It’s funny how people can look at the same thing and see something completely different. Happens all the time. A friend of mine named Randy went to the Chattanooga airport. He arrived early, so he took a seat at the dinner counter there at the lunch place. He's eating by himself when a lady sat down nearby. A few minutes later, a woman and her young daughter sat across on the other side of the counter. The girl had a horrible, disfigured scar on her face. The woman nearby stared at the girl, and Randy got very uncomfortable and he looked away. He was embarrassed for the young girl to be stared at by this woman. A minute passed, and Randy was becoming more and more awkward until finally, the woman said, "How old are you, young lady?" The girl said, "I'm eight." And the woman said, "My, what beautiful eyes you have." Randy went away sad that he'd been looking at the very same young girl, and he'd missed the opportunity to see those eyes because he'd only seen the scar.
It's funny how people can look at the same thing and see something completely different. It happens all the time. Think about Christmas. A little baby is born in the middle of the night, in a faraway place, in a little stable behind an inn. Some folks looked at that baby boy and saw very different things. King Herod. Herod looked at that little baby lying in the manger, and he saw an enemy. And he did all in his power to destroy him. The people of Bethlehem, big crowd, busy, the inn was full. They just saw another baby. Who cares? Saw nothing, really. A holy moment was right there, and they just completely missed it. They weren't paying attention. Mary and Joseph were elated when they saw the baby Jesus. Astonished, marveled, amazed, wondered at this little child, who and what he was, and wondering what the future might hold. One very simple baby, lots of folks looked at him, and they saw very different things. Same baby, seen by very different sets of eyes.
Well, Jesus was hardly born when his parents took him to the temple. That's today's gospel reading. It was a Jewish ritual. Mary and Joseph were diligent to be sure they were faithful to what God had instructed them to do, so to the temple they went with their new child. Again, on that day, I'm sure that Jesus was seen by dozens, maybe hundreds of people. 99% of them didn't even bat an eye. They just kept on keeping on, until baby Jesus met an old man nearing his death, named Simeon. Simeon has been waiting for years. In fact, Simeon has been waiting for most of his life for this one moment. He's described as righteous, devout, expectant, inspired. Not words you hear too much anymore. The Holy Spirit rested on him. The Holy Spirit had revealed that he wouldn't die until he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Clearly, Simeon had a set of eyes that only a few people had. So in verse 28, you have this moving scene of a man nearing his death, taking the baby just a few days removed from the manger into his arms, and giving praise to God. Simeon saw the very same child that Herod, the crowds, and Mary and Joseph saw, but he saw something entirely different. And it says here in Luke, "My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people. I'm ready to die, Lord. I have seen your blessing."
Simeon looked at the little baby, and he saw salvation. How did he know? How did Simeon see, when everyone else either didn't or couldn't? How did he recognize that this was the holiest moment of all? Maybe it was his attitude. Perhaps he was so saturated through prayer and the Holy Spirit that he had a vision inspired by God. Or maybe it was just his discipline. Having faithfully followed God, preparing each day with prayer and Scripture and fasting and worship, all for this one moment to come. Or maybe it was Simeon's patience. Really, really, really righteous people have a patience that transcends merely being able to sit in a waiting room. Waiting on God, knowing that God always comes, perhaps later than we desire, but He always comes.
Simeon had opted for a life of waiting for the Messiah. Maybe it was his willingness to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. Scripture makes it plain that that's what was governing Simeon's life. He was open to the Holy Spirit. I don't know. All I know is that Simeon could see when others saw nothing out of the ordinary. Simeon saw the very hand of God. The world saw a scar, and Simeon saw beautiful eyes. Look around you. What do you see? Do you just see a relentless flow of responsibilities and tasks to be done, groceries to be bought, a job to be maintained, family members to be attended to, a mortgage to keep up? Or do you see beautiful rolling hills, evergreen trees, flowing streams created by God along with the people He has filled your life with, and holy moments all around you? Do you see nothing, the ordinary, or a hostile world? Or do you see the hand of God at work all around you? Look around you. What do you see? I invite you to meet Simeon, who had the vision of God. He looked into that manger, and he saw Jesus for who he really was: the Messiah of God. Savior of the world. Lover of your soul.
