Luke 2:25-33
Intro: I’ve read several different versions of monkey traps that are used in different parts of the world – in India, in Africa – a coconut is taken and cleaned out, then, a hole just large enough to let a monkey get his hand inside is cut into it. Some kind of bait is put inside – a nut, or rice or something else the monkey wants. Then, it’s chained to a tree. As soon as a monkey wants what’s inside, he sticks in his hand and grabs it, but with his fist around it, he can’t get his hand back out of the hole. Rather than let go, he hangs on because he wants it. Soon, the hunters arrive, and the monkey, in a panic, keeps hanging on because he doesn’t understand that he needs to drop it and forget the food in order to escape. Soon, he’s dead because he couldn’t let go.
How many times in a story or some movie has there been someone who wanted a treasure of some kind, and they hang onto it and it makes them fall or drown. The point is simple: sometimes our desire for something can lead to our undoing.
Extended hands. They may well be dubbed the symbol of our age. Grasping hands, reaching out. “Fill me!” “Help me!” “Give me!”
This time of year, people, with hands extended, go into stores and onto the internet with their inner longings: “Fulfill me! Show me something new. Show me more. Sell it to me, give it to me, so that I can be satisfied!”
The stores, in turn, extend their hands: “Pay me! Trade in the hours and days that you have worked. If that’s not enough, then sign your name and enslave yourself to our credit department. Fill our hands with your substance, and we’ll fill your hands with stuff.”
Extended hands. Hands that look full, but really are empty. Unfulfilled lives. Grasping at life, unwilling to let go.
Now let me point you to another picture. Instead of extended hands, look at the bent arms of a man – arms shaped to receive a baby and cradle Him. Gentle arms – not demanding or whining, but rather an offer of tenderness; an offer to give love and protection and kindness and attention to a helpless person – just like the love and protection a mother offers her baby.
Attached to those bent arms is a content person, a fulfilled person, someone who doesn’t feel compelled to extend his hands and beg or complain. There are no hands, grasping at life, unwilling to let go. Instead, they’re emptied of the stuff of life so that they’re free to hold onto what really matters. And they belong to a man who’s able to pray a prayer I wish everyone of us could leave here praying today.
Honestly, which would you rather have? I fear our hands are too often occupied with hanging onto life to hold on to what really matters. Take an inventory in your heart of hearts right now, and that may describe you. To some degree, it may describe every one of us.
Would you like to turn that around? Wouldn’t you love the ability, especially right now, to say to the stuff in life, “It’s enough.”? Wouldn’t you love to be able to lose it all and not be left wanting?
There’s a Bible character who shows up for what amounts to only 1-2 minutes in the NT. That’s all we have of him – a snapshot…
Luke 2:25-33
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." The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him.
It’s 8 days after the angels announced the birth of Jesus. The little family of 3 has to make the 6 miles or so trip up to Jerusalem to present Jesus in the temple. That day, by direction of the HS, there’s this man named Simeon. We assume he’s old, although we don’t know his age. What we do know is that he’s a righteous and devout man. In others words, he looks good on the outside and he has it right on the inside too. He’s an Israelite, living like the rest of the Jews under oppressive Roman rule. Like the rest of the Jews have been doing for centuries, Simeon is anxiously waiting for the appearance of the Messiah that God had promised would deliver them someday. When it comes to what we know about Simeon, that’s about it. But I want to take what we know about him here and see what we can learn about our prayers at this time of year.
I notice this about Simeon, for all we don’t know about him: Simeon could let go of life. He’s also someone who blessed God.
By letting go of life, I mean the attitude he demonstrated in his prayer when he said, “…you now dismiss your servant in peace.” He held God in the flesh in his arms, and that was all he needed. OK, God. Whatever you want now. It’s enough. I can die in peace. I can let go of life now. That’s something I want to be able to say.
The other thing he did was praise God, or “bless God.” That’s what the word means – to give a good word. That’s more than a formality that follows a sneeze. When I wish good for you, I “bless you.” When I somehow contribute joy to your life, I “bless you.” And when I speak well of God, I bless Him. When I somehow contribute joy to Him, I bless Him. I want to be someone who blesses God – with my words and my actions.
Psalms 19:14 (NIV) May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
2 Corinthians 5:9 (NIV) So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it.
If Simeon is a man who accomplished that, I want to learn from him how to be that kind of person. I want to be a blessing to God, and I want to be able to let go of this life. So, what did he do?
