Song of Simeon

Presentation of Our Lord (Year ABC) RCL

St. Matthew’s Lutheran, Cornwall

Luke 2:22-40

The Song of Simeon (Nunc Dimittis)

A much too busy feast day

in the gospel text ALONE there’s the matter of Christ and His mother going to the temple for purification by ritual sacrifice and being made clean according to the law of Moses

there’s the song of Simeon

there’s the evangelistic witness of Anna the prophetess

there’s the prophecy of Mary’s soul being pierced with a sword

there’s the matter of Christ being the one to make many fall and many rise in Israel

there’s the matter of prophecy itself, there’s so much here really. In fact there’s too much.

So let me simplify it for you

Let’s focus today on just one tiny part of this Gospel reading. Let’s focus just on the song of Simeon today. Because there i would venture to suggest is the whole meat and marrow of the text before you.

SO what is it? This song of Simeon? The Song of Simeon, or, the Nunc Dimittis, as it’s called in the liturgical world (which is our world, by the way) has always been a major text in the life of the christian church, showing up in our liturgies, and in our prayer lives since the very beginning.Traditionally for Lutherans, in the divine service, it IS the post communion canticle. IN the green book (published in the 70s), there arose a contemporary alternative to the Song of Simeon, which you’ll all be familiar with, because it’s what we’ve chosen to use in our context (thank the Lord and Sing His praise). It’s not bad, it’s not horrible, it’s good, but the Nunc Dimittis is better. And it’s the traditional option for a good reason. And it’s not just the traditional option, it’s the catholic option, the universal option. And so, in most churches, it is the only option. But not only does that canticle, that scriptural song show up in our divine service, but it’s also prayed every single day in nighttimeprayer (compline). And that’s not just done in Lutheran churches. That’s done in Anglican churches. That’s done in Orthodox Churhces. That’s done in Roman Catholic churches. And what that means, is that its done in almost ALL churches, in all places, and in all times, and in all languages. For 2000 years the Nunc Dimittis, the song of Simeon, has been the song to usher us OUT of the Divine Service and into the world, and it’s been the prayer to usher us out of the business of our day and into our beds at night. This is the bed time prayer of the Church. This is the “get out into the world and serve” prayer of the church. This is – truly, the DISMISSAL prayer, of the church. So, we better know what it means – at least I think so, and don’t you?

So what DOES this prayer mean?

Let’s begin here, not with the Nunc Dimittis itself, but with the way that you encounter it in your weekly lives as St. Matthew’s Lutheran church. What do I say at the end of every service? Both divine service and Evening vesperrs? What do i say? Does you know? It’s not the dismissal found in the Green book, if that’s what you thought I was doing. No, no see it’s actually a form of the Nunc Dimittis, or an application of it. It’s this ; “Go in peace, God’s Word has been fulfilled” and YOU ALL ANSWER – “thanks be to God.” See What we’re saying in our dismissal, what the church is praying and singing in the Nunc Dimittis, is that our very ability to “go in peace” or, to be, as Simeon said himself, to be “dismissed in peace,” comes from the fulfillment of God’s promises to us.

Let me say that again so that nobody misses it – the PEACE that comes to us in the Christian life, true peace, true rest, true assurance and the certainty of faith comes from the fulfillment of God’s Words and promises to us. Not our works, not our efforts, not our will, not our decisions, not our circumstances,

but only God’s promises being fulfilled gives us peace. You do not give yourself peace, Your accomplishments do not give yourself peace, your abilities or sincerity or experiences do not, cannot, and will not give you peace, but only God’s promises, and their fulfillment can give you the peace that your souls SO LONG FOR and need.

And so every night the whole Christian church prays that God would let us go now down to sleep to rest for the night in peace (in comfort, security, and confidence), NOT BECAUSE OF WHAT WE HAVE DONE, but because of what He has done for us. Because of who He is to us. IN the divine service we pray that God send us out into the world of chaos and havoc and horror in peace, in confidence, in comfort, and in faith - NOT BECAUSE we have the tools to handle whatever Satan has to throw at us (we don’t), but because God DOES.

And that is the same message we lift high and proclaim every week, every day, and every hour. Peace, rest, hope, comfort, assurance, faith, - where do these come from? What do these things rest in? NOT YOU – NOT YOU, but Christ. God’s Word, fulfilled, for you and for your salvation in the life death and resurrection of Christ Jesus your Lord, handed to you now, every day, and always in Word and Sacrament. THAT IS WHERE THIS PEACE COMES FROM.

And as we pray this prayer, we pray exactly what this Word IS. your salvation, fulfilled in our midst – given to us. Our eyes see it. Our hands hold it. Our mouths taste it. Our ears hear it. This is a salvation that we can see (and touch, taste, feel, and know). This salvation is a person, it is the man Christ Jesus. And that is the very personwho comes to us now in word and sacrament. That is to say, in a tangible way. In a present way. IN a “haveable” way. Not as an idea, or a memory to actively remember – but as a man who is with us, present for us, and given to us. That’s the very person that we have been Baptized INTO, andunited to by Faith. That’s the very person who’s flesh we eat, and who’s blood we drink. Simeon saw Him, He beheld Him, but you friends, you KNOW Him, you taste Him and see Him in a deeper way. In a much more epiphanic way. And yet, even there, even still, even in this baby as he was presented at the temple, before He had done anything, He Himself, the Lord Christ Jesus, God and man in flesh together, reconciled into one person, - IS OUR SALVATION. He IS the reconciliation of God and Man. He IS the restoration of our broken relationship with God. He IS your salvation, even before He went to the cross to work it out into fulfillment for you.

And that is why and how we can be go out from the divine service into the world of chaos and havoc in peace. That’s how we can lay ourselves to rest every night in comfort and tranquility. That’s how we can know that whatever comes, whatever awaits us, whether we’re ready for it or not, whether it hurts us, or whether it kills us, that we can face it with peace, and without any need to fear. For God’s Word has been fulfilled – and our EYES, have seen His salvation, our hands have held that salvation, and our mouths have tasted that salvation, and we have truly this day, and every other day – known that we are found secure in Him.

That is the peace that moved the gospel forward into our world in spite of danger, fear, trial, tribulation,

May that peace which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord – who is your salvation, a light to the gentiles, the glory of God’s people Israel, and our hope in the midst of darkness, death, and despair.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

Amen.