Simeon & Anna

Good morning and Merry Christmas. It’s good to see all of you today. If you’re here for the first time, just want to warmly welcome you on behalf of our church. Thanks to all of you that are streaming in online. Can we just pause for a moment and go back to that incredible testimony of the generosity of all of you, that over 500 gifts were purchased for key of Hope, and they’re not even here yet, which totaled over 7000. I mean, that’s incredible. Can you just give yourself a hand this morning? And it shows you the power of each person just doing a little bit. One gift at a time. One pair of shoes at a time. And look what God did in and through you. And we’re excited because they’re making their way to Michigan. They started in Florida, went to Atlanta, went to New York, and eventually, they’ll be in Michigan. If you’re still looking to help out next Friday the 20th. We’re looking for people to help set up the camp so they stay at a camp when they’re here, and we’re going to be taking furniture and putting up Christmas trees and just making it an incredible place for them, to be able to not only celebrate Christmas, but to come back to as they’re going to continue, to sing in churches in the area.

So if you’re interested in that, stop by, the connection center, the welcome center on your way out. But what a great time of year to be generous with everything we have. Amen. And if you’re new here, we’ve been going through this sermon series called Longing to See. And the idea behind the sermon series of this year was to kind of look at some of the passages that maybe are less familiar to people. Some of these might look like minor characters or people that kind of just get shoved aside because they don’t have the prominence of obviously Mary or Joseph or even the shepherds or the wise men, like most people have some semblance of that. And so today we’re going to be looking at Simeon and Anna. Does anybody have any context to Simeon and Anna? Are you guys all experts on Simeon? Anna, you know how they fit in the Christmas story? Yeah. How many of you watched. And let’s ask it this way. How many of you? You have a Simeon and Anna character in your manger scene at your house. See how much value we don’t place on them? They’re actually really important people.

Historical people. So much so that not only would Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke and wrote acts, make sure that they were included in the Christmas account. More importantly, it was through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that God wanted us. Nearly 2000 years later, to be reading about their lives and understanding the significance that they play in how God really, truly is for all people. And you’re going to see that today. Now, before we get into the text, can I just ask a simple question this morning? Is it okay? I don’t know if you know this, but today is December 15th. That means we have how many days until Christmas and how many? Just even hearing that your blood pressure just went up. So that’s a simple question as we start. Are you prepared for Christmas? Yes. Yeah. You made it up. Are you prepared for Christmas? Yes. Oh, a lot of yeses in here. All right. Why are you prepared for Christmas? You have enough. And I want him in. Oh, you said Amazon. Oh. I’m getting older. My hearings, you know, starting and starting to fade. Okay. Because that have enough. That’s a perfect answer. That’s like a very good spiritual Amazon.

Yeah, that’s still a good answer, just for a different reason. It’s kind of a trick question, to be honest with you. The reason is, is because so often we think about the presents we have to buy, the parties we have to attend activities for our kids, presents, all of those things. But how are you preparing spiritually for Christmas? Notice I got really quiet in here. You’re in his word. Praise God. Donna, how is it that you’re pausing long enough to really take time to let the Holy Spirit remind you of what this whole month is about? And is it it? Fascinating how there are so many external factors that can go into this holiday season. And yet every year we have to remind people, just as every other church does, of really the true significance of this moment. And gathering together with family and friends and the songs that we sing and in the movies that we watch and all of those things ultimately, is that our attention and our time and our souls would be focused on him. And so today we’re going to look at a couple of accounts. There’s now actually a lot of scripture on Simeon and Anna, but you’re going to see just the significance of these two incredible people. So in Luke chapter two we’re actually going to fast forward. We’re going to go past when Jesus has already been born. And so he’s already been born. It says the time for the purification rites required by the law of Moses. Joseph and Mary took Jesus to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. And so there’s kind of two things going on here.

