Merry Christmas! On this final Sunday of 2023, we continue celebrating Christmas by hearing in worship the story of Mary and Joseph dedicating the baby Jesus in the temple. In that traditional ritual, something unexpected happens as a man named Simeon and a prophet named Anna each recognize who this child is. This child is not just a regular baby; he is God’s plan for salvation. He is the Messiah, the long-awaited savior. As God’s people, we follow Simeon & Anna’s example and we worship our savior.
Today’s message focuses on Luke 2:21-40, and as I allude to in the sermon, our family’s Christmas week plans fell apart when Christin tested positive for Covid on Christmas morning, so without apology, this message is basically a repeat of my Christmas 1 sermon on Simeon and Anna from 2017, for which I drew upon this column from David Lose.
Here’s the worship livestream and sermon podcast audio from our joint worship service at Christ the King.
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Merry Christmas!
It almost seems strange to still say that this weekend, doesn’t it? Christmas was almost a week ago, and by this point, the holiday seems over. The world’s attention’s moved on to new years’ resolutions and the next holiday. Christmas radio stations are done.
We have an infant who just learned to crawl a few weeks ago, which means our Christmas tree came down within 48 hours after Christmas.
If you’re here this morning, you’re probably done with any holiday travel plans you had, or maybe you’re with us online because you’re still traveling, but I bet you’re almost ready to come home.
Last night, Micah asked me how long we’re going to celebrate Christmas, and I should have said the Christmas season is twelve days long, but I said just another day or two. Not my best pastor-dad moment. But here we are in church on the first Sunday of the Christmas season, so Merry Christmas!
This morning, we’re continuing Luke’s version of the Christmas story. Today’s reading is about two new characters, Simeon and Anna, but I wonder if this incident is really more for Mary’s sake.
Think about what Mary’s been through. She was engaged to be married to Joseph, then her world got turned upside down by an angel letting her know she’s going to get pregnant—without any of the usual prerequisites.
Oh, and the child is going to be the Son of God and reign forever on the throne of David over all God’s people.
Mary responds that she’s willing to serve God however God wants, then she goes to visit her relative Elizabeth. Elizabeth, meanwhile, has been experiencing her own miraculous pregnancy, and when Mary arrives, Elizabeth greets her by telling her the child in her womb leapt for joy.
This thing with the angels isn’t just a weird dream Mary’s had; Elizabeth confirms what’s happening. This child will be the Lord, the Messiah.
I think that’s the moment in the story when Mary starts to grasp the implications of what’s going on. Her son will change the world. He’s going to save God’s people from their sins.
Mary sings this beautiful song of praise about how God has been faithful throughout history and how God’s turning the world upside down, bringing the proud down from their thrones, sending the rich away empty, but filling the hungry with good things.
This is a cosmic event, the center of history. God is choosing to be born into our weary world; the light is breaking into the darkness. It’s a lot!
The time comes for Mary to give birth, and it happens to be during the census, so she and Joseph travel to his ancestral home of Bethlehem, and she gives birth to the baby and names him Jesus. There are angels, and shepherds, and you know the story.
Eight days later, they circumcise the child, as Jewish tradition requires, then at 40 days, Mary and Joseph travel to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord at the temple, which is where our story today picks up.
Mary has seen glimpses of how this child is going to change the world, but through this ritual at the temple, she has two encounters that show her this is more than an abstract cosmic event. For these two people, it’s personal.
First, there’s Simeon, this righteous, devout man who has been waiting his whole life to see the Messiah. Luke doesn’t tell us exactly how old Simeon is, but since he’s been told he won’t die before getting to see the Lord’s Messiah, I assume he’s not exactly young.
Simeon sings this beautiful song and gives Mary a blessing, which makes sense, but if you pay attention to the song and the blessing, they’re really rather strange. Who comes up to a young couple presenting their one-month-old at the temple and starts talking about death?
But for Simeon, at last he can die in peace. Who knows how long he’s been waiting, but I suspect it’s been a long time. He’s kept the faith, showing up again and again, trusting God will keep the promise given to him, hoping he hasn’t somehow misunderstood, hoping his faith hasn’t been in vain.
