Luke 2:21-40

Luke 2 verses 22-14 this evening, it's on page 857 and 858.

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I think I learned something that I didn't know before, and that is people learn much

more by observing models than they learn in the classroom.

Let me just say that again.

People learn much more by observing models than they learn in the classroom.

And to be honest, I've got to be dead, because it's pretty obvious, isn't it?

If you've played sport, you will know that you learn far more from models than you do

from your dad's coaching, right?

Or football, or rugby.

We learn more, don't we, from watching and seeing than we do from what they're saying.

I think that's true with eldership, isn't it?

It's why the characteristics of elders are so explicit.

Because you learn primarily from looking at the elders' lives.

It's certainly true in preaching, isn't it?

Normally, you can tell who someone's models are in their preaching quite easily by listening to them.

There was a time, wasn't it, I think Chris Roberts had stopped using the claw.

But my friends used to mock me, that you're the poor Levy claw, that you can turn the light bulb on off,

that I sometimes would be, he's over that now.

Because we like our models, aren't we?

We get like the people that we observe.

I think that's the teaching of the New Testament.

You watch, and you see, and you hear, you observe the model,

and you seek to emulate the model.

And I think that we learn far more from observing models than we do from listening.

So where can we find models for Christian living?

Where can you find a model for living life today as Christian people in the times that we live?

Well, Luke is writing to his patron, a man who is by the name of Theophilus.

Let's just come into chapter 1, verse 1.

Let's just get our bearings there, okay?

So Luke says, inasmuch as many people have undertaken to compile a narrative

of the things that have been accomplished among us,

what he's saying there is that Jesus is a fulfilment,

he is a fulfilment of what has been accomplished among us,

what's been fulfilled among us.

And then verse 2,

just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses,

that is, his source,

his eyewitness accounts,

that's where he got his information from.

And therefore, verse 3,

it seemed good to me also,

having followed all things closely for some time past,

to write an orderly account for you,

most excellent Theophilus.

In verse 3 there, Luke gives his,

really his research method.

I want you to know, Theophilus,

that I have investigated everything carefully

in order that I can write down an orderly account.

And so what you find in Luke is,

things are put next to each other,

very, very deliberate.

There's a very, very deliberate structure to Luke's gospel.

Now let me read to you the fourth verse,

literally.

It should read like this,

so that you may know the things which you've been taught.

Certainty.

So that you may know the things which you've been taught.

Certainty.

The last word of verse 4,

it's like an emphatic, emphatic,

underlined, bold printed word.

He wants you to have certainty.

He wants Theophilus' patron,

above all things,

in this orderly account,

which is based on eyewitness sources,

which has been researched thoroughly.

He wants Theophilus to be certain.

Certain of what?

Well then Luke gives us, doesn't he,

the fullest account in all the gospels

of the birth of Jesus Christ.

He wants us to be certain

about the fact of Jesus coming into the world.

So let's look at the marriage in chapter 1, verse 18.

Chapter 1, verse 18.

Here is the forerunner of the Lord Jesus.

Zechariah sends to the angel,

how can I know this?

For I am an old man,

and my wife is advanced in years.

The angel speaks to Zechariah,

and tells him that his aged wife,

Elizabeth, is about to give birth.

And Zechariah, well he's incredible,

he's in verse 18.

And sure enough, it turns out that

Elizabeth is the mother of John the Baptist,

and the wife of Zechariah becomes pregnant,

and in her sixth month of pregnancy,

the angel Gabriel comes to Mary,

look at verse 31.

Verse 31.

And says to Mary,

Behold, you will conceive in your womb,

and bear a son,

and you shall call his name Jesus.

Verse 32.

He will be great,

and will be called son of the most high God.

Verse 35.

And the angel answered here,

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.

In the Creed,

Sunday by Sunday,

we testify that our Lord Jesus

was born of the Virgin Mary.

An early Christian named Ignatius

said that he was both made,

that is of Mary,

and he is not made,

that is of the Holy Spirit.

He is of both,

both of Mary,

and he is of God.

And Matthew and Luke recount the Virgin birth,

but Matthew and Luke,

or Matthew and Mark on the other hand,

report that he is not the son of Joseph,

but he is the son of Mary.

The Bible says before you

that he is truly human,

born of Mary,

but he is truly divine,

he is not tainted by sin,

he is born of God.