I. Look For The Helper
It was easy to be an Israelite and be looking for a helper. For hundreds of years, the Jews had been living under the thumb of Rome.
It’s easier to be found looking for help when you think you need it. If you don’t think you need it, you won’t be looking for it. So, our situation is a little different today. We have prosperity. We have liberty. We have technology. We’ve discovered, invented, manufactured, and marketed our own helps. Even when Hurricane Katrina proves that we’re not so self-sufficient, what do we tell the rest of the world? We’re fine. We’ve got it. No need for your help.
If you do need help with something, get on the internet, go to the specialist, consult the books, pay the right people, and soon your need is all taken care of. We don’t need a helper. Fine for Haiti. Fine for Iraq. But this is us! We don’t need help, right? I beg to differ. We may have all those things, but if we’re so self-sufficient, if we’re so satisfied, if we’re so content, why the extended hands? Why are so many people holding out their hands, always after more, always after a better deal, always waiting for their ship to come in?
• I’m driving down the street. The pickup truck in front of me is drifting a bit. What could be wrong? I come up on the side of the truck to see that the guy driving is busy with a quarter, anxiously trying to scratch off his lotto ticket.
• I’m walking in the book store. On the magazine rack is a section that shouldn’t even be there. In front of it are a couple of guys, fantasizing as they thumb through the pages of airbrushed eye candy. They’re not satisfied by what they see. They’re more likely enslaved to it. To them, it’s a substitute for real relationships with real people. It never satisfies the inner longing they have.
• I’m walking through the mall. All around me are people with those extended hands. They are there to be manipulated. The stores around them compete for their attention and money. After the exchange has taken place, they take what they’ve bought and aren’t satisfied. Their inner longing won’t go away either.
Most people in Israel also didn’t understand what they really needed. They thought they needed a better economy. They thought they needed political reform. They thought they needed their national pride back. But there were a few, like Simeon, who knew they needed a helper – the consolation of Israel. Simeon was looking for the right thing.
I wish that someone could convince all of the people who are chasing after empty stuff, who are grasping after life, that they need to look for something else. The deep, inner longing that every one of us has won’t be satisfied by the things they’re trying to hang onto.
Since Simeon was looking for the right thing, he was also looking in the right place. Did you notice that? He was prompted by the Spirit to go to the temple courts. That was quite correctly called the house of God. If you want to find God, His house seems a reasonable place to look, doesn’t it? Now, where would that be today? Well, look up every use of the house of God and God’s house or household and you’ll find the same thing: It’s either a reference to the OT temple, or now a reference to God’s people.
Hebrews 3:6 (NIV) ….we are his house...
1 Timothy 3:15 (NIV) …God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.
You see, any person ought to be able to look here, in the House of God – not this building, but this people – and find Jesus. The day that people come here among us looking for Jesus and they can’t find Him, we’ve blown it. Look for the Helper, and look in the right place.
II. Listen to What the Holy Spirit Reveals
I can’t get past the number of times the HS is mentioned here in this brief section.
Simeon was able to let go of life because he listened to the HS. Look briefly with me at the 3 places where the Spirit’s work and Simeon’s response are mentioned here.
Luke 2:25
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.
This description isn’t given very often of people. In the OT, it was what happened to prophets and kings and judges. It was what made Samson strong and what made David prophesy. It wasn’t common in the days when Jesus was born. God’s Spirit hadn’t been given as a gift to His people yet. But here was one man who had the HS upon him.
Luke 2:26
It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
Can you imagine having the HS revealing things to you about the future? You have! Every time you read the Scriptures, you’re reading what the HS has revealed. You and I need to understand and appreciate the significance of that. It’s not just what the HS has promised. To call it a promise implies that there’s an opportunity for it to not come to pass. But the Spirit is a revealer – He shows what will be. Jesus Himself said,
John 10:35 …the Scripture cannot be broken…
For Simeon, there wasn’t a question. If it had been revealed to him by the Spirit, it would happen. Something that is revealed by God is a fact that can’t be changed. It’s not a prediction or a flimsy promise. It’s a look into a future that can’t be changed.
When you take up the Bible and read, is that the attitude with which you read it? Is it really the revelation of God, inspired by the HS, or is it like the US Constitution where people feel they need to constantly make changes to get it more accurate or fit into our circumstances. What you believe about that will completely control how you receive the Bible. You’re either listening to what the Spirit reveals, or you’re listening only to what you want to hear. The 3rd verse is…
Luke 2:27a
Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts.
