Luke's Gospel

They were going to have our reading and we're in Luke. We're in Luke chapter 2 and this is going to be a 2 part a 2 parter today, the first part being this morning and the second part being in the evening. Ben is going to come and open this passage up to us in just a moment. And then there's going to be a slightly different format this evening where they're going to be meditating discussing the second part of the passage. So Luke chapter 2 verses 22 to 35 and this should come up on your screens if you're at home as well.

When the time came for the purification rights required by the law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. As it is written in the law of the Lord, every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the lord. And to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of doves or 2 young pigeons. Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simyan, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel and the holy spirit was on him.

It had been revealed to him by the holy spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Moving 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. Simyan took him in his arms and praised God saying, sovereign Lord. As you have promised, you may now dismiss your servants in peace.

For my eyes, have seen your salvation. Which you have prepared in the sight of all nations. A light for revelation to the gentiles. And the glory of your people, Israel. The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him.

Then Simium 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. Thanks, Chris, and good morning, everyone.

Happy Christmas. Sad faces out there. I wonder how your Christmas has been. Fall all the way from peak Christmas vibes. Mupp it's Christmas Carol enjoying that, talking about that again.

All the way down to on the spectrum from up at Christmas Carol all the way down on the spectrum to didn't celebrate Christmas at all. I guess some of us are on different sides of that spectrum. So we've got a message this morning that I think is going to speak to us and I'm just going to pray for God's help as we open up this passage and ask that he applies it to us and that we can hear it today. Further, we thank you that you do not change and that year after year we can celebrate this unchanging good news of the gospel. We thank you that you sent your son Jesus into this world.

As Chris has said to die for our sins that we can be with you for eternity. And I ask, Lord, that you would meet us where we are this morning, that you would give us hearts and ears that are willing to listen to what you've got to say, to be encouraged by you and to be comforted by you. And so we pray this in Jesus' name, So like I said, I wonder how you feel this Christmas. Pete Christmas vibes all the way down to, didn't really celebrate Christmas at all. Where are you on that scale?

I've been on a bit of a journey. There'd be moments where I've actually felt more grateful for stuff that we've got, because you can't take anything for granted these days anymore, can you? You can't even take for granted seeing your own family on Christmas day. So what have I been able to do, well, as Chris has said, I've also been able to stuff myself silly with an immense boxing day sandwich. I actually think Christmas dinner is the means to the end, which is the boxing day sandwich, a few nods out there.

And it was amazing. We've also been able to give and receive gifts. Amazing in God's kindness, Carrie and I managed to see my family before the whole sort of big lockdown thing, and we'd already swapped presents. So we already had presents in each other's homes, so we were able to do that. And also, thank God, we were able to come to church still.

The entire world is locked down, but we can still meet and worship. We were praying for that in the first lockdown, weren't we? So God has been incredibly kind to us. And so, I've been really grateful. You know, how many people around the world can't do any of those things, even in normal conditions?

I felt grateful for those things that we have. Those were my up sort of moments. But it has also been a Christmas that we all know, where we've realized more than ever, I think, the importance of being together, And we felt the pain and the damage that can be done when you can't even give family members a hug on Christmas Day. Those of you who were here seeing perhaps family weren't able to hug each other. And for some of us, it was the first Christmas without loved ones that we've lost this year.

So there have been many tears shed this Christmas. And over the last few weeks, just because of those things. And so even with gratitude, you know, we have the gifts, we have the boxing day sandwich, we have been able to come to meet with each other. There's also been sadness, Actually, rather than sort of yoyoing between these 2 extremes, feeling really ecstatic 1 moment and then feeling really sad, the other moment. We kind of just sit in sort of in between both.

I wonder if you can relate to this graph here. You know, grateful for what you have, sad and green frustrated for what you're missing, and then this sort of patch in the middle, where I think a lot of us are. You know, living in both worlds. We're not denying the other 1 or trying to cover it up or, you know, let's just put on a stiff smile, stiff upper lip, let's just keep going, sort of denying 1, but actually acknowledging both of these as significant. We are grateful.

We are pleased. There's also real reason to be sad. I think it could be a tricky place, that, because some people, 1 circle's bigger, there's more to be grateful for, and for other people, the other circles, dwarfs the other 1, and there's way more to be sad about. But I think it can be a tricky place for us to be as Christians. How do we think?

How do we react? Do we praise God and pretend everything is okay? Or or can we be sad? We're about to meet someone in today's passage, this bloke Simyan, who I think is slap bang in the middle of these 2 circles. He's on this graph in the middle.

And although it's 2000 years ago, and although it's totally different circumstances, he's actually a human being too. So if you walked in here in today's close, we would go, yet he's 1 of us. So he struggles with the same hopes and dreams and disappointments that we do today. And God has the same things to say to him as he does to us today. So hopefully, like I said, we can learn something from Simion that is going to apply to us today on the 20 seventh of December, 20 20.

