St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church

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Where Do You See Your Salvation?

Luke 2:21-40; Isaiah 61:10-62:3

January 1, 2005        (Click this link to see the bulletin)

1. I have a little test for you this morning, just to see if you’re awake and alert. What one word is common in all three scripture passages? SALVATION! If I [or anyone] asked you to define "salvation," what would you say? That’s not easy, is it? Or, it’s not easy for me. Living as we do ‘in the buckle of the Bible belt’ we hear all kinds of references. Someone may approach us in the mall: "Are you saved?" Or maybe a friend or relative becomes concerned because you were sprinkled rather than immersed, and claim you had to have been immersed in order to be saved. What is salvation, anyway? Salvation, according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, has three definitions. First is "deliverance from the power and effects of sin." Second is "liberation from ignorance or illusion." And third is "preservation from destruction or failure."

2. Those are pretty straight-forward definitions, aren’t they? But are they anywhere close to what Simeon meant? Do they mean today what they meant in Simeon’s day? Pretty close! In those days ‘salvation’ had three definitions: (1) welfare, prosperity; (2) deliverance; (3) victory. The word Simeon would have spoken was pronounced Joshua [which is the Hebrew form of the Greek Jesus]. So when Jesus was born, and his parents gave him the name which Old Simeon knew meant ‘salvation,’ he could say: "My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all people." But when old Simeon uttered these words which Luke recorded, he only saw a baby Jesus. What could he have seen in that week-old baby? He saw possibility! He saw a fresh start, a new beginning, and new life!

3. Today we have exactly (or almost) what Simeon saw –on this New Year’s Day, we have possibility, a fresh start, and new beginning, maybe even a new life! We have a whole new year stretching out before us. This time next year, we will be able to look back and know what happened. But today it is an unknown future. This time next year, what might we be saying about 2006? Some of the events will be beyond our control, and we can only decide how we will respond. The rest of the year will be very much within our control. If we stay focused on Jesus, the one who frees us from ignorance or illusion, the one whose way of life keeps us from failure, it should be a pretty good year.

4. I ran across an accident report that, with a little stretch, represents today. Dear Sir: I am writing in response to your request for additional information. In block #3 of the accident reporting form, I put "poor planning" as the cause of my accident. You said that I should explain more fully, and I trust the following details will be sufficient. I am a bricklayer by trade, and on the day of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a new six-story building. When I completed my work, I discovered that I had about a strap-and-a-half of bricks left over. Rather than carrying the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley, which fortunately was attached to the building at the sixth floor. Securing the rope at the ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out, and loaded the bricks into it. Then I hurried back to the ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to ensure a slow descent of the 500+ pounds of bricks. You will note in block #11 of the accident reporting form that I weigh 135 pounds. Due to my surprise at being jerked off my feet so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind, and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rather rapid rate up the side of the building. In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming down. This explains the fractured skull and broken collarbone. Slowed only ever so slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley. Fortunately, by this time I had regained my presence of mind, and was still able to hold tightly to the rope in spite of the intense pain. At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Now devoid of the bricks, the barrel weighed only fifty pounds. I refer you again to my weight in box #11. As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building. In the vicinity of the third floor, I again met the barrel, now going up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles and the lacerations on my legs and lower body. This time the encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when I landed on the pile of bricks, and only three vertebrae were cracked. I am sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the bricks in pain, unable to stand and watching the empty barrel six stories above me, I again lost my presence of mind. I let go of the rope . . . and . . . the barrel crashed upon me, resulting in splinters from head to toe.

(I think it would have been a nice touch to find someone to act this out, but then I thought maybe that wasn’t such a good idea after all, and hoped you could visualize it just by the description!)

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