Manchester Lutheran Church

How can Christ be true if so few people follow him seriously?

Every year church attendance statistics show a decline in numbers in the UK.

But somewhere inside those numbers there are certain types of church, or styles of church that are going the opposite way and growing.

What is more significant than the numbers themselves, are the thoughts and feelings people attach to them.

I have often had conversations with my Muslim friends, that boil down to the claim being made: that the true religion is the biggest one.

If you get caught up in a debate with a Muslim friend, it is quite likely that the growth and size of Islam will be raised as an argument in favour of it being true.

The same things can be said or assumed inside the Christian church.

There are so many different churches that teach different things. Which church is true? How do I know which one I can trust?

Well… it’s so tempting to think isn’t it: There’s safety in numbers! And in our minds, we might say things like: “Our denomination has this many people.” “Oh, our sister church is so and so big.”

Size becomes the standard of truth so quickly. And the fact that we are a small church, which is new in the UK, can make us and others feel like we’re not really legitimate.

How can Christ be true if so few people follow him seriously?

Step into our Gospel passage today. It’s AD 0, in a backwater marginal town on the outskirts of the unfashionable end of the Roman empire.

Our passage starts in the middle of a conversation at the circumcision of a little baby boy. Circumcision was a sign of faith, tying this little boy into a minority religious cult, that the vast majority of Roman citizens think is ridiculous.

Supposedly this boy, Jesus son of Joseph, is the Christ, the Messiah, the one who will be anointed king of this Jewish people.

But, his circumcision is just one of thousands of events going on simultaneously in the Jewish temple. Even within this small pond, he’s a small fish.

The only people interested are his own parents, an old guy called Simeon, whose ready to die, and an old widower called Anna, whose 84.

Imagine planting a new church starting with people like this: One family. One child. Two old people nearing death. It seems ridiculous doesn’t it?

There’s a reason why most church planters these days don’t consider it “viable” to start a church unless they’ve got 15 professionals with jobs in their 20s-30s. Because “success breeds success” as the saying goes.

And that’s where Luke is going to challenge us using the details of this story. Luke weaves three lessons into this narrative:

• Jesus shows us success is spurious.
• Jesus will give us what success falsely promises.
• Jesus is worth talking about.

Consider the first of those, Jesus shows us success is spurious.

At v. 33 we jump in, to the middle of a story, immediately before this: Jesus has been circumcised, Simeon has blessed God and spoken about Jesus, so now, v. 33:

And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him.

As a Jewish boy, Jesus’ circumcision marks the beginning of his life. And so Luke’s theme is about Jesus growing up, we see that in vv. 39-40:

And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favour of God was upon him.

Now, Luke isn’t just writing about Jesus’ childhood for the sake of it. He wasn’t trying to sell more copies.

It’s not a money grab, like the Star Wars prequels or Young Sheldon. No, everything Luke writes is for a particular purpose, which described in Luke 1:4:

just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.

Luke tells us about the growth of Jesus, because this is instructive about the growth of God’s kingdom. When Simeon blessed God in the passage just before, he picked up two themes from Luke’s introduction:

2:29: he can depart according to God’s “word”

2:30: he says “my eyes have seen your salvation”

Luke tells us he is writing about eyewitnesses to the Word. And Simeon says that seeing Jesus is seeing salvation.

Today, we see Jesus grow, in the sense that we see salvation growing, we see people coming to him.

So, this story teaches us about the growth of Jesus, the growth of salvation, the growth of the church.

But, remember, Jesus’ father and mother marvel at what was said about Jesus: Because the words about Jesus challenge and encourage us.

Simeon’s words in vv. 34-35 challenge us in this way: Jesus shows us success is spurious.

Just look at vv. 34-35:

And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

Simeon addresses Mary directly. He splits these parents up. So many of us here know the pain of a family divided. —Jesus doesn’t need you to explain that to him.

Simeon speaks to Mary: because by the time the sword will pierce her heart when she stands there and watches Jesus die on the cross Joseph will already be dead; and because she is the one who will educate him at home Mary will have to prepare her son for this suffering.

Because Jesus’ victory will come through embracing failure. Success is spurious. Numbers. Prestige. Money. Fame. Standing.

This is success in worldly eyes, but not in God’s eyes.

And for that reason, many in Israel will fall because of Jesus: offended that he challenges what they consider important while others will rise because of Jesus: realising they have nothing, they will humbly trust his Word.

