WEBVTT 00:00:00.609 --> 00:00:03.149 Hello, you are listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:03.270 --> 00:00:06.230 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown Harrisburg. 00:00:06.849 --> 00:00:08.769 It's our hope that these sermons will draw you 00:00:08.769 --> 00:00:11.169 more into the life of following God, Father, 00:00:11.310 --> 00:00:14.150 Son and Holy Spirit. Please consider coming and 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:16.289 joining with us each Sunday morning at 10 a .m. 00:00:16.350 --> 00:00:18.809 in the heart of Midtown Harrisburg. You can find 00:00:18.809 --> 00:00:22.370 us online at secondcitychurch .org and on Facebook, 00:00:22.629 --> 00:00:25.030 Instagram and YouTube. We hope you enjoy this 00:00:25.030 --> 00:00:37.100 sermon. God bless. Now, God, as we heard the 00:00:37.100 --> 00:00:42.600 Holy Spirit speaking to Simeon long ago in this 00:00:42.600 --> 00:00:45.479 passage in Luke chapter 2, God, would you speak 00:00:45.479 --> 00:00:52.240 to us? Would you meet with us now? Would the 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:54.039 preaching of your word be for the blessing of 00:00:54.039 --> 00:00:58.250 your people? God, would you direct us and would 00:00:58.250 --> 00:01:00.929 we find our comfort and our peace and our joy 00:01:00.929 --> 00:01:06.370 in you? Amen. All right, I want you to take a 00:01:06.370 --> 00:01:08.930 moment and look at some of the stained glass 00:01:08.930 --> 00:01:22.150 around you, okay? Think about the work that went 00:01:22.150 --> 00:01:31.209 into creating that. So I read in a commentary, 00:01:31.670 --> 00:01:34.510 someone say that the first few chapters of Luke, 00:01:35.469 --> 00:01:37.909 in these first few chapters, Luke is kind of 00:01:37.909 --> 00:01:43.489 acting like this craftsman who's creating this 00:01:43.489 --> 00:01:46.230 beautiful picture for us, this stained glass 00:01:46.230 --> 00:01:49.689 picture. And he's taking these bits and he's 00:01:49.689 --> 00:01:53.269 staining them and he's breaking parts, you know, 00:01:53.269 --> 00:01:55.689 and he's then soldering them together. He's putting 00:01:55.689 --> 00:02:00.010 lead between them. and he's wanting to show forth 00:02:00.010 --> 00:02:04.129 part of the beauty that is Jesus through this 00:02:04.129 --> 00:02:08.069 painstaking craftsmanship and it's actually sort 00:02:08.069 --> 00:02:10.509 of in this moment when Jesus is presented in 00:02:10.509 --> 00:02:14.870 the temple that part of what part of the beauty 00:02:14.870 --> 00:02:17.210 is starting to shine forth at first is just kind 00:02:17.210 --> 00:02:19.050 of these little cracks and little pieces and 00:02:19.050 --> 00:02:21.270 they're kind of you know disparate and now he's 00:02:21.270 --> 00:02:23.270 kind of putting it together and he's saying look 00:02:24.129 --> 00:02:26.150 Well, Simeon says, for my eyes have seen, but 00:02:26.150 --> 00:02:29.250 it's not just for his eyes, but for the Gentiles, 00:02:29.250 --> 00:02:33.750 for all people, for the glory of Israel, a revelation 00:02:33.750 --> 00:02:39.949 for all. There's a story that's being told and 00:02:39.949 --> 00:02:43.289 it's shining out. This is actually what Simeon 00:02:43.289 --> 00:02:46.210 prays, right? Lord, now you're letting your servant 00:02:46.210 --> 00:02:48.789 depart in peace according to your word, for my 00:02:48.789 --> 00:02:54.759 eyes have seen your salvation. that you've prepared 00:02:54.759 --> 00:02:57.159 in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation 00:02:57.159 --> 00:02:59.860 to the Gentiles and for glory to your people 00:02:59.860 --> 00:03:04.840 Israel. His eyes have seen it. But here's the 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:07.740 thing, it's not just that the beauty is for his 00:03:07.740 --> 00:03:13.560 eyes, right? Beauty is for the world. It's to 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:15.819 be presented to all people. It's a light for 00:03:15.819 --> 00:03:18.360 the revelation of God to the world, to the Gentiles, 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:22.000 to the folk who are far off, right? Those who 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:23.800 are once aliens and strangers of the promises 00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:27.020 have been brought near by the grace of God. The 00:03:27.020 --> 00:03:30.460 glory of the story of Israel is seen for the 00:03:30.460 --> 00:03:35.879 world to behold the beauty of God. But here's 00:03:35.879 --> 00:03:37.939 the interesting thing. I think this is really, 00:03:37.939 --> 00:03:39.560 really interesting and I share this with our 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:41.340 senior saints lunch. So some of this is gonna 00:03:41.340 --> 00:03:46.050 be overlap for some of you. When Luke, wants 00:03:46.050 --> 00:03:49.409 to display this craftsmanship, this beauty, this 00:03:49.409 --> 00:03:51.870 thing that has been created for everybody to 00:03:51.870 --> 00:03:56.590 see, it's not quite the folk that we would expect 00:03:56.590 --> 00:03:59.430 that he goes to, to shine forth this beauty. 