What an interesting story for the week after Christmas. How many of you remember waiting for Christmas, preparing, getting excited, maybe this year, or maybe back when you were a kid, and then suddenly, it was over? You saw the relatives, ate the nice meal, maybe opened some presents, and then suddenly, everyone goes home, everyone goes back to work.
As we look at the world, not much has changed since we celebrated Christmas. We have all this buildup, and then things feel pretty much the same.
For our family, this week’s really been pretty anti-climactic. Thanks to covid, we couldn’t travel to see family. Our plans fell apart, and I think at least for our family, we’re all more weary after Christmas than we were before.
It’s hard to try to keep the level of excitement it seems like we’re supposed to have for 12 days. Sometimes, it can even feel like nothing happened, like all the waiting and preparing was for nothing, or at least not as big of a deal as you expected.
I think many of us worry about that kind of letdown for our faith. What if our waiting is in vain? What if life doesn’t get better, what if something happens? What if the healing doesn’t come?
I wonder if Simeon knew he was waiting for a child. I wonder if we know what we’re waiting for, if we’re waiting and expecting a powerful, conquering God who will fix everything.
Simeon gets to see the proof that God is with him, that God is keeping God’s promises, and it’s all wrapped up in this little child. Whether or not he expected a child, once he sees Jesus, Simeon is able to face eternity with hope and faith.
He’s able to depart in peace. His confidence in God’s presence with him is enough to give him the courage to face the future, the courage to be ready to die. His waiting has not been in vain, and neither has ours.
When we look at this little child, even though we can’t literally see him here in the flesh with us, we know God has come to be with us too.
This promise of faith gives us the strength to face the new year, the strength to continue on, to face death when it comes, and the strength to persevere in faith and praise God. Simeon’s not the only one they encounter. There’s also Anna, this 84-year-old prophet who lives in the temple, choosing to spend all the time she has left in the world worshiping God day and night.
On this day, her daily ritual of fasting and prayer in the temple leads to a dramatic moment of grace as she sees Mary and Joseph with Jesus, and she too has a personal encounter with God.
The seeds of her faith burst into bloom. Just like Simeon, Anna recognizes this child as the fulfillment of God’s promise. This child is the evidence God is faithful, the proof of God’s presence.
We’ve been reflecting this season on the question, “How does a weary world rejoice?” Today’s answer is “We root ourselves in ritual.”
We return again and again to church, to the community of faith, to be reminded of the truth that God is with us. Rituals are muscle memory for faith, something to return to in times of doubt and weariness.
We hear these familiar stories over and over, until they sink into our bones. Sometimes the rituals of faith last longer than our conscious minds. And these rituals connect us through time to the communion of saints, the body of Christ.
We are part of something much bigger than this group of people gathered here this morning.
Go back for a minute to what Mary and Joseph must be thinking as all this happens. They are charged with raising the child who will not only change the whole world by his words and deeds in the future, but who has already changed the lives of Anna and Simeon. What an amazing responsibility they have, to raise the Son of God!
With this story, Luke tells us the same thing I think Mary began to realize. Christmas isn’t the end of the story; it’s the beginning.
Christmas is not just a cute story from long ago about a child being born in a strange way in the little town of Bethlehem. Christmas is the beginning of God changing the world.
Christmas means God has come to us. The promises are fulfilled. The Messiah has come. The world will be turned upside down, and people’s lives will be given meaning.
You and I have the same proof Anna and Simeon got that day in the temple. God has come to us. The Son of God is born.
This is the good news we carry, the reason we’re here today. God has come to us, and God is still with today and forever. We shape our lives around these promises. In a weary world, we are grounded by returning again and again to encounter Jesus in bread and wine, in water and word, and in each other.
That’s not a bad place to start a new year, trusting God is with us in every time and season.
Because God is with us, we are like Simeon, prepared to die in peace, knowing God is faithful. We are like Anna, coming together to give praise and thanksgiving to God, finding respite and joy in the rituals of worship. We are like Mary and Joseph, recognizing this child is God in the flesh.
God has come to us, and nothing will ever be the same again. Merry Christmas!