Simply Lutheran

Old and New summarizes the little gallery below. Pic #1 shows an elderly Simeon and Anna receiving what they were promised in the New Covenant; Pic #2 is the mundane tradition of saying goodbye to the Old as Father Time welcomes the New Year; Pic #3 reminds us of the Old Testament passes away when the New Testament was established in the forgiveness of sins; and, Pic #4 shows Moses and Jesus with the Bible text of John 5:46, with the reminder of what St. Paul also wrote: "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth" Romans 10:4. This brings me to my address for this morning, the first Sunday after Christmas Day:

“Saying Goodbye to the Old and Bringing in the New”
Luke 2:25-32 “And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just 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. So, he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said: ‘Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.’” NKJV

Dear Christian friends: It used to be in years past that each New Year we saw in the media the image of a bearded, old man with his staff drudging along to the end of his course and a chubby, diapered, smiling baby in a top hat taking the old man’s place. For those of the newer generation who might not know what I’m talking about, this was the media’s method of saying that the past year is now gone and the New Year starts fresh; it is the end of the old and the beginning of the new. And as the New Year quickly approaches, I want you to reflect upon the old man in the temple named Simeon who for a long time lived under the Old Covenant or Testament that was now passing away to make room for the New Covenant now being revealed to his eyes.

Here, in today’s text, Simeon holds in his hands the Incarnate Word of the New Covenant, Jesus, the Christ child. Here is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies, in the fullness of time, being experienced as Simeon is blessed by the New before he passes away. It is as St. Paul wrote to the Galatians in today’s Epistle to the Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”

Hebrews 8:7-13 explains why Moses (representative of the Old Covenant) cannot stand alongside Jesus: “None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more. In that He says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”

The text according to Luke brings us to the fact that Jesus was now only 40 days old, as determined in the rites after childbirth in Leviticus 12. Joseph had brought Mary to the temple in Jerusalem to perform the rites of purification and to sacrifice that which was appropriate for a new-born son. The temple was a very busy place with many visitors and yet it was this one family of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus that Simeon took notice.

Unlike the imagery of the bearded, old man, known as Father Time, turning away and walking into oblivion, this old man, Simeon, in the temple turns to the New baby Jesus and embraces him in his frail arms. This surprises Mary and Joseph as the old man breaks unto a joyful song of worship and adoration: “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.” The old tired eyes of Simeon were permitted to look upon the Christ child, his own Savior, in the flesh. Simeon, who had been kept under the Old Covenant, now holds in his arms the long-awaited consolation of Israel that now releases him to die in peace. The New (Covenant) is here; the Old (Covenant) must now pass away.

The Bible also says that there was another elderly Israelite present nearby who happened to hear Simeon prophesy and sing his song of praise. She was a widow by the name of Anna who was 84 years old. Like most widows of her day, she was dependent upon the alms and gifts that were given her out of the love of those that came to the temple. Why did such a baby cause so much a stir in a couple of old people? It was that both Simeon and Anna had the hope of meeting this special child for a long time. And now the Holy Spirit had told Simeon that he would not die until he has seen the Messiah, the very Christ of God.

Simeon was indeed a dying breed in Israel; he was one who read the Scriptures of the Old Testament with wisdom as they foretold the birth of the Messiah. The great majority of the Jews had twisted the prophecies of the Old Testament to read what they wanted them to read. The Jews were much like the liberal Christians of today who believe and teach that people can’t be free in Christ unless they are first freed from a racist and unjust society. (This is known as liberation theology and, more recently, social justice theology.) The Jews of Simeon’s day were much like the Jesuits of the Roman Catholic Church that imported rebellion in third world countries to overthrow earthly governments instead of seeing that Christianity is the New Covenant made known in the forgiveness of sins.

Most of the Jews were also expecting a military-type hero in their day who would overthrow the Roman government and bring the Jews back into power under, what they thought would be, a Theocratic ruling government on earth, much like today’s Islamists believe as well as Dominionism in the Evangelical movement. But Simeon believed God, that he would see his spiritual hero that was his personal Salvation. Yes, Simeon and Anna were among “all they who looked for the redemption in Jerusalem.” So, this arriving of the holy family in the temple brought to both of them exceeding joy before their passing from this life into their new heavenly homes.

