Simeon & Anna: A Life Worth Living
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Opening Illustration: We live in a highly fast paced world. Everything happens quickly, to the point that many of us are incredibly bad at waiting. We grow impatient at waiting. This occurs in the little things like waiting on a page to load on the internet, or waiting at a traffic light when you're running a little late. But our impatience has deeper elements as well, and it impacts how we wait on God. There are many promises of God that are yet to be fulfilled. There are many prayers that we are praying to God, prayers for healing of those who are sick, prayers for healing of marriages, prayers for salvation of loved ones, prayers for movements of the Spirit. Do we know how to wait on God?
Personal: Perhaps we can begin by answering that questions directly. Do you know how to wait on God, in a way that honors him, that pleases him?
Context: Today we come across a wonderful scene in the birth narrative of Christ. It takes place forty days after Christ’s birth. This was the specific day designated by the law of Moses that women needed to make particular offerings to God after giving birth to a male child. Mary and Joseph bring the child Jesus to the temple where they encounter two aged saints, Simeon & Anna. These two senior citizens have something to teach all of us about waiting on God faithfully. And in so doing, these two frail old saints of God, will teach us something us something about the good life, about the life worth living.
Luke 2:22–38 “And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in th…”
From this text I would like to draw out four lessons on how to wait on God faithfully.
Meaning & Application
Meaning & Application
WAITING ON GOD REQUIRES WAITING WITH OBEDIENCE TO GOD
The first attribute of Simeon & Anna’s waiting that is worthy of imitation is that there’s was an “obedient waiting.” Look at the description of Simeon in verse 25.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
Righteous & Devout: We are told that he was “righteous and devout.”
Righteous: To be righteous means to follow God’s law. It means to do what is right before God. Simeon was a sinner like you and I. He was guilty of original sin which he inherited from Adam just like all humanity has, and he was guilty of actual personal sin, as all have fallen short of the glory of God. Yet there was a general thrust about this man’s life that rejoiced in the obedient following of God’s law. Simeon was the kind of man who could say with honesty the words of Psalm 119.
Psalm 119:97–99 “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.”
Devout: Secondly, he was devout. This word carries a sense with it of “holding fast” and “clinging” to God. There was an intensity of his pursuit of godliness that was apparent to all. This was a man that did not only delight in God’s law in his inward being, but the discipline of his life, the focus of his life, was godward. Other words that might be used here are words like reverent and pious.
Thomas Watson: There is a wonderful short book by the Puritan preacher Thomas Watson titled The Great Gain of Godliness. In one section titled God Regards the Piety of His People, Watson argues from Scripture that God remembers the good designs and pious endeavors of his people. He records eight particular ways that God records the piety of his people. I’ll give you six of them
Their Godly Conversation: He records and remembers their godly conversations, when they stirred each other up to love and good works. Malachi 3:16 says, “Those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attentions and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written.”
Their Tears: Every tear of a Christian falls to the Earth, and yet they do not fail to rise to heaven before the throne of God. Psalm 56:8, “Put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?”
Their Thoughts: Every holy thought of the saints of God are recorded by God and remembered. Isaiah 66:18 the Lord says, “I know their works and their thoughts…”
Their Desires: Every holy desire is recorded and remembered by God. Our desires reveal the content of our heart before God. What we long for inwardlly reveals the person we are before God. Psalm 38:9, “All my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you.”
Their Prayers: The Lord records the prayers of his people. Not just those spoken out loud that others can hear, but those quiet silent prayers God hears and records. As God spoke to Solomon in 1 Kings 9:3, “I have heard your prayers and your plea which you have made before me.”