There’s the purification rites. That was part of what Mary would have been required to do under the law. We’re not going to get into that. Instead, we’re going to focus on them bringing him to the temple to consecrate Jesus. And it goes all the way back to Exodus, because it was God that told Moses to tell the people that you consecrate to me all of the firstborn. So Jesus is the firstborn, and this is how you do it. This is why Luke says, as it’s written, he goes back to quoting Genesis or, excess. And he says, the firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice in keeping what is said in the law of the Lord. And so the sacrifice is tied to what Mary is required to do. And then the consecrating of the Lord is also part of this whole equation. And Luke gives us a little bit of detail. You can kind of see just what kind of family Mary and Joseph are, because the law actually required a lamb. You’re supposed to bring a lamb to be sacrificed, but if you don’t have the financial means to do it, then it’s okay to bring some doves and some pigeons. And so that’s how we find out that they really, truly are a poor family. Now, there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon. So here’s one of our characters this morning. He’s righteous and devout. And do you notice those of you that have been with us the last several weeks, that theme, as Luke is explaining some of these other people, it was the same kind of words that he used to describe Zechariah and Elizabeth.

And so here he is. He’s telling us it’s a Simeon is this righteous and devout man, and he’s waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit is on him. And all that is is a fancy way of saying he has been waiting and praying and hoping for the promised Messiah. If you were a Jewish person, that’s what everybody knew to do. Everybody knew that every single day you were hoping and praying that the Messiah would reveal himself, that he would come and literally overthrow the government at the time, which was the Roman government. And so their perspective was, he’s going to come and we’re finally going to be able to be our own nation will rule ourselves, and we’ll be able to basically create heaven on earth. We’ll finally be restored as a nation, as God’s people. And so here’s Simeon, and it says it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Isn’t that interesting that God told him, you will see the Messiah, that you will be witness to it before you die on this earth. And what’s so intriguing is here he is in the temple, and he’s moved by the Holy Spirit. And he goes into the temple courts. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the law required, which was the sacrifice, Simeon took him in his arms, and he praised God. Does anyone find this odd?

Or is it just me? Okay, women in the room. Your baby is 40 days old and an old dude comes in and tells you he’s been moved by the Holy Spirit. Can I hold your baby? How many of you ladies out there would let Simeon hold your baby? Oh, a couple, all right. Two. I think I got two. How many of you would not let an old dude that you didn’t really know hold your baby? Okay, think of this sometimes. Like we read scripture so fast, so we don’t slow down long enough to be like, wait, what is going on here? And we don’t know. We don’t know if maybe they knew him from some other means, or if there was a way that he was marked as an official of the temple. And so they felt comfortable doing this in some way, shape or form. He literally got to have baby Jesus in his arms. And as he’s doing this, as the Holy Spirit is on him and confirming that this is in fact the Messiah, of course, his natural response is to praise God. Now put yourself in Simeon’s shoes. If you got to see the Messiah, Baby Jesus, wouldn’t you be excited to watch the next year and five years and ten years and 20 years of his life, like, wouldn’t you just want to follow like like like like an like an awkward person? Mary and Joseph around everywhere they went like, man, this is the Messiah. Imagine what he’s going to do. Imagine what’s about to unfold on this earth. But look at his perspective too. This is the challenging part this morning in the section, instead of saying that this is what he says to God, he utters this prayer. He says, sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant and peace. Wait, what? Hey, thanks for letting me see the Messiah. I’ve lived my life here on earth. I’m ready to die. You can take me home now. I wasn’t expecting that kind of a plot twist, isn’t it? How many of you. You’ve said those words to God? You’ve lived a full life. Do you kind of go one of two ways?

Maybe you’re at an age where you’re just like, listen, I’ve checked off my bucket list. I’ve done everything that I’ve needed to do. I know there’s not really anything else in life. Like, I’m ready to go meet Jesus. I want to see Jesus face to face. Everything. I got all my affairs in order. My family’s great. It’s just time for me to go. Or maybe you’re here this morning, and life has been really difficult, and you’ve had to overcome some insurmountable challenges. And you’re just at a point we were like, you know what? One more Christmas and if Jesus decides to take me home, then I would be good with that. So intriguing the way that he responds to God. It made me think of this kind of idea. And there’s going to be an odd question, and I wonder how many of us think in these terms. My guess is it probably depends on the season that we’re in in our life, but how would we go about preparing to die? Well, you ever thought about that? Maybe if you are toward the end of your life and you’re wondering, Will do, I have two years left. Five years left, ten years left, how do you go about figuring out how to live your life and to actually finish well? Or maybe you haven’t thought about it. Maybe you’re here today and you’re super young, and the last thing that you think about is dying. Unless you have someone close to you pass away at a young age, or there’s something that comes into your life that’s just hard to comprehend, and then you begin to think in those terms.