00:04:00.289 --> 00:04:02.210 If you remember, we actually looked at some of 00:04:02.210 --> 00:04:05.069 this in our adult Sunday school this morning, 00:04:05.430 --> 00:04:07.750 the story of the Magi, these guys from the East 00:04:07.750 --> 00:04:12.050 come. And maybe they came with the pomp and circumstance 00:04:12.050 --> 00:04:15.509 that we have in our Christmas plays and stuff 00:04:15.509 --> 00:04:18.470 like that with all decked out. Well, certainly 00:04:18.470 --> 00:04:20.129 they were probably well to do because the gifts 00:04:20.129 --> 00:04:22.769 that they offered. When they come from the East, 00:04:22.889 --> 00:04:26.129 because they've seen the star, they go to Jerusalem, 00:04:27.370 --> 00:04:30.790 the main city. They get the court of the king. 00:04:31.290 --> 00:04:34.430 He questions them. He summons them. That's who 00:04:34.430 --> 00:04:37.970 they're talking to, right? That's what you'd 00:04:37.970 --> 00:04:42.050 maybe expect. Expect the story to be told to 00:04:42.050 --> 00:04:46.730 those kind of folk. But when Luke kind of puts 00:04:46.730 --> 00:04:49.769 it all together and he says, look, do you see 00:04:49.769 --> 00:04:54.889 what I see? He's not going there. Said he kind 00:04:54.889 --> 00:05:00.029 of goes to the unexpected. What we get here is 00:05:00.029 --> 00:05:03.569 when Luke begins to tell how the birth of this 00:05:03.569 --> 00:05:05.750 little Christ child is going to be the shining 00:05:05.750 --> 00:05:09.029 light for the world. this beautiful thing that 00:05:09.029 --> 00:05:11.649 is going to be the grace of God for the far off. 00:05:13.189 --> 00:05:19.250 What we see is that he goes to the elderly, to 00:05:19.250 --> 00:05:21.709 the older folk, to two older folks specifically, 00:05:22.250 --> 00:05:24.790 Simeon and Anna. So the last couple of weeks 00:05:24.790 --> 00:05:27.310 we've been, I was suggesting that we're kind 00:05:27.310 --> 00:05:29.329 of, there's these fatherly figures, these father 00:05:29.329 --> 00:05:31.819 figures in the. birth narratives. So we looked 00:05:31.819 --> 00:05:34.720 at quiet Joseph, right, a couple weeks back. 00:05:35.220 --> 00:05:37.800 Last week we looked at Zachariah, the one who 00:05:37.800 --> 00:05:41.579 was made to be quiet out of his unbelief, demanding 00:05:41.579 --> 00:05:44.699 a sign. And this morning I want to look at this 00:05:44.699 --> 00:05:49.220 other fatherly figure, and actually this motherly 00:05:49.220 --> 00:05:52.379 figure too, Simeon and Anna. And as far as we 00:05:52.379 --> 00:05:54.079 know, they don't have, they probably actually 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:58.319 didn't have biological children, but know that 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:02.379 they have spiritual children. And just as many 00:06:02.379 --> 00:06:04.399 sort of in our own church may not have biological 00:06:04.399 --> 00:06:06.079 children yet, there's many spiritual children. 00:06:06.500 --> 00:06:08.959 And I think that when we look at this, we actually 00:06:08.959 --> 00:06:12.519 see part of the beauty of the good news that 00:06:12.519 --> 00:06:14.160 Luke is presenting to us, okay, when we look 00:06:14.160 --> 00:06:16.420 at these two figures. So first, the fatherly 00:06:16.420 --> 00:06:20.680 figure Simeon. Simeon, like neither of these 00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:23.540 figures, we get like this whole bunch of information 00:06:23.540 --> 00:06:25.160 about them, but we know that he was righteous 00:06:25.160 --> 00:06:28.480 and devout. And specifically, we are told that 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:33.180 he was waiting for the consolation of Israel. 00:06:33.399 --> 00:06:37.480 It's waiting for Israel to be consoled. Desiring 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:40.740 consolation, waiting for consolation. And of 00:06:40.740 --> 00:06:43.339 course you can think about this in terms of Israel 00:06:43.339 --> 00:06:45.240 as a whole. They're waiting, you know, they've 00:06:45.240 --> 00:06:47.420 been waiting for a long time. You could even 00:06:47.420 --> 00:06:48.860 say in some ways that the world had been waiting 00:06:48.860 --> 00:06:50.920 for a long time. I mean there's the prophecy 00:06:50.920 --> 00:06:53.300 long ago in Genesis chapter 3 that there'd be 00:06:53.300 --> 00:06:55.240 a child that would be born of the woman who would 00:06:55.240 --> 00:06:59.610 crush. that conniving lying deceitful serpent 00:06:59.610 --> 00:07:02.089 in some ways we've all right the whole world 00:07:02.089 --> 00:07:06.230 is desiring consolation and it's been a long 00:07:06.230 --> 00:07:08.550 time coming but of course israel's also been 00:07:08.550 --> 00:07:11.490 waiting a long time we've talked about this recently 00:07:11.490 --> 00:07:16.129 israel desiring the true king on the throne yet 00:07:16.129 --> 00:07:19.829 one event after another event after another event 00:07:19.829 --> 00:07:25.149 only aggravates the desire for consolation but 00:07:25.149 --> 00:07:29.420 um But this is also true in Simeon's particular 00:07:29.420 --> 00:07:30.759 life. So you could consider the whole world, 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:32.620 you could consider the story of Israel, but you 00:07:32.620 --> 00:07:35.800 could also just consider the story of Simeon. 