The HS is also a mover. He prompted Simeon to get into the temple courts that day. Paul, inspired by the HS to write it, said that we must learn to walk by the Spirit. It’s one thing to look at what He has said, it’s another to act on it. The good news is that the Spirit is there to help us not only know what’s true, but to do it too. That’s what the Scriptures mean when it says,
Philippians 2:13
for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
Simeon ended up believing what he was supposed to be believing, doing what he was supposed to be doing, going where he was supposed to be going – all because he listened to the Spirit.
If you want to learn to let go of life, learn to listen to the Spirit. Finally,
III. Embrace Jesus
I wish the Christmas story included the way that everyone who heard of Him rushed to see and worship Jesus – to give Him the welcome He deserved. But that’s not the way it reads. Instead, there’s no suitable place for His birth, Herod tries to have him killed, and He grows up in obscurity. His hometown doesn’t respect His ministry, and even His brothers didn’t believe in Him at first. Foxes had holes, birds had nests, but Jesus didn’t even have a place to lay His head as an adult. Some of the most ironic and saddest words of Scripture are:
John 1:10-11
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Jesus wasn’t embraced by this world. There were different reasons for that
• For the religious, it was because Jesus didn’t fit into their legalistic framework. They had it down to a science, and they didn’t need Jesus changing things.
• For the powerful, it was because Jesus didn’t fit into their expectations for a king. He was humble and poor. There was nothing about His appearance that made Him stand out. He hung around with riff raff and losers and treated them like they were just as important as the rich and famous.
• For the intellectual, it was because Jesus’ way didn’t appeal to them. The cross was no foundation for a religion. Who wants to be associated with a loser?
• For the self-sufficient, it was because Jesus taught and modeled dependence on God. He spoke of having to give up all control and depend on Him.
Too many people thought their other options were better, and the same kind of mental gymnastics goes on today.
What we’re really engaged in is a constant war of ideas – one trying to win over the other. One says that Jesus should be embraced, that His way is the way to real life and fulfillment. The other says that the way to life and happiness is to hang onto whatever you can grasp right now. One is embracing Jesus. One is not recognizing or receiving Him.
Then there was Simeon. I don’t know what he had going for him in life – whether he was old and almost ready to die, or whether he had more things to do. But when he took Jesus in his arms – when he looked on God’s salvation – it was the turning point for the rest of his life. It was the most important feature of his life. Once he was there he could say, “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace.”
Most everyone here today has some things they would like to do before they die. If not, it makes it pretty tough to get out of bed in the morning! Most of us would say there are some things we’d like to do – skydiving; get married; see our grandchildren; write a book; see someone we love accept Jesus – there’s most likely something. Simeon took Jesus in his arms and said, “OK! That’s it! There’s nothing left! Nothing matters more. I’m ready to go.”
Embracing Jesus means more than just making Him a part of your life. It means making Him the complete center of your world. If what you do with Jesus today is say, “O see the cute baby! Isn’t He cute? Let’s put Him over here next to the TV!” you’re missing the point.
Embracing Jesus means you empty your arms of everything else. There’s not room for the stuff of the world and Him too.
Conclusion:
It really doesn’t matter how you got here this morning. Embrace Jesus. There’s a certain beauty to “taking Him in bent arms.” Simeon didn’t look at Jesus and say, “What, is this all there is? This is the helper from God? This is the salvation of Israel and all the non-Jews too? That’s it?” That’s not what Simeon was saying as he took the child in his arms.
It’s that posture that we assume to receive a newborn. We guys sometimes feel like we can’t do that correctly. What if I break the baby?! But even the crustiest of guys is able to hold a baby. And when you do, see if that baby doesn’t, in many ways, hold you.
Let that tender posture serve as a reminder that this is how God came. If you’re going to take Jesus on in your life, if He’s going to have hold on you, it’s not going to be a hostile takeover. Instead, it’s going to be a humble, simple, fragile, submission, in a quite place, with gentle hands, with whispers and smiles.
That’s how He came. People who desire to embrace Him must accept that kind of a Savior – simple, humble… Who empties Himself and takes on the form of a servant.
When you’re willing to do that – to let go of life and take Jesus – you’ll be able to say, “OK. It’s enough now. I’m OK. I can depart in peace.”
John 1:10-13
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