And as such,

he can bridge the gap

between God and man,

because he is truly the God-man.

And in verse 38.

Mary said,

Behold, I am the servant of the Lord,

let it be to me

according to your word,

and the angel departed from her.

And I want you to notice her song,

in verses 52 to 53.

Do you see the song of Mary?

He has brought down the mighty

from their thrones,

and exalted those of humblest state.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

The birth of this child,

who is the son of God,

the birth of this child,

who is conceived by the Holy Spirit,

in the womb of the Virgin Mary,

is going to be marked by

verses 52 and 53, humility.

If you come to chapter 2,

you will see that the Lord Jesus

is born in Bethlehem.

He's born in a stable.

And so chapter 2 in verse 10.

And the angel said to them,

Fear not, for behold,

I bring you good news

of great joy that will be for all people.

For unto you is born this day

in the city of David,

a Saviour who is Christ the Lord.

And this will be the sign to you,

you will find a baby

wrapped in swaddling clothes

and lying in a manger.

A manger.

The angel comes and announces

the birth to shepherds.

Shepherds were lowly people.

You don't worry too much

about shepherds.

They were people of no status.

So look at chapter 2 in verse 20.

And the shepherds returned

to glorify and praise God

for all they'd heard and seen

as they'd been told them.

Another early Christian said,

which is one of my favourite quotes,

says,

without ceasing to be

what he eternally was,

he became what he eternally was not.

Without ceasing to be

what he eternally was,

he became what he eternally was not.

God became flesh.

And Luke said,

I want you to get certainty about that.

Now let's follow what happened to Jesus.

He is circumcised,

can you see that?

On verse 22,

he is circumcised on the eighth day.

And on the 40th day,

he is brought for presentation.

Verse 21,

he's presented to Jerusalem.

The visit is timed by the law.

Circumcision on the eighth day,

that is the day

that vitamin K,

the blood-trotting agent,

is at its max.

It's a good day for circumcision.

And 14 days later,

he's presented at the temple.

Now there's nothing haphazard here.

The timetable has been set down

by God's law,

and this is no chance encounter.

So when he goes to Jerusalem,

verse 25,

he meets Simeon.

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.

It had been revealed to him

by the Holy Spirit,

that he would not see death

before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

It's been revealed to Simeon,

you will not die

until you see the Messiah.

So he has a conviction,

although he's getting on,

he would not die

until he'd seen the Christ of God.

And then he sees in verse 29,

and he says,

Lord, now let your servant depart in peace,

according to your word.

For my eyes have seen your salvation.

That you are prepared

in the presence of all peoples

a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and for the glory to your people Israel.

Well, he's seen the Lord Christ.

He's seen Christ Jesus,

the Son of Mary,

the Son of God,

the second person of the Trinity.

Forty days old.

I've seen it.

I've seen him.

But I want you to notice

that the people were divided

in their response to this Lord Jesus.

Look at verse 30 or 4.

And Simeon blessed them.

And said to Mary, his mother,

Behold, this man is appointed

for the fall and the rising

of many in Israel,

and for a sign that is opposed.

And a sword will pierce

your own soul also,

so that thoughts from many hearts

may be revealed.

He will bring about division.

Do you see that?

There will be those who follow him.

There will be those who follow his Jesus,

but there will be those who will not follow him.

There will be those who recognize Jesus

for who he is,

but there will be those who refuse

to recognize him.

And a sword, Mary,

will pierce your heart.

There will be those for whom Christianity,

well, they don't give it a second thought.

It's unimportant for them.

There will be those for whom

Christianity is of infinite importance.

And for those whom Christianity

is of no importance.

As C.S. Lewis said,

the only thing that cannot be

is moderately important.

Now notice a prophet,

an old man,

a six-week-old,

fragile little baby.

But there's another prophet that day.

And her name is Anna.

In verse 36.

There's a prophetess, Anna.

And she is the daughter of Phanuel

of the tribe of Asher.

And she is very old.

Now, when you're young,

23 seems very old, doesn't it?

Ali said to me this week,

I, she's pointing at me,

you are very old.

But this lady is very old.

She's definitely 84.

There's a good argument

that she might be 101,

but you fall asleep

by the time I give it to you.

But she's 84.

She was widowed

after seven years' marriage.

And she's so devoted

that she virtually lives

at the temple.

And she gives thanks to God.

And she praises God

for the child.

In verse 38.