00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:41.420 This whole prayer of Simeon, it begins, Lord, 00:07:42.139 --> 00:07:45.199 now you're letting your servant depart in peace, 00:07:45.939 --> 00:07:49.379 which at least invites us into the idea that 00:07:49.379 --> 00:07:53.420 his life was not one of peace. I mean, he's desiring 00:07:53.420 --> 00:07:55.740 consolation and he's saying, now finally I can 00:07:55.740 --> 00:08:01.040 depart peace. His life had likely not been one 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:05.060 of peace, but rather of desiring it. He'd been 00:08:05.060 --> 00:08:07.980 waiting his whole long life with the world and 00:08:07.980 --> 00:08:11.180 with Israel for this consolation. And it's not 00:08:11.180 --> 00:08:14.740 hard for you to think through your own life and 00:08:14.740 --> 00:08:17.319 the different stages of life of how... sort of 00:08:17.319 --> 00:08:21.959 the desire gets aggravated. The long life builds, 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:26.040 time elapses, and the desire, the consolation 00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:28.319 of life, the consolation of God, the peace of 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:32.840 God seems to grow, the desire for that. From 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:36.919 early on in life, we find a deep desire for consolation. 00:08:39.720 --> 00:08:42.200 I'm trying to think of when this begins. No doubt 00:08:42.200 --> 00:08:44.360 it begins earlier, but maybe one of the first 00:08:44.360 --> 00:08:46.419 stages that it really seems to be present is 00:08:46.419 --> 00:08:49.940 just in the odd social awkwardness of middle 00:08:49.940 --> 00:08:52.500 school. You know that time where you're just 00:08:52.500 --> 00:08:54.659 like, I just wish that I felt like I knew my 00:08:54.659 --> 00:08:57.899 people and they knew me and where am I and can 00:08:57.899 --> 00:09:06.340 I just have some peace socially? Then, you know, 00:09:06.340 --> 00:09:11.419 it kind of, it doesn't really stop. I used to 00:09:11.419 --> 00:09:13.100 tell college students when I was doing campus 00:09:13.100 --> 00:09:15.139 ministry that they should just fill out a three 00:09:15.139 --> 00:09:17.039 by five card and hand it to people because when 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:20.419 you're meeting somebody, you'd be like, oh, where 00:09:20.419 --> 00:09:22.679 are you from? What are you majoring? What are 00:09:22.679 --> 00:09:24.659 you going to do? It's like this incessant question 00:09:24.659 --> 00:09:26.259 of what's your life going to be? And you're like, 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:27.820 I don't know. I just want consolation because 00:09:27.820 --> 00:09:29.519 I actually don't have any peace in my own mind. 00:09:29.659 --> 00:09:32.059 And I've got to give you the answer to this mess 00:09:32.059 --> 00:09:36.899 of what's happening up here. It keeps going, 00:09:36.899 --> 00:09:39.820 of course, early in your marriage. You are not 00:09:39.820 --> 00:09:43.679 only faith the fact that your spouse is actually 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:48.919 not rose -colored it's just hormones and Neither 00:09:48.919 --> 00:09:51.440 are you right? You've come face to face with 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:54.720 the reality that actually you are so messed up 00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:58.519 and so are they and the consolation the desire 00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:05.600 for consolation peace grows Your sin becomes 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:09.659 more defined It's easier to see partly because 00:10:09.659 --> 00:10:14.039 somebody else is pointing it out sometimes by 00:10:14.039 --> 00:10:18.320 God's grace. But then, of course, as you continue 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:22.240 on in life, often we experience miscarriages. 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:27.080 Children are lost in car accidents. Children 00:10:27.080 --> 00:10:30.659 are estranged. Friends disown us. We move. We 00:10:30.659 --> 00:10:33.139 have to make new friends. Ups and downs of financial 00:10:33.139 --> 00:10:36.940 difficulties. You find yourself looking for a 00:10:36.940 --> 00:10:38.720 new job, you know, and it seems like all they 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:40.220 want is the young people that know how to do 00:10:40.220 --> 00:10:43.580 like AI, whatever that still is, right, wherever 00:10:43.580 --> 00:10:49.059 the tech savvy folk. And of course, we can just 00:10:49.059 --> 00:10:51.179 list our own ways. It seems like the desire for 00:10:51.179 --> 00:10:55.179 consolation grows and grows as the years pass. 00:10:56.940 --> 00:10:59.279 And here's something that is deeply, deeply important 00:10:59.279 --> 00:11:01.519 that I think is actually one of the significant 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:03.720 lessons that we learn in this account here in 00:11:03.720 --> 00:11:06.990 Luke. is that this is not just for those who 00:11:06.990 --> 00:11:10.009 are outside of the people of God. That's not 00:11:10.009 --> 00:11:13.669 the case in this passage. The desire for consolation 00:11:13.669 --> 00:11:15.610 and for peace in this story is for the people 00:11:15.610 --> 00:11:18.129 that are absolutely under the care and love of 00:11:18.129 --> 00:11:21.850 the Lord, attentive to His ways and know His 00:11:21.850 --> 00:11:24.090 law and are present in the temple and are worshiping 00:11:24.090 --> 00:11:26.149 Him and giving their life to Him. They're the 00:11:26.149 --> 00:11:31.269 ones that are desiring consolation, finally saying, 00:11:31.269 --> 00:11:35.690 we can depart in peace. Think about this, okay? 00:11:36.509 --> 00:11:42.169 We see this first in the parents of Jesus. So 00:11:42.169 --> 00:11:43.889 