Are You Ready?

Luke 2:22-35

There’s a story told about a pastor who is giving a children’s message. I may have shared this one with you before. If I have, bear with me. The pastor said to the group of kids, “You want to go to heaven, don’t you?” And all of them said, “Yeah, except for one little boy, a boy named Johnny.” And Johnny shook his head, “No.” And the pastor was a little bit perplexed. And so he asked again, “But we all want to go to heaven, right?” And again, all of them said, “Yeah, yeah, except for a little Johnny.” Who again, somewhat emphatically shook his head and said, “No.” And the pastor was just totally confused. And so he actually addressed little Johnny and said to him, “Well, Johnny, you want to go to heaven someday, don’t you?” And little Johnny responded, “Oh, well, yeah, I want to go to heaven someday. I thought you were getting up a gang to go there right now.” And I wonder, is little Johnny all that different from you and me? How many times haven’t you heard or haven’t we said, “Well, yeah, I want to go to heaven someday, but first I want to graduate high school, get married, have kids, have grandkids finish that project, see the Brewers win a Super Bowl.” No, they won’t win a Super Bowl. See the Brewers win a World Series, whatever it is, right? At the same time as we sing with gusto, and I pray we mean, “I’m but a stranger here, heaven is my home.” Which is it? We have the choice of heaven right now, or the choice of earth right now. And we would choose earth? I was trying to think of an analogy, and this really limps, but was the best I could come up with. It’s as if for dinner tonight, you had the choice of these two things. You could either have mac and cheese out of the box, or you could have the world’s greatest chef come and make you whatever meal you wanted. You could invite as many people as you wanted, and it was at no cost to you. And you chose mac and cheese. And you chose mac and cheese. Would any of us do that? I can’t imagine any of us would do that. And yet, do we do that in regards to our priorities regarding earth or heaven? Now, please don’t get me wrong. All those things I mentioned earlier, graduating high school, getting married, having kids, finishing the project, Bruce winning the World Series would be really cool. All those things are blessings from God, for sure. And it’s totally appropriate for you to thank God for those things, to enjoy them, to find appreciation in them, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, but to prioritize them over heaven? That’s nuts. And yet, how often aren’t you and me guilty of doing exactly that? And so it’s really helpful for us to have a little visit with Simeon in the temple about 2,000 years ago. There’s a number of things about this text. I don’t know that I’ve ever preached on this text on a Sunday morning. I know I did one time at the seminary for a morning devotion, but I think that’s the only time I’ve preached on this text, crazily enough. And in doing the Greek, there was a couple things that just jumped out at me. First of all, it doesn’t come out in our translation, unfortunately. But notice what brought Mary and Joseph to the temple. It was the time for their purification. Unfortunately, that word there doesn’t show up in the translation that the NIV 2011 does. I get why. Two things. Notice the gift that they brought. Two pigeons or two turtledoves. The text doesn’t say which. Those were interchangeable. But this was one of the Old Testament ceremonies in which the person bringing the offering had a choice. If they were middle class or upper class, they were to bring a lamb. But if you were very poor, then you could bring two turtledoves or two pigeons. Mary and Joseph brought two turtledoves or two pigeons, which is a really powerful sign that the wise men with their gold frankincense and myrrh have not yet gotten there. Because if the wise men have shown up with gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh, Mary and Joseph are bringing a lamb, right? Yeah, they didn’t. And it’s the gift for their purification. Their, not her. Their. Their. Who’s the they? Well, one of them is clearly Mary. The other almost undoubtedly is Jesus. And if you’re scratching your head a little bit right now, you should be. Because of all the babies born into this world, there’s only been one who is not in need of purification. And that would be Jesus. What’s he doing? Already at 40 days old, Jesus, through his parents, is stepping into your shoes. Already as an infant, he is doing his work. The things that humans needed to do and do perfectly. And he did it perfectly because he was perfect. He was going beyond what was necessary so that you could know for sure that everything that was needed for your salvation has been done. Already as an infant, he’s doing that. For you and for me. Well, it’s into that context that Simeon meets Jesus. Simeon had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he saw with his own eyes the savior of the world. And the Holy Spirit somehow, some way pushed Simeon into the temple that day. And somehow, some way said, “See that couple over there with that baby? That’s the one.” And Simeon walks up to Mary and Joseph. And I would guess Mary and Joseph were a little astounded by all of this. Simeon takes the baby Jesus into his arms. “And peace, Lord. Now let your servant depart.” Oh, by the way, how old is Simeon? Notice what the text says. Nothing. Oftentimes, he is described as aged Simeon as if he’s 88. 88. Could it not be just as true that he was 18? And might not his words be even more powerful if he’s 18 rather than 88? I know a lot of 88-year-old believers in Jesus who are very ready to depart in peace. I don’t know as many 18-year-olds who are. But doesn’t it make sense? “In peace, Lord. Now let your servant depart. For the eyes of me have seen the salvation of you.” That’s the way the Greek literally reads. “My eyes have seen the salvation which you have done for me.” I have seen Jesus. I’ve seen my Savior. And having seen my Savior, there’s nothing else that I really need to see. Nothing. And so in peace, Lord, now let your servant depart. Depart where? Depart the temple? Depart Jerusalem? No. In peace, Lord, now let me depart. Depart. Because I’ve seen everything that I need to see. Now, did Simeon have a full understanding of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection the way you do? No. Almost undoubtedly not. He had the Old Testament promises, is it possible, that God had given him more details and so he knew more than some other people? Maybe, but the text doesn’t tell us that. What the text does tell us is that he knew that this was his Savior, this was his salvation, this Jesus, he was the one. My eyes have seen your salvation. And so have yours. As we gathered around the manger this past week, what did we see? Salvation. To you is born this day a Savior who is Christ the Lord. As we walk into the Epiphany season, that’s the next season of our church here, during that season we look at Jesus, who Jesus is, what Jesus does, what Jesus says. And as we see Jesus turning water into wine and preaching the Sermon on the Mount and raising people from the dead and feeding the 5,000, etc., etc., etc., what are you seeing? You’re seeing salvation. And as we go next into Lent, we’ll travel agonizingly to Gethsemane’s Garden. And through the High Priest’s mock trial and to Calvary’s Cross, and what will you see? You’ll see your salvation and what God has done for you, for me. And then on Easter Sunday as we rush to Joseph of Marathias, barely used and now empty tomb, you are going to see salvation with your own eyes one more time yet again. And so along with Simeon, you can say in peace Lord, now let your servant depart, for my eyes have seen your salvation. And if God were to get a gang of us ready to go today, yes, you’re ready to go. And oh, you might miss the Packer game this afternoon, but that’d be okay because heaven will be so much better that we can’t even imagine the glories of it. And you’re ready to go because your eyes have seen the salvation that God prepared for you. And oh yeah, it’s true. You and I may get our priorities really messed up on occasion. And get way too earth-focused and way too heaven-focused. You know what? Jesus paid for that sin too, my brothers and sisters. And so in peace, you and I can depart. We’re ready to depart in peace. And at the end of the day, even little Johnny was ready to go too. He just didn’t know it. Amen. And Amen.