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The Songs of Luke's Gospel

Jesus: Song of Peace

TEXT: LUKE 2:22-39

Few things in life make me feel better than to hear someone speak well of my children. Do you know what I mean? When someone speaks positively about them or gives one of them a compliment or makes grandiose predictions about their future - that does something to me. It makes me feel better. It makes me feel proud. It makes me think I'm doing a decent job as a parent. Maybe it's because we tend to see the positive things in our kids as a reflection of ourselves - and so we take the compliment or positive word personally.

On the other side of that, however, is what happens if I hear something negative about one of my children. If someone were to speak critically of them or make grim predictions about their future - that would do something to me as well. When our kids struggle or fail it's easy to load all of that responsibility on ourselves as parents. I see it all the time. When children make bad choices that get them in trouble what do you often hear the parents say? "Where did I go wrong?"

The emotions connected to our role as parents are very deep. I think I became most keenly aware of that when it came time for us to go to parent-teacher conferences as school. When we first started those experiences I was sure that all my best parental skills would be confirmed. And for a while they were. The teacher would say things like, "They're such a joy to have in my class," or "They get along so well with the other children."

And I'd think to myself, "Yep, that's my kid." I was proud. Of them, yes, but also of me and my stellar parenting skills. But then the other shoe dropped. The teacher would speak those infamous words that every parent dreads to hear: "There's just one problem." And I would immediately glare at my wife with the look that says, "This is your fault! They get this from you!" And in one fell swoop my self-righteous bubble had been unceremoniously burst. What others say about our children has a great impact on us.

Well Mary and Joseph certainly were unique parents in many ways, but I'm not sure they were much different than most in this regard. The things that Simeon and others said to them about their new child, Jesus, must have impacted them greatly.

On the eighth day after the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph took him to the temple for the rite of circumcision and the official naming ceremony. It reminds us of what we heard last week about Zechariah and Elizabeth presenting John for those ceremonies. Actually, Luke pulls together here two separate regulations in his telling of the story. One was the purification of the mother following childbirth according to Leviticus 12, and the other was the dedication of the firstborn son to God according to Exodus 13.

As Mary, Joseph and Jesus are in the temple to observe the commandments of the law, a devout old man by the name of Simeon shows up. He is described for us as a righteous man who was filled with the Holy Spirit. He had received an assurance from God that he would not die until he had seen with his own eyes the Messiah. The Holy Spirit directed Simeon to go to the temple at the very hour the God-man, Jesus, was being presented.

Now that's what it means to be in tune with the Spirit of God. This man had waited for years to see God's Messiah. Luke's statement is very simple and yet profound in verse 25: "he was waiting for the consolation of Israel." Many would have given up hope, and did, faced with that kind of unfulfilled promise for so long. But Simeon remained faithful in his waiting and continued to look for the revelation of the Messiah. So when he finally laid his eyes on Jesus, something connected. The Holy Spirit confirmed to his soul that indeed the promise was now fulfilled.

The scene is a moving one when you think about it. An old man now ready to die, cradling in his arms this new baby who is at long last "the consolation, the peace of Israel." After all of his waiting, after all of his longing, praying, and hoping, the peace of God was embodied and lying in his arms. I can see tears well up in his eyes and as he lifts his head back to gaze into heaven, the tears are released to run down his ruddy cheeks. And inspired by the Spirit his mouth is loosed in a wonderful song of praise to God (read Luke 2:29).

Then, Simeon turns to say some amazing things about this baby. He calls him God's salvation. He calls him a "light for revelation to gentiles." He calls him a "glory to the people Israel." Mary and Joseph must have stood there awe-struck. Oh, they knew this was a special child alright. There was no question about that. They were still reeling from the miracle on miracle surrounding his birth. The messengers of God had made it abundantly clear to them that this was no ordinary child. But it must have impacted to hear Simeon's words that day. They no doubt felt proud and humbled at the obvious significance of their child.

