Simeon the Sentry

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in your sight, O God my strength and my redeemer. Amen.

Do you know what this is? This is a helmet. A Roman helmet. Why have I brought a hemlet to illustrate my sermon. Well this is the kind of helmet a Roman soldier would have worn, and so if Simeon was thinking of a soldier on sentry duty, watching and waiting for the dawn, this is the kind of hat he might have thought of. A soldier on sentry duty, watching and waiting for the dawn.

Simeon, the old Prophet who recognises that Jesus is the Lord’s Messiah, is described as waiting, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, the light of God dawning on Israel oppressed by the Romans – and this is how we know that Simeon was righteous and devout. Simeon had hope of salvation, and faith in God’s promises – he lived a life of faith and hope in God just as we should, and particularly on the hope of the restoration of God’s kingdom which is promised through the advent of Christ.

And Simeon says to God, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant… in peace”. The sentry is now relieved of his duty, and dismissed from his post.

Simeon is like a sentry who has patiently endured the afflictions of this present life, relying on the assurance, and consolation, that just on the horizon, he would see the light of Christ that would reveal the glory of God. We should be like Simeon the sentry, watching and waiting, hoping and praying that the rightful King will return and restore justice and peace to the earth. We “need patience” [Heb. 10:36] till Christ returns in glory.

But if the sight of Christ, while he was still a child, had such a powerful effect on Simeon, so that he approached death with peace; how much more should we find lasting peace, we who have the opportunity to see our salvation completed in Christ’s public ministry, death and resurrection?

True, Christ no longer dwells on earth, nor do we carry him in our arms: but his divine majesty shines openly and brightly in the gospel, and there “we all,” as Paul says, “behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord,” – not in the weakness of flesh, as Simeon did, but in the glorious power of the Spirit, which Christ displayed in his miracles, in the sacrifice of his death, and in his resurrection. And when we draw near with faith to the Holy Table, we feed on Christ in our heart with thanksgiving, a spiritual feeding on Christ that continues throughout our lives. We have even more cause than Simeon to see hopefully and confidently the light of Christ dawning in our hearts; and to look forward, hopefully and expectantly, to that bright light filling all the world on his return. So next time you see a helmet, remember Simeon the sentry, waiting on Christ.

Amen.

The Rev’d Michael Aylmer
St Mary Magdalene Enfield, 01/02/2026