"THE VIEW FROM BELOW --
WHAT SIMEON SAW"
Sermon Preached by
The Rev. Dr. Andrew Stirling
Advent I
Sunday, December 3, 2000
Text: I Samuel 1 and Luke 2:22-35
There was a young, newly qualified business person called Paul. He had just received, the day before Christmas, a magnificent gift from his older brother. He had been given a brand new shiny car. As Paul was pulling out of his office late on Christmas Eve to go home in this new car there was a young boy, a street urchin, sitting outside the entrance to the garage. The poor boy looked at the car as Paul stopped at the roadway and said, "Wow, sir! That is the meanest car I have ever seen in my whole life. It is gorgeous!" Paul looked at the boy and said, "Well, thank you. My brother gave me this car just yesterday and I haven't paid a single penny for it." The young boy put his head down and said, "I wish...." Paul knew that the boy was wishing that he had a brother like Paul had; but he was wrong. The boy continued, "I wish I could be a brother like that." Realizing that the boy wanted to go for a ride in the car Paul looked at him and asked, "Would you like to go for a drive in my car?" He replied, "Oh boy, would I ever!" So they drove around and the boy said, "I wish.....I wish that you could drive into my neighbourhood." Paul thought, ”˜Oh I know why; this kid wants to be seen in this flashy car and to show off with me.' But that was not the reason why. Paul was directed to a very poor tenement house and the boy asked him to park in front of it. The boy got out of the car and rushed upstairs and was gone for a long time. Paul kept looking at his watch and wondering what he was doing; he was worried. Then suddenly the boy reappeared carrying a younger boy in his arms. The little lad was crippled with polio. When they got to the bottom of the steps they sat down. The big brother put his arms around his brother and said, "You know the car I was telling you about upstairs? There it is! And do you know that the man who drives this car, well it was his brother who gave him this car. He didn't pay a cent for it. Isn't that marvelous?" He added, "Some day I will be a brother like that to you. And when I am, I will drive you through the streets and I will show you the bright lights on Main Street and the toys in the store windows and the creches lit up outside the churches."
When Paul heard this he got out of the car and opened the back door and asked if the two would like to go for a ride. The brothers looked at each other and their faces lit up. They got into the car, the car for which he hadn't paid a cent, and Paul drove them down Main Street, stopping outside the store windows and they parked outside churches where the creches were and Paul looked back at the two brothers and said, "I wish.....I wish the world would see us now." (Story told by C. Roy Angell.)
When Simeon, that unknown and great character in the New Testament, held the baby Jesus in his arms, he was like that brother. He had before him the greatest gift he had ever seen in his whole life. Just like the brother in the story he wanted the whole world to know just how splendid and special this gift really is. He was holding in his arms the child that he had hoped and prayed for over years and years and just like the brother, he wanted to share this child in order that the whole world might know that they do not have to say anymore ”˜I only wish' for the reality would be before their very eyes. The story of Simeon as it is told to us in the Gospel of Luke is without doubt one of the most touching and powerful stories in the whole of the gospel narratives. It is unclear as to what was going on precisely at the time because Luke seems to suggest that this was a purification ceremony for Mary as well as the presentation of the child in the Temple. But for Simeon it was the latter. As the Old Testament says, on the eighth day after a child is born, the child is to be brought into the temple of the Lord and there is dedicated to the Lord. So the child no longer simply belongs to the parents, but belongs to God. Simeon is now receiving one such child and he holds the child in his arms.
We do not know much about Simeon. Some have speculated that he was the son of Hillel and the father of the great Gamaliel, that he was a great rabbi. But there is nothing in the Bible to suggest that; Simeon was a rather common name, one used often for those who found themselves as ordinary priests in ordinary temples. We are told, however, that Simeon was probably a person known as ”˜the quiet of the land'. Unlike the zealots who wanted to overthrow the Romans and restore Israel to a military might, Simeon was one of those people who day in and day out prayed that Israel would be restored and renewed. We are told that he was a devout man, deeply prayerful, a righteous man who obeyed the law. We are told that he was a man who waited for what is known as the "Consolation of Israel" or the coming of the Messiah. He had been waiting for that all his life. But more than that, Luke gives us another clue. Luke says that this man was full of the Holy Spirit and was moved by the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit revealed to him who this child was that was in his arms. Not only was he pious, not only was he devout, he had opened himself to the revelation of God in the Holy Spirit. Now the great moment that he had waited for all his life was before his very eyes. This poor mother Mary -- poor because we read that she brought turtle-doves and pigeons to sacrifice because she did not have money to bring lambs (which were the normal things to be sacrificed), poor because she was from Nazareth which was a nowhere place if you lived in that time. Poor because she had nothing else to offer God except that which was in Simeon's arms and his name was to be called Jesus. When Simeon picked up this child he knew that all his life he had waited for this. Although he may have dedicated another child in his life there was none like this one. This child was different. This child was unique. This child was to change the world.
