Summary: The scripture for today's message tells of some wonderful things that happened when certain people came to God's house. Actually, they came to the temple in Jerusalem. These events happened shortly after the birth of Jesus.

Alba 12-29-2024

GOOD NEWS FOR SIMEON AND ANNA

Luke 2:21-40

I'm thinking of church attendance. Have you ever heard of Murphy’s Law for Preachers?

Law # 1: If the weather is extremely bad, church attendance will be down.

Law #2: If the weather is extremely good church attendance will be down.

Law #3: If the bulletin covers are in short supply, church attendance will exceed all expectations.

Some of you when you were greeters have experienced that if you ran low on bulletins. But I am always glad to see as many people as can come sharing in our time of worship. First of all, because God deserves our praise. And also because it is my hope that what we share together here will be a blessing to us all. It is good to be in the house of the Lord.

The scripture for today's message tells of some wonderful things that happened when certain people came to God's house. Actually, they came to the temple in Jerusalem. These events happened shortly after the birth of Jesus. Mary and Joseph went to the temple because they were being obedient to God's commands concerning the birth of a son.

Luke 2:21 tells us that they had already had Jesus circumcised when he was eight days old, just as is commanded in Genesis 17:12. Then Luke 2:22-24 tells us the reason why Mary and Joseph and the child Jesus went to the temple on that particular day. It says, “Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

Bethlehem, the birth place of Jesus, is only about six miles from Jerusalem. So the journey to the temple was not far. But it was not because it was convenient that they went to the temple. No it was because of what was “written in the law of the Lord.” No wonder God chose these two faithful people to be the earthly parents of His only begotten Son.

In the Old Testament, Leviticus 12:2-8 it gives the requirements for a woman after giving birth. She must wait at least 40 days after the birth of a son, and then offer a sacrifice to be considered pure again. It was not the birth that was the concern. It was the loss of blood during the birth that required a sacrifice for cleansing. The minimum sacrifice that could be offered was two doves or two young pigeons.

That minimum sacrifice was allowed for those who could not afford to offer a lamb. So that tells us that Mary and Joseph were not a wealthy pair. Some may ask, why not use the gold that the Wise Men gave? That is because they hadn't arrived there yet.

We are also told that Mary and Joseph came with Jesus to “present Him to the Lord.” Once again, it shows that they were being faithful to God. It appears that this is a reference to the requirement in the Law to redeem the first-born of the mother (Leviticus 13:13 and 27:6). The redeeming price was five silver coins. This commandment commemorates the plague of the first-born in which God smote the first-born of the Egyptians, but spared the first-born of the Israelites, demonstrating that the first born belongs to God. But think about this: Jesus Himself was to become the redeeming sacrifice to which all other redeeming sacrifices had pointed since Moses' time.

All of this was why Mary and Joseph brought the child Jesus to the temple on that particular day. But there were others who came that same day. And what happens next reinforces the good news that Mary and Joseph and the Shepherds and the Wise Men had been told. Because this day, that same good news came through a man named Simeon and a woman named Anna. It was a good day to be in the house of the Lord.

The account of Simeon and then Anna meeting with Mary and Joseph is found in Luke 2:25-40. They don’t appear in any nativity scenes or in many Christmas cards, but they are significant players in the first Christmas pageant. There's a lot of good news wrapped up in this story. And there's a lot we can learn from these two individuals. If we want good news, we need to pay attention to how things happened here. First of all...

1. Good news comes to those who are in the right place.

It is good to be in the house of the Lord. Both Simeon and Anna were in the temple on the same day and at the right time to have this “chance” meeting with the child Jesus. Verse 27 says that Simeon was led by the Holy Spirit to be in the Temple on this particular day. “He came by the Spirit into the temple.” In other words, God was directing him and he was following that direction. How many times have you felt that there was something you should do, or someone you should talk to, but didn't do it. Who knows what God would have done had you carried through with that feeling?

Simeon was relying on the promise he had received from God that before he died, he would see the Lord's Christ (in other words – the Messiah). For months, for years, for decades, this man had been waiting for this moment. He came to the temple expectantly, prepared to see the fulfillment of God's promise. And God kept His promise! When Simeon sees Jesus, he is ready to die, not because his life is so empty, but because it is so full. He is so full of joy, so content. He knows that anything else which will ever happen to him will not match the ultimate experience of holding the Messiah in his arms.

And Anna, having been a widow for many, many years, stayed at the temple continually. Verse 37 says that she made it her purpose to serve God with fastings and prayers night and day. These two were glad to be in the house of the Lord on a regular basis. No Christmas and Easter visitors were they.

And they came prepared to see God at work. The temple was a place to meet with God and to receive instruction in God's Word, much like our time together here today. Are you aware that it is when we come to church prepared to really worship that God is blessed and we receive the benefit? There is a reason that Hebrews 10:25 says we should not forsake “the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some.”

