Sunday School at 9 am | worship at 10 am

Worth the Wait

In the 1960s, psychologist Walter Mischel conducted a famous experiment that has come to be known as “The Marshmallow Test.” Groups of 4-year-olds were given one marshmallow each and told that if they waited 20 minutes before eating it, they would receive another. If they ate it without waiting, they would not get any more marshmallows.

Some kids could wait and others could not. The researchers then followed the progress of each child into adolescence and demonstrated that those with the ability to wait were better adjusted and more dependable (as determined by surveys of their parents and teachers), and scored an average of 210 points higher on their SATs.

Most of us are not great at waiting for things. We get cranky when we have to wait in line at the store or at a traffic light, which means we’re cranky a lot. Waiting is stressful. We all have things we want so badly we can hardly stand it—things like healthy relationships, the end of pain and suffering, things getting back to normal—whatever that is for you. The waiting seems like torture. And the question we all ask is not, “Have I gotten everything I’m waiting for,” but “What kind of person am I becoming while I wait?”

This week we’re going to skip over the Song of the Angels and go to Simeon’s Song. I want to save the Angels’ Song for the weekend before Christmas. So you’ll just have to wait.

Simeon’s Song is about waiting. Luke tells us that Simeon was “righteous and devout.” He also tells us that the Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that “he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (c.f. Luke 2:26). So what was Simeon doing with his life in the meantime? He was waiting. "He was waiting for the hope of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him." He didn't lead a movement. He didn't form a community, didn't build a resume, and didn't accomplish a bunch of great things. He watched. He prayed. He was doing something awesome that even he may not have understood. He was keeping hope alive.

Now we don't know how many years or decades Simeon waited. What if he had given up on his hope? What if he had just decided, “It's not worth waiting for, it's never going to happen, and I'm making a fool out of myself?” He would have missed the moment for which he was created. But he didn't give up. He just kept waiting until one day Mary and Joseph are coming out of the temple with a baby, and he asked to see the child. Simeon took Jesus in his arms, and he knew. We are not told how he knew, but he knew, and then Luke tells us he blessed God and said,

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”

Simeon has been rewarded for waiting. For just a moment he holds the Christ child in his arms and gazes upon his face. He waited so many years for this moment. In this life we wait. Don’t lose patience. Don’t give up. Don’t abandon hope. Keep waiting and watching. It will be worth it. You’ll see.