“NOW LET ME DEPART IN PEACE”

Today we hear about what happened on the 40th day after Jesus’ birth, since today is the 40th day after Christmas Day. Joseph and Mary came to the temple with their baby, Jesus. They came to give some required offerings.

One offering was for purifying the mother after childbirth, for she was considered ritually unclean and had to stay at home for 40 days if it was a baby boy. They had to give a sacrifice so she could be pronounced clean. The second law they obeyed, was about Jesus. It was connected to the original Passover, how the life of each first-born boy required the blood of a lamb on the doorpost. In order to remember this, each family had to “redeem” their first-born son with a payment. Jesus was her first-born son. They “presented” Him to the Lord with a payment of five shekels.

What was going on in the temple is that the clash between sacrifice and sacrament was being enacted. Sacrifice is Law, it’s something you do for God, the direction is from earth “upward,” so to speak, toward heaven. Like in our offerings. They were doing that, as God commanded. But in Jesus’ little body, the sacrificial system was ending. The sacramental way was beginning. A sacrament is Gos­pel: what God does for you, the direction is from heaven down to earth. This is how God saves. He brings salvation to you. As soon as they came in, they met old Simeon. Let’s hear his words again:

Sermon Text: Luke 2:22-32 (v. 29-32). “Lord, now You let Your servant depart in peace, according to Your Word; for my eyes have seen Your Salvation, which You have prepared before the face of all people, a Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.”

Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. Lord, help us – like Simeon – to be patiently waiting for You to keep Your Word, and to wait for and desire Your consolation, especially when we face cross and affliction, terror and sadness, sickness and death. Help us to see Your Salvation, to really see it by faith and be sure and certain of it, and to be filled with peace. Amen.

In the name of Jesus, who is our Salvation and all people’s, fellow redeemed:

We hear these words of Simeon, “depart in peace,” all the time. It’s the last thing you hear in the Lord’s Supper: right after you receive Jesus’ body and blood, my last words in the communion blessing are: “Depart in peace.” Then we all sing these very words of Simeon about departing in peace. It’s the last thing you hear in the service, in the benediction: “The Lord give you peace.”

This is a proclamation of the Gospel. When the pastor says, “The Lord look upon you with favor, and give you peace,” or says to you at holy communion, “Depart in peace,” this is a powerful imparting of God’s peace. It’s saying that now there is peace for you with God. As the pastor says “The Lord give you peace,” or “Depart in peace,” it’s God saying: “You now have this peace.”

But as Simeon says, “Now let me depart in peace,” and we sing this too, this is really taking these words as your own, saying “yes, it’s true, I believe it, I really have this peace.” It’s what he was saying. He could die in peace.

This isn’t so much about death as it is about the conscience. Being ready and prepared to die, in a Christian sense, is about your conscience. If you feel that you aren’t ready to face God, there’s a problem in your conscience. The conscience is where the devil takes the fight to us. It’s where all the action is, spiritually. Often it’s a guilty conscience but it’s not just that.

The basic problem is: things are not right. Sometimes it is because you said or did something wrong; you wish you could undo it. Think of Adam and Eve after their sin, or Simon Peter after his denial. We think of this when we sing in Lent, “If my sins give me alarm and my conscience grieve me,” and we say: “Peace of conscience give me.” The peace of sins forgiven is what’s lacking. You can’t hear the forgiveness because of the guilt inside you. It also results in shame, which is feeling unworthy and hiding from God.

Sometimes the conscience problem is because of your sins but not because you feel guilty. It might be that you’re not sorry, you’re still justifying what you did, or holding a grudge. You might want to stay angry or depressed.

But it’s also not always because of you but because things are not right around you. Sometimes it’s that someone sinned against you or hurt you. You can’t control what others do. And it gives you an unsettled, unhappy sense. Or it might be the world around you, it might be sadness at how the world is. It might be that you feel you don’t fit in. Bitterness or anger result. Or on the other hand, you might not adjust yourself to the sinful attitudes, and sometimes decide not to care that something is wrong, and deep inside – in your conscience – you know this is sinful. This will ultimately, always, bother a Christian. If it doesn’t, then your conscience is becoming insensitive.

Your conscience is the mechanism that God’s put into you that judges and evaluates all this, ultimately what’s right and wrong. And we’re put in this world, on this planet, that’s going to stress us out, remove our peace and work to desensitize us to what God wants. It’s because of people and because of ourselves. Because we lack this, we have to pray – as we do in the evening hymn – “that with the world, myself and Thee, I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.”

We want to be the way Simeon is described here: “righteous and devout.” We wish we were contently “waiting” on God’s Word like him. We know that waiting “for consolation,” for God’s comfort, is the goal. We should desire the comfort of God’s forgiveness, and that happens if we repent from the heart. But don’t imagine that Simeon didn’t struggle with this. Why else did he have such joy and comfort that day, if not because it was a struggle?

God declares that He gives peace. This word “peace” in the Bible means that everything is right, God puts everything back together that has pulled apart or broken apart. When God declares His peace and gives it to you, He declares that through Jesus, everything is right. He heals everything.

So now we see what has to happen for this peace to come to us. Simeon says: “My eyes have seen Your Salvation which You have prepared before all peoples.” The Holy Spirit revealed this to him, that this little child, Jesus, is the salvation God promised through His prophets, and was “preparing.”

So what has to happen for this peace to come to us, is for Jesus to come. First, to come into the world. In his song Simeon has in mind all the darkness of Israel’s history, the disobedience, following after idols, the captivity, how their glory departed. And also the darkness of unbelief among all the nations. He calls Jesus, this baby in his arms, “a Light to lighten the Gentiles and the Glory of Your people Israel.” He is the Light of the world. The glory of God that no sinner can see face to face, that’s the Light that Jesus is, but His death takes away sin and makes everyone ableto be in God’s presence. Jesus’ purity and holiness is the righteousness He gives to everyone, it’s our true glory.

This is how He can bring everyone – brings you – into the light, into God’s presence. It’s through faith. In this way Jesus is the “Light [who] enlightens,” gives light, the light of faith. Simeon says it’s Jesus’ purpose: to be “a Light to lighten the Gentiles and [to be] the Glory of Your people Israel.”

Really this is about having a clear conscience. It’s when everything clears up, it’s like cleaning the window so the sun – Jesus and His grace, all God’s love and favor – can shine in. This is the real way this peace comes to us: not just the first part that Jesus came into the world, but second that He comes to you in His Word and in His Supper and gives you peace of conscience and all this light, brightness, clearing all the bad stuff away and giving you (as Luther says) a “heart and mind full of comfort, resting softly, calm and quieted.”

Do you feel this is impossible? Especially if you have sorrow and hopeless feelings, if you have pain, if you have fear, if you have a sinking spirit, if you feel terror or anxiety and you’re under dark clouds and shadows, if you have so many troubles and afflictions, if you feel alone or separated from God and His comfort, and happiness and bright thoughts are so fleeting?

We want to argue with God and say there’s no peace for us. God won’t argue with you. He has compassion for you. He sees the troubles you have. He sees the darkness you’re in. He knows the troubles of your conscience.

God just brings Jesus into the temple of your heart. He is able to crush the devil and obliterate his accusations. The Law has to be silent now. The Gospel is speaking. He says Jesus is God’s Salvation for you, your salvation. Just see Him. See, He is here for you, to save you. Instead of seeking peace, let Him be your peace and give you peace. Listen as He gives you His body and blood for the remission of sins. He’s giving you the peace of sins forgiven. God looks upon you with favor. He gives you peace. Amen!