I found it very difficult to get "in the Christmas spirit" this year. Perhaps it was the stress of writing my most important paper of my seminary career, or perhaps it was learning a new language I will rarely use, or maybe it was the fact that it seems that the Christmas season started so early that I automatically turned myself off from wanting to be in the good and cheerful Christmas mood. Perhaps you had similar feelings this season. Maybe you had to run around getting everything ready so your family would have the perfect holiday that you were unable to experience it the way you wanted. Perhaps a loved one was brought to the more immediate presence of our Savior, and that made the season especially difficult. There are many reasons we all have for not experiencing Advent and Christmas the way we hope to. I'm not going to pretend to have any answers to why this season is sometimes the most difficult. I don't think there is an easy answer for everyone, but I must say that I took comfort in reading the scripture passages for today.
I took comfort because I have come to realize that the words of prophets while seemingly daunting and perhaps even scary, have a strange comfort for me. The prophet Isaiah was the voice of some of the most prophetic visions of the coming Christ and those visions were not exactly what we would consider warm and mushy visions of God. Between the 50th and 53rd chapters of Isaiah, we get the following prophecies. Isaiah saw visions of the Savior who would be beaten, mocked and spit on, (50:6) One who would be rejected and despised by people (53:1-3) One who would die for our sins (53:4-6) and be "numbered with the transgressors" (53:12). While these visions might seem to be dark and sad, we still have Isaiah who greatly rejoices in the Lord…his whole being shall exult in God. For someone who has seen such terrible visions and has dreamed terrible dreams, we learn that the prophet still has this amazing hope because in the end, he knows the purpose behind it all.
That brings us to the Gospel of Luke, which is filled with prophecy from the time of Moses to the very moment Jesus was blessed. The author of the text wants to make an important point to show us that Simeon was "Guided by the Spirit". This is crucial to understanding the text because it means to tell us that the next words are not his words, but are words which are far greater than he could ever come up with on his own.
To understand Simeon's context, I want you to imagine the baptism of a small child or the confirmation of a young adult in our own church. This would be the part where the pastor lays their hands on the child and gives a word of blessing. Only we pastors today try to speak only positive words in order to bless. Rarely, if ever, do we hear a pastor say negative words in a blessing, which I'm guessing is because we as pastors are scared that they might come true and therefore we only stick to the good, positive blessings. The Holy Spirit doesn't allow him to do that. That is the sense of humor of God. It had been revealed to Simeon that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. I'm pretty sure that he might have worked on what words he would say for a long, long time. I know I wouldn't leave those important words to chance. I'd be stuttering the whole time. So imagine Simeon, a very old man who knew that he would be dying soon, once he saw this child, wanting to say the words he had been rehearsing for years…perhaps even decades, and the Holy Spirit giving him new words to say right then and there.
When we think of the most famous words which the Spirit has spoken, we think of "This is My Son, whom I love, with Him I am well pleased".(Matthew 3:17) But we rarely think of this sentence which comes from Simeon… "This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed – and a sword will pierce your own soul too."
These aren't easy words to swallow and its my guess that we rarely think of them concerning our Lord and Savior, yet here they are, confronting us this morning. These words are quite scary if you think about them. The words speak of the rising and falling of many…about our inner thoughts being revealed…and a sword will pierce our own souls…
I want everyone to open up their hymnal and turn to page 282…we're going to sing only the first verse of this hymn.
"O Little Town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie;
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting light;
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight."
The last line of this verse of one of our favourite Christmas hymns sums up well the words which Simeon speaks. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in Christ. They will cause the rise and fall of many…our inner thoughts will be revealed… and a sword will pierce our souls. Until this spring, I would have told you that these thoughts scared me too. The idea that Christ is the sign who will reveal our inner thoughts really and truly scared me. No one knew my sins. I had gone my whole life thinking that God knew my sins and that was ok…no one else needed to know…and on some level, no one ever asked me to confront my own sins. This April, I spent a few days with Brother Jim Hicks, the president of the western district. We went out into the woods of Wisconsin for one afternoon and there my brother confronted me with the fact that I am a sinful man and I tell you it was difficult. It wasn't much of a two sided conversation…mostly because I sat there realizing that if I wasn't going to allow my sin to be revealed, I was not going to be effective as a pastor, as a leader, or even as a Christian. We spent a few hours outside in the cold of the Wisconsin spring…most of the time we just sat in the silence…I think we were both thinking of our sins and how we need to be revealing them to one of our fellow sisters or brothers in Christ.
"A parent who loves their child knows there are times when the child will be angry at them for being corrected. A mature parent takes no comfort in rebuke. A mature Christian takes no pleasure in preaching repentance or challenging Christian infants that they are stagnant in their faith. Yet, the mature parent or Christian is willing to operate if necessary—even if the razor is double-sided; even when the pain is deep."[1] Brother Hicks did that for me earlier this year…and I am eternally grateful to him for it.
As this year ends, I hope that you have someone who will help you confront your sins. Perhaps you have already had someone do that in your life…if you've had someone do that with you, I'd love to hear your story. If you haven't. I hope you can look around this room and realize that there are people who will love you no matter what your sins are. As this year comes to an end and a new one begins, we must realize that while our fears are realized in Christ, so is our hope. When the sword pierces our own soul, we become part of the many who will rise in Israel. This is an amazing blessing which has come to the world…In our own dark streets, shines the everlasting light of Christ. A few days ago when you held up that bees wax candle, you signaled to the world that you wanted to be confronted by the light of Christ. That you wanted you sins to be seen by Christ so that they can be forgiven. It is my hope that you will all continue to shine that light into the world…confronting and being confronted in this new year. Amen.
