What do all the following things have in common?
Swim with dolphins
Learn a new language
See the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights)
Throw a dart at a map and travel to wherever it lands
Get a tattoo
Any ideas? They are among the most popular items on people’s bucket lists. So what’s on your bucket list? You may not know the term, but you might just have a bucket list.
It’s not a list of the buckets you own (if indeed, you own more than one bucket, just in case, like Liza in the song, there’s a hole in your bucket...) It’s a list of things you want to do before you... kick the bucket. The things that you could say, ‘I’ve done that, now I can die happy.’
So what would your bucket list include? What would you prioritise? As the new year dawns tomorrow, what would you like to have done by next new year’s eve?
I’m not going to share my bucket list, because in my last church, I mentioned that I would love to make it to the top of Cuilcagh mountain, the highest point in Fermanagh (and Cavan). You might have seen the photos of the stairway to heaven, the wooden walkway and staircase built over the bog. Well, I foolishly mentioned that I wanted to climb it, and so before I left, one of our parishioners marched me to the top of the staircase, in the snow and ice, to say that I’d done it!
So what would your bucket list include? What would you want to do so that you could die happy?
This morning in our reading, we meet a man with just one item on his bucket list. And the one thing on his list might not seem like a big deal for us. His bucket list says: ‘See a baby.’ He lives in Jerusalem, he must see loads of babies, as their parents brought them to the temple for dedication, as the Old Testament commanded.
But it’s not just any baby. It’s actually see ‘the’ baby. Simeon is described (25) as righteous and devout. He trusts in the Lord, he’s living by faith. But more than that, he is ‘waiting for the consolation of Israel.’
Now, when do you need consoled? It’s when you’re in distress. When things aren’t going right. You need someone to console you, to provide comfort. I haven’t played any bowls here yet, but in my last parish I sometimes played. And at Christmas there was always a party night. Everyone played three games, with the teams drawn at random, and at the end of the night, the scores were added up. There were prizes for the top scoring men and women.
I played as well as ever, and needed to be consoled, because I finished with the lowest score. But I was consoled - I for the booby prize, or the consolation prize. It made up for what was lacking. When I unwrapped my Terry’s Chocolate Orange, the pain of my terrible performance was forgotten!
Simeon is waiting for the consolation of Israel. Israel was in a bad way. They seemed to be far from God. God hadn’t spoken to them for about 400 years. The Romans had conquered the land. Israel was occupied, ruled over by the Romans. Israel needed to be consoled.
Look at v26: ‘It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.’ Another version puts it that Simeon wouldn’t SEE death until he had SEEN the Lord’s Christ. So Simeon knows that he won’t die until he has seen the Christ, the one through whom the consolation of Israel would come. So Simeon’s bucket list reads: ‘see the Christ.’
Out of all the babies in the temple that day, Simeon is guided to the right one. He takes the baby Jesus in his arms, and breaks into song. ‘Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.’
I can die happy, because I have seen your salvation. He may not know how the salvation will come, but he knows who will bring the salvation. And by the Holy Spirit, he seems to base his song on our first reading, the servant song of Isaiah 49. He links Jesus to the servant in that song, who is the means of the Lord comforting his people; the way Israel will be gathered back to God; but also as a light to the nations.
Out of all the moments of Jesus’ life and ministry, which one would you most like to see and experience? If we could crank up a time machine so that you could be there, which would you choose? To sample the feeding of the 5000? To watch his crucifixion? To hear him tell the parable of the Good Samaritan firsthand? To see him raise Lazarus? It would be hard to choose.
Yet Simeon is pleased to simply see Jesus as a tiny baby, just 40 days old. Even though Simeon sees only the seed, he knows that the full flowering of salvation will come - by this baby. God’s word is sure. Just as God promised Simeon he would see his salvation, so God will fulfil that salvation in the Lord Jesus.
The baby didn’t stay a baby. He grew up, in lifelong obedience to God’s word and will. He lived the perfect life of obedience; he died the perfect death, to bear our sins, to bring us forgiveness. Through his death, we have life. Through his name being proclaimed to this day, Jews and Gentiles are bring brought back to God.
So what’s on your bucket list? You might have 1001 items on it. You might have so many ideas about what you should do before you can die happy. but Simeon tells us that only one will really matter after we die. That only one is important. And it’s the one that Simeon had on his bucket list - to meet and know Jesus. To see him as your Saviour. Because when you have his salvation, you can die happy - but more than that, you can die confident that you will live with him for all eternity.
Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation. Amen.
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday 31st December 2017.
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