Simeon, Luke 2:22-32, 12/29/13

Sermon     12-29-13    Luke 2:22-32               Simeon

²² When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”^[b]), ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”^{[c]  25} Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. ²⁶ It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. ²⁷ Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, ²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss^[d] your servant in peace.
³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation,³¹     which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

 

It is hard for us to be satisfied.

All the giving and we can still feel empty

Jonny carson gave his son a $100 tank

He played in the box

Well, its over. It’s the day after  Christmas is over.

 

Decorations that went up so early are now removed

Extra things marked down -

Replaced with valentine’s day

Regarding the after Christmas feeling, John Walton a presbyterian minister wrote, “Nothing is as over as Christmas when it’s over. The empty boxes, the pretty paper on the floor, the stray tinsel from the tree, the empty cartons of eggnog stuffed into the trash bag. Life has come back to normal, whatever that is, and it means that the diversion of the past few weeks, the frenzy and fuss, the lights and glitter are packed away once again like the star at the top of the tree; taken down and carefully wrapped, padded and protected in its box. And what is left? Conflicts around the globe, homeless people sleeping in the streets, hungry people begging for food, worries about health, kids that concern us, jobs that wear us down. We’re back to where we left off before the holidays

Nothing is quite so over as Christmas when it is over.

 

Lou holtz

A number of years ago, when Lou Holtz was at the University of Arkansas, he was taking his team to play a bowl game in Tempe, Arizona. The game was to be played on Christmas day. He was asked how he felt about playing a game on Christmas, rather than being with his family. The coach answered candidly: "I would rather be in Tempe. After all, once you have been to church on Christmas eve, had Christmas eve dinner, and opened the presents, Christmas is the most boring day of the year."

 

We are just a few days past Christmas

We are just a few days past Christmas

But there is an inevitable let down

So much packed into 4 weeks of advent

We could talk about keeping Christmas going, but who could handle it

 

We don’t want the clogged streets around the mall all year.

And who could maintain the pace of eating?

In fact, many of us are already planning our diets to begin January 2.

 

Actually, we need a little respite from all the busyness, don’t we?

 

Mary and Joseph weren’t allowed to reside permanently in Bethlehem and neither can we.

It’s back to the real world…

And learning to find satisfaction in this world

Simeon…waited a lifetime for god to act
1. ritual circumcision
2. dedication of newborn, sac two doves
3. purification of mothers after giving birth
4. appearance of the savior of the world

Simeon waited…..applied himself….Celebrated…was ready to go

 

²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss^[d] your servant in peace.
³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation,³¹     which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

 

Amazing!  He is so happy that he is ready to die.

He has experienced the most important thing in life. 

He has seen god’s salvation

we waited for christmas, it came, it went,
life goes on for us
--quiet descends.  We get bored.  it stinks

was it always this difficult to find satisfaction in life?

some years ago tom brokaw was on the radio

He was expressing frustration with the current generation as he extolled the virtues of the greatest generation.

 

young people these days actually got it easy. Their grandparents had endured truly devastating events like The Great Depression and WWII.  The current crop of young adults, he concluded, doesn't even have a clue about real hardship. 

 

A young man called in…surely the Depression and WWII certainly created terrible hardships for the people who faced them that he, nonetheless, believed his generation faced an even greater hardship. The caller said, "The loss of hope." He said that his experience indicated that many of today's young adults had simply stopped believing that things were going to get better. They didn't expect to live as well as their parents had lived. They weren't expecting a brighter future. They have simply given up hope. 

 

He said, The Great Depression, as terrible as it was, in many cases brought families together as they worked side by side in the hope of saving their families. Most of his friends, he said, grew up in families in complete disarray and have given up the hope of ever having a real family experience of their own. 

 

He said, WWII was a terrible event that obviously cost thousands of Americas' young men their lives. Then he said, and even though they knew the risks they still enlisted voluntarily by the millions because they saw it as a cause worth dying for. Most of those in his generation, he said, can't imagine anything worth dying for. The Great Depression and WWII created terrible hardships. But I submit to you that the greatest hardship of all is living without hope."

It’s an interesting discussion

It’s a many sided dilemma

 

So the opportunities are different.

What happened to spain after the defeat of the Spanish armada in 1588

All of central and south America speak Spanish

500 million people.

Opportunities different yes.

Did they close up shop?

 

The British empire

The empire on which the sun never sets

20% of worlds population over 50 countries

What happened to them after two world wars?

Did they close up shop?

 

I want to ask a question
Do we hope in circumstances or in god??????

 

Are we happy only when the stock market is up

Only when we win the war

Only when we are getting presents

Only when we get the next best thing

 

Is it possible that we even get all of those things and still want more?

We drive a car but want another

We won the last war but insist on winning them all

[Maybe we should have fewer wars]

The market is up, but we used to be happy with 14,000 now we would be depressed by that.

 

Simeon waited his entire life to experience god

It is all he ever wanted

We can have that any time

 

I suggest o you that the joy in life is found not in the outcome of events or possessions, but in the promise of god

 

Difficulty will befall us all.  Life happens.

We have to decide what we will do with every single day

We want everything, but how much are we willing to invest of our hearts to achieve satisfaction in life

The Jesus Store

One day a woman went shopping at the mall. She was surprised to see Jesus behind the counter. She knew it was Jesus because he looked just like the paintings she'd seen in museums and in devotional books. Finally she got up her nerve and asked, "Excuse me, but are you Jesus?" "I am." "Do you work here?" "In a way; I own the store." "Oh, what do you sell here?" "Just about everything," Jesus replied. "Feel free to walk up and down the aisles, make a list, see what it is you want, and then come back and I'll see what I can do for you."

 

Well, she did just that. She walked up and down the aisles, writing furiously. There was peace on earth, no more war, no hunger or poverty.  There was peace in families, harmony, no dissension, no more drugs. There careful use of resources. By the time she got back to the counter, she had a long list. Jesus looked over the list, then smiled at her and said, "No problem." And then he bent down behind the counter and picked out all sorts of things, and finally stood up, and laid out the packets on the counter.

 

"What are these?" the woman asked. "Seed packets," Jesus answered. "This is a catalog store." "You mean I don't get the finished product?" "No, this is a place of dreams. You come and see what it looks like, and I give you the seeds. You go home and plant the seeds. You water them and nurture them and help them to grow, and someday someone else reaps the benefits."

Christmas may be over but life is still good.

Stop waiting for some magical event to be happy

you are probably not going to win the lottery
Your ship is not going to come in.
frankly, Its all already here if you know Jesus…..

you have the seeds of satisfaction within you

within your relationship with God

 

if we lost it all today

and what does that mean.  What is all of it?

if we lost electricity, eating out, new clothes, the stock market, even sporting events

we still have it all if he have him

 

knowing  Jesus is the single most valuable thing in this world

people who live with nothing, live in peace because they have him

people who are sick and dying – die in peace because they have him

 

When I was a kid I wasted December waiting for Christmas

A friend of mine told his staff on the 23^rd, don’t waste the 23^rd, getting ready for the 24^th

The 23^rd is a great day too.

Every day is a blessing.

life goes by fast

no better offer is going to come along
Christmas day may be behind us but the celebration is just beginning

The savior is here
let’s find joy in him