First Sunday after Christmas – December 29th, 2024
Trinity Ev. Lutheran Church, Block, Kansas
Rev. Joshua Woelmer
Text: Luke 2:22–40
“Witnessing and Praising”
Theme: Simeon and Anna waited many years to witness to the Messiah and praise God for finally sending him. We too can witness and praise God for granting us
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
So this is might be a bit morbid, but when I was a child, and perhaps a few times as an adult, I’ve wondered what my last words will be before I die. I’m probably not the only one who has these sorts of quirky thoughts. I think we all have quirky morbid thoughts from time to time. Some of you, I’ve heard, have wondered who you will be buried next to out in our cemetery. We all consider our own mortality from time to time, and unless Christ comes soon, we all will one day walk down the path that many before us have trod.
And yet, how one dies has long been an interest of many. This certainly isn’t something new. In the Middle Ages, for example, dying peacefully was equated with a heavenly death, while dying in agony was a sign that someone may not have gone to a very good place. Now, this isn’t true, of course, but the last words of some individuals sometime summarize their general outlook on life and death, and some of these phrases can be quite profound or funny or morbid.
Leonardo da Vinci, for example, shows his modesty as he says, “I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.” He had painted the Mona Lisa, the Last Supper, and many other well-known pieces of art.
Those on death row sometimes have a more morbid sense of humor, called “gallows humor.” One murderer was put in front of a firing squad and asked if he had a last request. He replied, “Bring me a bullet-proof vest.”
Perhaps most well-known to us Lutherans are Luther’s last words. Luther was asked by his friend Justus Jonas, “Do you want to die standing firm on Christ and the doctrine you have taught?” He answered emphatically, “Ja!” In his jacket was later found a scrap of paper that said, “We are all beggars. This is true.” Beggars for the grace of God. That’s us.
Jesus has the most well-known last word in the Bible, though it does have an asterisk next to the word “last,” because he rose from the dead. He said, “It is finished,” before bowing his head and giving up his spirit (John 19:30).
The words from Simeon that we have in our text today may not have been his very last words on his deathbed, but they very well could have been near the last. We must imagine that he was a very old man, since “it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (26). God wouldn’t have made this promise to a 20-year old.
I wonder if God will do this before the End Times. Will he tell someone, “You will not die. I will come again before you die”? That’s probably the sense of this for Simeon. He will die, but he will see the fulfillment of his whole faith and religion and get to hold the Messiah as a baby. This is the one he’s been looking for. Personally, I’d be afraid to drop the little bundle of joy. What a promise! And yet, what a fulfillment!
Simeon’s saying is another famous passage of the Bible that we have set to song. You know it by its Latin name, the Nunc Dimittis. “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (29–32). You can hear the joy and relief all mixed together in Simeon’s words. His eyes see more than just a baby in his arms. His eyes of faith see what this baby will do. His eyes of faith see that this baby will accomplish salvation that God has prepared. This baby will be a light to the Gentiles and glory for Israel.
It is quite appropriate that we sing this Nunc Dimittis after receiving Holy Communion. We have just received our Lord Jesus into our mouths and souls in a far greater way than Simeon ever did. He only held the Savior of the universe. We partake of his holy body and blood. He gives us himself and his benefits of forgiveness, life, and salvation.
It might be easier for us to imagine how Simeon could say those words. He got to hold the baby Jesus after all. But we have something greater. We receive God into us. Simeon had to say good-bye to the baby as his parents took him away. We do not. Our Savior is always with us, and we can always go to him in Word and Sacrament. We can certainly sing the Nunc Dimittis after receiving Jesus in this way.
This ought to warn our hearts against apathy. One of the attacks of the devil against us is to make us think that merely coming to church is good enough for God, but that we don’t need to pay attention or allow the Word of God to change us. This is a particularly important message as we have just come off one of the biggest celebrations of the church, Christmas. Now that we have celebrated that Jesus has come, how can we receive him into our hearts? How can we repent of our sins and allow God’s Word to change us? How can we read and imbibe more of His Word?
We all need a warning against apathy, thinking that what we are doing now is good enough for God. Of course salvation is not by our works, but we dare not think that we should do nothing or that coming to church every so often is what we need. How can you recommit yourself to daily devotions or coming more regularly to church or paying closer attention to the sermons and God’s Word?
We actually have a good example or pattern of precisely this in our Gospel text. There was a prophetess, Anna, who was 84 years old and still coming to the temple daily. It said that “She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day” (37). You might think that she is too difficult of an example to follow. But maybe start somewhere, right? You may not be coming to church every day, but you can have devotions morning or evening, or morning and evening. You get the sense from Anna that she loved God and his temple and his word. She loved Jesus, the baby that Mary and Joseph brought to the temple.
Here in Simeon and Anna, we get two aspects of the Christian faith: witnessing and praising. Just like the angels witnessed to the meaning of the baby Jesus, Simeon witnessed to Mary and Joseph what would come of this baby and of their own hearts as well. Anna, like the shepherds, told everyone what she had heard and seen. If you do not have the tongue of Simeon, you can at least have the voice of Anna, who, “coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” (38).
It is interesting that we don’t get any words from Anna. And maybe that’s fine. There are many words of Christians that will not be preserved into posterity. But God uses the words of fathers and mothers to cultivate faith in their children, just as he uses the witnessing of Simeon, the angels, and even pastors to proclaim to you the gospel. Maybe, just maybe, it will be your last words that can give a witness to those around you of your faith. Simeon certainly did that. Jesus did as well, proclaiming that your salvation is finished and accomplished. Maybe, just maybe, each of us will have something to say about the salvation and grace that we have received from Jesus. Now, let us depart in peace.
Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.
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