Their Alms: The Lord records their alms. The works of mercy and love that Christians do towards others when they serve as the hands and feet of Christ. Hebrews 13:16 says, “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”
Why have I reviewed all of this with you. Simeon was a righteous and devout man. When we speak of living with righteously, this is what we are speaking of. It is a life where every component is submitted unto God’s good will, God’s remembrance. Remember, our righteousness comes from Christ. All of us have fallen short of the standard set for us by God. And by placing our faith in Christ, God accepts Christ’s righteousness as credit to our account. And so we are not saved by our own righteousness in any way. We are saved and redeemed by the righteousness of Christ alone. And yet when a person truly places their faith in Christ, God begins a new work of forming righteousness in you.
Is This You: And so before I move on, I want to ask you. Are you growing in righteousness? You cannot learn how to wait on God, if in your waiting you are not growing in righteousness. Are your choices, and your conversations different than they were? Are they flavored by a joy in Christ? Are your longings flavored by the hope of Christ?
WAITING ON GOD REQUIRES BEING SENSITIVE TO THE MOVEMENT OF THE SPIRIT
Second, Simeon’s waiting was Spirit led.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law,
Holy Spirit in the OT: Three times in those verses we are told that the Spirit was acting upon and leading Simeon. At this point in the history of redemption, the Holy Spirit had not yet been given to the Church at Pentecost. And so, as a Christian, you actually have the baptism of the Holy Spirit which is something utterly unique. Simeon did not have that, and yet the way he was led by the Spirit in some ways can serve as a lesson to us. Yet, throughout the Old Testament we read often that the Spirit of God came upon people, as it did for Simeon. And for Simeon, the Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die before he saw the Lord’s messiah with his own eyes.
Came in the Spirit: Further, when he came into the temple that morning, we are told that the way he came into the temple was, “in the Spirit.” And so, make no mistake about Simeon, this man was in tune deeply with the day to day activity of God in his life. This is what it meant for him to come in the Spirit. Simeon knew that there were no coincidences in life, there was only providence. Simeon had such a relationship with God that wherever he went, he went with the expectation that God was leading him and God would not waste that moment. And so he walked into the temple, in the Spirit. Simeon had a sensitivity to what the Spirit was doing in that moment. He walked with God so closely that when he was prompted by God, by the Spirit, he was able to discern it.
Law & Spirit: Something I find fascinating about this whole section is that the other word that is repeated four times in this paragraph, and then once more later in verse 39 is law. Very specifically, Mary and Joseph were very particular to follow the law.
Verse 22, “according to the law of Moses
Verse 23, “as it is written in the law of the Lord”
Verse 24, “what is is said in the law of the Lord”
Verse 27, “according to the custom of the law”
Verse 39, “according to the Law of the Lord.”
There is an intertwining occuring in this paragraph of law and spirit that ought not to be missed and has something to teach us. Mary and Joseph are not being contrasted against Simeon, as if they represent law, and Simeon represents Spirit. Because remember, it was Mary back in chapter 1 who was told,
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.
Big Picture: How are we to wait on God, how are we to live pleasing to God as we wait on his promises to come to fruition. We do so by walking in the Spirit. And how do we set ourselves up to be able to do that well, by following God’s law. So many people today make one of two mistakes. Some think that walking in the Spirit simply means having an overly emotional experience with God. And so there are movements where they are called movements of the Spirit, but there is very little following God’s law taking place, and sometimes there is breaking of God’s law taking place (that’s not the spirit). On the other side you can have such a focus on the law that you become legalistic and you quence the Spirit. Both of these are mistakes that are corrected by this passage. Consider the Apostle Paul’s advice in Galatians 5. (Consider Galatians 3:5 here)
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Turn It on Us: Let me turn this on you. We are discussing waiting faithfully on God. Is your life a life of being spirit led? One thing I often do when I meet with people is I will pray a short prayer either right before I meet with them or sometimes even silently while I’m meeting. I’ll say, “God help me to be senitive to your spirit. Help me to see this situation and this person through your eyes. Help me to be a wise friend who speaks the truth of Scripture powerfully.” What I find for me is this is a very practical way for me to make sure that I am putting myself regularly in a place of being prepared to be sensitive to what the Spirit might be doing.