And coming up

at that very hour,

she began to give thanks to God

and to speak of him

to all who are waiting

for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Now, simply notice

what you're seeing

in Luke's Gospel.

What have you seen before?

What have you seen already tonight?

You have seen that

the Gospel comes

to the humble.

Look at how Luke

gives prominence

to women.

It's unthinkable

in his day and age.

Elizabeth,

Mary,

Anna.

And it's not as though

he neglects the aged,

the aged Zechariah,

the aged Elizabeth,

the aged Simeon,

the aged Anna.

All of these are involved

in the coming of the Christ.

This Gospel is going to come,

this Christ is going to come,

and he's going to solve

the greatest problem

of humankind.

But he will not do it

in a way that pays

any concession

to our pride.

He will do it

in a way of humility.

And the people

who are involved in it,

they are women

and aged people.

Look at verse 39.

When they performed

everything according

to the law of the Lord,

they returned into Galilee

to their own town

of Nazareth.

And the child grew up

and became strong,

filled with wisdom

and the favour of God

was upon him.

Where is my model,

where is your model

for living the Christian life

today?

You go to the basic shops

in Oxford Street,

Westfield,

and you're confronted

by Santa,

and all the array

of consumables.

Who is your model?

My model is Simeon

and Anna.

And your model

is Simeon and Anna.

Simeon and Anna

give us a pattern

for living the Christian

life today.

And I cannot think

of anyone in the Bible

who is more of a pattern

for me today,

living the Christian life

today in 2016,

than Simeon and Anna

apart from the Lord Jesus

himself.

But look at them,

he's there.

Here is our mentor,

here is our pattern,

this is the pattern

for living,

Simeon and Anna.

Here they are in Jerusalem,

the city of God,

living in the shadow

of the great temple.

The huge religious

infrastructure is in its place,

isn't it?

The Pharisees

and the Sadducees

and the teachers

of the law.

The Sanhedrin.

And here are two

little people.

Two little people.

I don't know whether

you've ever been to

the Vatican

in Rome.

I went when I was 12

and at that point

the church that

we were part of

didn't have a building

and the only room

that we could get

was a massive

sixth home common room

that had iron maiden

and death leather

posters all over

the walls.

And it was in a place

called

Come Ready Caillou.

It's a great year,

isn't it?

And then we

left

there

to go on holiday

in Rome

when you visited

the Vatican.

I don't know

where there have been in it.

It is magnificent.

It's like a

multinational corporation.

It's so

impressive.

It's like we went

to a little corner shop

for church.

And Simeon and

Adam must have been

overwhelmed by this.

All the respective

religious structures

in place.

All of the glory

of the new temple.

The Sadducees,

the Pharisees,

the Sanhedrin.

And here are these

two little people

and Jesus is Fadja.

He is born of

wedlock.

He is born in

a school of Bethlehem.

He is born in a stable.

He is placed in an

animal's feet trough.

He is barely

six weeks old.

He comes to the

holy city and he is

an old man.

Here is an old man

who has received

a promise.

And here is a woman

who is 84 years of age

and they are very much

in the minority

but they are looking

for the Christ.

The religious

hierarchy is in place.

The elders

are meeting

and yet

they all seem to be

going through the motions

without any sense

of expectation.

Living without

expectation.

Well here are

a people

of expectation

living without

any expectation.

Here is a nation

of hope

but it is living

in hopelessness.

He comes to the world

but the world

does not recognise him

and it does not

receive him

but Simeon does

and Anna does.

And they are people

of hope

living with hope

surrounded by

a people of hope

living in hopelessness.

But I apologize

that is precisely

our situation today.

This week

we will have

Presbytery.

I look forward

to Presbytery.

I really enjoy it.

We will have

committee meetings.

We will have

discussions

about possible

church plans.

Decisions will be made.

Candidates for the

ministry will be interviewed.

People will be nominated

for office.

Reports will be received.

Budgets approved.

Trustees

consulted.

Votes cast.

But I think the danger

always

for church

courts

is that

there may well

be little

real expectation

of the coming

of Christ.

People

with hope

living as if

there is no hope.

If they were

here today

they would be

a little bit

quaint

oddities

Anna and Simeon.

Old people

barely holding

on to life.

kind of people

no one really

wants turning up

to a church

plant.

You know what I mean?

But they are

waiting.

They are waiting.

