Sermon for New Year's Eve
In 1936 A. E. Housman published a short poem that has become sort of a
universal epitaph for dead soldiers everywhere:
Here dead lie we because we did not choose
To live and shame the land from which we sprung.
Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose;
But young men think it is, and we were young
(From More Poems).
In our Sunday School lessons, we saw pictures of tonight's Gospel
that depicted Simeon as a man grown old. We also have a hymn that was
written for this Gospel, titled "In His Temple Now Behold Him." That hymn
expresses the same thought, that Simeon was old when Mary brought her Son to
him:
In the arms of her who bore Him,
Virgin pure, behold Him lie
While His aged saints adore Him
Ere in perfect faith they die (LSB 519.2)
One problem with our assumption that Simeon was an old man is this: It is
entirely our assumption that he was old. Tonight's Gospel tells us nothing
of the man's age whatsoever (Arthur Just, Luke 1:1-9:50, p. 120). We only
know that
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.
There are some good reasons why we have made our assumptions about
Simeon's age. Tonight's Gospel places him close to Anna, and Anna is
described as "advanced in years," living "as a widow until she was
eighty-four." Simeon also spoke about himself as now ready to die, having
seen the Lord's Christ and His Consolation of Israel. "Lord, now You are
letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your Word." But there may
be another reason-a rather introspective reason-that makes us want to
picture Simeon old and gray. Maybe a young Simeon places death-and the
thought of soon welcoming it-a little too close to most peoples' door.
Housman had it right:
Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose;
But young men think it is, and we were young.
If we picture Simeon as elderly, then we clearly end up having a
good and comforting Gospel for the elderly. If we assume Simeon is in his
eighties because Anna is in her eighties, we might also equally assume that
Simeon, like Anna, is now likewise widowed and alone in the world. There
again we have a good Gospel for those who are now alone in the world, who
have watched all their friends and family precede them in death, who have
grown weary of their earthly lives, and who now long "to depart and be with
Christ" (Philippians 1:23) because there is not much left for them here.
Suppose we change our assumptions about Simeon. Suppose we picture
him a man in his thirties or forties or fifties, maybe with a wife and with
young children still at home, maybe with some yet-unfulfilled dreams and a
whole lot of living yet to do. A young Simeon widens the scope of this
Gospel dramatically. Suddenly this becomes a good and beneficial Gospel for
all flesh, no matter what their age. With a young Simeon, this Gospel does
much more than empathize with those who have begun to lose everything they
have gained in this life. With a young Simeon, this Gospel provides
instruction, correction and comfort not only to the elderly, but also to
their children and their children's children. A young Simeon shows how this
Gospel gives rebuke and consolation to each of us, and to every person who
still has something in this life that he would wish not to lose.
My father and I have a little ritual we go through before every
trip I take overseas. I always explain to him what things will need to be
done in the event of my death, and my father always cringes in response.
During those conversations, I always think I can hear him forcing himself
into silence, keeping himself from pleading with me to stay home. The
emotions get a little raw and the unasked question is always the same: What
about the wife and the children?
I am not the only man in this congregation who thinks about that
question. That is to say, I am not the only person who has something or
someone whom I cannot bear the thought of losing-or even worse, of leaving
behind. But who are we, to think that our life is anything more than "a few
handbreadths" (Psalm 39:5) and "a mist. that vanishes" (James 4:14)?
What comfort is Simeon to us, if he has lived a full life and now
in his old age awaits his departure from a world that has made him bored or
tired? Even unbelievers can die that way. An old Simeon allows each of us
our fanciful expectation that we should end up living a long life on earth
before we "depart in peace, according to [God's] Word." Anything short of a
ripe old age might then be confused with a miscarriage of justice or a
divine act of tough love.
A young Simeon places us all-man, woman, and even child-on the same plain,
and right at death's door. A young Simeon attacks our self-expectations
because a young Simeon gladly dies while the eighty-four-year-old Anna
jealously returns to her "fasting and prayer night and day." Above all, a
young Simeon teaches us faith. He teaches us to sing the Nunc Dimittis while
we picture ourselves departing everything we hold closest and most dear.
With the Christ Child in his arms, Simeon holds the full body of your
forgiveness and eternal life. With his eyes, Simeon sees God's own
salvation, a salvation prepared both for you and for those dearest loved
ones whom you are loathe to leave behind.
There is a good reason why we sing Simeon's song after our
distribution of Holy Communion. Having heard the Word of Christ's
forgiveness, having tasted the body and blood of our Lord, we receive
everything from Jesus that Simeon likewise received. Having eaten the food
of our salvation, we proclaim ourselves now ready to depart in peace. In
singing this song, we are saying two important things about our God. First,
we are saying that we know our God will take care of us because He has given
us His Salvation by giving us His Son. Second, we are also saying that our
God shall faithfully care for those to whom we might be required to say
good-bye.
Tonight we welcome the New Year by singing Simeon's Nunc Dimittis.
As you sing this song, do not sing with an old Simeon in mind. Sing thinking
of those whom you love the most and as you sing, entrust them again to the
Lord's Christ, the Consolation of Israel.
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