WAITING ON GOD REQUIRES WAITING WITH A PERSEVERING PRAYERFULNESS
Third, Simeon and Anna demonstrate for us a prayerfully persevering waiting. Look at Anna, this prophetess. We are told in verse 37
and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.
Consider Anna’s Story: What a woman! Consider her story. What we know about Anna comes from verses 36-37. At this point in the story Anna is at least 84 years old, but there is debate on exactly how to interpret the grammar of this sentence, so she might actually be older than that. When she was young (likely in her late teens per the custom of Israel at that time), she was married to a man. They had lived for seven years together, before he died. This made Anna a widow in her young twenties. The story is actually quite reminiscent of the character Ruth in the Bible, who also found herself a young widow. What would Anna do with this tragedy in her life. Would she become bitter and hold a grudge against God? Remember, in those days being a widow was dangerous for many reasons. The men were not only clearly the providers but they were the defenders and protectors as well. Into that context, Anna commits her life to prayer and fasting night and day.
A Mistake We Can Make: Before we pull this layer of the onion a bit more, I want to have a word. In the days the medievil catholic Church, there was the false idea that a life that was truly committed to God would enter the clergy. And so priests were considered the most holy people among all the people. Everybody else had to essentially settle for a second tier faith. The Reformation, of which we are a part of that legacy, corrected that mistake. The people of God are Kingdom of priests. There is not one person who is more holy than another. Each person has their own calling and vocation assigned to them from God. A banker is no less spiritual or spiritually minded than a pastor. A stay at home mom is no less spiritual than a missionary. Each person, who is saved by faith in Christ, is anointed by God for deep relationship with Christ.
This Seems So Simple: If we want to learn how to wait on God, and exhibit faith, then we must learn how to do so with prayer fasting. Prayer is among the chief ways that our faith, our actual faith, is expressed. This seems so simple, but I have learned something over the years of pastoring, and there is a plague among the people of God that can be described in one of two ways, prayerlessness on the one hand, and weak prayer muscles on the other.
What Ought To Be: What ought to be normal in a Christian’s life? There ought to be a sense in a Christian that they have been saved by the mercies of God. And that God is their chief aim in life. As a response to receiving the Gospel, a Christian has a new set of desires and affections that long for more of God in all areas of life. They long to see God saturate their marriages. They long to see Christ honored in their families. They long to see those who don’t know Jesus come to know the sweetness of walking with Christ. And underneath all of that is a relationship with God. A relationship requires communication. And prayer is that chief line of communication where we pour our heart out to God. The New City Catechism which we use to train the children in this church puts it this way
Question: What is prayer?
Answer: Prayer is pouring out our hearts to God in praise, petition, confession of sin, and thanksgiving.
In other words, a life in some degree like Annas, a prayerfully persevering life, ought to be normal among Christians. But I’ve found that is often more abnormal than we care to admit. Many Christians are spiritually starving themselves, and their struggling with all sorts of issues in their life, and the reason is not because there’s not food on the table, they just aren’t eating, they’re not praying.
What Causes Prayerlessness: What causes us today to be so prayerless. Let me give four reasons that will strike each person different.
Delayed: Some are delayed. You tell yourself, prayer is an aspect of your that is sorely underdeveloped, but its something you’ll get around to later. You say to yourself, “Ah there is so much to do and such little time, I cannot waste too much of my time on building my relationship with God through prayer. There are sports games, and promotions, and challenges at home. All of these things are to be attended to. I will get around to prayer later.” “Who has bewitched you” cried the Apostle Paul. Do you think sports games and promotions are more satisfactory than the sweetness of Christ. I am not arguing that Christians cannot enjoy a football game. I am simply asking, what do you enjoy more? Football games or God. Job promotions or God.
