Salt + Light Fort Worth

Stephan.

Good morning.

I'm excited to be here.

Um, I have a very vivid.

First memory of seeing
a movie in theaters.

I grew up in a family that
loved to go to movie theaters.

My dad has like a theater
room, like we love movies.

And this memory, I was about five years
old and it was the holidays in 1991

and I remember the lights going down
and I remember what came on the screen.

So we're gonna, we're
gonna watch it Denise.

Denise, you wanna keep going?

Right?

Does anyone else, uh, probably
around my generation does else

remember seeing this in theaters?

Yes.

Like it was a, it was a moment.

It was a very powerful
movie when it came out.

Um, I remember the orchestra, I remember
the, the waterfall scene so clearly.

And, and as you've heard, if you
haven't seen the movie, it's been

around, uh, you have a chance.

But if you haven't seen it,
uh, it's a story about a print.

And an enchanted castle
that are under a curse.

And a side note, we find out later in
the movie that 10 years have passed.

So the prince was 11 when he didn't
let this creepy stranger into his home

and like got turned into a monster.

But.

That's just a storyline that
you know you can follow.

So the only way to break the curse for
the Beast is if the beast falls in love

with a woman who loves him in return.

And after 10 years of waiting, a
young woman named Bell appears in

the castle and a spoiler alert, they
fall in love and the spells broken.

And there are many, many books and
fairytales and movies about curses

and spells that need to be broken.

We love this high stakes type of story.

Break the spell or they will die, or
they will never wake up, or they'll

stay a frog or a swan forever.

Usually an act of love or a sacrifice
is required to break the spell.

And as Christians, we can attribute our
pool, uh, towards these types of stories.

Towards, um, to our own story,
we contribute to our own story.

Our story began with a perfect world.

After Adam and Eve ate the fruit
in the garden, sin entered, and

these are the words of our curse.

To the woman.

God said, I will make your
pains and childbearing very

severe with painful labor.

You'll give birth to children.

Your desire will be for your
husband and he will rule over you.

To Adam, he said, cursed is the
ground because of you through

painful toil, you will eat food
from it all the days of your life.

It'll produce thorns and thistles for you
and you'll eat the plants of the field.

By the sweat of your brow, you will eat
your food until you return to the ground.

Since from it, you were taken for dust,
you are, and to dust you will return.

From the moment God uttered these
words, Adam and Eve and all of humanity

were under the curse of sin and death.

And throughout the Bible we
read about men and women who

long to see the curse lifted.

Today we're looking at one
of those people named Simeon.

And for, um, a really thorough breakdown
if you're someone who loves all the,

the details and historical context.

Nicole, uh, did a teaching in 2022,
and it's just labeled Advent, uh,

from 2022 on Simeon, and it is one
of my all time favorite sermons.

I've listened to it several
times, it was so good.

So I encourage you this
week to maybe listen to it.

I'm not covering all of that today.

She covers it so beautifully.

But when we read about
Simeon, we don't get a lot of

information about him actually.

We don't know what he does for a living.

We don't know how old he is, which
is to me really interesting because

Luke, who is the author of this book
that we're reading from Luke, usually

gives those details for other people
in the timeline around Christ's birth.

Earlier in Luke's book you
read about Zacharia and

Elizabeth Zacharia is a priest.

He's married to Elizabeth.

They're described as being older
and um, that they don't have

a child and they want a child.

Mary is young and engaged to
Joseph right after Simeon.

There's this really amazing few
verses, this little story about, uh, a

woman named Anna, who is specifically
described as 84 and a widow.

There are shepherds, there are wise men.

These attributes that Luke gives tell
us so much about these people and their

unique situations in relation to Jesus
and in relation to their need for him.

And this leads me to think
that the attributes we do learn

about Simeon are meaningful.

These attributes are
his defining qualities.

We read about him that he is a
man who is righteous and devout.

He was eagerly waiting for the
consolation of Israel, which means the

rescue or the comforting of Israel.

