Luke 2:29-32 "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 was in eighth grade and we were being assigned parts for our
children's Christmas Eve service. Two young men, both good friends vied
for the spot.  You heard me right, we both volunteered and we both wanted
to have that part in the Christmas service.  It was the closing part and
put the focus on what the whole service was to be about.
The Sunday school teacher didn't know who to pick.  So he determined
that there would be a contest.  Each young man was to come back the next
week and say that part like he would say it on Christmas Eve night.
After the class listened there would be a vote and the winner would get
to say the part.
 I remember going home and reading and studying that part.  More than
just reading and studying it, I wrestled with what the words and what
they meant.  At catechism class I asked the Pastor to tell me about the
text.  What he told me helped me determine how I would say those words.
 The next Sunday we both had the opportunity to stand before the class
and say the part.  Then the vote was taken.  The teacher announced that I
had the part.  I was elated and yet I have always wondered.  Did I really
earn that part?  No one saw the vote.  Did I mention that the teacher
happened to be the other kid's father?  I have always wondered.  But no
matter.  I got to say those words and end our Christmas service with
those words that I have always clearly and wonderfully remembered.
"Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have
seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared before the face of all
people.  A light to lighten the gentiles and the glory of thy people
Israel."
 I don't know how it has happened, but now for the first time in my
ministry I get a chance to preach on those words.  What grand and
glorious words.  Our theme will be: UNDERSTANDING TRUE PEACE.  1st.
Knowing what Simeon knew.  2nd. Knowing what Simeon saw.  3rd. Having the
same faith as Simeon.
 Most of us are aware of the circumstances surrounding the text.  Mary
and Joseph have given birth to a son.  On the eighth day, as the law
commanded, this baby boy was circumcised and named Jesus just as the
angel who had told them of the birth had commanded.  Now we are at the 40
days mark of the life of Jesus.  It is time for his mother's purification
right and time for Jesus to be presented at the temple and consecrated to
the Lord's service as a firstborn son of Israel.  From all outward
appearances it looks like just another Jewish family bringing their son
to the temple.  But in this instance, something wonderful and
extraordinary is going to happen.
 The extraordinary thing began with a man named Simeon.  We are not given
a lot of information on this man.  We are simply told that he lived in
Jerusalem and that he was a righteous and devout man.  That is such a
wonderful phrase describing this man.  Righteous says that Simeon, like
his Jewish forefathers of the faith, believed in God's promise of
salvation by grace through faith.  Simeon's faith was not caught up in
his works and feelings but rather in God's promises and revelations.
Devout is a word that tells us that Simeon lived his faith.  His was not
an empty faith filled with "spirituality" and "religiousness."  His was a
living faith.  A faith of heart and hand, a faith of praise and glory to
God because of all the goodness God have given him through the Word.
 To tell you the truth, I have always thought that Simeon was an older
man, perhaps because of pictures that I had seen portraying this event
but in truth the text gives no indication of Simeon's age at all.  What
the text does go on and tell us is that Simeon was waiting for the
consolation of Israel.  Most important the very next line tells us why he
was waiting for the consolation of Israel.  That verse says, "It had been
revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had
seen the Lord's Christ."
 Let's review what Simeon knew.  What Simeon knew is that he had been
promised that before he died he would see the Lord's Christ.  Simeon was
expecting to see the promised Messiah of God.  There was a lot that the
Word of God revealed about this Messiah.  The Messiah would be a son of
David and yet the Son of God.  The Messiah would perform miracles, signs
and wonders in such great numbers that people would be in total awe.  The
Messiah would deliver God's people and establish a forever kingdom for
the Lord God.  Most important, the Messiah would deliver God's people
from their sins, he would literally set them free to be the children of
God.  What is interesting is that Simeon only knew a few things.  He knew
the promises of God's Word concerning the Messiah.  He knew he was going
to see the Messiah with his own eyes sometime before his life was ended.
Then we need to consider what Simeon saw.  Can you imagine what was
going on in Simeon's head on this particular day?  The Scripture says
that the Holy Spirit moved him to go to the Temple.  The actual text
says, "He went in the Spirit to the temple."  I don't know exactly what
that means other than the fact that God's Holy Spirit was clearly
directing Simeon on that day!  In other words, Simeon knew that this day
was the day when he would see the Son of God and the Savior of the world.
 But again, what exactly did Simeon see?  He saw a baby boy who looked
like every other baby boy brought that day.  He saw a Mother and Father
that looked like every other mother and father gathered on that day.  He
saw no miracles.  He saw no signs and wonders.  In truth, Simeon with his
eyes saw nothing extraordinary but only the ordinary events of every day
life.
 But...and this is a big word, BUT let's ask what Simeon saw with the
eyes of his faith.  Under the influence of the Holy Spirit Simeon would
have seen much more than just the physical things...Simeon would have
seen or perceived the things of God.  In faith Simeon saw His Savior, the
Son of God.  In faith, Simeon saw the salvation of mankind and the light
of truth revealed.  In faith, Simeon saw and believed God's promises of
deliverance from sin, death and the devil and Simeon knew the peace of
God that surpasses all understanding.  All this we know just from what
Simeon said.