So that's my hope and prayer for this. So the first point I've got this morning is the inconsolable man. Verse 25. Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simyan, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was on him.

So this is still sort of around Christmas time, shortly after the birth of Jesus, and in me in walks this guy, Simian, who we meet. And we're told that he's righteous and devout. So he knows God, he loves God, he keeps his laws, probably to the best of his ability, he's living a godly life, for the most part. And we're even told that the holy spirit is on him. The holy spirit himself is on this man.

So that actually, I was thinking, is a pretty good introduction, you know, if someone was to welcome him onto the stage now, it's a pretty good introduction. Even as far as the bible goes. You know, Elijah that we studied earlier in the year doesn't even have an introduction like this. It's like, and then a guy from a Tishbite from wherever walks in and that's Elijah. And that's his introduction.

But here, this guy walks in with this, righteous and devout the Holy Spirit on Him. It's a great introduction. And yet, Even though he's got these amazing introduction, these incredible things about him, it doesn't make him this like transcendent Nivana like being that walks in peacefully like here is Simian. Look at him, float around. He's righteous and devout.

The Holy Spirit is on him. Godliness, even Christian Godliness, isn't an anesthetic to brokenness. And this broken world. Because we're told that he was waiting for the consolation of Israel. And if he's still waiting for consolation, then that means that he's currently inconsolable.

I'm sure some of us might have been inconsolable this Christmas. Maybe you can think of a moment in your life that you have been truly inconsolable. Or if you haven't been inconsolable, maybe you've seen someone or been with someone who is inconsolable. It's a terrible terrible thing, isn't it? Because there's nothing you can do that will make that person feel comfort.

And for simeon, there's nothing in this world that he's found, even over the long years of his life, that has been able to comfort him in Israel, that's been able to bring peace to him. He's still waiting after his whole life and this world for comfort to soothe his soul. And that's because even with the law of God that he's got, remember, he's following God. He's righteous and devout. He's a man of of the word in many ways, and he's probably part community and all of these things.

So even with all of that and the law of God and his relationship with God and all of the good things that he enjoys, that's remember that's side of the circle, even with all of that, he's still living in this same broken sinful world that we're in today. The other side of the circle. And in his time, there's nothing to sort of deal with that. Or or break this endless cycle that he's in personally, but also the world's in, where there's death sickness, loneliness, sadness, sin. The head of the serpent is ravaging his life and the lives of those around him, and there's no 1 yet to crush that head.

And so this endless cycle of sacrifices goes on for the sin of the people, again and again and again every day, they wake up, sacrifice for the sins. Try and live a godly life, mess up, sacrifice for the sins. And so, though he is a godly man, he's also waiting for salvation, inconsolably waiting. No 1 can bring peace to him until this salvation comes. But I want us to notice that actually, he's not waiting without hope.

He hasn't just given up. Because he knows that God has said he will send his Messiah, He is gonna send his savior to save his people from their sin, from this broken world that we're in. From this messy, hurtful, just broken world. So that is why he waits, because he knows God is going to console him. He knows God is going to console Israel.

In verse 26, we find out actually that it's been revealed to him that he personally will see this consolation. So it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. So in verse 27, moved by the spirit, he went into the temple courts, when the parents bought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the law requires. Simian took him in his arms and praised God. And I think we've got an amazing little picture here just a microcosm of the Christian life, on the first hand, and also a picture of the trinitarian God.

Because here we have inconsolable simeon. And he's led by the Holy Spirit to praise the Father for Jesus. Yeah. You see that? So the spirit leads Simion to Jesus, who he holds, and praises the father.

Father, son, and spirit, all united in this act to bring glory to himself, and to console simeon. And it's it's a really beautiful picture, and it's the same pattern for us today. This is exactly what God is doing. Well, he's just done here in this little picture, he's done for us. The spirit leads us to Jesus and gets us to see him and his salvation, and then we end up praising God.

We've already sung a song praising God this morning for Jesus. That's because the spirit has led us to him and we've seen him and we've praised the father. So that leads me to my second point, the consolation of Israel. So Simyan led by the spirit to the Lord Jesus, and he praises God in verse 29. Sovereign Lord.

As you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace for my eyes have seen your salvation. Which you have prepared in the sight of all nations, a light for the revelation to the gentiles, and the glory of your people, Israel. So Simyan knows that the consolation of Israel, this thing that he's waiting for, the comfort that he so desperately wants, he knows that this comfort is directly bound up with his salvation. The reason he can now be dismissed in peace, he says, is because his eyes have seen God salvation. That's this peace that the world couldn't offer him.

