HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOU WOULD REALLY LIKE TO DO OR SEE BEFORE YOU DIE?
SOME HAVE. THEIR STORY IS TOLD IN A MOVIE . . . .
Perhaps you saw several years ago the movie with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman
called "The Bucket List". These two older men meet in a hospital room, and though they are very different in their backgrounds, and in their careers, they find that they do have one thing in common: they both have unfinished business. They both want to take a step away from their former lives, and then go and do all the things they have ever wanted to do before they die. That is, they want to check off the items that are on their respective bucket lists. For those who don't know, a "bucket list" is everything you really want to do or accomplish before you die, or "kick the bucket."
In the movie by the same name, these two men heal each other, become unlikely friends, and ultimately find joy in life. One of them is wealthy, so he can afford to pay for all of the unusual and outlandish things that the two decide to do.
Now, that you have the concept squarely in mind, think about that for yourself on this new year's day: whatever your age might be, whether you think you are close to dying or not, are there a few things you want to make sure you have or do before you die?
Some might say, "well I want to be a millionaire before I die. Because that will enable me to take care of my surviving family after I'm gone, and it will enable me to be a blessing and a benefit to the church I attend. It will enable me to establish ongoing financial support for these Christian charities that I have always liked. I'll include them in my will, and I'll be able to help them in this life and after I'm gone."
Some want something more exciting or adventurous than that: she wants to sail around the world in her own sail boat. He wants to climb Mount Everest before he kicks the bucket. He wants to photograph Big Foot just once before he dies (that one's on my list!). That's what is on some people's "bucket list"? What's on yours?
The old man in the Bible named Simeon might have been like you. He probably had a bucket list too. Sometime perhaps around the age of 40 Simeon probably realized, "I have outlived most of the men of my generation." He might think that because the average life expectancy back then was about 32 years of age. He might thing of a list of things he would like to do, or maybe do one more time before he died:
"Well, I'd like to see my oldest daughter and her family one more time. But they live all the way over in Timnah. That's fifteen miles away. Who in the world am I going to find that will give me a ride over there?"
Or Simeon might say, "I'd like to get somebody to drive me in a cart up to the top of the Mount of Olives in the spring time. I'd have supper up there. Then I'd watch the sun go down in the west with the sunset behind God's City, Jerusalem. Ah, that would be so fine!"
Or he might think, "You know on a clear day you can see Mount Hermon from here. It's over nine thousand feet high. I would love to go visit Mt. Hermon, climb up a little ways, and see the snow. I've heard they have snow there most of the year."
Or he might think, "I go to synagogue every week, and I listen to our learned Rabbi. But I wish just once I knew how to read. Then I could go and sit with the rabbis and read the holy scipture all by myself. And I could join in the discussion during the week. I would add my two
cents worth. That would be so very fine. And they would sit there respectfully and listen. Ah, that would be soooo fine!"
That might be what was on Simeon's bucket list. Originally.
But some time during his adult life, all of that changed. God brushed all those things off the table, and replaced them with only one thing. But it was a very big thing. It was a very big, divine opportunity. On this one special day the Holy Spirit came to Simeon and told him, "Simeon, I have seen your pious life, and your expectant, hopeful, positive life. I know the desires of your heart. For your faithfulness to me, you are going to get to do something that only a few people in the world will ever get to do. What's more: when it happens, you are going to get to understand the meaning of His coming: you are going to get to see the Messiah Himself in his infancy. You will get to see him before you die. I have singled you out for this very purpose."
And after God told Simeon that, as you can well imagine, NOTHING ELSE WAS IMPORTANT! Simeon knew he was going to get to see, to have this one great visitation from God before he died. And nothing else really mattered except that. This became the one important thing on his bucket list. After this message from God, however the message came, Simeon no longer cared if he was going to live long enough to climb Mount Herman, or swim
across the Sea of Galilee, or become the richest man in Palestine! Things like that just didn't matter. Luke tells the story this way:
READ
Perhaps you saw several years ago the movie with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman
 |
| . . . It's all you want to do before you kick the bucket! |
In the movie by the same name, these two men heal each other, become unlikely friends, and ultimately find joy in life. One of them is wealthy, so he can afford to pay for all of the unusual and outlandish things that the two decide to do.
Now, that you have the concept squarely in mind, think about that for yourself on this new year's day: whatever your age might be, whether you think you are close to dying or not, are there a few things you want to make sure you have or do before you die?