it says, they're not really, they're not the 00:11:43.889 --> 00:11:46.950 main figures here, but it says that they bring 00:11:46.950 --> 00:11:50.169 what was according to what was said in the law 00:11:50.169 --> 00:11:52.190 of the Lord. That's what verse 24 tells us. And 00:11:52.190 --> 00:11:54.809 then it tells, they brought a pair of turtle 00:11:54.809 --> 00:11:57.809 doves or two young pigeons. So again, we talked 00:11:57.809 --> 00:11:59.370 about this in our adult Sunday school. What does 00:11:59.370 --> 00:12:04.809 that mean? They were among the poorest. of Israel, 00:12:05.110 --> 00:12:08.710 among the poorest of God's people, which is to 00:12:08.710 --> 00:12:10.710 say they knew the hard life, life of struggle 00:12:10.710 --> 00:12:14.450 for food and maybe housing. And that's what so 00:12:14.450 --> 00:12:17.789 often happens among the poor that likely affected 00:12:17.789 --> 00:12:19.570 their physical health and their mental health, 00:12:19.669 --> 00:12:23.230 right? This is Mary and Joseph, part of God's 00:12:23.230 --> 00:12:27.809 people, spoken to in dreams and by angels. and 00:12:27.809 --> 00:12:30.889 they are not immune from the dynamic of desiring 00:12:30.889 --> 00:12:36.049 consolation and desiring peace. But this desire 00:12:36.049 --> 00:12:37.669 for consolation and peace within the people of 00:12:37.669 --> 00:12:41.409 God is also highlighted when we look at Simeon. 00:12:42.470 --> 00:12:47.110 So the first thing we read about Simeon is not 00:12:47.110 --> 00:12:51.090 that he was desiring the consolation of Israel, 00:12:51.129 --> 00:12:52.509 but the first thing that we read was that he 00:12:52.509 --> 00:12:56.129 was righteous and devout. And then we read in 00:12:56.129 --> 00:12:59.700 verse 26, that the Holy Spirit had revealed to 00:12:59.700 --> 00:13:02.440 him that he would not see death until he'd seen 00:13:02.440 --> 00:13:05.299 the Lord's Christ. Verse 27 tells us that Simeon 00:13:05.299 --> 00:13:08.299 came in spirit to the temple, which is to say 00:13:08.299 --> 00:13:11.080 this man who desired consolation, that wanted 00:13:11.080 --> 00:13:15.519 peace, that wanted a life where God actually 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:19.240 met his sorrows with God's consolation, was somebody 00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:21.080 that was led by the Holy Spirit, indwelled by 00:13:21.080 --> 00:13:23.860 the Holy Spirit. This is, you know, if you could 00:13:23.860 --> 00:13:26.279 say this is one of the leaders of God's people. 00:13:27.129 --> 00:13:29.629 And he's living the life that you're living that 00:13:29.629 --> 00:13:32.529 seems to be sorrow aggravated by sorrow aggravated 00:13:32.529 --> 00:13:36.789 by sorrow, desiring consolation. And this is 00:13:36.789 --> 00:13:39.710 an important lesson that we learn here. And unfortunately, 00:13:39.970 --> 00:13:41.830 honestly, it's a lesson that lots of Christians 00:13:41.830 --> 00:13:44.610 want to shun and say, ah, you come to God, you've 00:13:44.610 --> 00:13:46.250 just got your life to get, you get your life 00:13:46.250 --> 00:13:48.350 together. He's just gonna, your life's gonna 00:13:48.350 --> 00:13:51.950 be fine. And here we find these saints near the 00:13:51.950 --> 00:13:55.240 end of their life. Desiring consolation, desiring 00:13:55.240 --> 00:13:57.379 peace, because they had known such deep sorrow, 00:13:57.519 --> 00:14:01.419 no doubt. Even the devout and the faithful and 00:14:01.419 --> 00:14:05.799 those who are led by the Spirit ache for peace, 00:14:06.080 --> 00:14:14.100 desire, consolation. Which leads me to this. 00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:19.659 One of the graces that God has given to this 00:14:19.659 --> 00:14:24.860 church is our elderly. fathers and mothers of 00:14:24.860 --> 00:14:28.879 the faith. Let me say this, because I want particularly 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:31.580 you elderly to hear this. One of the graces God, 00:14:31.580 --> 00:14:35.320 do I need new batteries? Am I cutting in and 00:14:35.320 --> 00:14:39.759 out a little bit? No, okay, no. One of the graces 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:44.440 God gives to our church is the elderly. You older 00:14:44.440 --> 00:14:49.379 folk among us, you are God's gift to us. The 00:14:49.379 --> 00:14:56.299 long faithful, you know? Ed Camp had his birthday 00:14:56.299 --> 00:15:02.700 a couple days ago. If you know Ed, if you've 00:15:02.700 --> 00:15:04.480 sat with him, you know that his life has been 00:15:04.480 --> 00:15:07.159 one of sorrow on sorrow, some really deep tragic 00:15:07.159 --> 00:15:10.440 sorrows. Some of you know that one of his boys 00:15:10.440 --> 00:15:13.879 was killed in a car accident years and years 00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:17.320 ago. He had gone out to the shore with some friends 00:15:17.320 --> 00:15:20.940 in his early 20s and on their way back was hit 00:15:20.940 --> 00:15:25.620 and died in a car accident. You know Ed and you've 00:15:25.620 --> 00:15:27.659 talked with them recently, you know, what an 00:15:27.659 --> 00:15:31.159 utter Challenge these last few years have been 00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:32.840 these last three and a half years since his wife 00:15:32.840 --> 00:15:40.120 Anna passed away They met in high school And 00:15:40.120 --> 00:15:42.700 he loved her dearly and they were married what 00:15:42.700 --> 00:15:45.460 62 years I think it was or something like that 00:15:45.460 --> 00:15:47.100 Maybe they were part of the church. I forget 00:15:47.100 --> 00:15:53.019 what how long it was exactly and yet Ed is holding 00:15:53.019 --> 00:15:58.340 fast to Jesus. You know, he's one of the long 00:15:58.340 --> 00:16:06.799 faithful ones. Sorrow upon sorrow, desiring consolation, 00:16:07.500 --> 00:16:13.559 desiring peace, and holding fast to Jesus. Many 00:16:13.559 --> 00:16:15.799 of you know our dear sister Donna Weatherly has 00:16:15.799 --> 00:16:19.279 been having a difficult time. She's in a rehab 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:21.779 on the west shore. and hasn't been able to be 00:16:21.779 --> 00:16:25.279 present with us, she's holding fast to Jesus. 