9. The Long Haul

Luke 2:22-40

In his opening chapters, Luke has repeatedly emphasised the righteousness and devotion of those involved. He continues to stress that everything surrounding the early days of Jesus was done in accordance with what was required in the Law. Any Jewish readers are not going to listen to the claims of a Messiah who has no respect for the Law of God.

Likewise we must have credibility with people if we are to share life with them.

An untransformed life will not give much credence to a message of transformation.

A call to prayer won’t carry much weight from a prayerless person.

An encouragement to read the Word won’t be effective from someone who never reads it.

Two more devoted people are about to enter the stage. First, Simeon.

A Regular Man
Simeon is not a priest. No family background is given. No mention of whose son he was. Nothing. Yet again, God loves to use the insignificant folks who are overlooked by society.

A Righteous Man
What does ‘righteous’ even mean? It’s got more to do with relationships than with actions. Righteousness cannot occur in isolation - you can’t just do the right stuff on your own and be righteous. It’s about being in right relationship with God and with other people. And it’s beautiful.

A Man of the Spirit
“The Holy Spirit was upon him.” Lest we miss it, Luke emphatically declares the Spirit’s orchestration of this scene (2:25,26,27). The powerful people mentioned at the start of the chapter took no notice of this old man but the Holy Spirit was “on him”, “revealed” things to him and “moved him”.

A Patient Man
“A contradiction,” I hear you say. Not so. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel. And he had waited a long time - so long in fact that he was ready to die once he had seen Him. Patient waiting is a sign of deep trust in God and mature faith. In my own ministry I have felt God say from the very early days, “you’re in this for the long haul.” Not an overnight sensation; not a flash in the pan. The Holy Spirit is a fire, not a firework.

A Devoted Man
We’re not good at devotion. Either we’re devoted to the wrong things or we don’t devote ourselves to anything. Simeon was devoted to God. His was a wholehearted, lifelong commitment. Even in the church we need more devotion, particularly from men.

A Man of the Word
With one word - consolation - Luke points us to the first verse of the second section of Isaiah (40:1). Simeon was saturated in Isaiah 40-55 and it comes out in yet another song. He lives and breathes Scripture and it pours out of him as he sings (see Isaiah 46:13; 42:6; 52:10).

The Word and the Spirit are a formidable partnership. Many of us would love to mirror Simeon’s experience of the Spirit on him, revealing things to him and moving him. However, such things are the fruit of deep devotion to God and to the Scriptures.

Simeon has a difficult word for Mary - “a sword will pierce your own soul too.” Woven through Simeon’s favourite chapters in Isaiah 40-55 is an unmistakable thread of pain. “Mary, this is going to hurt.” I think Simeon is the only person in the gospels who understood by revelation that Jesus would suffer - Simeon did not need to be told about Jesus’ future suffering. He knew. He read it in Isaiah. When God’s kingdom clashes with the kingdoms of this world there is rejection and there is pain.

Simeon fades away and Anna is the next devoted person to step onto the stage. Life hadn’t worked out the way she planned. Seven years of joyful marriage then she became a widow and when we meet her she is 84. What has she been doing all these years? What was her response to having her heart wrenched out of her? “She never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying.”

Ponder

What do you do when life doesn’t work out the way you planned?

Consider the definition of righteousness as “being in right relationship with God and with other people.” Does this resonate with you?

Ask God to give you a voracious appetite for His Word and His Spirit.