"Seeing Christ" Sermon

SEEING CHRIST

Luke 2:25-32

Sermon by Judy Turner

This is the Sunday in the church year called “Ephiphany”, meaning “appearance” or “manifestation” when we usually think of the Wise Men who made a long journey to see the young Christ child. But there were also other people who looked on the young Jesus and really saw who He was. It was made manifest to them that this was the promised Messiah, the Christ. I assume there were a lot of people who saw with their physical eyes the baby Mary held in her arms, maybe even said, “What a beautiful baby,” as they passed by. But only a few looked at the baby Jesus and saw God in human flesh. What was special about the ones who really saw? Let’s look at the story of one, an old man named Simeon that Luke tells us about in Luke 2:22-32:

When the time of their purification had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him (Jesus) to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 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.”

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 upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 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, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

What was it about Simeon that prepared him to see the Christ?

Simeon was not exotic or learned, like the magi from the east who came to visit the young Jesus. He was more like us, an ordinary person. He didn’t make a long journey to see the Christ child, rather he stayed where he was, maybe where he’d lived all his life, in Jerusalem. But in God’s book old Simeon was special, chosen to be one of the few to really see the promised One, to hold the incarnate God in his arms, to experience the fulfillment of his deepest hope and dearest desire.

What was there about this ordinary person that prepared him for seeing the Christ? Luke tells us “He was righteous and devout.” Those two words say so much about what God does and what we do. Righteous means to be in right relationship with God. All of us sin, mess up, fall short, including Simeon. So right relationship is what God does for us when we come to Him in faith. He puts us in right relationship with Himself. But the word “devout” means in awe of God, vigilant, devoted, an unwavering commitment to God. I think of Eugene Peterson’s words, “a long obedience in the same direction.”

Let’s describe the “devout” person this way: he is the one who has a habit of prayer, getting up early, even if he has been up late the night before. He chooses to pray, whether he feels like it or not, because he knows that if he gets slack in prayer, soon that sense of God’s closeness goes. He has committed his life to following Christ, and he doesn’t want to miss one day of consciously, intentionally walking with Jesus.

The devout person: she comes to church to worship, even when it is not convenient, even when she has company, even when there is work to do at home. The devout person is there in church even when the sermons are boring or the music is not to her liking, because she is a Christ-follower, and that means she must meet regularly with other followers of Christ and worship Him together. That’s what He said to do. And she doesn’t want to miss the opportunity of “seeing” Jesus in the community of faith. Jesus promised that where 2 or 3 are gathered, He will be in their midst. I’m not putting myself forward as a model of devotion, because I’m paid to come and help lead worship. But I wouldn’t have missed the Christmas Eve service. Despite the fact that it was snowing and the roads were getting icy, I wouldn’t have missed it for anything, because Jesus was here with us in a special way that evening.

The devout person: he looks for opportunities to serve other people and make the love of Christ real to the people around him, even when the economy is lousy, even when his business is not prospering, even when he would prefer to just ignore people and maybe they would go away. But he has committed his life to the one who said, “Love one another as I have loved you”, and “Inasmuch as you have done it to the least of these, you’ve done it to me.” And in the eyes of the one he has the privilege to serve, he might get a glimpse of Jesus. He doesn’t want to miss seeing Jesus, so he chooses day after day after day to serve.

Luke also tells us that Simeon was “waiting for the consolation of Israel.” “Waiting” for God to fulfill something promised is what people of faith have always done: waiting to see how God is going to fulfill the promise of “in all things working for the good of those who love him” in this illness or tragedy, waiting to see how God is going to fulfill the promise of “supplying our every need” in this circumstance, waiting to see when this prayer we know is in line with God’s will is going to be answered, because Jesus promised that those who ask in His name will receive.

Waiting is hard for us, because God’s timing is not like ours. What would Simeon tell us about waiting? He might say, "Never give up on God." At the time Simeon lived, the people of God had been waiting for the Messiah for thousands of years. The voice of a true prophet had not even been heard in Israel for hundreds of years. Probably many in Israel had given up on God. But not Simeon. Simeon waited in eager anticipation every day for signs of the fulfillment of God’s promise, not only to Israel, but also a special promise of the Holy Spirit to him personally, that he would not die before he saw the Christ. Probably everyone here is waiting for God to answer a prayer or fulfill a promise. Simeon would say, “Don’t give up on God.” When we are tempted to give up, we ask Jesus for the faith and hope to keep holding on to the promises of God.

But we may have to let go of our pre-conceived notions of what it’s going to look like when God fulfills the promise, answers the prayer. Many in Israel during Jesus’ life missed seeing Him as Messiah because they expected some other kind of Messiah than one who refused to seize earthly power, who taught that the greatest are those who serve, and who died on a cross. God often surprises us, and if we’re holding on to our ideas of how God is going to fulfill the promise, what it’s going to look like, we just might miss what God is actually doing.

The last thing we learn about Simeon is that “the Holy Spirit was upon him”. Moved by the Holy Spirit, he went into the temple courts, just at the time Mary and Joseph were there with Jesus. Simeon looked at the child and saw, he truly saw the fulfillment of God’s promise. And he took the child in his arms and praised God. Everything God promised to the people of Israel and to him personally had been fulfilled. Now he could die in peace, for his own eyes had seen God’s salvation. So it will be for us. When you and I come to God in faith and receive His righteousness, when we devote ourselves every day to following Jesus, when we look for the fulfillment of God’s promises and the Holy Spirit is upon us, then we too will see glimpses of the Christ. We will experience him in our every-day, ordinary, extraordinary lives. When we take our last breath we will leave this life without regret, and we will be ready to see the Lord fully revealed, face to face.

The way to be devout is to consistently put into practice The 9 Ways. Have you thought about your spiritual practices in the year ahead? How is Jesus inviting you to grow spiritually? There is a cost to becoming a devout person, sometimes we sacrifice our own wishes and inclinations in putting God first, sometimes we risk the ridicule or scorn of others who do not understand. There is a cost to discipleship. But think about the cost of non-discipleship. Dallas Willard writes, “Nondiscipleship costs abiding peace, a life penetrated throughout by love, faith that sees everything in the light of God’s overriding governance for good, hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances, power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil. In short, it costs exactly that abundance of life Jesus said He came to bring.” Without devotion to spiritual practices and constantly deciding to put God first, we are not likely to be able to see Jesus in our daily lives.