Aging Grace-Fully (Luke 2:25-35)

• I used to fear getting older
• I thought of a poem an older preacher used to use:

I can see with my bifocals my dentures work just fine I can live with my arthritis but I sure do miss my mind

• but now, instead of fearing older people, I like to learn from them
• this past week, I read about a man named Leslie Newbigin
• at 87 years of age, Newbigin spent 35 years in India as a career missionary
• but when he returned home to England, he found that his native country had become a foreign mission field, in some ways more hostile to the Gospel than India was
• in his retirement, at the age of 70, he sat on his denomination’s local council
• discussion began on what to do with a 120-year old slum church of 20 people
• the council wanted to close it down, but Newbigin couldn’t bring himself to agree
• he told the council that “if the Church abandoned such areas in order to settle in the relatively easy circumstances of the suburbs it would forfeit the claim to be a missionary Church”
• and so the council agreed with him, on one condition: that Newbigin become the unpaid pastor of that tiny church
• there are other stories
• but one of the remarkable things about this man is that a large part of his impact has taken place after his retirement
• one of my local heroes, before he died last year, was Robertson Davies
• Davies, of course, is that proud, square-ribbed figure with the flowing white beard, and author of such books as Fifth Business and World of Wonders
• one thing that amazes me about Robertson Davies is that he wrote his first widely acclaimed book, Fifth Business, at the age of 57, beginning an unexpected second wind, the beginning of a 25-year homestretch
• or perhaps you heard about the gentleman on the news last week
• he had just turned 63
• when he was a child, some other children had thrown dirt at him, and it caused him to go blind in one eye
• last week we was walking in a shopping mall, and accidentally ran into a post
• and his sight was restored
• he calls it a Christmas miracle
• at the age of 63, he can see for the first time since his childhood
• for him, life is getting better
• this week, we’re entering a new year
• I don’t care how old you are, you will be another year older
• I’ve found that it’s impossible for human beings to remain static
• like water, we grow colder over time unless something is done about it
• this year you will either become a more humble and obedient person, or you will become a more self-serving and prideful person
• it’s impossible to stay at your current level of spirituality, whatever that might be
• you’re either going to grow and mature, or you are going to decline
• I’m grateful that the Scripture tells us how we can age grace-fully
• by grace-fully I don’t mean graceful like a swan or a ballerina
• I mean full of grace
• I believe it’s possible as we age to become more full of God’s grace and less full of ourselves
• and Scripture holds some examples of people who did this
• two of the most interesting people in the entire Christmas story were like this
• their names are not as well known as Mary and Joseph, or John the Baptist
• but they have captured my imagination from the time I was a child
• their names were Simeon and Anna
• we don’t know much about them
• we are told in Luke 2 that Simeon was a righteous man and very devout
• he was found in the Temple and was full of the Holy Spirit, waiting for the coming of the promised Messiah
• legend has it that Simeon was 113 years old, but Scripture nowhere mentions his age
• although most people believe he was on the older side
• Simeon was told by the Holy Spirit, according to Luke 2:26, that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah
• and the second person from whom I want to learn this morning is named Anna
• her story is found in the same passage in Luke 2
• it appears that Simeon and Anna did not know each other
• Anna is described as a prophet, a very old woman, a widow
• Scripture tells us her age – eighty-four years old
• it also tells us that “she never left the Temple but stayed there day and night, worshiping God with fasting and prayer”
• she came along just as Simeon was praising God for the baby Jesus, and she then began to praise God, talking about Jesus and as the Messiah
• very odd story, a story that captures the imagination
• I believe that Simeon and Anna give us an important lesson on how to age grace-fully, that is, full of grace
• THE LESSON IS THIS: TRUE HAPPINESS AND PEACE IS FOUND EXCLUSIVELY IN THE PERSON OF JESUS CHRIST
• 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
• 29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace.
• 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,
• 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
• 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
• Simeon says, “Lord, now I can die in peace! As you promised me, I have seen the Savior”
• Simeon knows that he can be content with his life, since he has had the honor of witnessing God’s salvation
• this attitude is important, because it puts the other events and traumas of life into perspective
• if this can be how Simeon feels, knowing that death is approaching, how should we feel when many of us have much life ahead of us?
• Simeon’s attitude stands in marked contrast to much that takes place in our culture
• two years ago, McCall’s magazine ran a short article on New Year’s resolutions entitled “Ten Little Health Resolutions (With Big Payoffs)
• now, health and exercise are important, and we ought to hold both highly
• but what was interesting is a look at the top four resolutions we make, according to a Gallup poll:
  1. improve personal finances
  2. stop smoking
  3. lose weight
  4. get more exercise
• as admirable as these resolutions are, none of these goals could be called lofty
• none of them relate to the most important aspect of life: relationships
• neither God nor family make any appearance in these resolutions
• since we set goals that have nothing to do with relationships, many of us find ourselves lonely and discontent, because God has created us to relate to him and others
• where are the goals of pursuing God and knowing him better?
• why do resolutions for the most part deal with external matters?
• why is the soul so unimportant?
• I ask myself, if exercise is so valuable for physical well-being, should we starve our inner being?
• if contentment is based on externals that slowly wither away, will we not set ourselves up for disappointment if we focus on such goals?
• Simeon suggests a better way
• to know God is best
• that means we can transcend circumstances, because to know him means to “have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content” (Philippians 4:11)
• to know Jesus Christ is to have peace
• Simeon can be content as he faces death, knowing that he has been carrying out the Lord’s call
• His goal is knowing God, with whom he will have a relationship forever
• contentment means knowing the source of life who can help us see even beyond our death
• it’s possible to climb the ladder of success, only to find out that it’s been leaning against the wrong wall
• in November 1972, Charles Colson was by most measurements a success story
• as special counsel to the president of the United States, he had just masterminded the landslide reelection of Richard Nixon to the Presidency of the United States
• he writes, “Election night…should have been the proudest moment of my life…The President had spoken of great goals, and at long last they seemed within reach. For the first time in years, there was stability in the country. The war in Vietnam was nearly over and we had won an overwhelming vote of public confidence. What was it that was now unsettling us, invading our midst, right here in the heart of governmental power? Bring the question closer to home, what was spoiling inside of me?”
• a short while later, in the middle of the Watergate controversy, Colson visited with a successful executive named Tom Phillips
• executive vice-president at age 37, president when he was only 40, he had risen to the top with hard work, day and night, nonstop
• but he confessed:

