The Glory FOR ALL!
Luke 2:22-32

† In Jesus’s Name †

May the grace, mercy and peace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ be reflected through you, lighting up the lives of those captive in the darkness!

Intro – Uhmm –WHAT DID HE SAY?

This morning, I came across the words of a pastor/theologian that were so concerning, and so contrary to the very gospel reading this morning that I had to adapt, almost re-write the sermon to contain them.

He wrote,” If people don’t like the idea that we are supposed to perform acts of love more for some people than others, just wait until they find out that God loves some people more than others”(Fr. Mike Totleben on Twitter, 1/31)

I want you to think about that for a moment, what he is accusing God of, that God plays favorites, and therefore, we should as well.

He would later go on to determine who he thought God should love more, which was disappointing, because it wasn’t about helping the least of these, but rather helping the people who were just like us.

In view of Simeon’s words, in view of Jesus’s words about being there for the hungry, thirsty, stranger-(that is the word for an outsider, with different cultures, languages etc), the naked, sick and imprisoned at the judgment day, I am in shock at the pastor’s words. And what about Jesus’s and the Apostle Paul’s words about loving our enemies, and adversaries?

But it gets to the heart of today’s message – which is how we see Jesus and His kingdom. And how that imprints how we live, and think.

What Do We Want the Messiah to Be?

If it wasn’t for the presence of the Holy Spirit guiding Simeon, I think he would have been gravely disappointed that day in the Temple. All his life, and a very long one by the averages, he had been told he would see the arrival of the Messiah, the hope of Israel, the Savior of the nation. That morning, as he is walking with the Holy Spirit, he is told, “today’s the day!”

I imagine, that if he wasn’t filled with the Holy Spirit, he would be looking for a mighty warrior priest, surrounded by 10,000 holy warriors, all doing their best imitation of Chuck Norris!

But he looks around, and the Holy Spirit says, there! And he looks and again, “there!” and he’s shaking his head, for all that was there was a couple with a tiny infant…all exhausted from an 10 mile hike up hill, that morning

Uhm – “God—are you sure?”

Israel had expected a savior! One who would save them—not only from the Romans, but from the powers that be within their people. The Pharisees expected a Pharisee Messiah, the Sadducees, one of their own, the Herodians didn’t care where the Messiah came from, as long as he would work with the Romans, and the Zealots and Essenes had their visions of the Messiah, made in their own image as well.

I don’t think we are any better today. We expect Jesus to be like us… not in appearance, that would be disappointing, even horrifying in my case. But with our views, with our judgements, who loves only those we love, and hates all those who aren’t like us. And who would only help those people like us, that we approve of..

We might not say it that bluntly, but we do play those kinds of games –choosing our own favorites, and expecting God to only bless them, and therefore, we only have to help…them.

And let me be blunt, assuming we know who God loves and doesn’t love, and narrowing our ministry to only them… is sin.

And we need to change…

The Hope of Simeon

The great thing in this passage is that Simeon isn’t speaking as himself, full of the Holy Spirit, he is rejoicing in the fulfillment of the promise—that this baby would change everything…far more than anyone could ever dream… well unless he was a prophet!

³⁰  I have seen your salvation, ³¹  which you have prepared for all people. ³²  He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!” Luke 2:30-32 (NLT2)

All People, to the Nations – the myriad of ethnicities, the people of Israel—the equivalent to people like us…

All people – sharing in the light and the glory—

By the way, I need to note that Simeon’s words are simply Old Testament passages—in fact 5 times in Isaiah the idea of the Messiah being a light to the Gentiles is covered!

God’s glorious love, enveloping people like us, and people we don’t think are like us. People who are completely compatible to us, and those that tick us off and drive us crazy.

That is who Jesus came to save—not just the “favorites” but all people. We don’t get to pick and choose, for God so loved the world that He gave…

To us, for there is two things everyone in this world, and everyone in history can be defined by.

The first is that we are sinners, that we’ve rebelled and disobeyed God. We are pretty good at defining who some sinners are…but we all are sinners in need of deliverance.

The second is that Jesus came into this world to be our Savior. To save us all from the sin that ensnares us.. all.

So that He could be our light and our glory, and love.

Let’s pray for His peace to be given to all He loves. The peace that comes with being delivered, being saved, that comes from dwelling in Jesus. AMEN!