"Year 2000 Means: We're Getting Older"
Sermon on Luke 2:25-38
January 2, 2000
Saint Mark's, Watertown, WI
Pastor Karl Walther
Introduction: Did You Ever Think You'd Live To See the Year 2000?
The Psalms remind us: A thousand
years in God's sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in
the night.... But: The length of our days is seventy years-- or eighty
if we have the strength; their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly
pass, and we fly away. Amen.
Dear fellow Christians-- on January Second, Year Two Thousand:
Did you ever think you'd live to see it? Did you ever think you'd live to write under today's date: "One, slash, two, slash, two, zero, zero, zero"?
...I'm just a little over the average age for this congregation. I turn thirty-seven this year. And I know that back in the seventies, when I was getting to be aware of numbers and calendars, the year two thousand seemed a long way off. I used to think to myself, "Wow. Year two thousand. Thirty-seven years old. I wonder what I'll be doing then. I'll probably have a wife and a family and a house and a car. And I'll be getting old...!"
And what's happened? -- Well, God has blessed me with a wife and a family and a house and a car. And sin has aged me. My hair is thinner than what it was. The rest of me isn't as thin. Although I'm not ready for the nursing home yet, I don't look like any schoolboy anymore either. And I am getting old. I'll have a son in confirmation class next year. Until a few years ago, retirement seemed like a strange concept to me; now, I'm tired enough sometimes that the thought seems comforting.
And I haven't turned thirty-seven yet! Presumably, I have half my life ahead of me. But half of you are already on that downhill slope toward the grave. And the other half of you who are younger-- believe me, you hit the slope more quickly than you think.
Theme: The Year Two Thousand Means We're Getting Older
You see, reaching the year
two thousand has a way of getting us to stop and contemplate. Clearly: (*) THE
YEAR 2000 MEANS WE'RE GETTING OLDER. And so, what should we make of our lives
from here on in? Well, God's Word to us today introduces us to two elderly
people. And as we consider their lives, we'll come to the conclusion that (1)
WE NEED TO FOLLOW SIMEON AND ANNA'S EXAMPLE..., (2) BECAUSE WE KNOW SIMEON AND
ANNA'S SAVIOR-- in this new millennium.
Part One: Simeon & Anna Were Devout & Worshipful
So, it was some two
thousand years ago-- and forty days after the first Christmas. Mary and Joseph
were making the six-mile, two-hour trip north from little Bethlehem to big
Jerusalem-- only about one square mile, but having some fifty or one hundred
thousand inhabitants. What the two needed to do was to make the offering for
Mary's purification-- a pair of doves or two young pigeons. They also needed to
buy back from God their firstborn son, because God had rescued the firstborn
sons of Israel by way of the first Passover in Egypt. And so, they bought back
their firstborn son, also God's Firstborn Son, with the requisite five shekels
of silver.
And then, we read: Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
This Simeon-- his name means: "The Lord is one who hears." Since this man was Simeon, there's a pretty decent chance that he was a remnant from the Israelite tribe of that name. It was the southernmost of the tribes, and its forefather sinned largely enough at one point that the Lord dispersed the tribe and made it a very minor tribe in Israel. This Simeon, though, had the Holy Spirit ... upon him. That is to say: not only was this Simeon a Christian, he was a prophet: someone to whom God directly gave his Word. And he must have been rather elderly for those days -- I'm guessing at least in his sixties -- because it seems like the possibility that Simeon would die is imminent.
And note: he was righteous and devout. Those are some words we'll explore later.
Afterwards, of course, we read of another elderly individual who met up with Mary and Joseph. It says: There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
Now, this Anna-- her name means: "Grace". She was of the tribe of Asher. It was the northernmost of the tribes, and in its territory was the source for wicked Baal worship among the Israelites eight or nine centuries earlier. This Anna was a prophetess. That means she readily spoke God's Word, although we don't hear that the Holy Spirit was specially upon her. She was well past eighty-- which was aged, especially in those days.
And note: Anna was faithful-- to her husband and to her Lord, neither of whom she ever left. And Anna was worshipful-- night and day, fasting and praying.
Application One: We Need To Follow Simeon & Anna's Example
So, we have Simeon in his
sixties; we have Anna at least in her eighties. And they're about to greet a
new era, right? And you and I are growing older. And you and I are in a new
era, right? So, what can we learn from these two?
Well, remember: Simeon ... was righteous and devout as he prepared to meet with his Savior. Righteous means that he was right with God, and he did right things. Devout means that he was God-fearing and reverent. And don't we need to be the same?
My friends, today is January Second of the Year Two Thousand. Isn't it about time we reverently do right things? Isn't it about time we quit judging and criticizing others-- and instead take their words and actions in the kindest possible way? Isn't it about time we quit being so greedy: grabbing our every last dollar, spending our every last cent on ourselves-- and instead start exercising some generosity toward others? Isn't it time we quit deifying sex and watching pornography and lusting with no pang of conscience-- and instead start living pure lives with eyes only for our wives? Isn't it time we get angry again over a million murders a year in the womb-- and pray for an end to it all? Isn't it time we quit ridiculing our president, our congress, our bosses, our teachers-- and instead start rendering to them the honor God demands?
