Song of Simeon

Sermon Luke 2:21-40 Christmas 1 December 27, 2015

Song of Simeon

Christmas Eve we spoke of ordinary people and ordinary places. We spent time learning about how God appeared to the most unsuspecting people in places of insignificance. We were left to consider who else like Mary has God used to fulfill God’s promises of love? Has it been you? Or me?, Your neighbor? Or perhaps the stranger down the street?

We learned about the ordinary insignificant towns of Nazareth and Bethlehem and were left to consider how are we, in our community the source of goodness and wonder for those around us? How are we aware of the power of the ordinary in our midst?

Friends, we are all returning to the ordinary of our routines and back to the grind of life. We have much to consider about the power of God among us as we go forth. God’s presence is always in the ordinary. As we read these stories from Scripture we discover more and more about how God is present always in the ordinary. It is our challenge to discover God in these moments.

God’s promises were fulfilled within the ordinary rituals of the practice of life. God continued to be revealed through the faithful journey of Mary and Joseph as they continued their routines of living out their faith rituals.

We might ask ourselves, what rituals we have that we are faithful to?

How are we living our faith journey beyond the season of Advent and Christmas? How will we keep the sentiment of the Christ child in our hearts throughout the whole year?

May I suggest keeping the ritual of coming here to this place each week over the past month, may the ritual of your presence here spill over into the New Year and all year long. Your presence has made a difference for all of us. We have felt united in faith and in our story of life, and in our shared relationships.

You see, Mary and Joseph did the same, they continued the pattern of their life faithfully and that allowed for the promises of God to shape their current and future relationships.

Mary had already learned through the voices of angels, shepherds, and wise men, that words are powerful.

Words are powerful enough to curse or to bless.

Words carry with them either curse or promise.

Words are powerful enough to harm for life. They carry much weight, enough that wars have been built on the words of others.

Words are used by the powerful to diminish and denigrate the weak.

Words are used by the mighty to slay the even the purest, to keep them lowly.

And in the midst of this the power words spoken by prophets of old and of today break through with words that sting and sing with strength and courage for the weak and the lowly.

How, we say?

They break through-By listening to those who step forth by the power of the Spirit to speak the truth when the truth must be heard.

And so Simeon, a beloved faithful man who had been waiting his whole life for a glimpse of the promise of the Messiah, scans the crowd at the Temple that day, and behold!,

He sees them,

the couple carrying the child,

stand out,

and he rushes to them

knowing that this IS the Child!

The promised one,

come to save the world.

An old man comes forward and takes the baby in his arms and begins to sing a song.

He praises God for this child. He comes and holds this baby because the Spirit of God has come upon him. Three times Luke affirms that he has been led to this baby by the Spirit. It is clear that we are to hear that Simeon has been called by God to claim this child.

As we listen to his song it’s not just about praising God for this child who brings salvation to the world,

 but it’s the prophecy,

the forward telling about the conflict that even salvation brings.

This child will cause the rise and falling of many.

There will be people who will be confronted with their own frailties, their own injustices and their own corruption.

People for generations into the future will be faced with decisions about who this child is and whether to follow and believe he is from God bringing salvation and new life to all.

Words MATTER! Where are we in this generation, as the forward telling of the conflict salvation brings enters into our lives?

How are we seeking to proclaim love, justice, peace among one another, in the community, and in our world?

Simeon and his story of holding on to a promise his whole life, a promise he lived out by being active in his ordinary world, a promise he chose to allow to guide him in all his ways, a promise based on love, the fulfillment of God’s love for him and for the world would appear to him.

As I shared on Christmas Eve, the story of Christmas is the story of love. It’s the story of a people lost in darkness seeking to find a way home. It is the story of a people seeking comfort from their pain and their struggles, their brokenness and their suffering. The story of Christmas is the love story of God made complete through the clashing of heaven with earth as God became flesh and dwelt among us.

The story of Christmas is NOT over. The love story of God lives on in us. The love story of God is how God’s Word goes forth.

Words matter, friends!

How will the words of our mouth be acceptable in God’s sight as we live the rituals of our faith in our ordinary ways?

Mary treasured all these words she received along the way in her heart, they sustained her and gave her strength.

Jesus as he grew gave us the Beatitudes, the Lord’s Prayer, so many other words of power to grant us what we needed to go forth as his followers for generations to come.

Hear these words I say every year as Howard Thurman speaks

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among people,
To make music in the heart.

Don't ask yourself what the world needs.

Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that.

Because what the world needs is people who have come alive!!

God, in Christ, has come alive in us this Christmas and this is just the beginning. A