In the 1950’s, television anchorman, Walter Cronkite, hosted an educational program that presented a reenactment of a historical moment. Cronkite would begin the program with the program title, “You are there!” At the end of the thirty-minute reenactment, Cronkite would conclude with the words, "What sort of day was it? A day like all days, filled with those events that alter and illuminate our times... and you were there."
Every time we pick up the Bible, that moment can become a “You are there!” moment. When we read Scripture, we are stepping out of our life and entering the lives of people whom we have never met. We are entering their world and their times. Why do the stories of these other people exist for us to read at all? They exist because God who created all that there is and ever will be wanted their stories preserved because he was using their stories to reveal something about Himself. So, yes every time we pick up the Bible we are stepping out of our life and into the life of other people but we are doing so to discover something about God who made us and made the people of the stories.
But here is the thing we need to ask ourselves as we choose to pick up the Bible and read it. Why am I reading the Bible? Am I reading the Bible simply to learn more about God? That is true but is the purpose of our reading the Bible simply more knowledge of God? It seems like a shallow reason that could easily give way to doing something else. Or is what I am learning about God ultimately being used by God to make more out of me? Said another way, the only one God can change by me reading Scripture is me. And so, we should embrace those “You are there!” moments to read Scripture and allow God to change us in the most we ever could be. And what is the most we ever could be? To be like his Son, Jesus.
Today, our “You were there!” moment occurs shortly after Jesus’ birth. In this scene, Joseph and Mary were traveling to the Jerusalem Temple to present Jesus to God, an act that the Law of Moses required be done for first born male children. As we hear these words, we recognize that we are stepping into a culture and practices that are not like our own. We have entered other people’s lives, and we are trying to visualize these movements. Jesus is perhaps 40 days old at this point and Joseph and Mary are walking from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, about 7 miles. Today, the task of walking from Bethlehem to Jerusalem would be extremely difficult. Jerusalem is in Israel and Bethlehem is in the Palestinian West Bank. There are substantial walls and multiple military checkpoints between the two locations making the retracing of these steps nearly impossible.
About the time Joseph, Mary, and Jesus are arriving at the Temple, Luke introduces us to another character, a man named Simeon. “25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah” (Luke 2:25-26). Simeon is a deeply religious Jewish man who was patiently and confidently awaiting the coming of the Messiah. For Simeon, the coming of the Messiah was not an occasional thought or passing hope, it was very much the focus of his prayer life with God. God had heard Simeon’s prayers and sent the Holy Spirit to Simeon to assure him the Messiah would come in his lifetime. As a result of this revelation, Luke said Simeon was confident in his beliefs. Simeon went about his life with a mixture of humility and confidence. Simeon was humble before God and confident before others that God would keep his long ago promise.
In the Gospel of Luke, this is the second devout and righteous man we encounter. The first was an old priest named Zechariah, who while serving in the Temple, encountered an angel who revealed that Zechariah’s long-ago prayer for a son would be soon answered. The difference between the two men, however, was that Zechariah received the news of the angel with skepticism asking the angel, “How can know what you are saying is true since I and my wife are very old?” Zechariah was humble before God, but Zechariah lacked the confidence in God that Luke pointed out was present in Simeon. One might conclude that Luke was showing that the presence of the Holy Spirit gives confidence to the believer.
After these introductions, Luke brings Simeon together with Joseph, Mary, and Jesus this way. “27 Moved by the Spirit, he [Simeon] went into the temple courts. When the parents [Joseph and Mary] brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him [Jesus] in his arms and praised God” (Luke 2:27-28). The Holy Spirit moved Simeon to go to the Temple, not just every day or anytime, but at the precise moment Jesus was brought to the Temple for presentation to God. Simeon took Jesus into his arms and Simeon praised God.
Luke presents to us that Simeon needed to only look at Jesus to know he was the Messiah. There was story from Mary about the visitation of an angel and virgin birth. There was no story about how her cousin Elizabeth became pregnant in her old age to bear a son who would announce the coming Messiah. There was no story of shepherds coming to stable. There was instead the enabling of Simeon by the Holy Spirit to know with confidence that the baby before him was the Messiah.