The Holy Spirit was with him and
told him that he wouldn't die

before he had seen the Messiah.

What does this tell us about Simeon?

His main defining quality more than his
age or his job, or his family situation.

His main defining quality is a
desperate desire to see the Messiah.

He has been longing for this.

I'm gonna read an excerpt from an article
by William j Fagan that just came out.

He's writing about the longing
of the people of Israel as

they're waiting for Jesus.

Sort of a context of a lot
of different people longing.

He writes, it's no secret that people have
been longing for more since the beginning.

The people of Babel
longed to climb to heaven.

Noah longed for dry land.

Abram and Sarah e longed for a son.

Moses longed for a promised land,
and in the latter stages of the Old

Testament, God's people longed for home.

One has to wonder what their
longings were specifically, I mean.

They'd certainly rather
have a Hebrew king rule.

Them not a Roman Caesar far away,
albeit they'd been through worse.

Most of all I bet.

They just wanted God himself
to be near them again.

They wanted him to speak to
them as the prophets had of old.

They wanted God to send
them the anointed one.

They'd been promised for hundreds
of years who would establish

himself as their king forever.

They wanted to know that the
maker of heaven and earth,

their God had their back.

You see, they were ready for the
real thing to come ready for the

real thing to change their lives
and change their circumstances.

They were ready to be the
people they long to be.

Again, Simeon knew what
he was longing for.

He was ready for the consolation, which is
the rescue of Israel through the Messiah.

He was ready for the real thing to come.

And on this day that we
read about this special day.

Simeon was moved by the spirit
to enter the temple courts,

and when he sees baby Jesus, he
immediately takes him in his arms.

There is a boldness in Simeon here
as well as a deep understanding of

the type of person that Jesus will
grow up to be during Jesus' ministry.

We see many, many people reach
out to him for healing, um, to

talk to him, to be with him.

And he receives all of them
with welcome, with healing, with

compassion, Simeon's impulse.

When he, when he beholds his savior,
is to reach out and take him in his

arms and outside of, you know, grabbing
a newborn from their mother's arms.

Like outside of that part of it,
I think his instinct was spot on.

This is the Messiah.

This is the person that he will be.

Um, one more thing about
beauty and the beast.

Uh, the beast wasn't the only
one to be cursed in his castle.

All of the staff and the servants
are changed into household items

like clocks and wardrobes and, uh,
spoons and the things start to change.

From the moment Bell steps
foot into the castle.

You can just tell something's
happening right away.

And to quote Lumiere, the Candlestick,
for 10 years they've been rusting.

Needing so much more than dusting,
and they were really excited.

So they turn on the lights, they prepare
a feast, they sing, and they dance.

And we see that even before the
curse has been lifted, the occupants

of the castle are coming alive
because they finally have hope.

Maybe she's the one to break
the spell in the moment.

When Simeon meets Jesus, when he
takes him in his arms, it is not

just the answer to the promise.

Made to Simeon by the Holy Spirit, the
promise that he would see the Messiah.

It's also the fulfillment of a long
awaited promise by God to the Israelites,

you can feel simeon's emotions and
excitement when he speaks these words.

Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you
may now dismiss your servant in peace.

For my eyes have seen your
salvation, which you have prepared

in the sight of all nations.

A light, a revelation to the Gentiles
and the glory of your people.

Israel, I love the phrase for my
eyes, have seen your salvation.

It's just been like ringing in my mind as
I've been thinking through this teaching.

And when Simeon's, when Simeon looks
down at this baby in his arms, he

knows he's holding his salvation.

Mary and Joseph, it says
Marvel at his words.

He is so certain he's prophesying,
um, with such certainty.

The birth of Jesus is the fulfillment
of God's promise to send a king to

restore the glory of Israel, as he
says and bring about their salvation.

When Adam and Eve sinned and the world
was cursed, God did not abandon us.

He knew that we could not live perfectly
according to the law, that we could not

break the curse of sin on our own, and
he promised to send us a curse breaker.

