Wordsurfers
  • Home
    • About
  • Sermons
    • The Beatitudes
    • Parables
    • Fruits of the Spirit
    • The Seven Churches in Revelation
    • Living in Christ
    • The Gospel according to John
    • Daniel
    • Other Sermons
  • Publications
  • Thoughts
  • Key Readings
  • Prayers
  • "Quotes"
  • Gallery
  • Video

Wisdom of an Elder

13/1/2017

 
Picture
One of the things I love about the Bible is its realism, when we’re prepared to take it in its entirety.  I mean not just cherry pick the nice comforting promises but take on board the solemn forecasts too.
Take, for example, the bit in Luke 2 where Mary and Joseph bring the week old Jesus to the Jerusalem Temple to fulfil the customary obligations of their faith.  There they are met by an old man called Simeon who has been mysteriously promised he won’t die until he has seen God’s promised ‘Messiah’.  Prompted by the Holy Spirit, Simeon welcomes the infant destined to save the world, saying,
‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
You now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
Which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
A light for revelation to the Gentiles
And for glory to your people Israel.’
I sometimes read this passage with people who are terminally ill in their last days or hours.  This is seriously good news.  We can face death and depart this life with calm confidence, if in faith we have looked to the Saviour God provided!  Simeon was now at peace, ready for whatever would come in the assurance of God’s all-sufficient grace, not just to him and his ethnic people, but to ‘all people’.
Good stuff so far.
But then Simeon steps closer and speaks specifically to Mary.
‘This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.’
And then the old prophet adds this, I imagine with a note of tenderness to the young mother,
‘And a sword will pierce your own soul too.’
(Luke 2 v 29-35)
Praise God Who has done something forever great and wonderful in giving us His Son that we may be saved from the guilt and consequence of our rebellion against heaven! 
But like everything great and good, in a fallen, twisted world we can expect it to be controversial and divisive.  Sins of the heart such as pride and jealousy will be exposed as many refuse to follow God’s appointed Rescuer and Leader.  A day would come when Mary would witness her firstborn son spoken against, falsely condemned and brutally executed.  A sword in the soul for any mother!
God’s Word is truth, perfectly describing the world we live in, where love and kindness are often matched by selfish prejudice and cruelty.
Yet now, if we read this passage back to front as it were, we find deep wisdom and comfort.
As individuals have we at times felt disappointment, heartbreak, tragedy like a sword in our souls?  Have we watched the news in horror and seen the same injustice and suffering and even worse around the world?  Have we wondered about the mix of beauty, genius and self- destructive madness, this anomaly that is the human race which, if we’re honest we sometimes find loitering in our own hearts?
We should not be surprised for it is exactly as predicted by God’s revealed Word.
And into this very world God has come in the Person of His Son, Who lived in the thick of it, with all the political tensions, religious intolerance and sexual drama.  He was here, close with real people like us, yet stayed pure, like a light shining in a dark place.  He suffered injustice, humiliation, torture and agonising death, the worst we could devise.  But insodoing Jesus dealt with that universal sin issue, so that anyone who turns and humbly welcomes, trusts and follows Him can face this world and not only survive, but live and thrive and shine a beacon of hope to others!
Then, when the time comes, we can depart this fading scene for better, calm and confident in our Saviour/Master/Friend.
Comforted. 
At peace.
Like Simeon. 


Comments are closed.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014

Proudly powered by Weebly