But what about you this Sunday after Christmas as you wait for the New Year? In what lies your hope? It is a fact that many people, even Christians, suffer depression after Christmas Day. This is the reality in which many people understand the Christmas holiday. Many treat Christmas as a birthday party (even if it is Jesus’ birthday); and like all birthday parties, it comes only once a year, with a brief time of happiness only to be followed by the longer time of realizing that you are just another day older and closer to death’s door.

Year after year people treat Christmas like a once a year party that they build up to the season of Advent, which should be treated as a time for repentance according to John the Baptist, and finally climaxes in the Big Day that is celebrated with extravagances of materialism and mounds of goodies to eat and lots to drink. It is then, on that “glorious” day, that Santa comes to all the little pagan girls and boys (who have, of course, been nice the whole year and not naughty) and then…poof! The magic is over for another year. And now all that the world has to look forward to is popping the cork on champagne bottles, kissing the nearest person and singing about Auld Lang Syne. Yet even today, there remain a few people like Simeon and Anna that understand Scriptures and realize what the prophecies of old present as the truth of the Messiah’s birth in Bethlehem.

Friends, Christmas isn’t just some innocuous story of a sweet Jewish baby who teaches us how to love everyone; Christmas is rather a matter of a blessing and a saying goodbye to the Old while bringing in the New. It is the Birth of births, a new beginning manifest within the world. It is doing away with those conditional covenants of the past and showing an unconditional testament, a New Covenant known only in the forgiveness of sins. Christmas is seeing your Savior, who alone was born to die so that you might be born-again, that you might have a second birth from above!

The liturgical Church traditionally celebrates 12 days of Christmas culminating in the day of Epiphany when Christ is made manifest to the Gentiles. This is when the Magi, who sought the significance of the holy birth prophesied in Isaiah 60:1-6, came and worshiped the Christ Child and offered Him their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

As it was prophesied in Isaiah 60:1-6, in the KJV: Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side. Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with celebrating Christmas with elaborate traditional ways; BUT, if this is all Christmas means to you then you sadly have missed the joy of celebrating the Mass of Christmas. You may have well just stayed with the Old and have nothing to do with the New for you have no real hope beyond what you can see and have in this present life…and for many people, that thought is depressing; but Simeon teaches us how important it is to have Jesus as our sure Foundation so that we can continue to build our life upon Christ the Rock of our salvation and, at the end, die in this faith.
In Christ we have everlasting light and life so that at the close of our own earthly journeys we can also say with confidence, “Lord, lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace according to Thy word.”

And what have we learned from Anna? Well, we also learned to live a life of dedication to our Lord, worshiping on a regular basis the Consolation of Israel, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. For it is here, in God’s House that you can hear His precious word of life and often partake of His precious body and blood in the Sacrament of Holy Communion. It is in the Word of God that you view the real tree of Christ-Mass. For it is as Paul says (1 Cor 1:22-24) “For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

Listen to this quote from Luther in his Table Talk (no. 5562. Spring of 1543) explaining: To Believe and to Comprehend Are Not the Same: When Dr. Jonas said that the mind of man cannot comprehend articles of faith and that it is enough that we begin only to assent, the doctor [Martin Luther] said, “Yes, dear Dr. Jonas, if one could believe them the way they’re written, our hearts would leap for joy. That’s certain. Accordingly, we won’t arrive at the place where we comprehend them. In Torgau a wretched little woman once came to me and said, ‘Ah, dear Doctor, I have the idea that I’m lost and can’t be saved because I can’t believe.’ Then I replied, ‘Do you believe, dear lady, that what you pray in the Creed is true?’ She answered with clasped hands, ‘Oh yes, I believe it; it’s most certainly true!’ I replied, ‘Then go in God’s name, dear lady. You believe more and better than I do.’ “It’s the devil who puts such ideas into people’s heads and says, ‘Ah, you must believe better. You must believe more. Your faith is not very strong and is insufficient.’ In this way he drives them to despair. We are so constructed by nature that we desire to have a conscious faith. We’d like to grasp it with our hands and shove it into our bosom, but this doesn’t happen in this life. We can’t comprehend it, but we ought to apprehend it. We should hold to the Word and let ourselves drag along in this way.”

Although you may not be able to comprehend the doctrine of the Incarnation in this life, you can still apprehend it as Simeon and Anna did when they beheld the Lord’s Salvation in human form; and as you apprehend it, according to God’s written Word, Christmas will continue to be with you throughout the remainder of this year, into the New Year of 2020… and always! Amen.