Christmas 1 Sermon

 

New Year's Day – Luke 2:22-40

In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Newborn King +

What was old Simeon waiting for? There he was, in the temple, day by day, waiting. What was He waiting for? Our text says that he was waiting for the “consolation of Israel.” Consolation is a fascinating word in English – it is the act of being comforted in the midst of mourning and loss. We generally don't want to have to have consolation – no one goes on a game show hoping to win the consolation prize – I don't think any of you woke up this morning and thought, “I can't wait until my loved ones die and I get to be consoled at the funeral.” Consolation isn't something we generally seek out. And yet, there is Simeon, waiting in the temple for Consolation – and not just his own, but for the Consolation of Israel.

Consolation isn't generally sought after – our sights are often so much higher – but the truth is that we often need consolation. When we see tragedy or sorrow, when there is a loss and we are mourning, we desperately need consolation. Nothing else will do. And Simeon was a righteous and devout man. That meant something very simple – it meant that when he looked out over the people of Israel, he saw a tragedy – the tragedy of sin and death and the commandments being disdained in favor of lust and greed and domination. When he saw how people careless were with the temple, how few came, how the money changed hands and was horded, more profiteering than prophecy – Simeon sorrowed. This was a lost Israel, a Israel worth mourning, not what she should have been.

And yet, there Simeon was at the temple. He was awaiting consolation – and not just a generic consolation – buck up there, buckaroo, it's not so bad. No, no it was bad. This old, frail man knew from long and hard experience how empty and shallow and fleeting the glories of this world are – his dimming eyes could see how bad it was. Simeon needed strong consolation – and he would get one. The Holy Spirit was upon him, and the Spirit had told him to wait – wait for the Messiah, the Christ, the Savior would come. And this makes much more sense when you understand that the word for “consolation” in the Greek there is one of my favorite words, one that you should know and perhaps might already know if you are old enough – the word for “consolation” is “paraclesin” - from the word “Paraclete” - that word, that title that Jesus gives to the Holy Spirit in John 15 and 16 - “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.” Some of you who are a bit more seasoned, a bit closer to Simeon in age might remember the old translations that called the Holy Spirit the “Paraclete” - the Helper, the Comforter. The Spirit always comforts and consoles us by pointing us to Christ Jesus, because Jesus is the only cure, the only solution to sin and death that there actually is. Everything other than Christ is sinking sand that drags us down to the grave and destruction and leaves us there. But Christ Jesus – there in true comfort, true consolation – the forgiving sins kind of comfort, the raising people from the dead consolation, the calling Simeon to everlasting life sort of help that only Jesus can bring.

And there in that temple, 40 days after He was born of the Virgin Mary, Jesus comes. Carried there, placed under the law – a first born male so the sacrifice would be required for him. This is something profound. When Jesus comes, He comes as One placed under the Law. He doesn't get to skirt around what everyone else had to do, He doesn't live life whining, “Don't you know Who My Father is?” No – Jesus comes and takes His place with us, with the rest of mankind. Jesus is God become Man, become one of us, to be with us, to redeem us. And so He is placed under the law – He is placed under the law when He is circumcised on the 8^th day, He is placed under the Law when Joseph and Mary take Him to the temple, and He is most truly and fully placed under the Law there upon the Cross when He takes up the punishment, the burden of your sin and my sin. And the sin of an old man named Simeon.

So on that day when Jesus was brought into the temple, old Simeon totters over, and he grabs Jesus out of Mary's hands and He sings forth – Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy Word!” Simeon sees Him, holds Him. The Savior is here! I can die now – because right here is my Savior. I have seen Him, and even when my eyes close in death I will see Him again because He is my Lord and my Life and my Salvation. The Gentiles will see Him too, the Glory of Israel, the presence of the LORD in His temple that fled before the destruction by the Babylonians has returned. I can die, and death can do nothing to be, because that Christ is here – God become man to save me is here. Comfort. Consolation. The Spirit, the Paraclete at work, pointing to Jesus, a real, bodily Jesus in Simeon's hands Jesus.

Now, this comfort of Christ does not mean that everything in this world will be easy. No, far from it! This Jesus is the Holy God Incarnate who has come into a sinful world, into the midst of a kingdom that the Devil has claimed as his own domain of death, and Jesus has come to throw Satan's powers into confusion and retreat. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” Oh yes, when Jesus came, when He came preaching and teaching and healing, He kicked over one heck of an anthill in the twisted sandbox of sin Satan had turned this world into. Many would hear Jesus, and they would fall away in anger and disdain. Many would see the signs that He would perform, showing that He was the Messiah, and they would oppose Him. Even Mary herself would be thrown aflutter by the might of Jesus' preaching – she would try to rein Him in, and He would dismiss her. Luke 8: Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” There's the Word of God, the Sword of the Spirit, piercing through mom and calling her to repentance. Because Jesus came not just to give warm fuzzies, not to give some vapid, cheap, empty comfort; He came to give the only real comfort and consolation that there is – victory over sin, death, and the devil. The True God has come, and there will be no other false gods allowed to remain in His presence, and He will cast down all idols from their vile thrones.

This is what Christ Jesus does even to this day, even here in this place. Christ Jesus comes in, and by His Word He will break your idols, He will pierce your hearts. There will be times – frequent times, if we are honest – when your old sinful flesh will fight against what Jesus says. Your flesh doesn't want consolation – it wants domination, it wants self-authority, it wants lusts and greed and covetous desires fulfilled. And Jesus comes with His word to cut that down, to crush it, to make your sinfulness fall to the ground defeated. But He has no desire to leave you there – no, Jesus comes not just for the fall of many, but for the fall and then the rising – the anastasis, the resurrection of many. And that is what He is doing for you – preparing you for death and resurrection. Most of you were brought to the house of God as a child, but not for a sacrifice, but for the gift of Holy Baptism – where the Name of the Triune God was placed upon you via water and the Word. In Baptism you were joined to Christ Jesus – and what does this baptism indicate, as the Catechism asks? It indicates that the old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. Christ Jesus has claimed you, and He cleanses you, and He washes you, and He presents you unto Himself redeemed, forgiven, without any spot or blemish, to be with Him for all eternity. And this is through death and resurrection. The daily dying to sin that is repentance, the daily rising to life that is the Spirit of God at work in you, bringing forth prayer and praise and good works – all of which points forward and prepares you for your full death and resurrection.

And until that day, until we see the consolation in full of beholding our LORD face to face with all the host of heaven, we come here, into God's House, awaiting that consolation. And Jesus comes to us – He comes bodily. Indeed, you approach this altar, this rail, and as assuredly as Simeon held His Savior, Christ Jesus is placed into your hands, upon your tongue – take and eat, this is the Body of Christ Jesus your Lord, given for you, for the remission of your sin, for consolation, for an increase of faith and love. And then we even sing with Simeon – Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace. Yep, we can die. We die peace, we die consoled, we die in Christ... and we will therefore rise with Christ. Because Christ Jesus, the true hope and comfort and consolation of the world has come – and indeed, He comes to you and for you, even this day. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Merry Christmas once again, my brothers and sisters in Christ. In the Name of Christ Jesus, our Newborn King + Amen.