Anna provides us an example, too! Remember: Anna was faithful and worshipful. Faithful means she had faith in the Lord and faithfully served him. Worshipful means that she consciously placed her acts and words and thoughts in the presence of God.
My friends, today is January Second of the Year Two Thousand. Isn't it about time we start following Anna's example? Isn't it about time we pray-- and not just when we're in trouble, but every day in response to every event, and daily also and for quite some duration on a whole list of prayers? Isn't it time we start reading the precious pages of God's Holy Word every day? Isn't it time we make it a priority not just to attend worship, but to prepare to worship attentively every week?
Part Two: Simeon & Anna Knew Their Savior & Redeemer
Now, I'm sure you're answering
all those questions "yes" along with me! I'm sure you're saying
"yes": it's time to be righteous, devout, faithful, worshipful toward
the Lord.
So, why haven't we done those things in the past? Well, it's because we were infected by sin. And guess what-- that same sin will stick to us some in the future! Although you and I who have been lifelong Christians can look back ten years and see that God has made some progress with us, nevertheless we'll continue to sin into the future. And so did Simeon and Anna. And so would Simeon and Anna. So, where did they find their comfort and encouragement?
Well, we read: Moved by the Spirit, Simeon went into the temple courts. Probably he passed through the Court of the Gentiles, encompassing six square city blocks-- probably about from Saint John's to Kid's Palace over here and completely across the block where our schools are and completely through Saint Mark's block here. This court was entirely ringed by walls and buildings as much as thirty feet high. And Simeon probably went into the Court of the Women-- as close to the temple as Mary could get. It had a two hundred foot square court in the middle, and four sixty square foot courts, one in each corner-- now that's like our school parking lot and our church parking lot and Jones Street and Eighth Street, and then a little more. This court, too, was ringed by walls and buildings. It was probably at a gate that Simeon waited-- and some of those gates were ninety feet high.
At any rate, we read: When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, that sacrifice and that payment I mentioned before, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: "Sovereign Lord, Master, Owner, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, your Deliverer, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles from whose courts he had just come, and for glory to your people Israel" in whose courts he now stood.
Of course, we read: The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. But there's more, because we read: Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, the one biological parent visibly there: "This child is destined to cause the falling of unbelievers and rising of many believers in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against by so many of the Jews-- especially the Jewish leaders, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And then Simeon sounds the note of Jesus' suffering: Mary, a sword will pierce your own soul too."
Anna's message, of course, was similar to that of Simeon: Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
Application Two: We Know Simeon & Anna's Redeeming Savior, Too
Now, remember: you and I
are entering a new era, like this Simeon and Anna. You and I are looking to
follow the example of Simeon and Anna. How are we going to find the forgiveness
that Simeon and Anna found? How are you and I going to find the strength to
live for the Lord that Simeon and Anna had?
On the basis of this Word from God, take Baby Jesus into your arms and say, "Master, Owner, you now let your servant depart in peace according to your word. For not only have I heard of your salvation, my eyes have seen it"-- and for those of us privileged to receive Lord's Supper, "We have tasted and felt it, too. And Lord, you have prepared this salvation before the face of all people-- a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel."
So, I don't care whether you are a pagan Gentile, child of pagan Gentiles, living among pagan Gentiles, or a lifelong Jew-- Jesus came for you! I don't care if you lived four thousand years before Christ or two thousand years after Christ-- Jesus came for you! I don't care if you live in the center of an urban metropolis in the United States or in a corner of the most remote Asian jungle-- Jesus came for you! I don't care whether you're a man, woman, or child, a blue collar worker, a white collar worker, a student, a homemaker, or a retiree, black, white, red, brown, or yellow-- Jesus came for you!
And a sword pierced his mother's soul. Thirty-three years later, when he was sliced for your slander, gored for your greed, lanced for your lusts, mangled for your murder, damned for your disobedience-- a sword pierced his mother's soul, indeed, but a sword struck his body, to strike away our sins, to strike them away eternally.
And now we await the redemption of Israel. God has paid the payment, greater than gold, to redeem us who are now his firstborn. Bought and paid for, we become his permanent possessions-- both presently and perpetually.
Conclusion: In the Year 2000 & Beyond, We Can Indeed Live For Christ!
And if we are Christ's
permanent possessions, is there any way for us to avoid his righteousness-- and
devotion toward him? If we are Christ's permanent possessions, is there any way
for us to avoid his faithfulness-- and worshipful attention to him?
It means that in this new millennium, in which we will all die, the Christ-child belongs to us, and we belong to him, for every future millennium, forever and ever. Amen.
The Psalms encourage us: Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Thanks be to our God! Amen.