Some might say, "well I want to be a millionaire before I die. Because that will enable me to take care of my surviving family after I'm gone, and it will enable me to be a blessing and a benefit to the church I attend. It will enable me to establish ongoing financial support for these Christian charities that I have always liked. I'll include them in my will, and I'll be able to help them in this life and after I'm gone."
 |
| God could empty your bucket and add His opportunity in it. |
The old man in the Bible named Simeon might have been like you. He probably had a bucket list too. Sometime perhaps around the age of 40 Simeon probably realized, "I have outlived most of the men of my generation." He might think that because the average life expectancy back then was about 32 years of age. He might thing of a list of things he would like to do, or maybe do one more time before he died:
"Well, I'd like to see my oldest daughter and her family one more time. But they live all the way over in Timnah. That's fifteen miles away. Who in the world am I going to find that will give me a ride over there?"
Or Simeon might say, "I'd like to get somebody to drive me in a cart up to the top of the Mount of Olives in the spring time. I'd have supper up there. Then I'd watch the sun go down in the west with the sunset behind God's City, Jerusalem. Ah, that would be so fine!"
Or he might think, "You know on a clear day you can see Mount Hermon from here. It's over nine thousand feet high. I would love to go visit Mt. Hermon, climb up a little ways, and see the snow. I've heard they have snow there most of the year."
Or he might think, "I go to synagogue every week, and I listen to our learned Rabbi. But I wish just once I knew how to read. Then I could go and sit with the rabbis and read the holy scipture all by myself. And I could join in the discussion during the week. I would add my two
 |
| Perhaps Simeon once thought, "If I could just see Mt. Hermon up close and touch the snow . . ." |
That might be what was on Simeon's bucket list. Originally.
But some time during his adult life, all of that changed. God brushed all those things off the table, and replaced them with only one thing. But it was a very big thing. It was a very big, divine opportunity. On this one special day the Holy Spirit came to Simeon and told him, "Simeon, I have seen your pious life, and your expectant, hopeful, positive life. I know the desires of your heart. For your faithfulness to me, you are going to get to do something that only a few people in the world will ever get to do. What's more: when it happens, you are going to get to understand the meaning of His coming: you are going to get to see the Messiah Himself in his infancy. You will get to see him before you die. I have singled you out for this very purpose."
And after God told Simeon that, as you can well imagine, NOTHING ELSE WAS IMPORTANT! Simeon knew he was going to get to see, to have this one great visitation from God before he died. And nothing else really mattered except that. This became the one important thing on his bucket list. After this message from God, however the message came, Simeon no longer cared if he was going to live long enough to climb Mount Herman, or swim
 |
| Whatever else might have been important to Simeon, this took its place: getting to see and touch the Messiah! |
READ
25 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
And then, because that was a promise from God, it had to come true. So one great day perhaps months after that first revelation, perhaps some time in the spring of that year, just a few days after Jesus had been born his parents Joseph and Mary brought him to the Temple to be presented and to be circumcised in accord with Jewish Law. Here is how Luke tells the story of God fulfilling His great promise:
READ
27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law,
28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
29 “ Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word;
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation
31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,And the glory of Your people Israel.”
33 And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him.
34 Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against
35 (yes, a sword will pierce through your own life also), so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
SIMEON GOT TO SEE JESUS, THE MESSIAH, IN THE FLESH!
He got to touch and hold Jesus. He got to pray a prayer and utter a saying about Jesus. And he got to know something vital about the meaning of Jesus' life. What did Simeon get to see and know?
That in the baby Jesus God was sending major consolation, befriending, support, and advocacy for His own people of promise, Israel. That was first and foremost and it still is!
WHAT ELSE DID SIMEON GET TO SEE?
He got to see and know that for the first time the Gentiles would also receive the light of God and the favor of God; and that somehow mysteriously God would use this Jesus to bring Jews and Gentiles together into a common faith. (That's why you and I are here today: The Messiah of Simeon brought us into the fold and into the faith for right here and right now!)
WHAT ELSE DID SIMEON GET TO SEE?
He got to see and know that Jesus' life would be filled with controversy in the Israel that He was sent to help. Some would rise, others would fall at his coming. He would reveal the thoughts of many. He would be spoken against. And His own mother would come to great grief over this Son. Simeon, in other words, was given some insight into the fact that this tiny Messiah would grow up and die by a terrible, non-normal death.
Now, if God came to you, perhaps in a moment of conversion, and looked at your spiritual table or saw your present bucket list, WHAT IF HE DIDN'T LIKE WHAT HE SAW?
