Preached to the saints at Trinity Lutheran Church of Layton, Utah.
Dear baptized, heirs of God the Father and His kingdom,
Depart in Peace!
To hear this sermon preached for the First Sunday after Christmas at Trinity Lutheran Church of Layton, Utah, please click on the MP3 link provided above. The audio includes the Hymn of the Day, "In HIs Temple Now Behold Him." The sermon begins at the 2:01 mark.
The Lord is indeed letting you dpart in peace--for you, like Simeon, have seen the salvation of the Lord. Have a blessed week as His Christmas children.
Rev. Kurt Hering, Pastor
Trinity Lutheran Church
Layton, Utah
Here is the preaching manuscript.
TEXT: 25Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27And he came in 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, 28he 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 31that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel."
33And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35(and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed." Luke 2:25-35
Dear people of the Word,
Depart in peace.
From the moment you are Baptized into the Christian faith, the holy Christian Church—indeed into the body of Christ—these are God's words to you, "Depart in peace."
God is not just preparing you to leave the temple building. From the time of your Baptism you have seen the salvation of the Lord and can leave this world in peace.
This is what Simeon was singing about. He could die and leave this world in peace because the Word he had heard had been fulfilled.
Simeon means one who is hearing. Who knows how long before that day in the temple this old man had first heard the promise of the Holy Spirit the he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. His life must have been rather similar to Noah's.
1Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2For by it the people of old received their commendation. . . . By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. Hebrews 11:1, 7
And ours is a long, difficult walk of faith as well. We must live by what we have heard to get us through the things we see and feel. Just as certainly people will scoff and persecute us, for as Simeon prepares Mary, Joseph, he prepares us when he says: Behold, this Child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.'
In other words, make no mistake about it, for you who know Christ intimately life will be anything but peaceful and full of what the world would call success. No, don't leave here expecting that the devil, the world and your own sinful flesh will go easy on you because you've been in the presence of God. This visit of your Savior only enrages them all the more.
Don't hold the Lord to promises He hasn't made, expecting an easy life in this world as His child. His only-begotten Son suffered. You can expect your share of trouble, then; this unholy trinity (the devil, world and sinful flesh) will work their hardest to convince you that the Savior's presence at best does you no good, at worst only leads to trouble for you. They will wield their weapons of worry, guilt, anxiety, sickness, grief and death. They will do their best to crush you. But the truth is that they have been crushed already; crushed by the Son of God whom you behold today. They can make you miserable for a bit, but their days are numbered. In Christ, yours are not. You don't know what chapters life still holds; in Christ, you know the end of the story. And the end of the story is life everlasting. This is why you depart in peace. The One who suffered, died and rose again is with you, to raise you from your sufferings and death to life everlasting.
36As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:31-39
What does tomorrow hold? You cannot know. We commend tomorrow to the Lord, trusting that He will indeed work all things for our good. He has promised to do so for His servants, even as He promises that His Son has died for you. You don't know much about what lies ahead, but you do know that you are His-and so you do know how it all ends.
Therefore, even now, you depart in peace. Simeon's song is your song. "Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; 30for my eyes have seen your salvation 31that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel."
It is the song of every baptized believer in Christ. You have the blessed and joyous privilege of singing it every Lord's Day after being fed the holy Supper of our Lord. Why? Because, like Simeon, the One who holds you in His everlasting arms at the right hand of His Father in heaven allows you to hold Him for a moment. Simeon held the flesh and blood of the baby Jesus—His Savior, Christ the Lord. How amazing! But nor more amazing really than you holding the flesh and blood of the very same Jesus, your Savior, Christ the Lord, in bread and wine.
What Simeon was promised by God's Word he was given--the Savior to see and even to hold so he could believe and be saved before he died.
And so it is with you. What the Word of God promises, the Sacrament delivers. His very body and blood are yours to hold—and even to eat and drink. Here at His table you can know and believe that He offers Himself to live in you so you can live in Him as His forgiven child now and forever.
Depart in peace, dear Baptized--for you are forgiven for all of your sins in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Insofar as this sermon is a true proclamation of the Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ, it belongs to Him and His Church. Therefore its use is free to all who deem it worthy and beneficial.
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