See, so often that’s what happens. We’re we’re so busy and we’re so focused on the things in the temporal world that so often we get distracted. And it’s hard to keep that eternal perspective that we are, in fact, eternal beings. And again, going back to to focusing on are we prepared for Christmas instead of all the things that we have to do? What about when it comes to our soul? How much time are we spending focused on what matters most now? What I’ve seen over the course of my life, and I’m getting older and older to see, you know, it’s crazy how fast time goes by and I’ve had contact with lots of people. I obviously been in the position that I, that I’m in and and seeing people in different stages of life and what I’ve observed is this there’s kind of two paths that people can take as they get older. There’s really two options as you go through life. Number one is this you can get better, you can look at the world around you. You can see that that things aren’t is as they’re all cracked up to be. And no matter how much you try to create happiness or utopia or peace on the earth, the older you get, the more that you realize it’s actually impossible. We live in a sort of fallen, sinful world full of sinners, and no matter how much you focus on trying to have the perfect life, or the perfect family, or the perfect Christmas, or the perfect job, or the perfect house, or whatever it is, fill in the blank. It just doesn’t happen. Everybody has hardships. Everybody has things that they go through, and what the natural tendency to do is to become bitter.

And the way that we become bitter is we just complain and we complain and we complain, and then we complain some more. And everybody around us knows that we’re going down that path. And it can be frustrating, can be frustrating if you have someone in your life and no matter what, they never have anything good to say. Nothing ever goes their way. Nothing ever is positive in their life. I know I’ve had those moments. You know, I’m not a really good person when I get sick. I just wanted you to know that, in fact, I don’t get sick very often. But when I do, I usually feel like I’m going to die. Okay? And I usually have to tell my wife, you know, I as soon as I die, you can find somebody else. You’re going to, you know, you’re beautiful. Take care of our kids. Here’s access to all of our stuff. Just make sure you know you got everything you need. And I can become so dramatic because I hate being sick. Does anybody else like that? You just hate being sick. And I usually square up with God, like. Like, see me and I’m like, hey, God, it’s time. Like, if this is it, I don’t need to suffer for very long. If you’re ready to take me home, take me home. You know, the other option is instead of becoming bitter, the other option as you age is to become better. How do you become better? In your relationships with your relationships, you actually count your blessings and you count the words that come out of your mouth. And are you complaining more? Or are you blessing more? Are you cursing more or are you praising more? See, I believe regardless of your age, that God wants to work in and through you to the very end, that nobody gets to an age in life where they can just be like, all right, well, I turned 80.

So I guess the next ten years I can just do whatever I want. Amen. That everybody that God has a plan for them. Now watch how the text plays out. Here’s what he says for my eyes. He’s still talking to God. My eyes have seen your salvation. He knows Jesus is the Messiah. You have prepared in the sight of all nations a light for revelation to the Gentiles and to the glory of your people Israel. This is so significant, the fact that he’s able to utter these words because, again, most Jews just thought that they were God’s chosen people and that he was coming just for them. And yet, because Simeon is full of the Holy Spirit, he gets that Jesus is coming for all people. This is the same message the angels gave the shepherds when they say, when they told them that we bring you good news of great joy. That is why for all people, all nations, all people, not just for the Jewish people, but for the Gentiles as well. And that’s why Mary and Joseph were just marveling at what he said. I mean, here they thought they were coming in for for this rite of purification and to dedicate Jesus. And they get a whole different perspective by this interaction with Simeon. In fact, Simeon then blesses them. And then this is interesting. Watch this. He turns to Mary and he’s going to address her specifically. And he says, this child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel. And to be a sign that will be spoken against he, by the way, Mary, he’s going to have a difficult life.