What if he just swept everything that you are wanting or planning off that table and on to the floor? What if He took your bucket list, and turned it upside down, and emptied everything on the floor, swept it up and threw it all away. (So that, just like the apostle Paul, whatever was to your gain, you would now have to count as complete loss, compared with the gift of knowing Jesus Christ and His resurrection.)
So then, God, after emptying your bucket, replaced all of those wishes of yours with this one precious thing: a chance to see the Messiah in the flesh, to touch Him and hug Him, and to understand fully who He was for you and the world. What if God did for you what He did for Simeon and put the sight of this one child on your bucket list? And then fulfilled it? Well, my friend, if God ever did that to you or for you, then that would be ENOUGH!
If you were in your right, Christian frame of mind, you would respond like Simeon: you would say to God the Father, "Thank you, Father! I now know that this is all I need.
OUR RESPONSE IS AND SHOULD BE: FATHER, HE IS ALL I NEED!
He is all I need to see, touch, and understand, even the Messiah Jesus. I want nothing
more. I will expect and look for nothing more, for the rest of my life. Again, I say thanks!"
That should be your response and mine.
But wait a minute: consider the times in which we live. Simeon was alive at the time of Jesus' birth. He was an older contemporary of Jesus Christ; we are not. We live in a time after Jesus' birth, His death, His resurrection, His many resurrection appearances, and His ascension to reign with God the Father. We know, we've been taught, the Messiah does not need to come again for us as He did 2000 years ago, because what He did then, He did once for all!
So wait a minute. Could it be? Have I possibly already seen the Messiah? And maybe I just didn't think about it deeply at the time?
Perhaps we see and experience and touch the Messiah at our conversion: that special day when we trust in Jesus Christ, He comes into our lives, and suddenly we are never quite ourselves again, but He is present, living within us, and we know it. Maybe that is the fulfillment of God's bucket list for us. Because if it is, then that is enough!
Or maybe some great day in worship, something happens, something is said, or preached, or sung, or someone speaks to us personally, or like today, we receive communion, and out of that experience we hear Jesus telling us, "I love you, I am with you, and I have come to stay with you always!"
And I hope that has been your experience here in the worship at St. Paul's because it certainly has been mine. And I have only been a part of our worship for just over a year and a half, but numerous times, I have experienced God meeting me here, filling my life, answering prayer, and moving me even to sing or shout with joy! And was that it? Was that God showing me Jesus Christ, and filling up completely my bucket list? I believe it was!
Or maybe for some few select ones of us, this Jesus will come to us in a vision or in a dream. And we will know it's Him, because He will speak the same words that He spoke to us in the Bible. And when the vision ends, we will say something like Cleopas said in Luke 24, "“Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”
Of course Cleopas and his friend did not see a vision but met the real, resurrected Jesus in the flesh. And that has not happened to most of us yet.
I offer these possibilities to get you to look hard today at your life with Jesus Christ; the scripture leads us to all to ask ourselves, "how well do I really know Him? Have I really and truly met Him?"
The truth is you and I cannot have the same experience that Simeon had. There were only a small handful of people who saw Jesus at his birth and in his infancy. But we can let God put something similar on our bucket list: the opportunity of knowing I have truly met this Messiah
before I die. He was Simeon's greatest hope and expectation. He can be yours today. And what better time, than the start of a new year, to have within your heart and mind the sure and divine knowledge that you will meet this Jesus, touch, and understand His meaning for you before you die.
Because meeting Jesus Christ while we are alive is and should be a great expectation for all of us. It may be that any day now we will feel completely comfortable praying Simeon's great prayer:
29 “ Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word;
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation
31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
In anticipation of that we observe Holy Communion this day. And we do so in expectation of the visit of Jesus the Messiah to each one of us.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
READ
27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law,
28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
29 “ Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word;
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation
31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,And the glory of Your people Israel.”
33 And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him.
34 Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against
 |
| "And a sword will pierce your life as well," Simeon added to Mary. |
SIMEON GOT TO SEE JESUS, THE MESSIAH, IN THE FLESH!
He got to touch and hold Jesus. He got to pray a prayer and utter a saying about Jesus. And he got to know something vital about the meaning of Jesus' life. What did Simeon get to see and know?
That in the baby Jesus God was sending major consolation, befriending, support, and advocacy for His own people of promise, Israel. That was first and foremost and it still is!
WHAT ELSE DID SIMEON GET TO SEE?