I want to look through the eyes of Simeon at what he saw from his ordinary place in an ordinary temple. Here we find one of the greatest pronouncements and moments in the history of the world for in it, Simeon's life was radically changed. It was changed first by altering his view of life and death . Like many in his time Simeon had been waiting for God to do something spectacular. Others like him believed that God would save Israel with the coming of a Messiah, with a special child who would come and liberate the land. In this most epic moment, Simeon holds this child and says, "Now your servant may depart in peace." In other words, ”˜now I can die; for everything that I have waited for, everything that I have hoped for is now before my very eyes.' For Simeon he believed that above all now God had maintained his covenant with Israel. All the promises that God had made, all the covenants that God had made throughout the centuries were now being fulfilled before his very eyes. Can you imagine the moment? He believed the whole nation would be redeemed by what he was holding in his hands, this great gift, this child of Mary, this Jesus.
He also believed that all the prayers that he had ever offered had been answered. No longer would he have to implore God to act; no longer would he have to make intercessions for his people. God had heard the cries of the soul of the people of Israel and now, despite the conquering of the Greeks and the Romans, now there was a moment for this little outpost in this empire, this unknown place, this hardly heralded country to receive the one who was going to redeem it forever more. His prayers had been answered. But more than that, here was a man who could now face death, who now knew that God was so faithful and so to be trusted that even that last journey that he would soon walk was one that would be paved with the covenant of the God of Israel. Oh, his life, once and for all, changed.
Throughout the centuries the Christian Church has sung the words of Simeon. Known as the Nunc Dimittis this word from the fourth century onward was part of the prayers of the early church. In the eastern church it was part of the vespers. In the western church part of compline. I remember the first time I ever sung the Nunc Dimittis in the context of one of the most beautiful services that the Church has, that of Evensong. Those of you who are Anglican know that beautiful service well. When I first sung Evensong I was at a neighbouring college to the one I attended in Grahamstown, South Africa. It was called St. Paul's and was unlike any other theological college. The college I attended would begin at 9 am and finish at 5 pm but St. Paul's was such a devout place that they actually went through into the evening and carried out their devotions for they lived as a community. They classified themselves as a monastery because under the apartheid laws of 1979 monasteries could have people of mixed race living within them. So they classified themselves as a monastery and all the students and professors and their wives and children of all races lived together in this one place. The reason I wanted to visit this place was twofold: many of my friends with whom I played rugby actually attended that College and it was a chance for us to compare notes, but more especially it was a chance for us to be together and to pray. I remember one night when we sang the Evensong and it was a night of incredible darkness. It was so dark because one of the professor's sons, along with some other young boys had been in a bus returning from a prayer meeting and the bus had driven down a desolate back road and a land mine had exploded and blown up the bus and all of us were waiting, gathered in the Chapel at St. Paul's College to hear what had happened to the boys. The professor still took part in Evensong. When we got to the words of the Nunc Dimittis and we sang out the words ”˜now your servant may depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy salvation' the sense and the power of the Spirit overwhelmed us. It just so happened that the young boys survived the blast, but even if they hadn't there was something so powerful about the words of Simeon that they gave us the most incredible help. Such are the words of Simeon; they change our view of life and death. God keeps his covenant.
There is a second thing: the words of Simeon were transforming the way in which he saw the whole world. He said, "Mine eyes have seen thy salvation before all the nations and that you are to be a light unto the gentiles and the glory of your people Israel." For Simeon, he believed this was the ultimate vindication of the people of Israel and Israel finally would be glorified. Amongst all the nations God had chosen this little inconspicuous land to be the place where all the nations would know that God is the saviour.
All the nations of the gentiles, who had hitherto turned on the God of Israel, would now, because of the child who was in his arms, once and for all know and understand that God is the true God and God's covenant is for all people.
