Seeing Salvation

 

"For my eyes have seen Your Salvation." -Luke 2:30

Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus, the Word Made Flesh, and from the saints at Emmaus Evangelical Lutheran Church, South Bend, who share your joy as they participate with you and the whole Christian Church on earth in His life and benefits; who share with you in His cross and suffering; who share with you a life of faith and repentance as we together await the Last Day when He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

 

By this time a good many gifts of Christmas – the material gifts we exchange as tokens of the gift of a Savior - have been opened, spread out on the living room floor and dining room table, put to use, and perhaps by now even put away. It is one of those things that makes the Christmas Season distinct, at least in our place on this planet, for at what time is there such a lavish display of material exchange? For many people the gifts exchanged at Christmas exceed in number and in quality those received on a birthday.

 

To be sure, there are complaints about all this material exchange. “Christmas is too commercialized,” we hear. “Christmas is about Christ. It is not about all this material stuff.” True enough, the world’s approach to Christmas glosses over those things which are not seen. What are those things? They are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control; they are all that accompany the Gift of Christ Jesus as imparted to you by the Holy Spirit.

 

Come to think of it, you tend to gloss over those things, too. “Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control: I’ve heard all that stuff. Where is that going to get me? I’d rather have stuff.”

 

But the Word Made Flesh, in the fullness of time has taken upon Himself the stuff of this world. All of it, including flesh and bone, just like yours, in order that, as your Substitute in every way He might be Your Righteousness.

 

Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,

and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

 

It is not for His own sake, but for yours, that He takes up these things – the material and stuff of this world along with flesh and blood - is born into them and then is crucified outside the gates of Jerusalem, buried, and risen again as proof that His righteousness avails before the Father, so that on your behalf He lives and rules; so that you may ask for anything in His precious Name and He will grant it.

 

Your LORD Jesus Christ has sanctified all things for you, even all those gifts you give and receive at Christmas in all their material glory, even though that glory is a fading glory. Can you think of any material thing that does not wear out? There are some antique tools out there that seem never to fade, but they are fading. All things in this creation will fade as the new creation come into being. In the mystery of the Word made Flesh, your Father in heaven has given you a new revelation of His glory that, seeing Him in the person of His Son, you may know and love those things that are not seen.

 

Well. Now that we got that out of the way, shall we talk about Justin Bieber, who recently announced retirement? How about Peyton Manning, whose skills as an NFL quarterback appear to be unparalleled? Or some other well-known public figure who is not present to speak for himself?

 

You know better than that. Although you may at times not know better than to talk about other people behind their back, you do know better than to hear them discussed in this place, here and now. Although you are aware of famous public figures and appreciate their accomplishments in this way or that, you do not make it your life’s aim to be like them, and even be reminded to be content with who you are and what you have received according to the measure of God’s grace in Christ Jesus.

 

This is but a small demonstration of the patience and self control your Father in heaven has worked in you by the Holy Spirit, Christ be praised, that you are given to listen intently to His Word as given from Above, take it to heart, and ponder it, as do Mary and Joseph in the Temple when they hear from Simeon and Anna.

 

While your flesh, like mine, is inclined to talk about others behind their backs, this faithful, elderly pair, Simeon and Anna, speaks in the presence of the younger Mary and Joseph concerning their Child, which Child belongs to all of creation as its Savior, carefully prepared and revealed in the fullness of time.

 

Through Simeon and Anna the Holy Spirit testifies once again, as He has from the beginning, of the Babe's long-awaited redemption and consolation of Israel. You behold the same with your eyeballs as you partake of His supper, prepared in the presence of our enemies. You sing often and in awe of this Light to the Gentiles and the Glory of His people, Israel.

 

Simeon and Anna have someone to talk to, and Someone to talk about. They talk to Mary and Joseph. They talk about Mary and Joseph’s newborn Son, Whose name is Jesus; Who is now presented in the temple as the beginning of the final fulfillment of the law, for this Jesus is now the temple in which you also are found by virtue of His atoning death, and His resurrection from the dead.

 

Simeon and Anna are like grandparents speaking to a strange young couple and all the people standing about in the temple, about this newborn Child. Yet there is something happening here that exceeds the typical conversation we have with one another from day to day. Your Father in heaven this day shows you how His people of old received the newborn Christ with joy and wonder because, in this Child, all of heaven and earth has redemption.