We often think that things are pretty much the same Sunday after Sunday. But who knows what we missed on the times when we did not assemble ourselves together. There is good news in this place. Even if you have heard it before, the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ by His death on the cross, His burial and His resurrection should cause all of us to rejoice every time we hear it. It is good to be in the house of the Lord.

Simeon and Anna were in the temple. They were in the right place, at the right time to receive some really good news. Here is something else we can learn from these two...

2. When good news comes, give thanks

When Simeon sees the Baby that Joseph and Mary have brought to the temple, he knows it's not just any infant. Now, Jesus did not have a halo above His head. He looked just like any other six-week-old boy. But God revealed to Simeon that this was the Messiah.

Both Simeon and Anna had joy and thankfulness flowing out of them as they beheld the Christ child. In verses 29 and 30 Simeon is so thankful for this moment that he says the Lord could take him because now he had seen God's salvation. The one through whom God would save His people.

And that salvation was not only for the Jews. Though Simeon apparently was not a priest or a prophet, he did foresee a lot of what was ahead for this child. Simeon had a rare, God-given insight. In his praise, Simeon says that Jesus would be a light for revelation to the Gentiles. That includes us!

He also told Mary that a sword would pierce her own soul. Indeed, she would suffer greatly as she would see her Son suffer on the cross and die that terrible death. And he said that Christ would cause the falling and rising of many in Israel. And today we could say the same. Christ will be the result of the fall of many. I Peter 2:7-8 say, “Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,' and 'A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.'” (NIV)

Jesus is either a rock that you build your life upon (that’s the sense of rising) or he’s the rock that you stumble over (that’s the meaning of falling). We can try as hard as we might to be right with God, but unless we have Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior we will fall, we will be lost. We need to decide if we agree with the words of Simeon, that Jesus is God’s salvation.

And Anna seems to come along at that moment and joins in the celebration that the Messiah has come. In verse 38 it says that, “coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord”. I think we all could be more thankful to God than we generally are. Every day gives us opportunity to express our thanks, because every day God does something good for us.

And our gratitude should be genuine. When a seven-year-old girl wakes up on Christmas morning and sees a present under the tree, the one for which she had been begging for six months, she does not calculate a response. She doesn't think, “Oh, here is the present I wanted. I should be grateful. I should thank Mom and Dad for this present.” No, her shout of joy, and the big hug she gives to each of her parents is a natural response of gratitude.

In the same way, we should express our praise to God, giving thanks to Him for the great things He has done for us through Jesus Christ. II Corinthians 9:15 says it wonderfully, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” Knowing that without Jesus Christ we would be lost, without God, and without hope in this world, then like Simeon andAnna, we should naturally give thanks to God and praise Him for what He has done. There is one more thing we can learn from these two...

3. When good news comes, share it.

When Anna sees Jesus, and recognizes He is the Messiah, she does two things. She thanks God, and she tells other people what has happened. Verse 38 says that she, “spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.” Thank God that redemption has come. We all need to be redeemed. All people need to hear about Jesus, the Christ. Jews and Gentiles, black and white, men and women, young and old, rich and poor, Republicans and Democrats, Chief fans and Ravens fans, all need to hear the good news that Jesus the Messiah has come.

Think again about a child getting a present for which he has been waiting. How does he respond? It is natural for him to call up a friend and say, "Guess what I got for Christmas!" We have a message to share, the message of Christ, the message of joy and hope, a message to share with those who are waiting for some good news. The gospel message is not something man made up, but something God did.

And Simeon and Anna were blessed to get a glimpse of what God was going to do for us. They both lived with expectancy, and truly believed in the coming Christ. We are like them, only we are waiting for the Second Coming of Jesus. Like Simeon, we have been given the promise that Jesus is coming again. We don’t know when it is going to happen. We aren’t even sure how it’s going to happen. Our job is not to determine just how it will happen..but to be prepared for that day.

Hebrews 9:28 proclaims, “Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”

God has given us a glimpse of what is yet to come, so we should be expectantly waiting for this promised second coming of the Messiah. The apostle Paul says that we are to be “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

It doesn't get any better than that! Because then, we will be able to live in the house of the Lord forever.

CLOSE:

With the hustle and bustle of Christmas, Grandma had had enough. No more shopping for the perfect gift, no more long lines waiting to pay, no more concern about color, size, or cost. No more. Instead, she went to the card store and bought cards into which she could put a check for each person.

Through her generosity each person would be able buy exactly what they wanted. A good idea … or, was it? On Christmas morning each family opened their cards from Grandma and read the words she had written lovingly, “Buy your own present.” She had personally signed each card with a heart.

But, much to her surprise, the next week she found all of the checks she had forgotten to put into the cards. Everyone had gotten a Christmas card from her with words that no longer seemed loving, “Buy your own present.”

God has given us a gift card that can still be redeemed. His message is beautifully written in the pages of the Bible. His message is this: “I have your present. It is bought and paid for. I give you Jesus.” And He wants all of us to accept that gift.