Sermon from 2nd Feb 2025, with help from Luke 2 and Heb 4. 

Today’s sermon is Be like Simeon, be like Anna. Or Praise, Pray, Repeat. Praise, Pray, Repeat. What a fantastically encouraging couple of saints. So be like Anna, Be like Simeon. Praise Pray repeat. Praise Pray repeat.

 

In the Gospel reading we find Simeon and Anna are waiting. They’re waiting for Consolation, waiting for Peace, for Salvation, for a Light to the Gentiles, for Glory, for Redemption.

 

This waiting is I think a restless hunger. Over the years of waiting I would understand if there had been times when they had given up, but I rather hope that they might have each given up at different times and yet some how been there for each other to encourage each other in this waiting.

 

Consolation, Salvation, Light, Redemption  – These are all good things to be waiting for, waiting for more of God’s Kingdom, for more of God’s mercy and peace, more healing to people’s bodies and minds, more justice and kindness in the community, the country. They are waiting for God’s Consolation to come.

 

And note how they go about that waiting. I’m not good at waiting. I would like to suggest that Anna and Simeon are not that good at waiting either. They seem to be quite busy with it all.

They are praying, serving, welcoming. They are Open to the Spirit, open to new challenges and opportunities – even as ridiculous and impossible as the idea that Gentiles might be included in God’s love and light and family. That would have been seen by many as stupid almost to the point of heresy.

They are waiting by living a life of worship, fasting, praying, giving thanks to God.

 

So they are living the life of Praise, Pray, Repeat. But you’ll notice also that their method of waiting is quite a busy one.

 

The Holy Family come to the Temple, Mary Joseph and Jesus. And Simeon gets excited. But note that in the midst of his Praising he also prophecies, frankly it’s a bit rude, and its not the sort of thing that any mum wants to hear, and you can’t half wonder if maybe Anna should have just kicked Simeon’s shins and said ‘Shush, not now’.

 

Simeon says – if I may put it in English – Jesus is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea. For some He will be a bit like marmite. And you alas will be cut to the core when you see how people will treat Him.

 

How much did Mary know? We love that Christmas song Mary did you know that your baby boy would one day walk on water?  … Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new? This child that you delivered will soon deliver you.

Wonderful – gives me the Christmas shivers.

 

Mary knew a little. She knew from Gabriel that this child would be the Son of God. She knew from her prophetic song of the Magnificat that God through this child would be bringing Help and Mercy – that might mean filling the hungry with good things but it might also mean scattering the proud, bringing down rulers, sending the rich empty away.

So Mary knew that this life would not be easy.

 

And with the arrival of the Magi and their rich gifts – how did she interpret the gift of Myrrh? There’s a wonderful cartoon Jesus film called The Miracle Maker, as the magi give over this gift he says – Myrrh, this a gift for the day of sorrow. The day of sorrow.

So Mary knew quite a bit. Perhaps its no surprise to her when Simeon says ‘a sword will pierce your own soul too’ but it’s a sufficiently vivid metaphor for us to feel something of what Mary must have gone through.

 

It might not have been easy for Simeon to have shared this bit of my sermon about living a life of Praise, Pray, Repeat.

Where you are holding within yourself the tension and fear of what might yet be then it becomes a stubborn discipline to Praise, Pray, Repeat. I will do it. I will keep at it. Praise Pray Repeat.

 

This last week we went into Seaford Head to be grilled by a couple of classes from year 8 (13/14yrs) – Stefan and Derreck came in too so you can ask them for their stories.

What’s your favourite bible verse? Do you live in the Church? Are science and religion compatible?  I’ll leave you to answer those over coffee later. Quite tricky answering 25 questions of such good quality in 48 minutes.

 

Two questions I thought were particularly insightfulWhy did they kill Jesus. Why did Jesus sacrifice Himself.

They were asked by the same pupil. And you realise as you answer the first question – why did they kill Jesus – that the answer to the first question, when contrasted with the answer to the 2nd question – makes it all a bit thin and shallow.

Why did they kill Jesus? Why did Jesus sacrifice Himself?

 

The Romans killed Jesus because they were afraid of riots and uprising. The Religious rulers of the Temple didn’t want the status quo to change. They had a nice thing going on, they didn’t want the Romans to crack down on them, this was the best solution: for one man to die that the rest of us might live.

 

Meanwhile Why did Jesus sacrifice Himself? – well Jesus was in His death reconnecting us to God our Maker, our Sustainer, building a bridge between us and God so that now we can know God as our Redeemer and Friend. So that now we can have a life of meaning and purpose, where our relationship with our Maker is healed, it is one of friendship and care, it is as if to a caring parent.

 

Anyway I didn’t put it that well, but I tried to say something along those lines.

 

Meanwhile the writer to the Hebrews has given us this deeply rich and succinct summary of what Jesus was doing through His incarnation and through His death on the Cross.

And if you can hear this and hold it, then I think it will help you to practice this cycle of Praise, Pray, Repeat.

 

The whole book of Hebrews is quite complicated but its one long sermon that says – Keep the Faith, Hold on to Jesus, Hold on to each other. Life is difficult but Hold on to Jesus, look after each other.

 

Meanwhile in this bit of Hebrews, we’re told that Jesus in his life has shared everything – so He knew about standing in a queue for hours, He knew about being a refugee, He knew about injustice and living under and oppressive regime, and He knew the joys of new life, of weddings, of wine and dancing.

 

And that means that when we turn to God in prayer we know that we’re praying to a God who knows. Not merely knows from the perspective of a creator but from one who has become our flesh and blood and shared in our humanity.

Twice in this little passage we’re reminded that Jesus came to Help. To Help.

If you have a view that Jesus is really here to snoop, to judge, to be disappointed in you – then come and get some prayer, come and have a conversation because we need to help you see that that’s not what Jesus was/is about.

Jesus is here to help.

So that’s good when it comes to prayer.

 

How about Praise? Well in the sacrifice of Jesus, we see that Jesus has broken death, broken the power of death, broken the devil, broken the fear of death, freed us from that slavery, and made atonement for us.

 

That’s a great word Atonement – with thanks to William Tyndale in the mid 1500s for giving us this word – this idea of At-One-Ment – that through the cross, you and I are made one with God, at one with God.

That all is well. Peace is declared, forgiveness is given, reconciliation is found,

and here is that Consolation that Simeon longed for and glimpsed and that we now see and live with. Consolation.

 

It might be that the fears you face are not the fears of death, nor the fears of eternal separation from your maker, your God. It might be that you are carrying lesser fears.

Well that’s good because Jesus has dealt with the greater fears and so you can confidently praise God for dealing with those things,

and so then in prayer bring to Him these lesser things.

 

They may yet cause you great anxiety and distress. No doubt. I’m afraid that is what fear does. But we have a God who has been there, and is with us, and has broken and defeated through the cross Fear, Death and the Devil.

We have in Christ a God who is a ready present help.

 

So I say to you: Praise Pray Repeat.

There will be days when the praise bit is hard because that’s not where your heart and mind is. So turn back to Hebrews 2 and rediscover what Jesus has done on the cross for you,

Jesus is the one making you At-One with God,

not because any goodness of your own, but because of God and His great love for you.

Praise, Pray, Repeat. And may we each become a little more like Simeon and Anna. Praise, Pray, Repeat. Amen.