A few weeks ago I was greatly privileged to go to Holy Blossom Temple to take part in the installation of the new Senior Rabbi, Rabbi Moscovitz. As I entered and sat with a number of clergy and dignitaries came and sat before us, members of parliament, the mayor and many many other lined up in the pew in front of us, it was a very exciting moment. The Cantor rose and sang (the cantor at Holy Blossom is magnificent) that the Lord was adoni..(?). All of a sudden from the top of my head to the tip of my toes I had the feeling of the most incredible warmth. From the very core of my being there arose this incredible sense that I too have the right to be here! I too have the right to be in the Temple of the Lord! I have the right to worship Elohim, I have the right to worship El Shaddai, I have the right to worship Jehovah, I have the right to worship Yahueh, I have the right to worship the Lord because of the one who was in Simeon's arms, and his name is Jesus! Because of Jesus, Israel is glorified. Isn't it amazing, throughout the centuries, that millions of we gentiles have been able to worship the living God, the only God, the true God because of the name of Jesus Christ? That is why he is the light to the gentiles. Not only do we worship Israel's God, we worship Israel's God in the light of the word of Jesus of Nazareth. No wonder Simeon was overwhelmed.
Seneca once wrote that "what humanity needed more than anything else was a hand let down to lift them up." When Simeon held this child in his arms he knew that this was God's hand up to the whole of humanity. That is why it bothers me at times when we who gather in our churches do so with a lack of passion and lack of understanding that the whole world changes because of the Child of Bethlehem. So many of us find our lives trying to make room for him in some distant corner, some wayward place rather than having him at the center. We make our excuses and we wander away from him not understanding that He is our all in all.
I love the story of a church that was so tired of its people making excuses for not coming to church that it decided to have a "No Excuses Sunday." (Some of you may have heard this before.) An announcement was made in the bulletin the Sunday before and announced to all the members of the church that next Sunday would be a "No Excuses Sunday." This is what they wrote: ”˜Next Sunday in the Vestibule there will be cots for those of you who like to sleep in on Sunday. There will be steel helmets for those who say the room will collapse if you were to enter a church. There will be blankets for those of you who say that the church is too cold and fans for those of you who say it is too hot. In this church there will be Visine provided for those of you who are blurred after your Saturday nights. There will be hearing aids for those of you who say the preacher speaks too softly. There will be cotton wool for those who say he speaks too loudly. There will be a scorecard provided so you can keep account of all the hypocrites who are there. There will be trees and bushes for those who say they like to worship God in nature. There will be poinsettias and lilies for those who have never been to church other than at Christmas or Easter.' There is a sense in which that is all too true. If you saw what Simeon saw then you would have a passion for what God does in the world.
There is one final thing: Simeon had what I call the view from below . This isn't a vision from some great king coming down and arriving among us and being a spiritual salve for the world. This is not a means of us coming to some form of self-analysis or self-glorification or self-wonder. Rather the coming of the Christ Child is one that would shake up the whole way in which the world operates. Simeon took young Mary to one side and had some passionate words for her. He said, "You know, this child will cause the falling and the rising of many who are in Israel and his word will be spoken against and it will appear as if a sword, Mary, will be thrust through your heart." In other words, the Christ Child did not come just in bounds of glory but came to shake up the whole world. Indeed, the hopes and fears of all the years are met in that Christ on the night in which he was born; the hope for those who have little is that they will be lifted up. The hope for those who have much is that they will be able to use their blessings for the sake of God. This was a way in which those who are sinners and who are the outcasts by the grace and forgiveness of God, could be given a place in which to enter the Temple, and for those who are self-righteous that they will be brought down on their knees before a Holy God. As Jesus had predicted in the magnificent words of the Beatitudes, ”˜the meek, the peacemakers, the humble, the mourners, the righteous', they are the ones who this Christ Child would lift up and glorify. But it would take a cost. When God came in Jesus of Nazareth and when Simeon held him in his arms, he knew that this was a costly moment. Not for humanity, but for God. For God was giving his all and Simeon knew it.
There is a magnificent poem that I read not long ago, a copy of which had fallen out of the Bible of my aunt that I have been able to find since. I leave you with these words for the passion of Simeon is found herein:
I counted all my dollars while God counted crosses;
I counted gains while he counted losses;
I counted my worth by the things gained in store,
But he sized me up by the scars that I bore.
I coveted honours and sought for degrees;
He wept as He counted the hours on my knees.
I never knew ”˜til one day by a grave
How vain are the things that we spend life to save.
I did not know ”˜til a friend went above
That richest is he who is rich in God's love.
That is what Simeon saw. Amen.
This is a verbatim transcription of the original sermon.