That's when the other shoe dropped. Simeon's words didn't end with the song of peace. For after blessing Mary and Joseph, he says some very troubling things to Mary about what this child will be and do. Listen again, carefully (read Luke 2:24-35).

I'm sure Mary didn't begin to understand what all that meant, but it must have tempered the exhilaration of the moment a bit. What Simeon seemed to be clearly suggesting was that God's peace, the peace of Israel, would not only come with joy and celebration, it would also come with pain and suffering.

Could Mary have even begun to imagine at this moment her personal cost? Her part in seeing the peace of God brought to this world would involve one of the most painful experiences of any parent - the parent will bury the child. Not only that, but Simeon makes it clear that Jesus will become the focus of criticism and ridicule. His name will be slandered. Many fellow Israelites will stumble and fall because of him. He will bring his people to a crisis of decision. And the people's true thoughts and attitudes will be revealed by how they treat him. Troubling words indeed for a mother to hear about her son.

Peace through pain? Was that Simeon's message? That God's peace would be delivered not just through acclamation and triumphal marches but also through confrontation and ridicule and ultimately death? How could that be? We just don't normally think of peace along with pain. We think of peace being the absence of pain, the absence of conflict.

But God's unmistakable message is that his peace, real peace, the shalom (or wholeness) kind of peace can be our experience even in the midst of conflict, pressure and pain. Because the source of real peace is not pleasant surroundings or favorable conditions. The source of this peace is God himself who keeps us secure through anything!

Simeon longed to experience God's peace. Mary and Joseph wanted to experience peace. I want to know peace as the regular pattern of my life. You want to experience God's peace as the norm for your life. Our world talks about wanting peace. But how? How do we consistently experience the song of peace in our lives? As I read this story, the thing that stands out to me about the attitude of Simeon, Mary, Joseph, and Anna (a bit later in the story) is obedience. Obedience. They all longed for God's peace in their lives, and they all received the song of peace because they were consistently obedient to God.

Their openness to the work of God, their obedience to his direction in their lives put them directly in the path of God's true peace. Simeon was able to receive Jesus as the song of peace because his heart was ready and opened to receive it. His whole life was about listening to God and acting only at the direction of the Holy Spirit.

Mary and Joseph were both people obedient to God and because of that He used them as channels of his peace to the world. No less than five times in this short account, Luke is careful to show Mary and Joseph doing "all that is commanded in the law." They were obedient. They had staked their lives on God's direction. They sacrificed their reputations on God's promise. They forfeited comfortable circumstances in order to be fully obedient to God's will. And the result was that they received - in ways even they would never have imagined - God's song of peace.

We come to this Advent season again needing to experience his peace. Our fragmented lives stand as testimony to everything in our world that pushes us away from peace. The fact is, we don't need a peace that is as shallow as absence of conflict. We need a peace that is as deep as a sense of wholeness and well-being in the midst of troubling circumstances. We need the peace of living in the truth instead of trying to hide from ourselves and from others. We need the peace of forgiveness that could finally throw off that weight of guilt from our shoulders. We need the peace that the assurance of God's unconditional love brings. We need the peace of an eternal hope, that there is truly more to live than meets the eye. We need the peace of restored relationships. We need the peace of total yieldedness and commitment to God.

But we need to understand that this kind of peace has a price. The price is obedience. I don't know anybody who would say they don't want peace. But few want to undergo the changes necessary to find it. There are no shortcuts to peace. There are no magic formulas, no quick and easy steps. If you really want to experience peace this Advent season, there is only one way: it's the way of obedience, of surrender to God, of letting go of all that you would count on to get peace. It's trusting God fully with your life. You must be willing to give your heart completely to God.

Simeon received the song of peace because he was obedient to God. Mary and Joseph received the song of peace because they were obedient to God. And you will receive God's song of peace as you open your heart completely to him, receive his grace and forgiveness, and obediently follow him with all of your life.

Advent is a time for change. If your life experience these days is more anxiety than peace, this would be a good time for change. Advent is a special time when God promises to meet you in a special way to make that change. Come to him. Yield control of our life to him and you, like Simeon, can sing the song of peace.