  The success came all right, but something was missing. I felt a terrible emptiness. Sometimes I would get up in the middle of the night and pace the floor of my bedroom or stare out in the darkness for hours at a time…there was a big whole in my life. I began to read the Scriptures, looking for answers. Something made me realize I needed a personal relationship with God

• listen to what he said:
• “All the material things in life are meaningless if man hasn’t discovered what’s underneath them”
• Douglas Coupland wrote a book, Life Without God
• he’s the unofficial voice of the Baby Buster generation
• he’s written Generation X and Shampoo Planets
• in this book, he calls his contemporaries the first generation raised without religion
• and you get some sense in this book of the aimlessness, purposelessness of the main character of this book
• he can’t escape the guilt he feels
• his wife leaves him because she falls out of love with him, and he can’t bring himself to love again
• he feels trapped in a meaningless job
• he puts up with shallow relationships
• he says, “I’m tired of compromising”
• he complains that he doesn’t feel life like he used to
• after 358 pages, let me read the conclusion of the book:

  Now, here is my secret. I tell you with an openness of heart I doubt I will ever have again. So I pray you’re in a quiet room as you hear these words. My secret is that I need God. My secret is that I need God, that I am sick and can no longer make it alone. I need God to help me give, because I am no longer capable of giving. To help me be kind, because I no longer seem capable of kindness. I need God to help me love, as I seem beyond being able to love.

• that is an honest cry from the human heart
• Simeon teaches us what many people haven’t learned, even people we would consider successes
• true happiness and peace do not come from a successful career, or material wealth, or good health, or self-mastery, or even from good relationships
• true happiness and peace comes from knowing Jesus Christ
• Philippians 4:7 promises that as we know Christ and pray, “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”
• having seen Jesus and knowing him, Simeon is at peace
• everything else in life pales in comparison
• he has met Jesus, and the details of the rest of his life’s r?sum? are irrelevant
• Paul gives a similar testimony in Philippians 3:1-12
• for him everything he has done in his life as an accomplished, successful Pharisee is like garbage compared to knowing Jesus and serving him
• listen to me: one’s walk with God and faithful service to him are what define everything else about life
• such service can take on various forms, for not everyone who serves God will be a preacher or serve in full-time ministry in a local church
• some, like Simeon, might be called to a special task of testimony or encouragement
• others may be called to ministry to children
• but Simeon knew that he could be content with life, because he had the honor of witnessing God’s salvation
• let me ask you some questions
• what are you doing with your one and only life?
• it’s soon coming to an end
• what are you doing with it?
• when it ends, what regrets will you have?
• who or what are you serving with your life?
• career? Happiness? Success?
• do you have a sense of emptiness, a whole in your life that nothing seems to fill?
• do you realize that you need God?
• do you know God?
• do you have plans to get to know him better in the coming year?
• Simeon said, “Lord, now I can die in peace! As you promised me, I have seen the Savior”
• Paul says:
• (Philippians 3:7) But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
• (Philippians 3:8) What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
• what do you say?