He says, you may now dismiss your servant in peace for my eyes have seen your salvation. This is the thing that my heart has been yearning for. That nothing in this world has been able to satisfy. I've tried loads of other stuff. Nothing has soothed my soul like this has.

So salvation from this sinful world, that big circle, that big red circle, of stuff that creeps in on his life, He's been saved from the sin and suffering body and world that he's in. And that is what comfort him. So he would have known as a righteous and devout man, he would have known this from Isaiah chapter 40. Comfort. Comfort my people, says your God.

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for. That she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. So there can now be comfort for God from God, for the inconsolable, because Jerusalem sin has been paid for by this little baby, that Simion's holding. This little baby's hard service will complete the work. Jesus will receive from the Lord's hand double for all sins.

And so now, God can say to us tenderly, comfort, comfort my people. Your sins have been dealt with. There's peace now with me. There's hope of resurrection and of new life that has none of this red stuff. Because of the Lord Jesus.

So there's praise from Simyan. In verse 33, the child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Cannot get their heads around the good news that this is. So consoled. Now what?

Yeah? You probably sat there thinking. So Ben, You're telling me that's it. Jesus is our consolation, so I should just be like simeon. Stop my moaning.

And live happily ever after. No. Consolation is an interesting word. Because you can solve someone who is grieving or suffering, don't you? You can solve someone who's happy.

That'd be a bit weird. You can solve someone who's grieving or suffering, but by consoling them, you don't necessarily take away the reason for their grief or sufferings, do you? You can't undo the problem that has caused their suffering in the first place simply by consoling them. You don't dissolve their problems away into nothingness. Rather, when you console someone, what do you do?

You draw near to them, don't you? In their suffering, you come alongside them. You warm them with your love in their coldness. You balm and soothe them in their pain. You bind up their wounds, and you show them a future without the wounds.

But you do all of that with the acknowledgement that there is a reason why they need to be consoled. Consolation is drawing next to someone suffering, not bashing suffering away completely, is it? You only need to console an inconsolable person. So in Psalm 34, it says the Lord is close, to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 147, he heals the brokenhearted.

And he binds up their wounds, Matthew 5, blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. So I wanna ask us this morning, are you brokenhearted? Are you crushed in spirit? You wounded? Are you mourning?

Because if so, then God doesn't actually tell you you shouldn't be. Like, what on earth are you doing? You're meant to be a Christian. Stop feeling that way. He doesn't tell you you shouldn't be feeling like that.

Instead, he actually acknowledges you do feel like that. And that's why he sent his son, to be our consolation, to make amends for our sin on the cross, and to draw near to us. To warm us with his love, and his forgiveness, to soothe our pains and our frustrations, to bind up our wounds, He doesn't come to us and say, that's disgusting, what's that about. He comes to us and binds up the wounds. And best of all, he shows us a future without these wounds.

And so it's perfectly possible to be a Christian who needs to be consoled. In fact, Jesus is the consolation of Israel. So if you don't need to be consoled, what the heck do you need Jesus for? So the first lesson from Simion is this, let Jesus be your comforter. Let the word of God speak tenderly to you and comfort you and show you with your eyes, His salvation.

That's what God has done for us. That's why he's given us his word. That's why we do this. That's why we stand up week after week and and open up his word. It's what blessed simeon, he had peace because of it, and it's what God wants to do to you.

He wants to speak comfort to you. So how you respond to this will be either the rising or falling of you have missed a bit. How you respond to this will be the rising or falling of you. This is an important lesson to let Jesus be our comforter because he goes on and he says this to Mary Next. He says, this child is destined to cause the rising and falling of many in Israel.

And to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. So God is speaking comfort to all of us, but we're not all necessarily going to respond in the same way, which is heartbreaking. But there are 2 different ways to respond to Jesus. Either we will build our lives on Jesus, and we will allow his his tender voice to speak comfort to us, and that will be the rising of us. He will rise us to eternal life, or If we reject him and we reject this comfort that he speaks to us, then that will be the falling of us.

So don't speak against Jesus. Jesus will be a sign that will either be accepted and loved or spoken against the simeon warns. Don't speak against Jesus. Allow him in your heart to console you. So again, consoled, now what, Ben?

Because we need more than just consolation, don't we? We don't just need God to come down and pat us on the back and bind up our wounds and tell us it will be alright. We actually need our problems dealt with, don't we? We need God to come down and deal with them finally. And the word theologians use for this, is consummation when they talk about the wedding banquet of the of the wedding feast of the lamb.

When we are with God in heaven, and then we're with him forever. And the word for that is consummation So as Simmian was waiting for consolation, we are now waiting for consummation. Because God hasn't just come down to pass on the back and make us feel better about our sad Christmas and this broken world we're in. Actually, the father has sent the son, yes, to bring peace to us. But ultimately, to deliver us to this new world where every tear will be wiped away.

