Sermon Tone Analysis

A Celebration of Salvation

Luke 2:25-35

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Introduction

·         When I was a kid, I always experience a downer after Christmas.

For a whole year I had waited for St. Nick with great anticipation.

Then the day finally came, and it was so wonderful-so much fun!

And then it was over--gone--for another year!! BUT . . .

·         Christmas isn't over!

The celebration continues.

For we who follow Christ, Christmas a time to celebrate salvation and that celebration of salvation continues.

Let’s turn to

·         *Lk.

2:25:-35, NIV* 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.

Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts.

When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant 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.”

The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him.

Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.

And a sword will pierce your own soul too”.

·         On this particular day that Mary and Joseph brought the Christ child to the temple, he's actually more than a month old.

If you look at Lev. 12:3-4 you find that after a male child’s birth there was an eight-day-wait for circumcision and then a thirty-three-day-period of purification for the mother.

Then came the time for dedication.

This really, in a sense, Simeon's first Christmas.

And so, what did he celebrate on his first Christmas?

Salvation!

That’s the heartbeat of the text.

This morning, I invite you to follow Simeon’s lead as he celebrates God’s salvation.

Specifically I want you to see three interlocking aspects of salvation to celebrate—first, the promise of salvation.

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1.

The Promise of Salvation

·         *The story is told of a certain politician* who was on the campaign trail extolling himself as "a man who knows how to get things done."

During an outdoor speech in the farm belt, he made a solemn promise to his listeners that he would do everything in his power to relieve their suffering from a long-standing drought.

It hadn't rained in many weeks and the crops were being ruined.

As the speech was drawing to a close, the politician looked heavenward and said, "Again, I promise you that I'll do everything in my power to help you!" Whereupon, there was a sudden cloudburst, and the rain came down in torrents.

As the rain-soaked crowd began to cheer mightily, the amazed politician said to himself, "Gosh!

I didn't know I had it in me!"

·         Politicians and their promises--I'm amazed at what some of them will say they're going to do to get our vote.

But I'm not amazed at how many political promises are broken.

·         Aren't you glad God's not a politician?

He always keeps the promises he makes!

·         God’s glorious promise of salvation was made in ancient times, hundreds of years before the time of our text.

Through his faithful mouthpieces of old (the prophets), the Lord proclaimed the promise.

Simeon had tapped into that promise.

·         Who was this Simeon?

We don’t know a lot about him.

What we /do/ know comes from this passage.

Luke tells us in v. 25 that he was “righteous” and “devout.”

Here’s what that means in a nutshell—he stood head and shoulders above the crowd when it came to a relationship with the Lord.

We could call him a "model believer” (Bock, /Luke/, 238).

Luke also tells us that the “Holy Spirit was upon him.”

By this phrase Luke may mean that Simeon experienced the Spirit continually.

For sure we know that Simeon was waiting for the salvation of God to be revealed—here called “the consolation of Israel.”

The word translated “consolation” means “comfort” or “encouragement.”

Coupled with the world “Israel” it refers to the Messianic hope of God’s people.

It speaks of their dream of the divine rescue that God had promised.

·         Now something interesting is the promise the Lord made /just/ to Simeon.

Look at v. 26.

Simeon had the Lord’s personal assurance that he wouldn’t die until he witnessed the coming salvation.

So Simeon watched and waited as a faithful bond-slave of the Lord.

How long did he wait?

It’s hard to say.

I’ve always pictured him as very old.

If so, he may have waited for many years.

But as you can see from our text, his age isn’t given.

Some figure that he was old because of his willingness to die.

In v. 29 Simeon says, “now dismiss your servant.”

“Dismiss” is a nice way of saying “let die” (Marshall, /The Gospel of Luke/, 119).

“Lord, you’ve kept your promise.

I’m ready to go.”

One extra-biblical source puts Simeon’s age at 112, but that’s unlikely.

We can’t be sure how old he was or how long he waited, but this much is clear: the wait was over.

Simeon was absolutely convinced that God’s promise had been fulfilled.

·         God always keeps his promises.

But you knew that already, didn’t you?

And his greatest one—the promise of salvation—is a promise kept.

What a wonderful cause for celebration, especially right here at Christmas time.

The proof of the promise kept was the child in Simeon’s arms.

The proof of the promise kept is the child we celebrate at Christmas.

And that leads us to the second aspect of salvation we need to celebrate this Christmas.

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2.     The Person of Salvation

·         *Twenty-four-years-ago, during the Christmas season of 1984, my son, Daniel* was on his way.

By the middle of January ’85, he decided to come.

Dr.

Joseph Pineda was the obstetrician on call.

Soon, I thought, it would be all over—/wrong/!.

The hours crawled by.

Late that night Dr. Pineda came out in his preppy Tulane sweater and said the baby was at risk.

He recommended an emergency C-section to which I promptly gave consent.

And at 12:51 a.m. on January 20, 1985, our first baby was born.

Dr. William Haynie (our pediatrician) came out with that 9 ½ pound boy and placed him in my arms.

I can’t tell you exactly how I felt at that moment; the rush I experienced was (and is) indescribable—what a blast!

·         Lately I’ve been thinking about Simeon quite a bit—trying to put myself in his sandals.

What was it like—to hold the Son of God, I mean?

The baby in his arms wasn’t just any baby.

It wasn’t even Simeon’s own “first-hatched.”

The child he held was (to use Luke’s words) the “Lord’s Christ.”

Wow! Can you imagine?

I’ve tried but I just can’t.

But I /can/ see Mary gently, lovingly handing her child to Simeon and Simeon eagerly receiving him.