00:16:26.059 --> 00:16:28.720 And what a gift and what a grace of God to us 00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:33.740 all. Fathers and mothers in the faith, you are 00:16:33.740 --> 00:16:37.539 a grace to us from God. You are a gift to us. 00:16:41.620 --> 00:16:45.279 Your long life of bearing sorrow, your long life 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:50.399 of desiring consolation, You're aching for peace 00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:54.100 and looking to God as the giver of it is one 00:16:54.100 --> 00:16:56.779 of the greatest gifts that we have as a church. 00:16:59.139 --> 00:17:01.899 To be greeted by Dot Fisher after she hasn't 00:17:01.899 --> 00:17:04.180 been with us is a gift, right? Especially when 00:17:04.180 --> 00:17:06.319 she gives you a big bear hug. Especially when 00:17:06.319 --> 00:17:08.099 you know why she hasn't been with us is because 00:17:08.099 --> 00:17:10.440 often when the weather is not well, she is not 00:17:10.440 --> 00:17:15.339 well. And she still desires the Lord and the 00:17:15.339 --> 00:17:18.089 peace that comes from him. in the midst of a 00:17:18.089 --> 00:17:22.490 body that's not always working well. Gordon, 00:17:24.569 --> 00:17:29.089 your bearing your cancer, your lung cancer, right 00:17:29.089 --> 00:17:31.769 after you retired was such a gift to me those 00:17:31.769 --> 00:17:35.349 years ago. But even more, Elaine and Gordon, 00:17:35.430 --> 00:17:38.849 you together, trusting the Lord in the midst 00:17:38.849 --> 00:17:42.410 of Elaine's cancer, spoke to every one of us. 00:17:43.369 --> 00:17:46.430 It was a gift. Your long faithfulness is a gift 00:17:46.430 --> 00:17:53.670 to us. This is part of the lesson of this passage. 00:17:54.470 --> 00:17:57.769 The long desire for consolation and looking to 00:17:57.769 --> 00:18:01.490 the Lord for our peace, the long faithful, the 00:18:01.490 --> 00:18:04.009 long faithful fathers and mothers are the gift 00:18:04.009 --> 00:18:08.069 of God to the people of God. And they train us 00:18:08.069 --> 00:18:10.589 in the way, in His ways, they are truly fathers 00:18:10.589 --> 00:18:15.200 and mothers for us. As we age, And at each stage 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:17.859 of our aging, here's another lesson that we need 00:18:17.859 --> 00:18:22.819 to hear. We need the gift of the long faithful 00:18:22.819 --> 00:18:24.839 and the elderly among us. But I also want to 00:18:24.839 --> 00:18:27.119 suggest to you this, we need the gift of those 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:30.619 who are just beyond us. You didn't know what 00:18:30.619 --> 00:18:35.160 I mean? You like high school or college age folk, 00:18:35.640 --> 00:18:39.119 our children need to see that Jesus can be followed 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:44.529 at the next stage, right? you high school college 00:18:44.529 --> 00:18:48.390 age students, you need young adults who are trying 00:18:48.390 --> 00:18:50.549 to figure out like, what do I do in my like, 00:18:50.549 --> 00:18:52.589 you know, post college life? What does singleness 00:18:52.589 --> 00:18:54.690 look like? How do I faithfully follow Jesus in 00:18:54.690 --> 00:18:58.130 the midst of like desiring a spouse maybe, or 00:18:58.130 --> 00:19:00.349 trying to figure out what my job is like. In 00:19:00.349 --> 00:19:04.369 the midst of that confusion, and actually following 00:19:04.369 --> 00:19:05.849 Jesus in the midst of that confusion, you are 00:19:05.849 --> 00:19:08.089 a grace to the people that are right behind you. 00:19:08.369 --> 00:19:15.529 It can be done, right? Or think of you couples, 00:19:16.549 --> 00:19:18.490 maybe you've recently been married or something 00:19:18.490 --> 00:19:21.509 and you're like, I think we want children. That 00:19:21.509 --> 00:19:24.369 sounds like a good idea. That sounds unbelievably 00:19:24.369 --> 00:19:27.670 stressful. And I'll just tell you it is. And 00:19:27.670 --> 00:19:30.009 it can be done because the Lord is kind and He 00:19:30.009 --> 00:19:33.569 is gracious. Right? And in the midst of your 00:19:33.569 --> 00:19:36.910 questioning, actually seeing people just ahead 00:19:36.910 --> 00:19:38.849 of you saying, you know what? God can be followed 00:19:38.849 --> 00:19:45.759 now. The long act of faith can be done. You empty 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:52.660 nesters are God's gift to me because I am often 00:19:52.660 --> 00:19:54.740 shook up by the idea of that stage of life because 00:19:54.740 --> 00:19:56.960 it sort of feels like the next major stage in 00:19:56.960 --> 00:20:00.640 my life. There is a great gift of being in this 