He got to see and know that for the first time the Gentiles would also receive the light of God and the favor of God; and that somehow mysteriously God would use this Jesus to bring Jews and Gentiles together into a common faith. (That's why you and I are here today: The Messiah of Simeon brought us into the fold and into the faith for right here and right now!)
WHAT ELSE DID SIMEON GET TO SEE?
He got to see and know that Jesus' life would be filled with controversy in the Israel that He was sent to help. Some would rise, others would fall at his coming. He would reveal the thoughts of many. He would be spoken against. And His own mother would come to great grief over this Son. Simeon, in other words, was given some insight into the fact that this tiny Messiah would grow up and die by a terrible, non-normal death.
 |
| Many would be glad in Israel at the Messiah's coming. But others were not. |
What if he just swept everything that you are wanting or planning off that table and on to the floor? What if He took your bucket list, and turned it upside down, and emptied everything on the floor, swept it up and threw it all away. (So that, just like the apostle Paul, whatever was to your gain, you would now have to count as complete loss, compared with the gift of knowing Jesus Christ and His resurrection.)
So then, God, after emptying your bucket, replaced all of those wishes of yours with this one precious thing: a chance to see the Messiah in the flesh, to touch Him and hug Him, and to understand fully who He was for you and the world. What if God did for you what He did for Simeon and put the sight of this one child on your bucket list? And then fulfilled it? Well, my friend, if God ever did that to you or for you, then that would be ENOUGH!
If you were in your right, Christian frame of mind, you would respond like Simeon: you would say to God the Father, "Thank you, Father! I now know that this is all I need.
OUR RESPONSE IS AND SHOULD BE: FATHER, HE IS ALL I NEED!
He is all I need to see, touch, and understand, even the Messiah Jesus. I want nothing
 |
| Only a small number of people in world history got to see the real Messiah in His infancy . . . . |
That should be your response and mine.
But wait a minute: consider the times in which we live. Simeon was alive at the time of Jesus' birth. He was an older contemporary of Jesus Christ; we are not. We live in a time after Jesus' birth, His death, His resurrection, His many resurrection appearances, and His ascension to reign with God the Father. We know, we've been taught, the Messiah does not need to come again for us as He did 2000 years ago, because what He did then, He did once for all!
So wait a minute. Could it be? Have I possibly already seen the Messiah? And maybe I just didn't think about it deeply at the time?
Perhaps we see and experience and touch the Messiah at our conversion: that special day when we trust in Jesus Christ, He comes into our lives, and suddenly we are never quite ourselves again, but He is present, living within us, and we know it. Maybe that is the fulfillment of God's bucket list for us. Because if it is, then that is enough!
 |
| So what's on yer bucket list now? What -- or Who -- will God put on it? |
And I hope that has been your experience here in the worship at St. Paul's because it certainly has been mine. And I have only been a part of our worship for just over a year and a half, but numerous times, I have experienced God meeting me here, filling my life, answering prayer, and moving me even to sing or shout with joy! And was that it? Was that God showing me Jesus Christ, and filling up completely my bucket list? I believe it was!
Or maybe for some few select ones of us, this Jesus will come to us in a vision or in a dream. And we will know it's Him, because He will speak the same words that He spoke to us in the Bible. And when the vision ends, we will say something like Cleopas said in Luke 24, "“Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”
Of course Cleopas and his friend did not see a vision but met the real, resurrected Jesus in the flesh. And that has not happened to most of us yet.
I offer these possibilities to get you to look hard today at your life with Jesus Christ; the scripture leads us to all to ask ourselves, "how well do I really know Him? Have I really and truly met Him?"
The truth is you and I cannot have the same experience that Simeon had. There were only a small handful of people who saw Jesus at his birth and in his infancy. But we can let God put something similar on our bucket list: the opportunity of knowing I have truly met this Messiah
 |
| In Holy Communion you can meet and experience the real Messiah Jesus . . . . |
Because meeting Jesus Christ while we are alive is and should be a great expectation for all of us. It may be that any day now we will feel completely comfortable praying Simeon's great prayer:
29 “ Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word;
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation
31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
In anticipation of that we observe Holy Communion this day. And we do so in expectation of the visit of Jesus the Messiah to each one of us.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Bible Text to Read, Use, and Love!
Luke 2:25-35 (for the eighth day of Christmas, and the second Sunday in Christmas; communion Sunday)
25 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law,
28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
29 “ Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,
According to Your word;
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation
31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,
And the glory of Your people Israel.”
33 And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him.
34 Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against
35 (yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
LBC
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