Rev. Kurt Hering
Layton, UT
". . . the Lord will have no flatterer as a preacher. he does not say: Go
around the village,or to the one side of it: Go in bravely and tell them
what they do not like to hear." -- Martin Luther in an Advent I sermon
The PRESENTATION of OUR LORD
TEXT: 28 Simeon took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, 29"Lord,
now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word;
30for my eyes have seen your salvation
Luke 2:28-30
Well, did you all get what you wanted for Christmas?
HDTV and all the necessary surround sound and other digital equipment to go
with it
Latest video game entertainment system and games
new computer
ski equipment and season passes
ATV or snowmobile
It certainly is a joy to receive presents isn't it?-especially at Christmas
with all the lights and festivity and family reunions around the tree,
especially when you get that very thing you have been thinking about,
hoping, maybe even praying for since Thanksgiving or so.
And as great a joy as it is to receive presents, what about being able to
give them?-especially when you have scrimped and saved and done everything
you could to keep it something of a surprise that you have indeed been able
to find and purchase that perfect gift for your loved one, your son or
daughter, your grandson or granddaughter, your parents or grandparents, your
spouse.
Now imagine that your special loved one, the one you have been so excited
and anxious to see open that special gift, tears open your gift and after a
brief moment of recognition sneers, tosses the gift aside in disgust and
says it was the wrong
brand,
or size,
or color,
or you didn't wrap it in a pretty enough bow
or the card that came with it offended them
or they didn't like the look on your face when you gave it to them
After all that you sacrificed to get the gift and being so eager to see the
pleasure and use they would get from the gift, how would you feel?
That is the story of sin. God gives out of good pleasure and His boundless
love for us and we throw it aside, wanting something else, something
different, something better. It is the story of Adam and Eve in the garden.
It is the story of the builders of Babel. It is the story of the Israelites.
It is the story of people of Jerusalem. And it is our story as well - both
as the human race and as individuals.
In Eden, Adam and Eve had God himself, in person, with them. Throughout the
OT "God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in
various ways," (Hebrews 1:1 NIV)
but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed
heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. (Heb 1:2 NIV) In
the Bible, the very Word of God, He has revealed to us who we are, where we
came from, who He is and what we have in store for us. Certainly there is
much more that we don't know about God, things we would dearly love to know.
For as John tells us in chapter 20:30_31 of his gospel, Jesus did many other
miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in
this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
(NIV)
Yet the human race considers this foolishness, inadequate for an enlightened
age and continues to search for its roots. From space exploration to
archaeological digs to psychological probing to philosophical pondering to
astrological prophesy to self actualization the world searches for its
origins, for truth, for immortality while even believers look to those
things for further verification of the God of the Bible. Even among
believers in the Holy Christian Church, God's precious gifts are tossed
aside in favor of flashier, more technologically advanced, bigger and better
things than say
infant Baptism,
simple preaching that convicts us of our sins in order to bring us to
repentance and open us up to receive the forgiveness of sins,
the Lord's Supper
Who of us hasn't said "Yes, but" to the Lord. Yes I know all that about
Jesus, but please make this cancer go away so I can REALLY know you love me.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son
as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (I Jn 4:10 NIV)
Yes I read the Bible every day, but I want to know your will for MY life.
What shall I do?: Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in
the one he has sent." (John 6:29 NIV)
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but
to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will
destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will
frustrate." Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the
philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know
him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save
those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom,
but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to
Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the
power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than
man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. (1
Cor 1:18-25 NIV)
Once again today we find ourselves surrounded by tragedy, trials, and
tribulations.
The war goes on and people are sacrificed on the field of battle.
The economy isn't so hot and you may find yourself unemployed or
underemployed with bills to pay and car repairs looming.
You have lost a loved one during the holiday season or found out you have a
debilitating or even fatal disease.
And in the midst of it all, God's Holy Spirit calls us to look to the
foolishness of God, just as he called to Simeon that day in the Temple.
Behold God's foolishness!
The foolishness that this little child was Simeon's salvation, the salvation
of the world, the salvation of you and me. Not just because of the child but
because this child bore and would effect God's promise.
The foolishness that Baptism now saves us (1 Peter 3:21)
The foolishness that mere words bring us the same salvation seen by Simeon:
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the
salvation of everyone who believes
(Rom 1:16 NIV)
The foolishness that bread and wine could actually be the body and blood of
Christ bearing forgiveness of sins: While they were eating, Jesus took
bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take
and eat; this is my body." Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it
to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the
covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Matt
26:26_28 NIV)
[Siegbert Becker in The Foolishness of God] "Where there is no promise the
can be no faith. Justifying (saving) faith is faith in the promises of God.
And we can display these promises as a collection of individual, isolated
statements drawn from the Bible. Whole-hearted agreement with these
statements would be identical with a simple trust in the grace of God in
Christ. To believe in Christ means to believe what the Bible says about Him.
In that sense, saving faith is nothing else but agreement with the
statements of the Bible."[-as foolish, as simple, as plain and unexciting as
they may seem to the human senses and sensibilities.]
"The Formula of Concord[--so named because those that signed it were in
concord, that is agreement, with the Scriptures in the matters addressed-]
teaches that the assurance of our faith is to based on the fact that God's
grace and the promises of the gospel are universal and that this promise is
made in all earnestness by God."
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And
so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. (2 Cor 1:20
NIV)
This is what the Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon so on that day of the
Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple he beheld the very promise of God and
proclaimed. "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your
servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation."
Dear children of God. Out of His good pleasure and boundless love for you,
God our Father has given you His first and His best gift in His Son, Jesus
Christ. In that Son all God's promises are fulfilled and your salvation is
complete. And in His Word and Sacraments those promises are given once again
to you just as surely as they were given to Simeon.
Indeed this day we see, touch and hold the Lord's Christ just as God
promises. Here today we have forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Here
today we proclaim with Simeon, "Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss
your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation."-in the name of
the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
____________________________________________________________
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