00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:02.319 body of Christ where we have fathers and mothers 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:04.400 going ahead of us and saying, follow Jesus to 00:20:04.400 --> 00:20:08.940 the end. Follow him to the end. The consolation 00:20:08.940 --> 00:20:14.160 will be met. with the peace of God. Simeon is 00:20:14.160 --> 00:20:16.759 a father in the faith instructing us in our sorrow 00:20:16.759 --> 00:20:21.660 to lay it all on the God of peace. And many of 00:20:21.660 --> 00:20:25.960 you are that to us as a church. Many of you can 00:20:25.960 --> 00:20:30.019 be that to those that come after you. God is 00:20:30.019 --> 00:20:34.059 creating this beautiful piece of art. And often, 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:36.920 if you looked about it, you're like, those are 00:20:36.920 --> 00:20:41.420 pieces that were probably broken. Maybe crushed 00:20:41.420 --> 00:20:46.259 a little bit, chipped off on a side. Maybe when 00:20:46.259 --> 00:20:47.440 it was laying out on the table, you're like, 00:20:47.460 --> 00:20:51.599 what is this mess? And then he puts it up for 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:55.559 the world to see and he said, oh my word, it's 00:20:55.559 --> 00:20:59.839 a light to enlighten the world, to bring peace. 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:08.279 He is creating something lovely. One of the greatest 00:21:08.279 --> 00:21:11.380 witnesses you give to the world is through your 00:21:11.380 --> 00:21:15.460 long faithfulness to the Lord. Your long faithfulness 00:21:15.460 --> 00:21:18.240 in a life of sorrow desiring his consolation. 00:21:18.859 --> 00:21:22.460 So then we have the story of Anna, right? Again, 00:21:22.460 --> 00:21:26.839 we actually don't learn a lot about Anna. I mean, 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:28.440 we have the little bit at the beginning, her 00:21:28.440 --> 00:21:30.440 family lineage and stuff like that, but we don't 00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:32.960 get a lot. We don't get a lot about Simeon. We 00:21:32.960 --> 00:21:37.119 don't get a lot about Anna. And in some ways 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:39.299 what we have about, Anna is similar to what we 00:21:39.299 --> 00:21:41.819 have about Simeon, which is to say it's just 00:21:41.819 --> 00:21:46.579 this little glimpse into a long life that was 00:21:46.579 --> 00:21:52.180 probably often marked by sorrow, desiring consolation. 00:21:56.099 --> 00:21:59.019 Look down at verse 36 if you have it open. The 00:21:59.019 --> 00:22:00.859 second part there, it says, she was advanced 00:22:00.859 --> 00:22:04.240 in years. having lived with her husband seven 00:22:04.240 --> 00:22:07.400 years from when she was a virgin, meaning that 00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:11.160 they were married for seven years. Which means 00:22:11.160 --> 00:22:13.779 that, you know, at that time, very likely she 00:22:13.779 --> 00:22:17.059 would have been married like mid -teens. Say 00:22:17.059 --> 00:22:18.759 she was married when she was 15, 16, you know, 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:21.160 she was married until she was in her early 20s. 00:22:21.519 --> 00:22:24.140 That's probably what it was. And then it says, 00:22:25.799 --> 00:22:29.000 Verse 37, and then, as a widow, until she was 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:31.680 84. Here's an interesting thing. Actually, the 00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:33.500 Greek is not as clear as the English says there. 00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:36.359 It says, so we get the sense from that that in 00:22:36.359 --> 00:22:39.920 this passage, she's 84. That's possibly what 00:22:39.920 --> 00:22:42.599 it was. It could mean that she lived 84 more 00:22:42.599 --> 00:22:45.700 years after the passing of her husband. We actually 00:22:45.700 --> 00:22:47.140 could be dealing with somebody that's in her 00:22:47.140 --> 00:22:50.200 early hundreds. Honestly, we're not totally sure 00:22:50.200 --> 00:22:56.539 what it is, but the point remains. She lived 00:22:56.539 --> 00:23:01.859 decades upon decades as a widow, having lost 00:23:01.859 --> 00:23:06.200 the love of her life. And isn't that actually, 00:23:06.500 --> 00:23:08.380 isn't that what's happening here, right? This 00:23:08.380 --> 00:23:12.240 long waiting God, bring your comfort and your 00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:17.680 consolation into the midst of our sorrow. And 00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:20.319 this passage again, it shows us her devotion. 00:23:22.460 --> 00:23:27.180 She did not depart. This next part of verse 37, 00:23:27.180 --> 00:23:29.180 she did not depart from the temple worshiping 00:23:29.180 --> 00:23:32.140 with fasting and prayer night and day. It's not 00:23:32.140 --> 00:23:34.460 that she probably had like a tent there, but 00:23:34.460 --> 00:23:36.980 she spent all of her days there, which also indicates 00:23:36.980 --> 00:23:39.420 to us that she very likely did not have family. 