One of my favourite titles for God is The Promise Keeper. I use it often when writing for children, and The Promise Maker too. Because the Lord both makes and keeps promises.
The Old Testament is infused with God's promises to send the Christ, the anointed one, His chosen King. And in the New Testament we meet those faithful believers who are waiting for that promise to be kept. One of them is Simeon.
Simeon trusted God to send His Christ, and was faithfully awaiting that day. But the Lord, in His grace, also made an extra promise, just for Simeon - that Simeon himself would see this Christ with his own eyes. God didn't have to make this promise. It was a loving, generous gift to an old man.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:
‘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 for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.’
(Luke 2 v 25-32)
God the Promise-Maker generously made this extra promise to Simeon; God the Promise-Keeper fulfilled it.
So when I heard these verses quoted in a "thought for the day" on radio recently, I expected something about God's grace in sending Jesus, just as He promised. Or at least a comment that Simeon's faithful waiting had been rewarded. But no. The theme from this passage was: respect for your elders. I could hardly believe it. I'm used to these daily thoughts not being from evangelicals, so some of the links are vague, and the points made are general rather than specific. But I truly couldn't see how this story can be about respecting our elders.
My instinct was to pour scorn on the speaker and get cross about an opportunity lost. But then I thought about it. Simeon is certainly a pattern for many of the older Christians I know. Some have 60, 70, 80+ years experience of loving God and trusting in Jesus. They have lived through great joy, and deep suffering. They have seen God's faithfulness in action time and time again. They have known His love and grace; been shaped by the Spirit; given many years of service; and look forward to being with Him, possibly quite soon. And when they say they will pray, they mean it - daily, faithfully, trusting in God's sovereignty and goodness.
So rather than just grumble about yet another "thought for the day" that completely misses the point, I decided to use it as a prompt to think of some older Christians who have taught me, encouraged me and prayed for me - and to thank God for them. And then I decided to write it down in case it can be a helpful prompt for some of you to do the same.
Alison Mitchell is a Senior Editor at The Good Book Company, where she has worked on a range of products including Bible-reading notes for children and families, and the Christianity Explored range of resources. She is the bestselling author of The Christmas Promise and the award-winning Jesus and the Lions' Den.