 He said, "Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in
peace."  Please note that Simeon was not asking the Lord to end his life,
but rather was stating something far more important.  The actual order of
his words would be: "Now let your servant depart, Lord, according to your
Word in/of peace."  It wasn't just the departing that was about peace, it
was the word and promises of God about that peace that was involved.  But
even greater things can be grasped in these words.
 Franzmann in his Bible History Commentary says this of these words: "The
opening words are "Lord, you now dismiss your servant [literally: slave]
in peace."  The basic meaning of the word for 'dismiss' is to 'set free,'
'to release.'  It could be used of a man being set free from prison.  It
could also be used in the case of a slave being given his freedom by his
master.  It is not hard to apply all this to Simeon. His life to this
point had been one of waiting for the coming of the prophesied Messiah
and for seeing Christ with his own eyes according to the special promise
given to him.  That time of waiting had been like one of bondage.  But
'now' with the child Jesus in his arms, he was released from the bondage
of intense yearning.  By ending it, the Lord was speaking peace to his
heart.
 It is clear, then, that Simeon's words in verse 29 are not primarily
those of a man who knows he is about to die.  The use of the Christian
church since early times has made his words in the Communion liturgy one
which reflects what Simeon intended to say.   In the Lord's Supper the
Savior gives us his own body and blood to assure us of the forgiveness of
our sins.  This assurance that our sins are taken away and that we remain
God's dear children brings peace to our hearts.  Therefore after the
distribution the pastor says, "Depart in peace!"  With the words, 'Lord,
now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace,' the communicants say, in
effect; 'Yes, Lord, we have received pardon and peace through this
sacrament."
 But we need to include the rest of what Simeon says to get the full
flavor of these words.  He says, "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."  The
peace that Simeon spoke of was directly connected to the child in his
arms.  He saw that this was the Savior.  He saw that in this child
forgiveness had come to the world.  Not a limited forgiveness but
something for all people: Jew and gentile alike.  A light of wisdom and
truth to the Gentiles who did not know of God's promises of peace and
salvation but now in Jesus would.  A light of glory for the people of
God, for all who would believe and become Israel.  The light that showed
the glory of eternal life and salvation by grace in Jesus Christ our
Lord.  Here was the sphere of peace referred to.  In this child and what
he would do, true peace, eternal peace, God's peace would be ours.
 It is for that reason that understanding of these words that in all the
years of my ministry I have always said the words, "Depart in peace" when
dismissing communicants.  Those words belong in that dismissal of
communicants.  Just as Simeon was now at peace because of Jesus so you
and I experience the same, every time we partake of the body and blood of
our Savior.  We leave the altar of God filled with the peace of our Lord.
 The peace of sins forgiven.  The peace of knowing that heaven is our
home and that all fear is gone in Jesus.  Here is what Simeon saw!  Here
is what Simeon knew as he gazed upon this child.  Here is Jesus, the Son
of God and the Savior from sin.
 One can't help but admire this simple faith of Simeon.  I don't know if
Simeon ever lived to see the adult Jesus begin his ministry or to ever
actually see and experience one of the millions of miracles that Jesus
did, but I can tell you right now, it didn't matter to Simeon.  And for
that reason Simeon is a wonderful example of faith.
All Simeon saw was a baby boy.  He experienced nothing more than that.
Yet through the Holy Spirit, Simeon believed what this child would bring.
 He believed in the promises of salvation found in this child.  He
believed in the peace, the setting free, that this child would bring to
the world.  He believed this child the Light of the world, the very
radiance of the majesty of God.  He believed because that's what God had
revealed to him.  He believed because God said so.
 So it is to be with us.  In many cases we are just like Simeon.  We have
some rather ordinary things around us that we can see, things like the
Bible and the sacraments of God.  We have these things but they seem so
ordinary.  Yet what does God say?  God says his Word is His truth.  Not
just parts or pieces of it, but the whole thing is his truth and wisdom,
his revelation and glory for all people.  The Bible is the very Word of
God, with the power of Jesus himself behind it.  We have the sacraments,
plain water, bread and wine to our eyes.  But to our spirits touched by
the Holy Spirit it is a washing of rebirth, an eating and drinking for
the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.  We have before us what seems
plain and ordinary... but in faith they are the everything that brings us
God's peace.  They are about Jesus and the peace He brings.
 Let us then have the faith as Simeon.  Let us be filled with the peace
of God that comes in Christ, the plain and ordinary Jesus yet the Jesus
who is the very glory of God himself.  Let us not look to what our eyes
alone can see but rather look for that which God's Holy Spirit opens our
eyes to see.  Let us believe in Jesus our Savior from sin and the giver
of eternal life.  Let us believe because God has revealed it.  Let us
have the faith of Simeon.  Amen.