“Simeon Says”
December 23rd, 2007
Luke 2:22-38 - When I was a kid, I played that game Simon Says. The whole principle of the game is based on the authority of whomever is Simon at any given time. But, Simeon, the man that met the baby Jesus at the temple understood authority a whole different way. Authority lied where our hope lies, and for Simeon that was with God. And that is why he was able to recognize Jesus for who he was.
“Simeon Says”
Luke 2:22-38
1. Do any of you remember that children’s game called “Simon Says?” Do you remember how to play?
A. Well, we’re going to find out. We’re going to ply a couple of quick rounds this morning. We will find out who likes to have fun in church.
B. (Play Simon Says)
C. You know what is interesting about that game? We give complete authority over how we will function to this unknown person named “Simon.”
D. You didn’t play along because I am Pastor Jon - anyone of us could have led the game with the same result.
E. There is a very important lesson there about authority. Whatever is the source of authority in our lives will also be the source of our hope - our direction.
2. Simeon (not Simon) had one authority in his life - God. And he had one dream - the consolation of Israel.
A. Consolation = restoration of the people of Israel and the fulfillment of God’s redemptive plan.
B. Simeon saw that God was a God of history - He had a plan, a purpose.
C. Israel as the conduit of God’s love and grace to the world.
D. Simeon my not know the specifics - the details - of God’s plan. But, he trusts God’s authority, and therefore, rests his hope in God’s plan.
E. He was attentive to the movement of God’s spirit. And that’s good. Otherwise, he might have missed an important day.
F. Luke 2: 27-32.
G. “Now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation.”
3. On April 3, 1968, at the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee, the Rev. Martin Luther King delivered what was to become his last public address.
A. Perhaps sensing what was to come, Dr. King recounted the history of the civil rights movement. He spoke of the many victories of the movement and how non-violent resistance affirmed the basic reality that the universe is on the side of justice, that “there was a certain kind of fire that no water could put out.”
B. That is the fire of the Holy Spirit that burns in us all, and calls us to be united with God in sharing Christ’s redeeming love to a broken humanity. Dr. King concluded his speech with what remains today as rallying cry to those who struggle for justice.
C. As the energy in the room began to build to a final crescendo, King’s words echoed off of the walls and into the hearts and minds of everyone that was present. King told the gathered assembly, “Well, I don? know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the Promised Land. And I’m happy tonight. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”
D. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
E. My eyes have seen your salvation.
4. What do our eyes see during this season of Advent? Where do we place authority in our lives? Wherein lies our hope?
A. The righteous person - like Simeon and the prophetess Anna, like Martin Luther King - they are very clear about where there hope lies - in the God of human history.
B. We have been talking for the past few weeks about how the light shines in the darkness - Israel, Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph.
C. And today, we see how the light continues to shine in the darkness, even of our own lives.
D. So, I will ask you again. Where do you place the authority in your life? Where do place your hope?
E. Because those are questions that are fundamental to who we are.
F. The only way that Simeon and Anna could recognize Jesus for who he truly was was by living a life attentive to the movement of God’s spirit in their lives.
G. The “consolation of Israel” - God’s redemptive plan for the world was not just something that they worried about on Sunday, it was their life’s dream.
5. I, too, have a dream. I wish I could express it with even half of the dramatic eloquence of Dr. King.
A. But, it’s my dream, and I dream it every day.
B. I love the UMC. We have a rich tradition. Great thinkers. We have a lot going for us. George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton are members.
C. But, in the last 30 years, or so, a strange thing has been happening. Losing members, resistance to change, institutional needs have trumped the needs of the local church.
D. In seminary, I had to ask myself. Do I really want to be a United Methodist minister?
E. Like Martin Luther - “Here I stand. I can do no other.” I love the UMC.
F. So, in addition to working on renewal within the church, I pray like Simeon for the “consolation of the United Methodists.”
G. I pray for leaders with vision. I pray for rebels with courage.
H. But, my hope is tied to the church; because I believe that the church is God’s instrument on earth.
I. And I pray that the light that God shined in he darkness of Israel, of Bethlehem, of Mary and Joseph - the light that Simeon and Anna recognized was for all the world - I pray that that very same light will revive us again.
J. Because we as a church still have work to do.
6. Simeon praised God and said, “my eyes have seen your salvation.”
A. Martin Luther King proclaimed to the crowd, “I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”
B. I dream a dream and pray each day for a church that is vital and meaningful and relevant again.
C. So, what do you dream of? Where is your hope?
D. Because the light of God has come into the world - shines in the darkness of every life.
E. But only those who dream the righteous dream, only those that “hope for the consolation of Israel” will recognize that light in the form of a small child, born to insignificant parents, resting in a feeding trough for animals, in a nowhere town, in an occupied nation, as the Savior of the world.
F. What will you dream of this Christmas? Where will you rest your hope? What is the source of authority in your life?
G. Because “Simeon says” it is the child Jesus. And I believe him. How about you?
H. Amen.
Sermon delivered 12/23/07 at Light of the Canyon United Methodist Church, Anaheim Hills.
