11th December 2018
Dear Church Family,
SIMEON AND THE PEARL WITHOUT PRICE
In the midst of all the excitement and build-up to Christmas, I wanted to take a moment to write a Christmas letter to you. So, why not grab a mug of mulled wine (or coffee if you prefer) and a cheeky mince pie (I’m sure there are not that many calories in just one) and find a comfy sofa and have a read.
I’m almost certain that if I asked you to describe Simeon (the guy mentioned in Luke 2) you would describe an old white-haired prophet. However, that would be a grave mistake and a huge assumption.
You may be thinking to yourself, what assumption? Whoever said Simeon was old? Nowhere in scripture is Simeon described as old. The passage which normally makes people assume that Simeon was an old man is the first line of his famous song:
“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace” (Luke 2:29)
None of the main English translations of the Bible interpret these words particularly well. A more literal translation would be, “Now Lord, dismiss, or release, your servant in peace according to your word”. What is Simeon actually saying? Remember that God had promised that during his lifetime he would witness the coming of the Messiah (the dawning of salvation in history). Now that has happened! Simeon is saying, “My life is complete, fulfilled. I have experienced everything I desire. I’ve seen Jesus the Messiah, I have held Him in my arms. Lord if my time has come, I am perfectly content to die right now!”
Maybe you have known someone who was so discouraged that life didn’t seem worth living anymore. But note that Simeon’s attitude is totally opposite. He is ready to die, not because his life is so empty, but because it is so full. He is so full of joy, that he is content beyond measure! He knows that anything else which will ever happen to him will not match the ultimate experience he’s just had of holding the Messiah in his arms.
Whether Simeon was old or not, we will never categorically know. However the question we need to ask ourselves is, was Simeon’s response and attitude weird or strange – the ramblings of a man who may not be holding his ‘stuff’ together?
Well, I would like to suggest that Simeon’s attitude is not strange or weird, but rather reflects the Kingdom perspective. It is reflected in one of Jesus’ most precious parables:
“Again,the Kingdom of Heaven is like a pearl merchant on the look out for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!” Matthew 13:45-46 (NLT)
When Simeon saw Jesus and picked him up, he was like the pearl merchant who had suddenly found the pearl of great price! No one would look at a pearl merchant who sold all to purchase the pearl without price as strange or odd, but rather someone who understood true value. The person we would call weird and unwise is the pearl merchant who would rather pass by the pearl without price and continue to find satisfaction in small farmed, mediocre, ordinary pearls! Simeon was willing to surrender all that he had, even life itself, because nothing compared to the pearl of great value!
Just over half a century later, the Apostle Paul followed in the footsteps of Simeon. In Phil 1:21 he says:
“If I live, it will be for Christ, and if I die, I will gain even more.” (Phil 1:21,CEV)
Both Simeon and Paul demonstrate lives which have found the ultimate treasure, the pearl of great price, the Saviour Jesus! So this Christmas, let me encourage and challenge you. Are you living with a Simeon or Paul-like value system? Have you discovered the contentment and satisfaction that is found in Jesus and him alone?
This challenge is so pertinent for us today living in Western societies. Our lives and consciences are often anaesthetised by the overload of material wealth and marketed desires for more and more and more. Yet what are we getting, are we being sold old rope, when the pearl without price is laying at its side?
Wealth, jobs, holidays, security, education, cars, sporting opportunities – all of these are not wrong, yet they need to be placed in perspective, lined up against the pearl without price. Paul was talking about Jesus’ saving and redeeming work in his life. He had come to know in a personal way the King of Kings, the Maker of the Universe, the Suffering Saviour. For him, nothing compared to knowing Christ. For him, life took on a very different perspective in the light of Jesus and the wonderful relationship he had with him. Can you say that? Are your priorities and plans shaped by the knowledge and relationship you have with the pearl without price – King Jesus? Or are you still buying manufactured, farmed pearls that are beautiful, but insignificant when compared to Jesus, the pearl without price?
Have a wonderful Christmas and I’m looking forward to us making much of Jesus together in 2019!
With much love,
