"Faces in the Crowd: Simeon"
Luke 2:25-35
Opening Question: “Has there been a time or period in your life where you felt as if you were simply a face in the crowd – insignificant, unimportant? Would you say that at one time or another in your life, you have struggled sensing your worth or your role in the big picture of God’s plan?”
This series is for the purpose of challenging our thinking regarding whether God can use each of us. To do so, we are going to travel through the Gospels, and we are going to highlight just a few of the characters that we find – characters whose names are often not mentioned, or if they are, they appear and then in a moment they are gone. Essentially, we are going to study just a few of the “faces in the crowd” amongst the names we know so well in the Gospels, and as we study these individuals – I pray that we will be challenged to sense our worth, our value, our unique gifts that God can use in His church and for His glory.
Invitation: So I am going to invite you to join with me on this journey – and as we travel through the lives of these individuals, I want to invite you to be challenged to accept God’s invitation to serve Him boldly according to whom God has uniquely made you to be.
Today we are going to catch a glimpse of the life of Simeon. Now I know that there is sort of an unwritten rule that the early chapters of the Gospel of Luke are only to be read at Christmas, but we’re going to break that rule this morning as we study this “face in the crowd”…Simeon.
Luke 2:25-35
I. Simeon believed that God was the author of his story.
Luke 2:25-27
Writing your Story: Imagine with me for a moment that you receive a call today from a well-known publisher with this invitation, “We’d like for everyone to read your life’s story, but we’d like one of your family members to write your biography.” Who would you choose? Would it be your spouse, a son or daughter, or maybe even a parent?
But more than that, what would you expect to find as the final product of your biography? Would it be good, bad?
As we read these first verses, I’d like to suggest that Simeon’s life story was being written – but it was being written by God. And the reason that I suggest that to you this morning is because Simeon was a man who allowed the Holy Spirit to direct his every step.
Luke says that Simeon was “…just and devout.”
What Luke was communicating here was that Simeon lived his life… “in accordance with God’s compelling.” As God led, Simeon followed.
But then Luke goes on to say that Simeon was…
“Devout”. This carries the same idea of our “being devoted”, but as it related to Simeon, it reveals the fact that He understood the prophecies of a coming Messiah, and he was devoted to that hope!
So this “just and devout” man was waiting in expectation. And that expectation as Luke records it was of the Consolation of Israel.
But these words that describe Simeon go so much deeper than a desire for a political king. Instead, Simeon joins a short list of individuals in the gospel narrative that actually understood the purpose in the coming of the Messiah.
Elsewhere in Luke’s gospel we read of Anna, who is mentioned here in chapter 2, and Joseph of Arimathea in chapter 23 - two other examples of individuals that were awaiting the news of the one that would deliver mankind from our sin.
Simeon was privy to the greatest announcement to ever be shared – that He would see the Messiah. And because Simeon was a man that was “just and devout,” he was obedient in hearing that announcement and prepared his life for that encounter.
But not only did Simeon receive some general revelation of something that was to come later in his life. The Spirit also spoke directly to him revealing to Him the very day when this announcement would be confirmed in person.
Simeon believed that God was the author of his story. And as the Spirit spoke, Simeon obeyed.
We have been given God’s instructions for our lives. Those instructions are found here in His Word.
But as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have an option – we can choose obedience and conformity to God’s plan….or we can choose to forge our own path.
Simeon chose to allow God to write his story – and as Simeon was obedient to God’s invitation, Simeon received a great blessing.
The question then becomes, “Who is the author of your story? Would it be said of you that you are an individual that yields your life to the leadership of the Holy Spirit? OR would it be said of you that you depend on no one besides self?”
Simeon was guided by the Holy Spirit…and he walked obediently in the direction of God. The first thing that we see this morning is that Simeon allowed God to write his story.