Where there's no more of this red circle, not just consoled, that's the message of the gospel, not just consoled, but healed. And that is what we're waiting for today, isn't it? Because we have had this peace from God. We do our hearts do burn with us when we hear about the lord But actually, we want more than that, don't we? We don't want to be here in this world in lots of ways.

We do, because, you know, we've got a job to do while we're here, but actually, we want to be in another world. Don't you? That's what we desperately want. Romans chapter 8 says, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.

For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the 1 who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. So all of creation, All of us. Creation creation. The bible talks about it groaning and moaning as in the pains of childbirth. There's something better coming, and we're yearning for it.

We can't wait to get there. And now, while we're waiting, we're waiting eagerly to be bought into this freedom and this glory that has been prepared for us. That is the consummation of our salvation in Jesus. We are waiting now for that day when we're delivered into this new world, and all of those problems. And all those broken things and those sufferings that we carry around in that red circle, the gone.

And we're with God forever. And so This is why simeon is applicable to us, because like simeon, we, today, are also waiting We like Simon in this in between stage. And so here we go. Here's the next step, if you like. So present sufferings, we experience suffering trials and sins in this world.

Those are those are real. They happen to us. They are awful, but we have this consolation of Jesus as well, where he tenderly draws near to us, and he comforts us, and he speaks to us. That's also true. But then also, we have this third thing where we're waiting eagerly.

For the day that our salvation is consummated. So it's no wonder, isn't it? It's a Christian that we feel pulled in many different directions. How often do you feel like you shouldn't You don't know where you should be on that? Some days, I feel more in 1 than another.

Some days, I feel like I'm just waiting. Some days, actually, I feel very comforted by the Lord Jesus. It's difficult to even hold all of these different things in our heads, isn't it? But It would be easy for me to say that because there are present sufferings and we're waiting, those sort of outweigh and overshadow this peace and this consolation that we have with Jesus. So my last point is this.

There is peace for those who wait. It's genuine peace for those who wait. While outwardly, the world is still gonna thrash around us, and cause us pain and suffering. And we will have trials. As we see with Simian, God has not left us today without a reason to praise him, or to have inward peace.

Remember, Simyun's outward world didn't change when he saw the Lord Jesus. But when he saw Jesus, he said you may now dismiss your servant in peace. What had changed? Not the world? Not the big red circle, it was seeing the Lord Jesus.

And so in John 14, Jesus says this to us, but the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name will teach you all things. And will remind you of everything I've said to you. Peace, I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

So while your outside world might remain the same, We now have the same spirit that was on simeon, to lead us to Christ, to give us eyes to see his salvation, and to patiently wait with eager expectation for that day. When we're with Christ. And on top of the Holy Spirit, Jesus says also here, he's left us with his peace. And this is the peace that surpasses understanding. If you look at the outside of a Christian's life, is there very often things that should cause them to be peaceful?

No? I think in many ways, we have more reasons to be unpeaceful. But actually, Christ gives us this peace inwardly, that surpasses all understanding. So I want to say to us this morning, if you are inconsolable in this world. If there's nothing outside your life that comes in and consoles you, then come to Christ, who is the consolation of Israel.

He is the 1 who will draw alongside you. He's the 1 who will bind up your wounds, who will speak tenderly to you. He knows the wounds that you have, and he wants to speak tenderness to you. If you long for this other world that I've been talking about, where there's none of that red circle, and without pain and suffering, then come to Christ who promises our consummation on that day, the consummation of our salvation. He promises He promised to Simien, he kept that promise, he promises to us today, he will keep this promise.

He's gonna deliver us into this new world that is altogether different. No more pain or sadness or sin or brokenness. And look, we all need patience while we wait for that day, don't we? I was going to say here, I've written here if you need patience. Who doesn't need patience?

Right. We all need patience. Yeah? While we wait in this world, we need to ask the father to give us and renew this peace within us that Jesus has left us with. He's given us that consolation which sits on top of those other 2 things, and colors those other 2 things.

That is the peace that he has left with us. So we need to pray and ask for God's help that he would renew and give us that peace of Christ. Let me pray and then I'll hand over to Chris. Father, we thank you for this little story, Simian, who came into the temple, saw Jesus and praised you. We thank you that when he saw Jesus, Though his life didn't change, though the outward circumstances affecting him didn't change at all He had inward peace because he saw the Lord Jesus.

Father, there are so many of us in this room who have outward lives of sadness and difficulty and pain. I pray that you would give us the peace of the Lord Jesus Christ and that your Holy Spirit would give us eyes to see the salvation. And that you would help us as we wait for that day when all of our problems are taken away, and all of our tears are wiped away by the Lord Jesus himself. Help us please in this world, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.