Worthy of Imitation: Simeon

Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts (Luke 2:27)

I can imagine that for a moment he thought about not going. Missing this one day wouldn’t really matter. The place was large and busy. No one would miss him. And besides, he was feeling how the years had settled on his bones like rust. The familiar ache associated with getting up every morning was much sharper on this day, stabbing his joints and pushing the blade a little deeper with every slow move he made. For a moment it seemed like this would be a day to stay at home and be still.

I imagine him alone in his house. His wife has been dead for years. He’s seen most of his friends leave this life, and he wonders from time to time why he hasn’t been allowed to join them, why he’s still here.

But those thoughts never linger for long. He knows why he’s here. And he knows why, once he’s been up and moving for a while, he’ll walk yet again to the temple for a time of prayer. The Holy Spirit has revealed to Simeon that he will not die until he sees the Lord’s Christ (Luke 2:26). This is what Simeon lives for. This is what gets him up every morning and braces him against the pain of old age.

This is why Simeon knows he will not stay home today.

I’m not exactly sure what it means to be a “spiritual” person, but there’s considerable interest in the question today. Within the pages of scripture Simeon stands out as someone worth paying attention to. We really don’t know much about Simeon. We don’t know anything about his family. We don’t even know if he’s old. What we do know is that he has been “waiting for the consolation of Israel.” How long has he been waiting? We don’t know that either, but to me the waiting implies a lengthy period of time.

There are some obvious reasons why Simeon should inform our understanding of spirituality: Luke’s text – the only text that tells us anything about Simeon – states plainly that Simeon was righteous and devout, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. This is about a close as scripture comes to saying “he was a spiritual person.”

But what strikes me is the balance that characterizes Simeon’s life before God. He is grounded, persistent, patient – but not dry or lifeless. The balance is captured in a brief phrase from Luke 2:27. “Moved by the Spirit, he went into the Temple courts.”

Simeon’s life embodies two aspects of spirituality that are too often separated: an alertness to God's Spirit in familiar set patterns of worship. Here is a man who is deeply rooted in the practice of his faith. It is hard to imagine that going to the temple was a novelty for Simeon. This man is “righteous” which means he has regard for the law of God. He knows it well and follows it carefully. Going to the temple is simply what he does. He’s done it countless times before. His life before God is shaped by the familiar patterns of temple worship.

But there is nothing rote or mechanical about this. The often walked route to the temple is a Spirit led trip. This man embraces the familiar patterns and practices of worship with expectancy, even with yearning. His heart is fully alive to God. He isn’t going through the motions, worshiping on autopilot. Any suggestion that genuine spirituality requires something spontaneous and new won’t find support in Simeon. He is rooted in the tradition, and sensitive to the Spirit’s leading.

On the day Luke tells us about, Simeon was (again) ready and expectant. He was poised to see what others missed. In the midst of his practiced routine of prayer, he was able to notice the young couple with their baby. Again, the imagination can’t help but kick in here. How many others were bustling around the temple courts that day? How many had hurried to make the hour of prayer. How many others, like Mary and Joseph, were there in obedience to the Law?

Simeon makes his way to the couple and extends his wrinkled hands, gently cradling the infant Jesus. And then he prays. He has seen the salvation of God. In his arms he holds the weight of a nations dreams and a lifetime of waiting. This child – a light for the Gentiles and the glory of Israel. The aim of Simeon’s life has been realized. He’s ready to die, to be dismissed.

I go to church every week, and I have for most of my life. I took a couple of years off in college, but sleeping in is fun for only so long. I started going back. In my life, going to church is simply something people do. I look at Simeon and I have some hope that maybe going back to church was Spirit led. Such a thought never occurred to me at the time. As I got older I knew I wanted to be involved in helping others make their way, or way back, to God. I became a pastor.

The challenge (and the fun!) today is helping people forge a Simeon-like spirituality. By this I mean a life before God that is deeply rooted and yet spiritually alert - holding to the shared practices of believers through the ages, and yet anticipating the work of God in fresh ways in our midst today. There are too many Christians who hold doggedly to the familiar practices of worship, but do so without the slightest expectation that God is doing anything in them or around them. And there are just as many who are convinced that God is at work, but to see it will require scrubbing away the barnacles of familiarity and tradition.

So for me Simeon is a model, a kind of hero: patient, prayerful, persistent. Making his way day after day to the temple, and yet expectant and alert to God - just as we manage to get up every Sunday and pile into the van and make our way to Peachtree Church, a place where God is working, where salvation is happening in the lives of people. I want to show up every week looking for it and expecting it. It’s easy to miss, but it’s there. Simeon teaches us to see it.