He’ll be a sign spoken against: like a target, people who otherwise hate each other, will be united in their opposition to Jesus, because he challenges what they hold dear. …Pilate and Herod. The Pharisees and Sadduccees. And today in your workplace, school, family,… people who otherwise disagree, will be united in finding Jesus embarrassing, weak, offensive, a distraction.

Luke will end volume two, Acts 28:22, by describing the church with the same word: “with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is opposed.”

And this is why Jesus will result in the thoughts of many hearts being revealed. Simeon uses language that echoes Daniel chapter 2, when God’s prophet, a young boy from an ethnic and religious minority, stood in front of king of an empire, and said God will humble you, as he will humble all the empires to come after.

Because there are so few people who do follow Christ seriously.

They’re not attracted to Jesus, they’re attracted to success. They don’t want the word of the cross, they want a word of glory.

And now this is Luke’s challenge to us… …what are the thoughts of your heart?

Where do you hunger for success that prevents you following Christ seriously?

Where would we fall and oppose him?

We are so quick to generate all sorts of false promises in our minds: “If I follow Jesus, he’ll keep me free from suffering.”

How can that be true, when Simeon is prophesying to Jesus’ own mother that her ministry with him will lead to suffering?

We evaluate things based on a standard of success: “If this thing is true or right or valuable, then it will grow in numbers or wealth or prestige”

Well, it doesn’t take long of looking at the world to see that’s not true anyway.

Daniel told king Nebuchadnezzar that. And God himself gives you Jesus as a sign to challenge that very thought.Jesus shows us success is spurious.

But, then Luke goes on in the story to assure us that: Jesus will give us what success falsely promises. Please look again at vv. 36-37.

And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.

Think about this church plant for a minute, with this young family of three, a prophecy they’re going to suffer, and these two old people.

What was it like for Anna and Simeon, and what have they been doing?

They’ve been waiting. They’ve been waiting their whole lives. They’ve not been waiting in luxury and success and glory. No, their lives have also been marked with suffering, failure and problems.

Simeon said “now you let your servant depart in peace”—implying he hasn’t always lived in peace.

Anna is from the triber of Asher
—she’s not from Judah, she’s not Jewish,
—she’s a minority within a minority,
—she was married, but only for 7 years,
her life was marked by tragedy.

Now, we could go around this room, and ask each other about our pasts, and all of us have our own particular hurts, pains, failures and problems. Simeon and Anna know exactly how you feel.

But, they are old, and near the end of their lives… …and how do they feel at that point: as though it’s all been worth it.

You see, Jesus delivers in the end. He does not forget those who did not forget him. Simeon and Anna have run the race, and it was hard.

And, yes, each of you is running, and you have your hardships. But, Luke is writing his Gospel as an account of the things that have been achieved.

He is writing to give us certainty concerning the things we have been taught.

What is Anna’s testimony? V. 38:

And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Anna says, that in the end, knowing Jesus, now and in eternity, is worth it. Jesus himself will say the same in Luke 18:29-30:

“Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Luke 23:42-43

And <the man on the cross> said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Jesus will give us what success falsely promises.

Finally, Jesus is worth talking about.

Do you notice, Anna and Simeon, at the end of their lives, on the cusp of receiving everything they’ve been promised: and that’s pretty much all they do.

They talk about Jesus. And in a passage about the growth of salvation—that’s no accident.

Luke builds our picture of God’s Word, by showing us that they are both recipients of God’s Word and speakers of God’s Word.

They have received God’s Word by faith and so lived out their vocations faithfully.

Simeon, whose name means “listening one”, had faith in God’s promise, and so lived a righteous and devout life.

Anna was a prophetess, a woman who lived by faith in God’s Word, and from that faith, she’d walked in several vocations:
—a faithful young virgin woman
—a devoted wife
—a widow, so someone without economic means.

Faithfulness looks different in each of these different vocations: as a mother and wife, most of her good works would have been raising her children, supporting her spouse but now as a widow, most of her good works are prayer.

Mary, Jesus’ mother, will also have several vocations in one life: a virgin, a mother, a wife, a widow.

Each stage of our lives, receiving God’s Word by faith, provides an opportunity for different types good works.

But, whatever our vocation, we are called as Priests with the great privilege to speak the Word of Christ to others.

Jesus is worth talking about.

So, How can Christ be true if so few people follow him seriously?

The question arises because of our natural desire to see success.

But, Jesus shows us success is spurious.

and Jesus will give us what success falsely promises.

So, because of that, Jesus is worth talking about.

Each of us has a different path to walk in life. But, whatever that path, just as Anna is a prophet, you and I are prophets.

That is how Christ grows in people’s hearts today.

And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all