Here we are at Epiphany, and the last of the four original Christmas carols. The Canticle of Simeon is in Luke 2:29-32, and occurs when Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the Temple to present him to the Lord. This is sort of like the Christening ceremony done in some churches. In the Law of Moses that Jesus’ family followed, the firstborn son is presented to the Lord and a sacrifice is offered. So they go to Jerusalem to the Temple. That’s where we meet Simeon.
Here’s what we know about Simeon, Luke 2:25-26: He was “righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Anointed.”
And that day has come. Their are two scenes in the Bible that always make me wish I was a painter. The first is the fall of Uriah the Hittite. The second is this very moment. I picture Simeon in the foreground, but turned away, barely visible as an old man in a dimly lit Temple colonnade. He is looking up toward an open door, with a beam of light streaming through the door almost to his feet. Silhouetted in that door are a man and a woman holding a baby. And Simeon knows.
This is what he says.
“Now, Lord, you let your servant go in peace.
Your word has been fulfilled.
My own eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared in the sight of every people:
a light to reveal you to the nations,
and the glory of your people Israel.”
Simeon could hardly have spent an entire lifetime standing around the Temple courtyard waiting for the Messiah to turn up. But his past is obscure to us. What did he do for a living? Did he have a family? The advantage here is that any of us can easily put ourselves in his place, project our lives onto this moment in the Temple. Because however Simeon came to this moment, he’s been waiting a long time. He trusted and believed, but he’s been waiting a long time.
For Simeon this is very personal, but it is far more than personal. He knows that the moment is not only the capstone and even the conclusion of his own life - “Lord, now you let your servant go in peace” - but the capstone and conclusion of the world’s story. “A light to reveal you to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel.” God’s election of Israel, all the long story of salvation we find in the Old Testament, this is what it comes to. And it’s not just about Israel; Israel’s mission and calling has been fulfilled. Through Simeon’s people, God has revealed himself to all.
The three Magi who journey from the East to Bethlehem are a symbol of this revelation. Here are the nations coming to acknowledge the Messiah. Jesus has, in a manner of speaking, traveled much further, closed much more distance by his Incarnation. But here is humanity moving also in our humble way toward him. They seem to have been astrologers of some kind, reading fortunes in the movement of stars. The funny thing is, it works. Astrology has no place in the Old Testament, and no place in God’s revelation or Christian theology, and yet it works for these three wise men. What a tremendous moment, when seekers of truth everywhere find God reaching toward them. What a beautiful moment, when our misguided and haphazard quest for the divine pays off because God chooses to honor our searching. The child born in Bethlehem is the Light revealed to all nations, whether that’s the light of an opening door or the light of a strange star or the light of the Easter Candle.
Simeon’s canticle is one of thanks and praise, of awe, and of a certain kind of relief. “Now you let your servant go in peace.” What are you expecting from life? What promise are you hanging around waiting for? Is it frustrating to wait for it? Is it easy to trust that all will be well in God’s time and in God’s way? Is it hard to remember what it is you’re even looking for anyway? Maybe sometimes?
God’s salvation has indeed been revealed to all the nations, and his purpose has been accomplished by the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. But today we consider the more personal moment, the more intimate setting. An old man hanging around the Temple who careful takes the newborn from his mother’s arms, and looks down into his eyes. The wise men who dismounted and tentatively peeked into the stable, taking a knee before Joseph and Mary and holding out their gifts to the King of Kings. And you, whatever you’re waiting for, whatever you’re hoping will happen, that hope that you might not even be able to put into words. The door is open; the star is shining.
I offer you Simeon’s Canticle as the last of our four original Christmas carols, and I offer you Simeon himself as a sort of patron Saint of “hanging in there.” Hold on to Faith, trust in God’s plan, and hang in there. Someday the race will be run and the promise will be kept and you will finally exhale, look upon your salvation, and say “Now, Lord, you let your servant depart in peace.”
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