This Messiah did not come only to save
the Israelites, God's chosen people,

but Simeon prophesied that he will
also be a light to the Gentiles, to

non-Jewish people as well to all people.

Then Simeon says that this baby
is going to stir things up.

He talks about the rise and fall
of many, and we see throughout

Jesus's ministry that he calls out
hypocrisy and cruelty and religious

leaders and the wealthy elite.

And he spends his time with people who
are seen as unworthy with the poor,

with sinners, with gentiles already.

We see this in Jesus' birth story.

God sent shepherds to be the first
visitors to see Jesus after he was born.

Shepherds represented the lowest
class in society, the poorest class.

They're the first to be invited
to meet him later wise Men who

are Gentiles, Nonis, Israelites
follow a star, an unexplainable

scientific marvel in the sky.

They follow that to come
and worship at his feet.

We see the unworthy.

The poor and the Gentiles
are being invited in, pulled

in to meet their savior.

Prophecies are being fulfilled and
we are getting these glimpses of the

type of Messiah Jesus will grow to be.

Jesus' birth also marks the beginning
of the end of the curse of our curse.

Looking back to the first part
of the curse, um, given to

Adam and Eve and to humanity.

The very first lines are I will make
your pains and childbearing very severe.

With painful labor, you
will give birth to children.

God sends Jesus into our world
through childbirth, and in doing

so, the curse breaker is entering.

Through the curse to
prepare for this teaching.

Um, we read through the book that been
mentioned by Athanasius from 300 ad.

It's an old book, and Athanasius
refers to the act of Jesus

becoming human as recreation.

God is starting the process of recreation,
of fixing what is broken, this curse that

is the representation of our brokenness.

It is the symbol of our destruction.

Is being used for our salvation.

Jesus is born into the curse
just like every human is.

He is born.

He will toil through life and he will die.

Sim in has one more message and it
is a prophecy specifically for Mary.

He tells her that a sword
will pierce her own soul too.

He just spoke about the hope and
light that is to come with this

Messiah, but there will also
be sorrow, especially for Mary.

As a mother.

He speaks specifically to her.

Our salvation isn't through Jesus'
birth, but through his death.

In Galatians three 13, Paul writes,
Christ redeemed us from the curse of

the law by becoming a curse for us.

FUD is written.

Cursed is everyone who
is hanged on a tree.

Paul is referencing an old
law found in Deuteronomy.

It's a law about crucifixion.

The law says that if a man has committed
a crime punishable by death, and he is

put to death and you hang him on a tree,
his body shall not remain all night on the

tree, but you shall bury him the same day.

For a hanged man is cursed by God.

Jesus entered our broken
world through the curse.

And then received it fully upon
himself when he was hanging on the

tree, becoming the curse for us.

Because he had been born
and lived as a human.

He could take on the curse of humanity.

He could take on our curse yet because
he was also the perfect holy Son of

God who had not committed any crime.

The curse cracked open when it
came against his righteousness.

Through that opening, Jesus reaches
into the darkness and pulls us out.

We don't have to live enslaved to the
weight of sin or the fear of death to the

curse, but live with an eternal mindset
that this world isn't all there, is there?

There's a very different, um, movie
musical called Into the Woods.

Has anyone seen into the woods?

A few.

Mm.

Okay.

Um, so Into the Woods, uh, it's a
musical and then there's a movie of it.

So what Into the Woods is, is it's a
smashing of a bunch of fairy tales.

So there's Cinderella, there's Jack
of the Beanstalk, little Red Riding

Hood, and they all come together
during the first act to break.

A witch is curse and it's,
um, really high energy and the

songs are catchy and it's fun.

And, um, we really love the
first act of this movie.

The second half after they
break the curse, after the

intermission is a real bummer.

Um, when we watch it with our family,
we're like, maybe this is just.

It's just a one act movie.

You don't even need to watch the
second half because in the second

half it's what happens next.

And Cinderella and Prince
Charming break up and people die.