00:23:42.420 --> 00:23:45.380 We're invited into this deeper story of sorrow, 00:23:46.099 --> 00:23:49.980 and we're invited into seeing that again, she's 00:23:49.980 --> 00:23:53.289 devout. She's a prophetess, it says. That would 00:23:53.289 --> 00:23:54.690 have been a teacher. She would have been outside 00:23:54.690 --> 00:23:57.710 the temple talking about God with people, telling 00:23:57.710 --> 00:24:01.230 them about the Old Testament, right? Verse 38 00:24:01.230 --> 00:24:03.470 says, and coming up at that very hour, she began 00:24:03.470 --> 00:24:06.630 to give thanks to God and to speak of Him to 00:24:06.630 --> 00:24:09.130 all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem, 00:24:09.670 --> 00:24:13.109 just devout. Her life was marked by sorrow upon 00:24:13.109 --> 00:24:17.390 sorrow. She too was waiting, long waiting for 00:24:17.390 --> 00:24:26.960 consolation. Which is, again, to say this, your 00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:35.160 gray hairs and your aching joints, your arthritic 00:24:35.160 --> 00:24:39.819 bones are welcome in the fellowship of Jesus. 00:24:40.980 --> 00:24:45.900 He delights in it. He actually teaches us through 00:24:45.900 --> 00:24:50.819 you, even in your aching. your long sorrow of 00:24:50.819 --> 00:24:53.200 lost loved ones and your clinging to the promises 00:24:53.200 --> 00:24:58.079 of God might be the exact place, might be the 00:24:58.079 --> 00:25:02.380 exact thing that God uses to teach others. It 00:25:02.380 --> 00:25:08.180 often is, actually. They're often the exact places 00:25:08.180 --> 00:25:11.740 where God is taking broken things and saying, 00:25:12.039 --> 00:25:15.880 look at the beauty of my grace. Look at my love 00:25:15.880 --> 00:25:20.799 and my kindness. Look at this beautiful painting 00:25:20.799 --> 00:25:23.099 that I'm displaying for generations to come. 00:25:23.160 --> 00:25:25.519 Look at the light that's shining through them. 00:25:29.099 --> 00:25:31.359 But let me sort of end by coming to the little 00:25:31.359 --> 00:25:34.839 paragraph that actually joins these two stories. 00:25:34.920 --> 00:25:37.359 Did you notice that? There's this kind of story 00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:40.759 of Simeon and then it kind of jumps down to Anna 00:25:40.759 --> 00:25:42.079 and there's this little paragraph in between 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:43.920 that sort of joins them together. I mean, Simeon 00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:46.539 does speak, but... but here's what it says, verse 00:25:46.539 --> 00:25:50.019 33 to 35, and his father and his mother, that's 00:25:50.019 --> 00:25:52.740 Mary and Joseph, marveled at what was said about 00:25:52.740 --> 00:25:55.359 him and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary 00:25:55.359 --> 00:26:00.240 his mother, and I think this is very likely because 00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:03.180 we don't believe that Joseph lived into Jesus' 00:26:03.339 --> 00:26:05.440 adulthood because he's not mentioned when Mary 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:08.000 and his brothers are mentioned later on, behold 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:10.440 this child is appointed for the fallen rising 00:26:10.440 --> 00:26:13.819 of many in Israel and for a sign that is opposed 00:26:14.380 --> 00:26:18.000 and a sword will pierce through your own soul 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:22.940 also." So that thoughts from many hearts may 00:26:22.940 --> 00:26:26.859 be revealed. That sounds maybe cryptic. But what 00:26:26.859 --> 00:26:31.839 we find is that the beauty of this brilliant 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:36.599 story that God is shining into the world is where 00:26:36.599 --> 00:26:41.839 he knows the sorrow, the parental sorrow. Mary. 00:26:42.860 --> 00:26:47.079 A sword will pierce through your soul also. And 00:26:47.079 --> 00:26:49.319 that's where we see actually the beauty of the 00:26:49.319 --> 00:26:52.220 gospel of Jesus is when the sword pierces through 00:26:52.220 --> 00:26:54.440 the soul of Mary. When does the sword pierce 00:26:54.440 --> 00:26:58.240 through the soul of Mary? I guarantee you it's 00:26:58.240 --> 00:27:02.799 when she is watching Jesus on the cross. Is there 00:27:02.799 --> 00:27:05.660 a greater sorrow that a mother could experience 00:27:05.660 --> 00:27:10.319 with their own child in agony upon a cross dying 00:27:10.319 --> 00:27:13.480 right in front of them? I guarantee you, that's 00:27:13.480 --> 00:27:19.839 when the sword pierces her soul. It's gotta be 00:27:19.839 --> 00:27:24.339 it. Which is to say, right here in the midst 00:27:24.339 --> 00:27:28.640 of this story of simian desire and consolation, 00:27:28.940 --> 00:27:30.640 I'm saying I long for peace and I can finally 00:27:30.640 --> 00:27:32.720 depart in it because I see this child right before 00:27:32.720 --> 00:27:37.299 me. And in Anna's own story of long sorrow, the 00:27:37.299 --> 00:27:41.000 linchpin of all of it, is the fact that God is 00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:43.940 not distant from it, right? That's why they have 00:27:43.940 --> 00:27:47.759 consolation. It's the unique thing about Christianity. 