One of my favorite Bible characters is Simeon, a veteran third-rank and part-time priest serving in the Temple of Jerusalen. Simeon – no last name known—was in the Temple the day Mary and Joseph brought babe Jesus there for the first time.
But before we talk about Simeon, let me tell you why babe Jesus was brought to the Temple. He was brought to the Temple to be “consecrated” to the Lord –in other words, introduced to the Lord and dedicated to the Lord. A very important and defining ceremony for a devout Jewish family.
I imagine Joseph and Mary saying something like this:
“Dear Lord, as you know, we are so happy and so grateful for babe Jesus, we want to place him in your hands. Would you please bless him and make him as yours as he is already ours?”
I have no doubt that Joseph and Mary took the Lord very seriously –they knew what a big difference a 24/7, 365 days a year close relationship with the Lord could make to their child. They knew he would be nurtured in God’s love. They knew he would be sustained by God’s wisdom and strength. They also knew he would be inspired by God’s own vision of new creation here and now and empowered accordingly for a fulfilling and rewarding life.
Friends, I believe this is the same reason why Catlin and Charlie have brought their babe to the Temple today –to place him in the Lord’s hands, to dedicate him to the Lord as they seek the very best for him. With the loving support of their extended family, of course, and our own support as their extended family in Christ, babe Stryder Aaron will grow in stature and wisdom the way Jesus did.
“Attaboy! God will forever be on your side!”
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We all can relate to these young parents today, for that’s what we want for our children and grandchildren too –don’t we? We all want, we all dream about a 24/7, 365-day close relationship with the Lord from the day our children are this little [motioning].
And that’s the reason we all keep doing our very best to nurture them in Christ and for Christ through a wonderful Christian Education program – our Sunday School, our Youth mentoring journey, even our weekly Bible study for our grown-ups.
Incidentally and coincidentally, I hope that everybody here today will join us this afternoon for about an hour to explore ways in which we can all enrich and expand our Sunday School and Youth programs. Not only parents — you may be a grandparent, or a teacher, or a former. You may have volunteered with our amazing Summer Bible School and now you feel like you still have some gasoline left in your tank to share with us.
You can be someone who has been just praying for our children and youth and would like to join us just to support our dream. Whatever you are, give us just one hour this afternoon as we gather to celebrate, as Susie Reiter put it so well, that every one of our children who enters our doors is a precious child of God.”
Yes, we’ll have refreshments – cookies included!
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Now, back to Simeon.
Frail and aching all over because of old age, Simeon could have retired many years ago, yet he stuck with the promise that he would not see death until he had seen the Messiah. And his faithfulness was rewarded, for the day finally arrived when baby Jesus was brought to the temple and Simeon recognized in that baby the so-long-awaited Messiah. Picture that old man standing by one of the huge marble pillars as Mary and Joseph enter the temple with baby Jesus – how Simeon greets them warmly and then reaches out to the baby.
He cuddles the baby in his frail arms the way we usually do with our children and grandchildren, and then cries out to God with such an intense sense of joy, “My eyes have seen your salvation . . . Now, Lord, feel free to let your servant go!” For a guy 76 years-old, and counting, this is such an inspiring and reassuring story!
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What happens next? Simeon blesses the young couple. But his blessing is a mixed blessing – in fact, it includes something prophetic that doesn’t seem to fit well with the festive spirit you would expect as they approach the altar to dedicate their baby to the Lord. “Mary, Joseph, your son will cause many people to fall and many others to rise, and he will meet much opposition. Young woman, a sword will pierce your soul.”
Imagine Joseph’s shock — “What’s going on here? I’ve been praying for a strong son to manage my carpentry business once I get old! What kind of nonsense are you talking about, Simeon?” I have no words to describe what Mary herself might have experienced upon hearing those words.
But old, wise Simeon knew well, and that’s the reason the Gospel brought him into the picture the way it did –as the very first witness to realize that that particular baby would eventually surrender his own life for the entire creation, for me, and for you too.
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The whole scene seems to go against our Christmas euphoria, doesn’t it? After all, what we wish for ourselves, our children and grandchildren, is a life without many bumps, a place with as few tensions and dilemmas as possible. In other words, a Christmas without Maundy Thursdays and Good Fridays!
Yet our lives don’t always flow like that – neither our faith. Both our lives and our faith journeys usually zigzag through times of bonanza and times of adversity. And that’s the reason we should stick to the promise, to the blessed assurance that even though potential “swords” may threaten “to pierce” our dreams, they have not the last word.
“Attaboy! God is in your side!”, Simeon may have shouted as he lifted his withering arms up to heaven.
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Didn’t I tell you he was a top-notch character? Simeon never gave up on the promise that one day the Lord would lift his nation and comfort his people. Many others got tired of waiting and gave up. But old Simeon stuck with that Promise. And at the end of the journey he was rewarded, for he was able to see God’s salvation with his own eyes! Now Simeon was ready to let God, and to let go.
If you ever – perhaps right now—if you ever feel like giving up on something meaningful and worth waiting because it is so stressful, so consuming, so uncertain, remember old Simeon, how he hoped against hope, and yet one day he finally found himself cuddling God’s Promise in his own aching arms.