Community Church Sermons
The First Sunday After Christmas – December 29,
2002
“Simeon’s Gift”
Luke 2:22-40
Thirty-five or forty years after the first Christmas, the followers of Jesus had a big fight!
No, it wasn’t about church finances. It wasn’t about whether to support this mission or that mission. It wasn’t even about whether wives should be submissive to their husbands, or gay people ought to be ordained to ministry, or whether Christians should be pre-millennial, post-millennial, a-millennial, or pan-millennial which is the belief that everything will pan out in the end!
No, this big fight wasn’t about any of that stuff that we fight about today. This fight was about something important.
It was about who could belong.
You see, up until now, Christianity was simply a fulfilled Judaism. Jesus was the Jewish Messiah, the answer to the promises God made to Abraham and his descendents. Jesus was for the Jews and the Jews alone. All the first disciples were Jews.
But there was a problem. The Good News about Jesus was such good news that even non-Jewish people were being drawn to faith in the Lord. Jesus’ love, Jesus’ forgiveness, Jesus’ power to bring healing and reconciliation to people, Jesus’ teachings, Jesus’ worldview, Jesus’ sense of justice, Jesus’ power to make whole, Jesus’ moral center – everything about Jesus attracted people to His Way.
And so the apostles decided…this intrusion of Gentiles into the Church…must be stopped!
I mean, if you let a woman become a member of the Augusta National Golf Club…
Well, the apostle James – playing the role of Hootie Johnson - calls a meeting to address this scandal about letting non-Jewish people into the club. All the club members are there, wearing their little green jackets. And they have a raging debate.
On one side is the majority of apostles who see Jesus as the Jewish Messiah only, and not as a gift for the whole world. On the other side is one lonely little guy named Paul. He argues that the gift of golf has come to the Gentiles, too! Why, if Gentiles weren’t meant to play golf, why would they be able to hit a ball 320-yards right down the middle of the fairway? If God did not want Gentiles to have golf, why did they putt so well? If God did not intend golf to come to the Gentiles, why did God allow places like Tellico Village to be built? Paul says he himself has witnessed the power of golf among the Gentiles, and wonders why the Holy Spirit would bestow that gift if it wasn’t God’s will?
You do understand I’m not really talking about golf here, right?
But the other apostles will have none of it. This club is for Jews, and Jews only. Others need not apply!
And just as it seemed the argument was lost, another club member stands up. You can read all about it in Acts 15. It is none other than the apostle Peter. Peter fastens the buttons on his little green blazer, and begins to speak. He himself has witnessed these Gentiles coming to faith through his own preaching. And not only that, but the power of the Holy Spirit has come upon them. The signs of the Spirit are obvious, and they are faithfully turning to the Way of Jesus. Peter says it is clear to him that – out there in the real world – God has made no distinction between Jews and Gentiles. And then Peter concludes his speech by saying, “We believe it is through the GRACE of our Lord Jesus that we are saved…just as THEY are!”
And silence falls upon the gathering. And then James – the head of the club – takes the floor. And this is what he says:
Wait a minute! Did you hear that? What was it that James called Peter?
SIMEON?
Why, that’s not Peter’s name! Everyone knows that Peter is SIMON Peter. Not SIMEON Peter!
Doesn’t James know that? Doesn’t Luke, the Gospelwriter know that? How can you explain James saying such a thing? How can you explain Luke not correcting such a glaring error?
Unless, of course, James was trying to make a point…with a play on words.
Simon. Simeon. Simon. SIMEON! Where have we heard the name SIMEON before?
Why, way back in the Christmas story! You heard the words for yourself a few moments ago. When the time came for Mary and Joseph to dedicate their firstborn son to the Lord, they went up to the Temple to perform the ritual. And while they were there, they met an old man named…SIMEON!
Do you remember the story? Simeon was a devout and righteous man who longed for the day the Messiah would come. And God had made Simeon a promise. Old Simeon would not die until he got to see for himself the Lord’s Christ.
And in that moment, when Mary and Joseph and the baby entered the courts of the Temple, the Holy Spirit whispered to Simeon’s heart.
And Simeon tearfully and tenderly took the child in his arms, and prayed a prayer that became famous in the early Church, and is still sung in many churches today, “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
Do you hear what Simeon is prophesying? The salvation brought by this child Jesus is not only a glory to the people of Israel, but also A LIGHT FOR REVELATION TO THE GENTILES!
“Our brother SIMEON has made a
point!” declared James. You see, in the testimony of Peter, James must have
heard the echo of a voice from a Christmas long ago. The voice of the old man SIMEON declaring that
Jesus is for the world!
