Word Count: 2610
This sermon was delivered to the congregation in St Oswald’s in Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland on the 4th December 2012 by Gordon McCulloch (A Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries).
Summary: If you could ask God for anything in world, what would you ask, and if you got that thing, would it cause a conflict with someone else. Then ask, what you could give God that he would like you to do, that would suit you both; that then is your calling.
Jeremiah 33:14-16 Psalm 25:1-9 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 Luke 21:25-36
(I know, these are the wrong readings for Advent 1 but I ran with them anyway)
Prayer: In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit let these words bring you honour, and prepare us to live both in this world in which you have given us and the world to come. Amen.
Introduction:
Yes, it is nearly that time of year again, Christmas, and today we start in the preparation for this big event. In some ways it feels it has come really quickly, yet in others a lot has happened in the last 12 months.
One big question that most people face is deciding what they want for Christmas. We all want something to celebrate the event.
Me, I want a living room with one door. This may sound like a strange request, but bear with me, as we have two doors in ours, and my son Craig, who is about 20, is very popular in the village, we have all his pals coming to visit him every night of the week and it is not unusual for about 10 of them to walk in the kitchen, through the living room, then into the hall, and walk up stairs to his room.
Then, in what seams like 5 minutes, they troop all the way back again; but not all at the same time, muttering something as they come and go. And while some are walking out, more start walking in. This goes on all night; in mean I am usually exhausted after a hard day, half asleep in front of the TV, and yet I feel as if I am in the middle off the high street. It is absolute murder.
We have a big Alsatian dog, and it has given up. All is does is raise its’ head and sighs, “Another one”, and you can almost hear her say, “shut the door behind you”.
So for me, for me personally, me selfishly, I want a living room with one door in it, (preferably with a key), and keep all that lot out.
But Christine will not give into this, she likes all the comings and goings; because she can keep an eye on Craig, and see who he is running with; and she can normally work out what they are up to. So we have a conflict of interests here; both of us have a point; but it usually ends in me being told to keep my thoughts and others things to myself.
But think about it, if you could ask God for anything in world, what would you ask for? …… And then think, if you got that thing, would it cause a conflict with someone else; even though you asked for a something seeming innocent, and worthwhile.
This is a more difficult question to answer than you think, because basically we are all concerned with ourselves to one degree or another, and I have tried to highlight this by giving you a description of our living room at night, which was exaggerated. They don’t come in 10 at a 10, it is usually about 5 at a time.
Now, let me ask you a different question; but not from your perspective but from God’s. What could you give God, say, for Christmas?
I do not know about you, but that is a question I ask regularly, and I really struggle to answer it. Just what exactly could we do for him that he would like us to do, or wants us to do, something that would suit the both of us; something that would match our will with his.
Today’s Gospel reading does just that as we hear the song of a man who did something that both he and God wanted.
This man was called Simeon, a Jew living in Jerusalem. He was most probably an old man by the time Jesus was born, but we know he was a man of impeccable character who lived a righteous life, devoted to God.
And we know that Simeon had one big wish on his mind that he should meet with the Messiah before he died. Verse 26 tells us that “It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ” And so God granted him that wish and Simeon saw the child with his own eyes before he died. God’s will and Simeon’s were united.
Verse 27 & 28 “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”.
Simeon believed the promise, and the Holy Spirit led him to Jesus. Think about that, even as a baby, Jesus was already drawing people to himself; drawing people just like the shepherds at his birth, just like He draws us today.
And what does Simeon do? Upon seeing the child, he goes to the parents, and reaches out and takes the child in his arms, (a stranger to them, mind), and they allow him do it. Simeon literally takes hold of the promise of God that has now become so tangible that he can touch it.
Now you must admit, when you read this lesson, it came across as rather bland; but like so many scriptural verses, it is full of meaning, and so I will only focus on two points this morning, one liturgical and one practical.
Now, as you know, the "Liturgy" basically means the method or style we follow in a religious service of worship, with every Christian denomination having its own style, taken from selective passages in the bible.
In the today’s reading we have such a passage, “the song of Simeon” and it is referred to in its original Latin name Nunc Dimittis, literally meaning “Now dismiss”.
The Nunc Dimittis is now a traditional 'Gospel Canticle' of Night Prayer, just as the Benedictus and Magnificat are the traditional Gospel Canticles of the Morning and Evening Prayers.
And the Nunc Dimittis is not exclusive to us Episcopalians, as it is found in many western denominations, including the, the Anglicans and the Roman Catholics. It is therefore found in our hymnal, (in several places in fact); and it is a song that is sometimes sung with the Magnificat right after Holy Communion.
Verses 29 to 32 are in our hymnal as:
O Lord, now let your servant depart in heavenly peace
For I have seen the glory of your redeeming grace
A light to lead the Gentiles unto your holy hill
The glory of your people, your chosen Israel.