Distracted: For some, you are so overly distracted that you have little or no time for meaningfully praying. Our phones are constantly distracting us. Even our minds at this point have been so rewired for short term stimulus, that we can’t focus on anything. It’s the same reason many of us struggle to sit down for an hour at a time with a book. We don’t know how to focus. The internet has literally turned our brains to mush. Fight back! Train your mind for godliness! Begin to take back the ownership of your mind from the marketers out there.
Deceived: For some, you don’t pray because you don’t feel your need for it. You’re a Christian, but in all reality, your life feels like you don’t have much need for prayer. Oh how deceived you are. You are like a soldier on D Day walking along the beaches of Normandy thinking you signed up for a trip to the beach. Christian, you’re at war! The casualties of this war, do not just lose an arm or a leg. Their souls are at stake. That’s regular Biblical language. There is an enemy who joyfully has deceived into thinking your prayers are of no value. Your prayers are among the greatest the weapons the Church has. Your prayers are among the greatest weapons your family has.
See the Joy of Anna: To these three categories, I call you up and out today, to see Anna, and to see the joy of this old woman, who in only a short time after this would be walking into the gates of heaven to be received her master. She did not waste a second of her life. The world would have told her there were better ways to spend her time, but they were wrong and she was right. I can’t wait to meet that precious saint in heaven.
Application: Permit me to give you two applications here
Never Been Trained: For some, it might be as simple as that you have never seen it and been trained. Maybe you have some prayer life, but its developing. You’re newer at this. Praise God! The best thing you can do is keep praying, and keep being around others who are prayer warriors. Watch their prayer lives. Join them in prayer. The best thing you can do for your prayer life is to be regularly around praying people. Prayer is more often caught, not taught.
No Desire: Second, if you are in a place right now of fighting against a laziness towards God, an antipathy towards God. Know that if you have placed your faith in Christ, God has not forgotten you. He is forming something in you in this dry season. The only way to break through is to stay of that place of prayer continually. God will change your desires. I have had people I prayed for years for God to change their desires, and He did.
WAITING ON GOD REQUIRES FIXING OUR EYES ON CHRIST
Lastly, these two saints waited all those years, with eyes longing for Christ. Imagine Simeon if you will, being told years prior that he would see the Lord’s Messiah. This must have been an overwhelming moment of his life. Day in, day out, he makes the trip to the temple. Years go by. And then one day he looks over the Spirit of God whispers in his here, that couple over there with the child in their arms, that’s the one you’ve been waiting for. Simeon’s eyes, filled with tears, looks down at this weeks old child and takes him in his arms and says,
Luke 2:29–32 ““Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.””
Anna likewise, spent her whole life as a praying woman going in and out of the temple. And in those twilight years as her hope was ever growing closer, the Lord permitted her to behold the infant Christ. And we are told,
And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.
Advent Looking Back: Church, at Advent we are invited to do two things. First we look backwards to Christ’s first coming. And like Simeon we proclaim that while the people of God had waited for the promised messiah to come, he has come. Christ is the promise fulfilled. He is a light to the nations. He is the glory of Israel. That child that was born in a manger is the joy of the world, because in him and through him is salvation made unto man. He has come. He is available now to all will come to him.
Advent Looking Forward: But also, like Simeon and Anna, we also hope extraordinarily. Christ came once to do away with sin and create a pathway of salvation, but he will come again in glory to do away with death once and for all. At Advent, we have a chance to refix and refocus our eyes on that which we are truly waiting for. Like Simeon and like Anna we too are waiting. We live in the already and the not yet. Already, we have hte joy of the Christ in us. Not yet, have we arrived at the joy that will be, when ever tear is wiped away, and every wicked deed is judged eternally. The Apostle Paul shares about that day when Christ returns and then advises
So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.
This is your charge. Like Simeon, and like Anna, you must wait faithfully on God. The promises are yours.
Closing
Closing
This Advent, fix your eyes on Christ. Learn from Simeon and Anna who found the good life. Learn to wait on God with patience. In our waiting, God is working.