Simeon’s Song”
[Luke 2:29-32]
December 27, 2009 Second Reformed Church

This morning we take our last look – for now – at what we have been calling the songs of the Christmas season. We have looked at statements made and/or sung about the coming of God to earth in the Person of Jesus Christ as expressed by John, the Apostle, Mary, the mother of Jesus, Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, the angels, and, this morning, a man by the name of Simeon.

This morning’s Scripture took place eight days after Jesus was born. According to the Law of Moses, male children were to be brought on the eight day to the temple to be circumcised and for the parents to offer up a sacrifice in thanks for their son. Mary and Joseph brought the Baby Jesus and also the offering that was expected from an impoverished couple – two pigeons or two turtle doves. (Mary amd Joseph were poor and could not offered the larger offering stipulated in the Law.)

Now, Luke tells us there was a man by the name of Simeon who was a righteous and devout man, upon whom was the Holy Spirit. We don’t know anything more about him – except that he was likely quite old by this time. We don’t know what he did or where he came from, though it appears he was not a priest.

And we are told that at some point God promised Simeon that he would not die until he saw “the consolation of Israel.” What was that? When we refer to the consolation of Israel – in this context – we are talking about the comforting of Israel in her relationship with God. We are talking about Israel becoming right with God.

As Isaiah prophesied, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. A voice cried, ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken’” (Isaiah 40:1-5, ESV).

God had made the awesome promise to Simeon that Simeon would not die until he saw God’s Salvation come to Israel; Simeon would not die until he saw the Savior God first promised back in the Garden of Eden appear in Israel to reconcile God’s people to Himself.

What a promise! I wonder if we would have believed God? Would we have waited year after year not seeing the Savior and still believe that God would keep His Promise to keep us alive until the day that He came? After all, it had been four thousand years, maybe he hadn’t heard God, after all – could he really be sure that he would live until the Savior came? Would we have been sure – just knowing that God had made the promise?

Luke tells us that God the Holy Spirit told Simeon to get to the temple. And when Mary and Joseph walked in with Jesus in their arms, and Simeon saw them, the Holy Spirit identified the Savior, Jesus, to Simeon. And he ran over and took Jesus in his arms, and blessed God – because God kept His Promise – Simeon recognized that Jesus is the Consolation of Israel – Jesus is the long awaited Savior – the One Who will reconcile God’s people to Him.

And with the Babe in his arms, Simeon blessed God and said the words of this morning’s Scripture:

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word;”

Simeon blessed God and said that he could die in peace because God had proven to Simeon that God keeps His Word. Simeon had proof in his own life that God keeps His Word and that was enough for him to trust and be at peace with dying – believing all that God had promised about the life to come in the Kingdom.

Can we say the same? Are you and I able to say, “Yes, God, I am at peace and ready to die whenever You call me home, because I know that You keep Your Word and everything will be as You have promised it.” If God told you that today was the day, would you be ready – and at peace – with dying?

Unless Jesus returns first, every one of us will experience physical death. Are we ready? Moses wrote, “So teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12, ESV). And the David wrote, “O Lord, make me to know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am ” (Psalm 39:4, ESV).

We live in a country that tries to deny that death occurs. We have pills and potions and surgeries that we take and go through to try to make it look like nothing has changed – that this fallen world has no effect on our bodies. But no matter how good our corpse looks, the day will come. Will we be at peace when it does?

Simeon said that he was at peace with his death because God had proved Himself faithful in keeping God’s Word.

Simeon continued, “for my eyes have seen your salvation.”

Simeon blessed God and said that he could die in peace because God had shown him God’s Salvation: Jesus, the God-Man. Not only did God keep His Word and allow Simeon to live until God sent the Consolation of Israel, God allowed Simeon to meet Him – the Baby Jesus. And Simeon knew that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of God’s people. And knowing the Savior made Simeon able to be prepared to die in peace.

And again, we should ask ourselves, if we know Jesus – if we have believed in Him Alone for our salvation – do we find ourselves ready and able to die in peace? Are you ready to go on to the next life, knowing that Jesus is standing there, waiting to receive you into His Arms?

Paul told the Philippians he was conflicted about living and dying. He wrote, “Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again” (Philippians 1:18b-26, ESV).