II. Simeon believed that God was the one hope of salvation.
Luke 2:28-32
In those times in our lives when we receive big news, whatever that might be, our minds are forever imprinted with the emotion and excitement captured in that moment. We hear of an upcoming marriage, a baby on the way, an acceptance to school, whatever it might be – and those big moments leave a mark in our minds.
Drew Brees Illustration: In 2010, Drew Brees – quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, had that kind of moment as he celebrated a Super Bowl win. As he stood with his son lifted up high in the air, he said, “I stood there with my little boy, and I was overwhelmed. I told Baylen how much I loved him and how much he meant to me and what an inspiration he was to me. I thought of my mom, who I believed was smiling down from heaven, and all my family and friends who were there watching. ‘We did it, little boy. We did it!’”
Point: In that landmark moment for Drew Brees’ career, that image of him holding his son up in the air will be an image forever sketched in his mind.
As Simeon stood there holding the Messiah, his words echo that same overwhelming sentiment of a true landmark event. Simeon said, “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace.”
The words of Simeon that follow reveal the depth of his understanding of the story of salvation. What he shares as his challenge and recognition of that moment goes far beyond simply sentimental thoughts in a meaningful moment.
The first thing that Simeon recognized was this…
a. Salvation was evident to him personally.
Simeon declared, “for my eyes have seen Your salvation.”
b. Simeon declared that salvation should be evident to all, not just him.
Vs. 31 – “…Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”
III. Simeon believed that God was the revealer of hearts.
Luke 2:33-35
(Illustration of what you dreamed to be when you were young – in this moment Simeon shared all that Jesus would accomplish).
As Simeon looked at the baby Jesus – his thoughts poured out as he shared with the Mary and Joseph the impact of this young child’s life.
Vs. 33, “And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken to Him.”
Why do you think they marveled? Did they still not realize who the baby Jesus was? Did they still not fully understand the enormity of this child that they were to raise?
Just as that day Mary and Joseph were reminded of the great wonder ahead of them, for so many of us, we simply need to be reminded once again that we serve our amazing Savior.
REMIND us God! Help us too to be marveled by your grandeur once again, Lord!
He says “…this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
What does he mean “the fall and rising of many”? What is being conveyed here?
Essentially, what Simeon is making clear is that in Christ a dividing line has been drawn. In Christ, history has been actually been divided. There are those that will fall, and there are those that will rise.
As Simeon stood there that day and proclaimed this word of blessing, he acknowledged that the rise and fall of many hinged on one central figure – Christ Himself.
The last words that we read in this section on Simeon are these… “that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
We walk around every week in private worlds. We hold our struggles in. We put our smiles on…and we assume that no one wants to know our trials…so we hold it all in. And we pride ourselves in being “strong.”
But our efforts in living below the radar may keep all of us at arm’s length, but these words of Simeon, just a face in the crowd, cut to heart of the intimacy of our relationship with God.
God knows what’s going on in your life right now. God knows the joys, the pains, the heartache of just living this life on a daily basis – and just as these words of Simeon echo – so we need to live realizing that God already knows what is happening in our lives.
We so fear living our lives transparent before one another – and in the process we convince ourselves that we can do so before God as well.
Church…let’s give up on that masquerade. This morning it may very well be that you need to simply recognize that God truly does know the thoughts of our hearts. It may very well be that this morning you give up on worrying about what your fellow believers might think if they knew that you struggled just as they do!
This invitation time this morning is our opportunity to just be transparent before the Lord, realizing that the thoughts our hearts are revealed as we come before God on a daily basis. And as he knows our hearts, he still loves us and invites us to know Him deeper.
This morning you may just feel like a “face in the crowd.” But because of this good news shared by Simeon, we realize that Christ has come to redeem us – and that Christ loves us EVEN as He knows us intimately. So you see, before God you are so much more than just a “face in the crowd.” No, you are His creation and He longs for that relationship with Him to be restored as you trust in Him, or turn from sin that has built a barrier between you.
The invitation time this morning is just that – an invitation to respond to God’s leading.