00:27:49.339 --> 00:27:53.720 It is. That God not just knows sorrow, but becomes 00:27:53.720 --> 00:27:57.559 part of the sorrow. He's not just far off looking 00:27:57.559 --> 00:27:59.680 down upon you thinking, oh, I'm so sorry you're 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:02.859 going through all that. But he goes to the place 00:28:02.859 --> 00:28:06.259 of the cross. Takes our sin upon him. He goes 00:28:06.259 --> 00:28:10.640 to the place of pain. His mother's own pain, 00:28:11.160 --> 00:28:13.720 the sorrow of the world, for the life of the 00:28:13.720 --> 00:28:17.200 world. To say that the hope that we have in our 00:28:17.200 --> 00:28:20.599 lives, in our lives as young children, our lives 00:28:20.599 --> 00:28:24.240 as young adults, our lives as young parents or 00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:30.059 senior citizens, is that when God comes to us, 00:28:30.779 --> 00:28:34.200 He comes to us Himself and goes to the place 00:28:34.200 --> 00:28:38.410 of sorrow Himself and suffers. that we might 00:28:38.410 --> 00:28:44.289 have consolation. He's not distant from it, he's 00:28:44.289 --> 00:28:47.869 not divorced from it, he's not so far away as 00:28:47.869 --> 00:28:50.309 a God distant, but he comes to the very place 00:28:50.309 --> 00:28:52.609 of sorrow that we might know his consolation. 00:28:54.250 --> 00:28:59.470 Which, let me end with this, is to say, I bet, 00:29:00.029 --> 00:29:04.670 I bet there are people that went to Simeon and 00:29:04.670 --> 00:29:06.470 to Anna. They're at the temple and Anna's this 00:29:06.470 --> 00:29:08.869 teacher, right? And Simeon, obviously, is teaching 00:29:08.869 --> 00:29:11.450 too. He's got this prayer that we remember as 00:29:11.450 --> 00:29:14.289 the Nunc de Midas, which is prayed, by the way, 00:29:14.430 --> 00:29:17.289 every evening in complying prayer in many traditions. 00:29:17.609 --> 00:29:19.410 Some of you use the Book of Common Prayer. That's 00:29:19.410 --> 00:29:22.910 at the end of every day. So he's still teaching 00:29:22.910 --> 00:29:25.730 us, which is awesome. But I bet as they were 00:29:25.730 --> 00:29:27.470 there at the temple, no doubt people would come 00:29:27.470 --> 00:29:28.910 to them, as some of you have come to me and say, 00:29:28.930 --> 00:29:31.670 why does God allow such pain and sorrow in our 00:29:31.670 --> 00:29:37.519 lives? Right? I mean, who doesn't ask that question 00:29:37.519 --> 00:29:40.500 in that time? And my guess is what they would 00:29:40.500 --> 00:29:43.759 have said is actually the same answer that I 00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:47.880 often get, which is I don't really know. I mean, 00:29:48.680 --> 00:29:52.380 the Bible doesn't exactly tell us why you experience 00:29:52.380 --> 00:29:54.700 the particular sorrows that you experience, why 00:29:54.700 --> 00:30:00.660 we wait so long for consolation. Maybe Simeon 00:30:00.660 --> 00:30:03.059 and Anna met them and said, I know that I know 00:30:03.059 --> 00:30:06.579 the long waiting and it was painful You know, 00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:08.740 they knew that so they could they could talk 00:30:08.740 --> 00:30:10.720 to people about their own experience, but they 00:30:10.720 --> 00:30:14.660 probably don't know the exact answers But on 00:30:14.660 --> 00:30:18.660 this side of the cross what we can say is That 00:30:18.660 --> 00:30:21.779 Christianity and Jesus unlike any other good 00:30:21.779 --> 00:30:24.799 news that you will have on offer says God knows 00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:29.059 it God knows what you're going through God knows 00:30:29.059 --> 00:30:32.000 your long desire for consolation and for peace 00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:34.880 and he goes into the midst of a broken world 00:30:34.880 --> 00:30:37.339 and he goes through the cross and through the 00:30:37.339 --> 00:30:41.000 empty tomb to say it is not the end of the story. 00:30:42.759 --> 00:30:46.720 Consolation will come. His light will shine into 00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:50.740 the darkness of the world. His peace will come 00:30:50.740 --> 00:30:54.680 into this messed up world. This is the good news 00:30:54.680 --> 00:30:57.880 of the gospel. that Jesus meets the long waiting, 00:30:58.220 --> 00:31:00.980 the desiring for consolation, the ones who want 00:31:00.980 --> 00:31:05.359 peace. And then Jesus says, it's on offer. Give 00:31:05.359 --> 00:31:07.960 my life for you that you might have life. That's 00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:10.119 the good news of Christianity. That's the good 00:31:10.119 --> 00:31:14.019 news of our season that Jesus knows our long 00:31:14.019 --> 00:31:17.279 waiting and he comes to bring us his peace. Amen. 00:31:18.519 --> 00:31:21.880 Amen. Lord God, thanks for the fathers and mothers 00:31:21.880 --> 00:31:24.339 of the faith. Thank you for Simeon and Anna. 00:31:25.579 --> 00:31:33.700 Thank you for Mary and Ed. Thank you for Donna 00:31:33.700 --> 00:31:41.400 and Gordon. So many others, Lord. Gotta pray 00:31:41.400 --> 00:31:47.059 that we would live the long, faithful road. It 00:31:47.059 --> 00:31:50.740 is very hard. And it is long and it's waiting. 00:31:51.700 --> 00:31:54.640 And we desire your consolation. We desire peace. 00:31:58.130 --> 00:32:00.609 And sometimes it feels like we keep waiting, 00:32:01.410 --> 00:32:04.430 God. But Lord, more than anything, we say thank 00:32:04.430 --> 00:32:09.470 you for the Lord Jesus, not only whose mother 00:32:09.470 --> 00:32:12.230 was pierced with sorrow, but you, Lord Jesus, 00:32:12.450 --> 00:32:15.369 yourself were pierced, stricken, smitten, and 00:32:15.369 --> 00:32:19.210 afflicted for us. We bless you, Lord, that you 00:32:19.210 --> 00:32:22.309 not remain a distant God, but you come to us 00:32:22.309 --> 00:32:25.720 in sorrow that we might know your peace. In your 00:32:25.720 --> 00:32:27.259 name we pray. Amen.