Christmas, preached Dec 29, 2024 at the 930am Sunday worship
Prayer for Illumination
Scripture Luke 2:25-40
25 Now, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.[f] 27 Guided by the Spirit, Simeon[g] came into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what was customary under the law, 28 Simeon[h] took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
29 “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word,
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.”
33 And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed 35 so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul, too.”
36 There was also a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 At that moment she came and began to praise God and to speak about the child[i] to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
39 When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40 The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.
This too is the word of God for the people of God… (Thanks be to God)
Sermon Simeon and Anna
I’m trying to imagine that day. Mary had to be reeling still. She just had a baby. Just six or seven weeks ago, she found herself plopped down on some hay in the garage out back of a suburban motel, and she had a baby. It’s one thing to imagine an angel telling you, you’re going to have a baby. It’s another to actually begin growing in your midsection. It’s another when the contractions hit and the baby is born, and lets out that first screaming gasp of air. That’s what happened, just a bit ago. Mary has to be reeling.
And Joseph… good grief. They’re not married yet. No honeymoon. But there’s Mary, pregnant with someone else’s baby, and off they go. He goes ahead with his intent to marry her, and prepares himself to parent the child that isn’t his, but supposedly God’s. The child is born, and the questions had to have formed in his head… doubts, little thoughts of jealousy, or anger, or resentment.
Then, people start showing up… complete strangers… shepherds from the fields on the nearby hills, kings from lands hundreds of miles beyond those hills, maybe some well-to-do folk from the regions political or religious structures, and maybe some homeless, or lame, or beggars. They just keep coming, more and more every day, all coming to visit the child.
They notice Mary, and they nod to Joseph, but they were clearly here to see the child. For the first time, maybe, Joseph realizes, he’s not the only one who doesn’t understand what is happening. It’s not him alone being taken on some insane adventure invented by his fiancee. He and Mary are in this confusion together. Mary is just as lost as he is, and from the looks of it, but the community, their country, the whole world are beginning to feel thae jolt from this child born in a manger under a star in Bethlehem.
At times like this, the brain gets overloaded. Things seem to happen so fast that they go into slow motion. We can become almost unable to do anything… you know, you just watch your life flying by for a bit, with that dazed, glazed look in your eyes… I imagine that’s where Mary and Joseph were. When confusion or change is blurring our vision of ourselves and the world that much, good meaning folk pause, go into auto pilot, and hope their traditions, habits, routines will guide them through the storm. As long as they are good traditions, good habits, its not a bad plan.
Joseph and Mary were devout Jews, so they steer themselves through the habits of their tradition. On the eighth day, the boy is circumcised and named… nothing trendy, but something ancient… YaShuAh… Yahweh is Salvation, basically the same as Joshua, but today, we know his name as Jesus.
Luke makes sure we know they did everything required by the Law. Mary probably settled into the cycle that Jesus would need. She took good care of his belly button, and his circumcision. She kept him fed, clean, dry, and well rested. She set up the nursery and made herself a sling to carry him in when she went down for water, or as she prepared meals. Joseph probably got back to work, maybe visited a few places to see if they needed any jobs done. Or, maybe he took their last bit of savings to buy some good wood to carve into a crib, and a rocking chair. Either way, in those short weeks after the birth, after the naming, they began making a home, the family from which Jesus would first experience the world. Joseph and Mary survived this change by the grace of God, and by leaning on their traditions.
Another part of the tradition is Mary’s purification. Having given birth to a male child, she was, according to Leviticus 12, unclean for 33 days. According to the Law, she needed to go through purification. They also needed to make an offering at the Temple for the firstborn son, according to Numbers 18, an offering of a lamb and a bird, or if you are poor, two birds. Joseph and Mary go to the Temple, purify Mary, and make an offering of two birds.
The offering of the first born to God had the option to pay to reclaim their child from God for only 5 shekels or so. There is no mention of this detail of the law in Luke, but it was not a mistake of Luke’s, not an oversight. Not only could they not afford a lamb, they couldn’t afford this payment. I like to think that even if they could have afforded it, they knew enough to leave this child for God. And, I like to think they imagined their final payment would be far greater than offering a lamb or 5 shekels.
Back in Nazareth, they were almost getting used to it, strangers coming up to them, to see the baby. But here in Jerusalem, they were surprised by who came to them, or what they would say about the child. When an old man ran up to them and took Jesus from Mary, and started dancing and talking… it was startling. Then, maybe, a woman put her hand on Mary’s shoulder and explained, this is Simeon, a sage, a devout Jew, the grandfather of grandfathers of Jerusalem, who had always spoken of the future with confidence, but also with longing and hunger. This is the happiest she’s ever seen Simeon, as he lifts Jesus into the air and almost sings that his wait is finally over. ‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace… for my eyes have seen your salvation… a light to the Gentiles… and glory to your people Israel.’
Simeon hands the child back to Mary, with a tear and a smile, then looks Jospeh and Mary in the eye, and adds, “This child is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel,” and he warned them that “a sword will pierce your own soul too.” However Mary understood this warning… literally, or just as a symbol of what might happen… makes no difference. This moment was yet another to add to her motherly worry about this child given her by God.
Then the grandmother of grandmothers of Jerusalem, Anna, comes to them as well. She too was a faithful Jew, worshipping and fasting and praying night and day at the temple. She praises God and speaks about the child as the one to whom “all are looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”
Both Simeon and Anna are much older, and are honored as rich sources of wisdom, hope, and honesty. They aren’t the religious professionals, and they love their traditions, but in Jesus they see something bigger than religion or tradition, something for them and for all the world. That’s what church needs today, Simeons and Annas, who don’t worship religion or bible or temple, but put all their hope and trust in Jesus as the way, truth, and life.
Mary and Joseph find themselves flabbergasted at what was being said about Jesus. The task of raising this child, whom all of Israel, all the world is counting on, who is believed to be the Son of God, who was just proclaimed to be salvation for Gentiles and Jews, that must have been overwhelming. They probably looked at each other and thought, “This is too much for us.” It’s a similar thought to what every faithful disciple has on a regular basis. Why me, Lord? How can I do this for you, Lord? Isn’t there some other way, Lord?
But I imagine the same God who led them every step so far, gave them a little nudge, and they breathed a good deep sigh, and took another step, while they heard echoes of a promise that “I will be with you, even until the close of the age.”
To God be all glory and honor, now and forever more, amen? Amen.
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