And it's really sad.

Kids are sad, adults are sad.

The whole thing is just really sad.

And uh, I get what the writer
Stephen Sondheim was trying to do.

He was interested in what happens
after the happily ever after.

What happens after the curse is
lifted, when the characters have to

deal with the harsh realities of life.

We still live in a cursed and broken
world, but because Jesus did not

stay dead because he came back to
life, we don't have to endure the

pain of this world alone anymore.

We still desperately
need our curse breaker.

I still desperately
need our curse breaker.

And I was recently, um, reminded of
this this fall, um, a few years ago.

I had a really terrible.

Relationship with a coworker.

It was, um, a woman, I'm not gonna say
the name, but it was a woman who from

day one, just, we just didn't hit it off.

And she was cruel.

She was belittling.

She took every opportunity to,
um, disrespect me and to, um,

just one of those people who kind
of knows where to hit you, you

know, knows where it really hurts.

And I wasn't sleeping and I was
miserable and it was terrible.

And no reconciliation efforts worked.

Uh, we parted ways professionally a
couple years ago, and I remember just

thinking, oh, I'm just free of her.

I never have to think of her again.

I'm free.

I don't have to talk to her.

I blocked her on everything.

We're done.

And then a couple years went by and
this fall, uh, I saw her two times.

Coincidentally, uh, both at
huge city events in Fort Worth

with thousands of people.

Um, full day events where you wouldn't
find someone if you were looking

for them, that type of a thing.

And the first time I saw her,
I literally saw her across.

The way, and I turned and avoided
her and kind of ducked away.

I was like, I can't even see her.

I can't even talk to her.

But even just seeing her, I had
this rise of feelings like you,

I'm sure we've had this experience.

You just feel it from your gut.

There's hate and anger and resentment,
and you just can't even bear to

look at that person that hurt you.

And I came home from that day
and I just still was feeling it.

I just couldn't shake it.

I just thought, man, why
did I even have to see her?

I just could have kept going without
ever feeling his feelings again.

And in my mind, I just had this,
this realization of I didn't need

to be freed from her in my life.

I needed to be freed from
that hate and from that anger,

and I needed to forgive her.

And if you've had that experience,
it feels really impossible when

you have these feelings about this
person and you think, I can't just.

Forgive them in this moment.

How would I do that?

So in the moment I said, you
know, Jesus, I, I can't, I

don't see how I can forgive her.

Um, can you root out that anger?

Can you just completely remove
it from me and replace it with

compassion, with hope for her?

Good, with hope that she would know
you, that if I ever see her again, um,

that there would be no sign of these,
these negative, horrible feelings.

And in the moment I felt
that anger just lift away.

It was like a muscle unclenching.

And I rooted around and was.

Thinking about her, and it was just gone.

There really was no longer anger and hate.

And, um, a month later I saw her again at
another event with thousands of people.

I was walking down the street and
she was walking the other way.

And like, no joke in the moment,
my first instinct when I saw

her, I just felt my hand raising
to like smile and wave at her.

Like a friend and my mind
was like, what are we doing?

Like in the moment it was
like, this is not you.

Like what is happening?

And it was just the, the, the miracle in
my heart of this, this small curse that

I didn't even know needed to be broken.

Um, to change an enemy, to
a friend, to change my heart

in a way that I could not do.

And it was grace.

It was a curse broken, and it
was the power of Christ in me.

So he's still our curse
breaker and we still need him.

Um, daily, you know, moment to moment
in Advent, which is a season of waiting,

we remember that we are living in the
in-between, from when Jesus came to

save us and when he will come again.

And when you feel the heaviness
of this world, you can recognize

it as a longing for Jesus to
return and make all things new.

But in Jesus, we have a curse
breaker who did not abandon us.

He knows our struggles.

He knows how it feels to live
in a broken and cursed world.

When you reach out for him, when you reach
out for Jesus, like Simeon, he is there.

We are longing for his return, but we
don't have to wait to be with our savior.