Simeon's Song

Luke 2:21-40

How many here remember as a kid waiting most of the year to get what you got for Christmas? I grew up in a family that worked hard for what they had. And if I wanted something big I either worked hard for it or waited till Christmas. Growing up this way taught me a lot about how real life is. I am glad now that I didn’t get everything I wanted when I wanted it. I learned about patience and hard work. I know that I will not always have things handed to me.

One year I can remember wanting a remote control car. I wanted one of the big ones with big tire and a big remote with a trigger and a wheel on the side to make it turn, not the one with the little sticks you control with your thumbs. Now this was something that when I asked for it I knew that I was not going to get it right away. I knew the response before it was given, “maybe for Christmas.” For some of you when you heard that you got really excited because you knew you were going to get it. Now in my house “maybe for Christmas” was not a guarantee that you would get it for Christmas, it was what it was, it was a “maybe.”

Now that I am older I think I can confess something without getting in trouble for it and without running the risk of losing out next year. I was a snoopy kid. I was constantly looking through things in our house and finding things that I should not be finding. That year I found my remote control car early. I cannot remember how much early but I know it was enough time before Christmas that it drove me nuts for what seemed like forever. I remember going and looking at it every chance I got.

I knew all about this thing before I ever opened it. I couldn’t wait to open this thing on Christmas morning. I knew which present it was and I couldn’t wait to finally get to play with it.

But for some reason when I finally opened it up I was not as excited as I thought I would be. Don’t get me wrong I loved it and I played with it as much as I could that day and many days after that. The surprise and aw was ruined for me when I found it in the back a closet. It is possible that they thought I was ungrateful or something because of my reaction when I opened it.

If I were given the chance to go back and not find that gift… I would.

Now lets crack those Bible open and read from page___ which is Luke 2 starting with verse 21…

Right off the bat we see stuff in these verses that assumes we know other things. Like the “Law of Moses.” I know what you are thinking, but don’t worry I am not going to give you a list of rules and guilt you into thinking you have to follow them. I only want to point out the fact that Mary and Joseph were following the rules that have been given to them through Moses from God. The laws concerning childbirth and such are found at the beginning of Leviticus chapter 12. Leviticus is the third book in the Old Testament. It is said that no other book contains more direct words from God than Leviticus. This is the book you would want to go to if you had a question about a “Law.”

In this 12th chapter of Leviticus we can compare what Mary and Joseph are doing and see that they are doing exactly what they are supposed to do according to “The Law.” A couple weeks ago Dan told us about how an angel came to Mary and told her some very hard news. And her response did not include her winning, complaining or anything like that. She simply said, “I am the Lord’s servant, May it be to me as you have said.” And that is what we see them doing here; they are serving the Lord by following his Law. Now if we did not know anything about them before this we would see that they were doing everything they could do to follow God.

Consider the consequences of them following the Law. To start with think about little Jesus and what happened to him. I don’t know how they did it back then but I am sure they did not have some of the equipment we have today, like razor sharp equipment and antibiotics. According to the Law Mary was unclean and unable to interact with anyone for 40 days. Which includes going to church. Think about it this way if anyone had an excuse to break the rules… it was Mary! She is the mother of “God.”