And this is

the authentic

Christian.

This is the

authentic

Christian experience.

We are

anticipatory

people.

We are

looking to

the future.

God has

promised me

that in life

I will have

sex experiences.

six experiences.

Number one

I was born.

Number two

by his grace

I was born

again.

What are the

other four to

come?

Death

resurrection

judgment

and entering

into the new

heaven and

the new earth.

Do you see

that?

I was born

and by his

grace I have

been reborn.

I have been

born again.

But death,

resurrection,

judgment and

entering into

the new

heavens and

the new

earth are

all still

to come.

We have

had two

and there

are four

to come.

Don't you

think we

should be

like Simeon

and Anna?

We live

in anticipation

with a

future

focused

mindset.

Look at

chapter 2

verse 25.

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.

Chapter 2

verse 38.

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.

Listen to

the song

of Simeon

and if you

grew up in

the church

you've been

in a prayer

book service

it comes

up every

morning and

every evening

every single

evening.

Listen to

these words.

Now let

your sermon

depart in

peace according

to your

word for

my eyes

have seen

your salvation

which you

prepared before

the face of

all people

to be a

light to

lighten the

Gentiles and

to the glory

of your

people Israel.

And it's a

constant reminder

isn't it?

Cranwell wrote

that in the

prayer book

that Simeon

is our

model and

that Anna

is our

model.

That we

are looking

for the day

it's a

weekly

reminder

that we

do not

live for

the day

today

but we

live for

the day

which is

coming.

And we

allow our

hope to

spur us

on.

How are we

to live

holy and

godly lives

as we

wait for

the day?

How are we

to live?

We wait for

the blessed

hope.

That's how

we do it.

We say no

to ungodliness.

We live

godly and

upright lives

as we wait

for the

blessed

hope.

So here

is Charles

Simeon.

Charles

Simeon was

an Anglican

director for

50 years

at Cambridge

University.

His church

is opposite

King's College

Chapel and

Simeon laboured

there in a

remarkable

ministry.

He saw

young men

and women

converted and

one of those

young men was

a young man

by the name

of Henry

Martin.

And Henry

Martin had a

wonderful career

ahead of him as

a linguist but

when he came to

Christ he turned

his back on that

and he went to

India and

Persia and

modern day Iran

and he began to

translate the

scriptures in

those places.

At the age of

31 Henry

Martin went to

Turkey and he

died.

At the age of

31.

And Charles

Simeon had

placed in his

drawer room a

portrait of

Henry Martin.

And every

morning one

biographer said

Simeon would

come past that

portrait and

stop and he

would look into

the face of the

painted Henry

Martin.

And he would

say be

serious.

Be earnest.

Don't trifle.

I won't

trifle.

That's living for

the day.

Be serious.

Be earnest.

Don't trifle.

I won't

trifle.

Simeon and

Anna were

expectant

waiters for

the day.

Oh the first

day has come.

The first

advent and it

is great fun

and we should

enjoy it.

But the

second advent

is coming.

I reread this

and you can

ask him why

Bishop Frank

Ratief.

Bishop Frank

Ratief was

evangelical

minister in

South Africa

and in 1993

four men

broke into

his church

in the evening

service.

They took

automatic weapons

and they

killed 11

members of

his congregation.

There were

58 people

wounded as a

result of that

break-in.

Frank

Ratief said

this.

As a result

of that I

formulated my

five minute

rule.

And my

five minute

rule is

this.

Whatever is

causing the

anxiety and

worry right

now, imagine

I was to die

and go to

heaven in

five minutes.

Or the

Lord Jesus

was to come

again in

five minutes.

Now how

does the

issue look

in the

light of my

five minute

rule?

Till my

death or

the coming

Lord Jesus?

And Frank

Ratief says

that he

formulated the

five minute

rule not

to live for

now, but

to live in

the light of

the imminence

of eternity.

And that's

how Samir and

Anna lived.

They had a

promise.

Anna was

looking every

day, 84

years of age,

but she did

not lose that

sense of

expectation.

What about

you?

Will you

live today

and tomorrow

by the five

minute rule?

He is

coming and

it could

be at

any

moment.

And how

does that

which causes

so much

anxiety look

in the

light of

his return?

Simeon and

Anna are

examples,

are models,

are pattern,

are mentors.

Be serious,

be earnest,

don't trifle.

let's pray.

Let's pray.

Thank you.