Not everyone’s going to be happy that he’s been born. Not everyone is going to accept his message. In fact, it’s going to be really difficult, and there’s going to be people that are going to struggle and there’s going to be people that come against him. And guess what? There’s going to be people that even try to kill him. And so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. I mean, this is deep. Did you know that just this passage alone is incredibly deep theologically? I can go back to Mary and Joseph. They weren’t expecting to have this deep conversation with this guy. I mean, they’re just coming in to do what they were required to do by the law. And here he is taking it to another whole level. And if we just pause for a moment on those words, and we think about it as it relates to our own lives, that God sees your heart just as much as he sees my heart, that he sees the way in which I live my life. He sees the way in which I approach the Christmas season. He sees the way in which I treat others that are around me. And it’s true, this time of the year can be exhausting. Can it not? That maybe you are full of the Holy Spirit and you love the Lord, and you want to share him with others, but yet you have people in your life, whether they’re your family members or coworkers that want nothing to do with your God.

And they don’t want you to play your Christian songs, and they don’t want to invite to a Christmas service. They want to be left alone. What about us? What about as we approach Christmas? Do we already know the story? Do we already know the songs? Or is it just on repeat? And so this is just what we do because that’s what you’re supposed to do. Are we really, truly embracing this time of the year and in spending time with God and letting him pour himself into us? Man, it’s so easy to get distracted. It’s so easy to fill our lives with, with billions of other things that we could falsely believe are more important than the one thing that matters most our souls. Look at this last time. So this is very interesting because remember, he’s talking to Mary and he tells her, by the way, a sword will pierce your own soul too. Hey, Mary, it’s going to be really difficult for him. Just want to put this in the back of your head. I know he’s only 40 days old. It’s going to be really difficult, and you’re going to get a front row seat to how difficult it’s going to be for him, by the way, it’s also going to be difficult for you as his mom because you’re the one that’s going to be there when they do throw him in prison and you’re the one that’s going to be there as you see him take his own cross and drag it out of the city.

By the way, you’re going to be an eyewitness as his arms are stretched out on a cross and he’s nailed to it, and he’s bleeding to death. It’s going to be difficult for you, but know this God sees you, and he knows you, and he loves you, and he is going to fulfill his purpose in your life. And you think just the weight of that, I mean, having that interaction with him would be enough. Okay, here’s our sacrifice, priest. Do your thing, Joe. Let’s get out of here. Let’s get back to Bethlehem. Holy smokes. That’s a lot to process. But guess what? It goes on. The text actually goes on. He’s not the only one there that wants to interrupt their day. There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Cornwall, of the tribe of Asher. Those of you that have been with us through the Genesis series that that name Asher should ring a bell. You can see the lineage. She was white. Man. Looks kind of like tough with these words, isn’t he? He already called Zechariah. Old called Elizabeth old. Now he’s calling Anna. She’s a prophetess. Old. She had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then a widow until she was 84. Imagine the life that she’s been living. 84. Is that old? Yes. Oh. Don’t you feel like 84 is like the new 70? Right? You can still play pickleball at 84, can’t you? All right, here’s what she did. She never left the temple court or the temple, but she worshiped night and day fasting and praying. God, why do you want us to know this? Why do we get an entrance into this dear lady’s life?

Her whole life? You know, women back then were married like 13, 14, 15 years old. She wasn’t a, you know, married for very long. She certainly could have gotten remarried. She didn’t. She dedicated her life to God. She dedicated to fasting and to praying for others and praying and waiting for Jesus. Look at the different Simeon. He’s guided by the Holy Spirit. Anna is guided by her devotion to God. And as you look at these two, as you see kind of the differences, but also the similarities in them, that they both have been called by God to proclaim the truth. It also asked this question for us well, do prophets and prophecy still exist today? Does and how does God speak to us? Through his word? Do you know that by being in church right now, that you’re allowing God to use me to open His Word to speak to you? And so, in fact, that’s what I’m doing. I’m prophesying to you that every time you come to church that this was God’s idea, this was God’s rhythm for our lives, that we would come together once a week and gather around His word, that His Word would pierce our hearts and and remind us once again of an eternal perspective and put us on the path that he has for us, keeping our North Star, him and Him alone. Which is why the weekly gathering of God’s people is so important. Amen. And I know that I’m preaching to the choir. Amen. Because I know in a couple of days and a few days we’re going to have services, and so many people are going to come and join us and we’re going to do our best to to present Jesus to them.

