Luke 2:22-35 “Holy Simeon”
The interesting thing about the Christmas story is how it has expanded down throughout the centuries since Christ’s birth. The simple story of the birth is that the Lord was born in a humble stable on a starlit night in Bethlehem. Shepherds and wise men came to visit as angels sang songs of glory. This is an amazing and wondrous story in its own right.
From there we go to the story of a Christian Saint, a man by the name of Niklaus who tries to help orphans by giving them food in their shoes. So, we hang stockings out to get goodies and sing carols of Sanctus Niklaus, Santa Claus. Somehow this gets confused with a pagan belief about an old elf who flies around the ancient European forests around the time of the Winter Solstice. The elf then has a sleigh that is pulled by reindeer; hence, the reindeer are able to fly in order to pull the flying sleigh. Then, through a popular song, these flying reindeer are given names. Then, we have the story of the “most famous reindeer of all” named “Rudolph.”
Don’t you dare think that the Christmas story ends there! No, it continues with variations of the Rudolph story today. Recently I heard a Christmas hymn on the radio about how it was that Rudolph was sick and could not guide that flying sleigh on Christmas Eve, so he calls on his Southern cousin named Leroy, who is a bit of a racist reindeer apparently as he picks up the moniker “Leroy the Red-Necked Reindeer.”
It has always been a very human propensity to spin a yarn bigger and bigger! Hasn’t it though? Likewise, it is fun to try to go back and figure out how we got from Jesus, the Son of God, being born to a song about “Leroy the Red-Necked Reindeer.” I am truly fascinated.
When we read the story of Jesus being presented in the Temple of Jerusalem after forty days, I think we have a jaded concept of what actually happened. I have seen artwork showing this scene being depicted in which Simeon is made out to be a priest. The French painter Tissot for instance paints Simeon as a priest reading the Torah. The Bible merely calls him righteous and devout. The Bible does NOT say that he was a priest. In fact, he was waiting outside of the Temple, not inside. This means he was most likely not a priest. He entered the Temple only after Jesus, because he was divinely appointed to do so.
Also, the Bible does not say that Simeon was an old man. Again the artwork always shows him as an old man. In fact, Rembrandt’s portrayal of him makes him look like death warmed over (That picture is in the Kunsthalle in Hamburg, if anyone living in Hamburg reading this sermon would like to go see it!) The Bible says that he was waiting for what the Lord had promised, that he would see the Messiah before his death. We are all waiting for this, both young and old. This is part of our faith. We should not relate the coming of the Lord with getting social security benefits. They are truly not related!
I think what has happened is that people have gotten their Saint Simeon’s confused. There was a latter Saint Simeon who was a monk who lived a treacherous existence and had a beard and lived to be quite old in spite of his austere lifestyle. His name was Saint Simeon Stylites. He was born in 388 AD, long after Christ.
What does the Bible actually and factually tells us about Simeon? Look, the Bible says it three times as if a triple confirmation is needed: The Holy Spirit rested on him. The Spirit revealed to him. The Spirit led him. What does Simeon look like? He has the Spirit with him! The Holy Spirit is resting on him! That is more accurate picture from the Bible than all the other assumptions about his priestly status and his age. What does that look like?
In Bible Study on Tuesday morning, Beth used the term “being in the God Bubble.” She talked about a time recently when someone had come to her for consolation, and they had prayed together in a public place. Even though they were surrounded by people, what was happening during the prayer was shielded by the Holy Spirit. People seemed to move through jello on the outside of the God Bubble.
I was thinking about this idea of being in a bubble, wondering if I live in a bubble myself. I have seen a lot of people living in a kind of a bubble, not necessarily a God Bubble. Before Christmas I was at Wal-Mart, walking out to the parking lot, when I saw a woman in a fancy car waiting for a parking space close to the store. Of course, a line of people in cars was forming behind her. Soon, gridlock ensued. I thought to myself, “How could she not notice that there were fifteen cars being blocked from moving through the parking lot because she was waiting to see if someone would pull out while there were plenty of other spaces farther away. Yes, she was in a bubble. She was in the automobile bubble.
Of course, then I noticed that she was waiting for not just any car to pull out, but that there was in fact a car that was about to pull out apparently but wasn’t moving. I cold see that it was in reverse because the reverse lights were on. But, also the brake lights were on, and the car wasn’t moving. I peered through the windows to see another woman talking on a cell phone, not realizing that because she was not pulling out, even though she had the car in reverse, the next lady could not pull into that spot, and that entire parking lot was beginning to back up into the street. She, too, was in a bubble. She was in the cell phone bubble.
After seeing this, I got back into the church van and pulled out the notebook of sermon ideas I keep in my carry bag. I started to write down about the first woman and then the second. I was writing it all down when I caught a little flash of something in the side mirror. I looked behind and there was a man in a jeep waiting to pull into my spot. I had been in the “sermon example writing” bubble! I waved back to him, started the engine and backed out.
I believe that what happens to Mary, Joseph, Simeon, and Jesus happens inside of the bubble of the Holy Spirit. As we read on in the Scripture, we see in verse 39 the simple statement, “When they had done everything that was required by the Law, they returned to Galilee.” It is almost an afterthought that it is even mentioned that they in fact did finally see the priest in the Temple and make the required offering of two pigeons. What is of the greatest importance is the blessing from the devout and righteous man being led by the Holy Spirit to pick up Jesus and proclaim him as the Messiah. What happens inside the God Bubble is what really matters most!
Let us look now at those blessings from Simeon to Jesus. Accordingly we need to note that the first blessing is over Jesus, but there is also a second blessing over Mary and Joseph. Did you catch that? I find this significant. It is really hard to give a child a blessed life in this world if the parents are not first also blessed in some way.
During the lead up to the Waimea Light Parade, we had a food drive here in town. We collected food in our church, but we also collected food from local businesses, and the schools. We loaded it all up on a flatbed truck donated by the Miyaki family. Then, we put lights on it and ran it down the parade route. However, when I went to collect the box of food from the Canyon Middle School for the float, one of the people in the office apologized that there was not a lot of food in the box, that the students had not donated much at all.
I could tell that she was feeling upset and even embarrassed on behalf of the school because of the less than overwhelming response. To which I responded that she should not feel as if she needed to defend the school but that “Charity begins at home.” I know you have all heard that statement. It is a simple truth though that if the parents are not showing generosity in their lives to help the less fortunate, than there really is no way that the child is going to pick up on the notion of charity. Is there? It starts in the home. It begins with the parents.
It is therefore very righteous that Simeon would take the time to bless Mary and Joseph and not just the baby. And to be sure, Mary was not much more than a child herself when she gave birth to Jesus. She needed the blessing especially. Let us though consider in our own lives how we can be a blessing to parents so that they can be a blessing to their children.
The blessing that comes over Mary and Joseph is not all sweet and mild, mind you. Simeon says that Jesus is going to be the “falling and rising of many in Israel.” “He will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed.” Then, he tells Mary and Joseph that a “sword will pierce their own heart, too.” Jesus is going to matter to the world. And, in this blessing we realize the irony that Jesus is brought to the Temple to make a sacrifice, when he is going to be the ultimate sacrifice that saves those who believe in him. Today he is blessed; one day he will be condemned in that same place. He is the true Lamb of God, taking on the sins of the world.
Let me now close with a blessing over all of you: May every appointment you make in your life be a divine appointment. May every bubble you find yourself in be a God bubble. And, may you find the prophetic voice to bless to belief in God’s plan for their lives. Amen.