And that day, the dispute was resolved. James and the apostles determined that Jesus is not just for the Jews, but for EVERYONE! And you and I are Christians today because of Simeon’s gift!
Now the reason I wanted to share this little Church history lesson with you today is because you and I are living in a day when that ancient argument is once again rearing it’s ugly head. Yes, people are fighting once more about whether the gift of Jesus is for all of us, or for just some of us. But today, the argument is being staged a little differently.
You see, we live in a society that claims to be religiously open and tolerant But what society really means by openness and tolerance is that we Christians better keep our mouths shut about what we believe for fear of offending others.
Am I right?
And the way this ancient argument of exclusion is propagated in our time is through a culture that has tried to instill within us a subtle, but deep conviction that one of the worst things we can ever do is tell others about Jesus! Yes, it’s okay for US to have this faith, but like the apostles in Jerusalem, we’re supposed to keep it to ourselves! Yes, it’s okay for the Church to practice its faith, but how dare the Church express the convictions of that faith to those outside the Church!
And to the extent that you and I in the Church have bought into this tolerant intolerance, which is really just another form of excluding people from the love of Jesus, we have become guilty of a sin far greater than the one we like to talk about at Christmastime. Oh, yes, we are quick to point out that the world out there has taken the Christ out of Christmas. But the sin we are tempted with is far worse. And that is to take the Christ out of Christianity, and the Gospel out of the Church!
So let me ask you this morning. Do you believe Jesus was born just for some of us? Or did Jesus come for all of us?
And what are you willing to do about it?
Now we can argue this point theologically, like they tried to do in Jerusalem. But I’m with St. Peter and St. Paul. I think you have to take this question and set it out there in the middle of real life.
You know, on Christmas Eve, I witnessed a miracle of sorts. It just really touched my heart so deeply. I had preached a sermon about Christmas being a sign that God has been set loose in our world looking for people to befriend, and love, and forgive, and heal, and call to higher purposes. I shared with the congregation that the light in the manger is the sign that God is in our world right now looking for someone who needs Him.
And then I asked, “Could it be
you?”
“Could it be YOU?”
“Could YOU be the one God is searching for tonight…or today?”
Well, at the conclusion of our eleven o’clock service, we served Communion. And as the people streamed forward to receive the bread and wine, I offered each one a wafer and asked them personally, “Could it be YOU?”
And it was fascinating to see and hear the responses. Several people answered, “Yes, it’s me.” Several others said, “Yes, it could be me.” And I was moved by them all! But one person, a young woman, was the one who really touched my heart. I had no idea who she was, or what is going on in her life right now.
But as she took the wafer, there were tears streaming down her cheeks. I asked, “Could it be you?”
And she quietly wept as she took the bread, and said, “I HOPE SO!”
Do you know, there are countless people all around us who are hoping to find a Love to lift them, forgive them, embrace them, affirm them, heal them, strengthen them, guide them, set them free…
And there is such a LOVE searching for them!
Why would it be wrong to tell people about that Love?
Why would it be intolerant to touch and embrace people with the Love of Jesus Christ?
When I think of my own children, and now our first grandchild, I find myself absolutely certain that what I want most for them in life is to know the power of the love of Jesus – the love that will never let them go, the love that will find them when they’re lost, and lift them when they’re down, and guide them into the best that life has to offer. I want my children and grandchild to know Jesus.
What do you want for yours? And what do we together want for the people all around us?
And not only that, but it seems to me that our world is in great need of people who are willing to build their lives upon Christian values, and live with Christian integrity. You know, we do not need fewer people feeding the hungry and advocating for the poor in Christ’s name – we need more people willing to do that! We do not need fewer people committed to sacrificially living out the Christian ideals of peace and justice and redemptive love – we need many, many more!
So how could we possibly live as Christians in such a broken and hurting world as we do without letting others come into the love of Jesus, and without relentlessly calling people higher and enlisting them to come join us in a cause that can bring healing and hope to the world?
Why would we not want to convince more and more people to become followers of Jesus Christ?
You see, in the face of life as it really is, we have a gift to share! The most wonderful, life-giving, world-changing gift ever given!
We are soon coming into a New Year. 2003 will be the fifteenth anniversary year of our congregation! As it dawns, I believe God is calling us to bring new emphasis to the work of evangelism – the work of reaching out to the people all around us and telling them about Jesus. I sense a calling for our church to reach out in tangible ways with the love of Jesus, and enlist people to come and join us in the cause of Christ.
After all, Jesus was not born for just some of us. Jesus was born for all of us.
That’s what I believe.
How about you?