Many years later, Jesus would expand our understanding of the confidence given to believers. Matthew recorded for us, “13 Jesus came into the country of Caesarea Philippi. He [Jesus] asked His followers, “Who do people say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14 They [Jesus’ followers] said, “Some say You are John the Baptist and some say Elijah and others say Jeremiah or one of the early preachers.” 15 He [Jesus] said to them [his followers], “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven” (Matthew 16:13-17). The revelation that Jesus is the Son of God is a sign that God through His Holy Spirit has enabled someone to receive a revelation. Such conviction is not from the teachings of another person.
And so, Simeon was confident and had a conviction about him that Jesus was the Messiah because Simeon had been blessed by God to receive that revelation. In response to the revelation, Simeon gave these words to those present: 29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel” (Luke 2:29-32).
Simeon was thus at complete peace. God kept his personal promise to Simeon but more importantly, God kept his promise to the nation of Israel to bring forth the Messiah who would bring glory to Israel and would be a light attracting the Gentiles, the non-Jewish nations. Simeon did not need to see all the events of the Messiah play out in his lifetime, it was sufficient that Simeon knew the events had begun. Luke said, “33 The child’s father and mother [Joseph and Mary] marveled at what was said about him [Jesus]” (Luke 2:33).
And as Walter Cronkite used to say, “What sort of day was it? A day like all days, filled with those events that alter and illuminate our times... and you were there." And so you and I were there. What did God reveal about Himself that He intends for us to know and use to change us into the most that we can be? I think there are three things for us to consider.
First, what sort of day was it? A day like all days, filled with those events that alter and illuminate our life. Simeon was a righteous and devout man upon who the Holy Spirit resided. That meant that every day had the potential to be an extraordinary day to alter Simeon’s life. Simeon allowed himself to be moved by the Holy Spirit to go to the Temple on a particular day and at a particular time. In doing so, Simeon met and embraced the person he longed for more than any other person, God’s Messiah. To embrace the will of the Holy Spirit is to allow all the days of your life to be used to alter your life.
Second, if you have come to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus is God’s Messiah, then you have received that belief as a revelation from God through his Holy Spirit. If you are a believer, then the same Holy Spirit that was upon Simeon and moved him into the Temple that day is upon you for the same purpose of moving you into places God desires you to be. The blessing of the Holy Spirit was promised by Jesus and has been given to enable believers to move in accordance with God’s will. Simeon was a confident man in his faith because of the presence of the Holy Spirit within him and at the same time he was righteous and devout, meaning Simeon was a humble man before God. As believers, we should be humble before God accepting His will and the movement of His Holy Spirit in our lives and knowing that when we do so we can be confident we are doing the very thing God wants us to do even if we feel uncomfortable in doing so or we don’t know how all the details will fall into place. Simeon did not know ahead of time why he was being moved to the Temple on that day at that time. He may have had other plans for that moment. Perhaps Simeon was uncomfortable going in that moment, we are not told. What we are told was that Simeon was confident in his going because he believed he was going at the direction of the Holy Spirit. To become the most we can be, we must allow the Holy Spirit to move us at God’s timing and to the destinations God chooses. The humbler before God we are, the more confident we are in our steps of faith.
That brings us to our third and final point. Luke preserved for us this story between just four people Joseph, Mary, Simeon, and baby Jesus. There was no other audience identified. By all appearances, Simeon’s words were spoken so that only Joseph and Mary could hear them. We never hear about Simeon again. So why do we have this story and Simeon’s words? The simplest answer is we have these words because God wanted us to have these words, this story. For in the story, we meet Simeon whose life was guided, and his steps were measured, by his devotion to God and confidence in God’s promises. Simeon did not stay at home waiting for Jesus to come knocking on his door. Simeon did not sit idle waiting for someone else to come along and invite them to go to a worship service or religious celebration. Simeon was a confident and active believer willing to invest his life into a God that had invested in him. Simeon was living his life with purpose to whatever extent his physical limitations allowed. And Luke placed this story just days after Jesus’ birth. We are now just days after celebrating Jesus’ birth. Perhaps we need to each look at our lives and ask ourselves, “How am I investing in God who has invested in me? Am I living my life with a purpose that reflects the movement of the Holy Spirit? Am I allowing God to make me into best of who I can be? Am I being humble before God and confident in my faith?” If our answers to those questions is “No,” then perhaps we should ask ourselves one more question. “If not now, then when?” I would suggest that the Simeon story exists so that we see the need for us to be motivated and moved by the Holy Spirit now because now is just the right moment.
What sort of day is today? It is a day like all days, filled with those events that alter and illuminate our times... and you are here. Let’s allow God to make the most of it and the best of us. Amen and Amen.