 

For the nations that walk in darkness, not knowing where they came from or where they are going, this Christ will reveal through patient, steadfast teaching, and through His innocent suffering and death, that God is above all Love. The things nations and peoples know faintly to be good and right and virtuous, The Christ will teach more clearly and plainly than has ever been taught.

 

And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

 

It isn’t enough for Simeon to stand at a distance. He is compelled to take the Child into His arms. For this Christ Child Who was born for you and for me is not a ghost or a stuffed animal, or a mere concept, but real, precious flesh and blood.

 

It is not much different than when your father and mother took you into their arms as a newborn child. It is not unlike your Father in heaven, who tenderly takes you up to Himself in love because in this Holy Son of His He is pleased with you; because you are sons; because God has sent the Spirit of his Son into your heart, crying, “Abba! Father!”

 

In this case with Simeon and Anna, however, the fullness of time has arrived. The Holy Spirit, of infinite love and wisdom, revealed to Simeon in some detail that this particular Child was special. People of every station in life have this One Name in which to hope for salvation, whether they be rich and famous like Justin Bieber and Peyton Manning, or whether they be of lowlier estate, like a shepherd keeping watch over his flock, or a welder assembling airline baggage carts,  a janitor sweeping the floor, a school teacher, a real-estate agent, a waitress, a cook, a gas station attendant, a lawyer, or a pastor.

 

It is tempting to wish we could be Simeon, or Anna; to wish we could have been there when this Child of Christmas was taken into the arms and blessed with words from the Holy Spirit declaring Who this Child is and what He is to do for the whole world.

 

The fact of the matter, dear saints in Christ Jesus, is that you no less hold this Christ than does Simeon, for this Christ Jesus into Whom you are baptized holds you and preserves you from every evil as you live a life of faith accompanied by much trouble, anxiety, and yes, even sin that occurs daily and much.

 

The same Holy Spirit Who revealed to Simeon he would not die before He saw the Christ is the same Holy spirit Who has called, gathered, enlightened and sanctified you, kept you in the true Faith unto life everlasting, for the Holy Spirit is He Who testifies of Christ and His benefits so that He may apprehend you, take you up in mercy, bless you, and sustain you despite all sin and weakness that attends to your poor flesh. He has made you an heir of Christ’s perfect obedience and feeds you His flesh in the Sacrament.

 

“Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” “LORD, now let your servant depart in peace, according to Your Word.”  I’ve heard all that stuff, many times. So says your flesh. So says mine. But . . .

 

the Spirit of the Lord,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord . . .

 

These rest upon you, because they rest upon Christ Jesus, and you are baptized into Christ Jesus, and you see you see with your own eyeballs, Sabbath after Sabbath, the Salvation your Father in heaven has prepared before the face of all peoples.

 

For when you and I and the saints at Emmaus South Bend, and the saints scattered about throughout the world, celebrate and receive the Sacrament of the Altar, it is not done under a rug. It is not done in the closet.  It not hidden. No. It is public, this body and blood of Christ Jesus; the same body and blood taken up into Simeons’ arms and spoken of by both Simeon and Anna.

 

Your eyes are seeing salvation here. You participate with Simeon and Anna here. And you are given to tell these things from one generation to the next in this place and out and about in the world.

 

See what patience and love the Father has toward you that He took a people of old for Himself, the people of Israel, and for your learning showed them great wonders from His hand and tested them in the wilderness; how He gave them teachers and prophets continually to remind them that they were not their own, but were the redeemed of the Lord.

 

Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel. Anna spoke to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. This consolation and redemption is prepared from the foundation of the world, from the time sin first entered into the world, and now – with the birth of the Word made Flesh and His presentation in the temple - it is just the right time and just the right place for just the right flesh and blood to become manifest to all the world in the person and work of Christ Jesus.

 

All that is written of Him has been fulfilled. All of His benefits are here and present with you this day; not only the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life, but also . . .

 

the Spirit of the Lord,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

 

So that each and every day you live as Children under the gracious hand of Almighty God, Who by His Holy Spirit brings forth in you the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. This fruit is no less real, no less tangible than the flesh of Christ Himself. The true Gift of Christmas this very day for you sanctifies all things through His body, given into death, and risen from the dead.