For Simeon, God had promised this day, and it came. This was enough for Him, as he says, Nunc dimittis servum tuum, the Latin “Lord, now dismiss your servant in peace.”
Simeon is really saying here, “My life is complete; I am ready to die”.
But Simeon wasn’t the first to break out into song, because in the Gospel of Luke, there are three other songs that had already been sung.
Mary had her Magnificat.
Zechariah had his Benedictus and
the angels sang their Gloria in Excelsis Deo.
That’s a big part of what we worship today, because in essence “We first hear of what God does, and then we sing about it”. That is why these songs are so important; so we can worship God with better understanding.
That was the liturgical part, and now we descend into the practical.
Simeon was a man who shows us what we should be living and dying for, and Simeon says “he is ready to die”. Are you? Am I?
Well, we should be; because what happened to Simeon has already happened to us? The Spirit of God has called us out; he has grabbed hold of us, and he has led us to straight to Jesus. There is no way we could have ever found Jesus under our own strength; we needed to be led and directed to him by the Holy Spirit, just like Simeon. We too are prepared for life; and we too are also prepared for death.
Yes I know it does not feel like it, but the bible is clear; and either the words of Jesus and the whole bible are wrong, or our feelings and emotions are wrong.
We are prepared and molded for both life and death, because we have a saviour in Jesus Christ who is watching over us, guarding us, and guiding us like the good shepherd he is, onto pastures new.
Simeon (led by the Holy Spirit) knew that and after impressing Mary and Joseph, said these sobering words: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too."
The Holy Spirit showed Simeon conflict, pain and suffering. He showed him the path to the cross with Mary grieving at the side of Jesus. Can we see that far into the future; can we see the pain and suffering of the events that are to come?
This story reminds us that we need to think about what we truly want in life: either things to make us feel good, or things to prepare us to meet our maker.
The simple path of pleasure leads to ultimate pain; but the path of pain and testing leads to life; both for this world, and life for the world to come.
I am aware this is a morbid rather than seasonal message, but this message focuses us to make life worth living for: and death worth dying for. It means that we do not need to wait for our sins to be forgiven; because that has all been taken care of.
We do not have to worry about our destiny either, as God has already prepared a place for us.
It means that when death does comes, and we know it will some day; we can sing with Simeon, “Lord, now dismiss your servant in peace.” I am sure we would all like to sing that, but I am also sure there maybe some doubts.
The nature in us, is dead and gone, and in his place is the Spirit of God; the Holy Spirit himself, preparing us for life in this world, and life after death; a life that we have absolutely no comprehension of.
Nobody, and I mean nobody on this earth can possibly tell us what happens after death; that is why we all need a religion, that is why we need a faith; that is why we need something to believe in; and we know, that something is Jesus.
“Jesus said, John 14:6, “I am the living God, The Way and The Truth and The Life; no man comes to my Father but by me alone.”
But as we know, the Christian life is not without pain; and it was through pain that most of us have been led to the Lord; and the life that we have led since, has been full of pain and suffering, and there will probably be more to come.
But it is through that pain we have been refined, and we have changed, because through that pain we have been gradually destroying the old nature that was in us; you know the old the nature that encouraged us to sin and justified the sin. Roman 6:20 says that “When we were slaves to sin, we were free from the control of righteousness”. “We were slaves to sin to the devil, and to death.”
But Galatians 2:20 says, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God who loved me and who gave himself for me.”
Sometimes we need to be reminded of this; to confirm that we have been changed by God, and because our fickle emotions refuse to let us believe it.
What we live for now and what we desire now, is so distant from what we wanted before, because God has been working in us all this time, and has been aligning our wills with his. Our wills have been changed by God himself, if only we knew.
Are we ready to meet our maker like Simeon? Well yes, but only when God decides, when he knows that he has prepared us enough, and when he knows we are ready to meet him face to face.
God knows what he is doing, and although it does not feel like it, he has been with us, every step of the way.
Amen.
Let us pray,
Father we thank you for Jesus, we thank you that he died for us, to free from ourselves, and return control of our lives to you.
Father we are sorry for all the times we doubted you> The pain and pressures of this world make us forget just how much you love us, and how much you are watching over us.
Father we understand the pain was necessary to prepare us, but let us live in hope, live in assurance that it is all necessary for when we meet you face to face. Let us not be so self judgmental with our failures, but let us keep our eyes on you, “the author and perfecter of our faith”.
Father as the Christmas season approaches, let us walk with confidence that we are in you, and that you are in us, and that you want us to enjoy the festive season to the full; so that others see you working in us; and let them see, that they need you more than anything they could ever dream of.
We ask in Jesus Name,
Amen