The late, great Christian musician, Larry Norman was asked some twenty-five years ago if he had any goals, and he said, “I used to say: ‘Yes, I want to die. Keith Green is where I want to be. I want to be with Jesus.’ But now I have a baby boy, and I don’t want to die. Today.”

Simeon and Paul and Larry reflect that dual longing that we should all experience as Christians: On the one hand, we should long to be with Jesus in the Kingdom, which will finally be for all those who have believed in Jesus Alone for their salvation – but for now, that is only reached through physical death. On the other hand, we ought to desire to work as hard as we can as long as we can to glorify God and make His Salvation known.

Are you at peace with dying because Jesus is your Savior? I look forward to dying. Understand: I am not suicidal, and I do not want to suffer. But I can’t wait to be in the Presence of Jesus eternally. I can’t wait to have a new body that isn’t sick. I can’t wait to not be able to sin. But, on the other hand, I pray for strength and healing, because I don’t want to die yet. I don’t want to leave my little girl. I want to go to Cape May again. I have a few books I would like to read. I have goals I want to accomplish in my life and with this church. But I am at peace, in Jesus, whenever God calls me home, because He is my Savior. Can you say the same?

“That you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

Finally, Simeon blessed God and said that he could die in peace because God had fulfilled His Covenant with Abraham to bless all peoples – the Jews and the Gentiles – through His Salvation.

As Isaiah prophesied, “The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God” (Isaiah 52:10, ESV).

Simeon understood that God did not merely keep His Promise to Simeon. God did not merely bring a Savior for Simeon. But God sent the Savior Who is for everyone Who will receive Him. Jesus is the One and Only Savior of any type of person throughout time and space. He is the One and Only, but no type of person is excluded from believing in Him. Men, women, Jews, Gentiles, slaves, free persons, bad sinners, not-so-bad sinners – all of us are in the same boat – separated from God by our sin, and God has made One Way for us to become right with Him. That was the promise He made some six thousand years ago that He fulfilled in Jesus.

Part of what it means to love our neighbor is to desire that he or she come to faith in Jesus Alone for salvation. It should make us rejoice that we know that just because someone is an “x” or a “y” does not exclude them from those who may be saved through Jesus. We have no right or reason to stop praying and telling everyone who is alive about salvation in Jesus Alone. And we should find ourselves at peace knowing that none of those who will believe can be lost – no matter who they are or what they have done.

I attended a church service once where a first year seminarian was preaching, and he said that when we came before Jesus at the judgment, He would bring all those people before us who were going to Hell because we didn’t take the time to tell them about Jesus, and Jesus would ask for us to account for ourselves. What a horrible thing to say! Who could ever die in peace believing that Jesus would torture us so? This student had much to learn: none who will ever believe will be lost. We can die in peace knowing that God will keep the Promises He made in the Covenant to save every person He has always intended to save. We do not have to worry that we will keep people out of the kingdom – we don’t have that kind of power – thanks be to God!

Simeon’s theology – what He knew about God – was that God keeps His Promises. God sent Jesus to be the Only Savior. And God will save all those who will believe from every type of people that exists. Because those things are true, Simeon could offer up a doxology – a praise to God – in which he confessed that he was ready and at peace with death whenever God called him home.

Death is a terrible thing. It is the last enemy. And many people suffer horribly as they die. We should not wish that for ourselves or anyone else. But if we believe in Jesus Alone for our salvation, and see that God keeps His Promises in Jesus, we ought to find ourselves at peace with death – with passing from this life into the next. Whether that occurs this week or fifty years from now. We ought not to fear death as Christians.

As Paul wrote, “I tell you this brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For the perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the works of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord you labor is not in vain” (I Corinthians 15:50-58, ESV).

As Christians, through Jesus, we are at peace with death. And if we are at peace with death, we can work hard at living for Jesus.

Are you ready to die?

Are you ready to live?

If the Lord is willing, we will enter the New Year this week. Let us trust Jesus, being at peace with Him, knowing that He is victorious over death, so we are as well. And let us trust Jesus, working hard to do everything He has called us to do, for our joy and His Glory.

Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank you for the witness of Simeon – showing us that You are the Faithful God – the Only God Who gives us salvation and peace in death. We thank You that You have given us lives in You and work to do. Give us strength, courage, and wisdom as we go forward this day and into the New Year. Help us to trust You and live in a way that makes Your Salvation clear to others. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.