And nothing would be more satisfying than that to see them come back week after week after week, to see that just by coming on Christmas, as some people do, or some people come Christmas in Easter, or now, do you know there’s another whole level of people they come Christmas, Easter and the third most religious holiday, Mother’s Day. And to help them to see that their souls are actually starving, that they’re starving spiritually, and that there’s a God in heaven that wants to connect not just with their mind, but with their very soul, and to give them what only he can give them each and every week. Well, this is what she does coming up to them at this very moment, which I find interesting. Right. So Mary and Joseph, they’ve already had this experience with Simeon. Now. Great. Now here comes this old lady. What’s going on? She gives thanks to God, and she spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. So it’s very similar to the encounter that Jesus has with a woman at a well that as he sits and he talks and he listens and he invest in that woman, and he tells her that, that he has the words of eternal life, that in a moment of time, as the disciples are in town getting food, and he’s there just spending time with her because she was valuable to him, and that would be part of the three years of his ministry that he would spend time with her, that she would then go and leave that well, when the disciples come back and question the whole situation, Jesus, what are you doing? Why would you do this? And you really think this is the best use of your time? That she would be the one that would go back to her village and she would proclaim that the Messiah was, in fact, on the earth, and that many in her own town would come to faith in Jesus.

Don’t miss this. Here is this lady at the end of her life and what is she doing? She sees the Messiah, and then she begins to use the rest of her earthly life to continue proclaiming the message of the gospel. Tell me something. You think Anna got better or is she getting better? Better? Man, is that powerful? A life well lived to the very, very end. And I know it can be tough. I know as we look at our calendars and our schedules, all that we have to do, family members, let’s be honest, sometimes it feels like we’re just trying to keep the peace. Anybody else have that? And you got like multiple families. Some of you have to juggle like 4 or 5, six family groups. And I get it. And you bring it back to yourself. Not. And I you better sit down and you better read your Bible. Or you better get to church kind of a way. Instead, look at it through this lens of a loving God that’s saying, come here. Hey, all that other stuff. Okay, I get it. You’ll get to it. Whatever. Maybe your house isn’t going to be completely spotless. It’s okay. Just come and sit with me. Read my word, turn on some worship songs and let me from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet, sweep over you. Let my Holy Spirit come along side of you. Let me give you what this world will never give you.

Peace. The assurance of your faith. The hope that Jesus is in fact coming back again. That anticipation that Simeon had, that anticipation that Anna had. Man, I just want to see baby Jesus. I just for a moment, just a glimpse to be able to spend time in his presence. Because that’s what’s happening in our text this morning. So let me ask you this. As we close this morning, what needs to change in how you’re preparing for Christmas? Follow me. What needs to come off your calendar in the next ten days to make margin, to make room for God, for those closest to you. And maybe whoever that person that the Holy Spirit is putting on your heart that needs to hear the good news. And maybe that good news doesn’t come by you. Quoting this passage of Scripture, that good news might come just because you invited him out to coffee. That good news might come because you decided to knock on their door and give them cookies and tell them, hey, I care about you. That good news might be reconciling with somebody that you got in a huge argument with at Thanksgiving, and now you’re not even sure if you’re going to see them at Christmas. That good news just requires humility. And instead of it being about I, me me me me complaint complaint complaint complaint complaint, instead it becomes about he and him and the child and Jesus. See the difference? Here’s some incredible news for you. Not only is God called us to prepare our hearts and to be ready to receive that incredible assurance once again this Christmas season, do you know that Jesus is actually preparing a place for us?

That when he knew that he was going to leave, these are the words he gave his disciples. This is these are the words that he use to encourage them. And he told them this. This is Jesus speaking. If I go and prepare a place for you, I’m going to come back. Do we believe Jesus is coming back? Are we living our lives in view of the fact that we believe he’s coming back sometimes, and I’m going to take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am not. Awesome, then our final destination isn’t anything we can create here on this earth. Our final destination is to be in the presence of Jesus for all eternity.