I really wrestled with the sermon today. It is New Year’s Eve day…. an auspicious day in the year where we reflect on these past 365 days, the events, the joys, the sadnesses, the gains, and the losses, and we look to the future and the hope it may bring. And, it is a day in our church calendar where the lectionary reading, if it doesn’t go right into the baptism of the Lord Sunday or Epiphany Sunday, has the post-Christmas stories from the Gospel of Luke. You see, Luke doesn’t have the visit of the Magi that the Gospel of Matthew does, or the frightening story afterwards about Herod slaying the innocents as a way of hopefully getting rid of this Messiah who threatened his power. The infant stories told in Luke are the visit of the Shepherds to see the newborn Jesus, his presentation and circumcision at the temple when he was eight days old, and when the older boy Jesus gets separated from his parents at the temple and is found among the rabbis at the temple talking to them about God’s Law. And this year the text is verses 22-40 from the 2nd chapter of Luke where Jesus is presented in the temple. At first take, it just doesn’t seem like it fits the occasion of today. But, let’s look at the story and hear where the Good News is to be found.
(Listen now for God’s word:
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), 24 and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon;[a] 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.[b] 27 Guided by the Spirit, Simeon[c] 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[d] took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
29 “Master, now you are dismissing your servant[e] 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[f] 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 prophet, Anna[g] 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[h] to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.
The Return to Nazareth
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.
(The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.)
If there was ever a doubt in your mind, Jesus was Jewish and came from a solidly Jewish family who observed Jewish Law and customs, this passage would squelch that doubt. Like all Jewish parents, Mary and Joseph had Jesus circumcised and named at the temple when he was 8 days old. Being their first born child, the law also says they are to offer a sacrifice to the Lord. All this is normal and not the news of the story. And we immediately learn just how poor Mary and Joseph are. It is Jewish custom to present a lamb to the temple, but if you are poor, you may offer two turtledoves which they do. But again, the fact that Mary and Joseph are poor is not exactly news to us either.
And none of this is out of the culture of custom of Jesus’ day. All male infants were presented at the temple at eight days of age and all parents gave offerings that were appropriate for their financial position. What was shocking was the rest of the narrative…. the testimonies presented by the two prophets which were present at the temple at that time.
The first person described is Simeon. He is a devout Jew and it was said that the Holy Spirit rested on him. He was a prophet of his day, who spoke God’s message and believed in a future time for Israel. Although we don’t know his age, he speaks as if he is a man in the later part of his life. He has had a mystical experience where he was told he would see the Messiah, the one who would save Israel in his life time. He says that he is now ready for his death as he has now seen the salvation of the world in the infant Jesus. Most people do not say they are ready for their death unless they have lived good long lives. Simeon seems to fit that description. Also at the temple was an older woman (we are told is 84 years old) who is named Anna. Anna spent all day, each day at the temple fasting and praying…. OK, I’m betting this is a slight exaggeration of the writers of this Gospel, but I get the gist of who she was….a devout and practicing Jew. But what is important in the story is that Anna, like Simeon, immediately recognized in Jesus the person who would redeem Jerusalem. These two bystanders worshipping God at the temple knew…. this was not just any child. This child is exactly for whom they have been praying and waiting. They could go on now, they could retire from their posts at the temple, knowing that the future was at hand. They were given hope for the future for which they prayed.
Simeon and Anna are both described as prophets. Prophets are people who speak truth to power. Prophets are people who, throughout history, have opposed injustice and idolatry and have risked their own security and lives as they point out to people their abuses of power and others. Prophets are not popular with the powers that be. Prophets feel compelled to show the truth to the world….. Simeon and Anna proclaimed that they saw in this baby the hope for the future of their day. The prophesy they proclaimed, from their time of trial of the Israelites, where they lived in an military occupied time where they were heavily taxed and mistreated, was one of hope. This baby, brought in to be presented to the temple at eight days old was, for them, the hope and the future of their people. What a statement they make!
So where does this leave us on December 31st, 2017 as we wrap up what has been an exhausting year for many of us, a challenging year for others of us, and a year where we have worried and fretted about warfare, about environmental concerns, about human rights for people of color, for GLBTQ people, and for women. People have told me they no longer watch the news because it is so depressing, or it just weights them down too much, or it angers them and is too unsettling to hear. And, I understand. We do not live in a perfect age. In fact it is far from it.
And as we look at these concerns threatening us, and at times even beating us down we also must look at the prophets in our midst. We have our Simeons and Annas who have been on top of what is ill in our world and are working to save it. We have the women of the ‘#Me Too’ movement who risked their careers to speak truth about work place harassment and sexual misconduct. We have the scientists who will not be silent about global warming. Who will speak out when data and facts are in opposition to popular opinions? We have the churches who stood up for undocumented immigrants saying that they would offer them help and sanctuary. There are people fighting for racial equality and the safety of our young men of color in the ‘Black Lives Matter Movement’ and others risking their careers taking a knee on playing fields in solidarity of those who face prejudice and are persecuted because of the color of their skin. Interfaith groups have sprung up because of prejudice against Muslims and we refuse to go back to laws and work environments which favored straight people over people who identify as GLBTQ.
Yes…. 2017, might have been a year of anxiety over a mood of growing prejudice, non-acceptance, and a fear of sliding backwards in human rights and preservation of the world’s climate but it was also a year of strong opinions voiced in opposition, of new voices and new generations coming forward wanting their opinions heard loud and clear. Simeons and Annas were born anew.
And their message today is just as it was that day at the temple when Jesus was presented. These Simeons and Annas springing up in our day are telling us there is hope. And the hope for us is the same as it was for the people over 2000 years ago. We find our hope in our faith and the ethic of love that Jesus came to share. The hope and the knowledge that we have is that in the end Love Prevails. I, for one, am looking with hope at our new year. You see, I look out at all of you and know that you and you and you are the hope for our future. We live out an ethic of love. We will not allow that ethic, that standard, to fall. We hear in this church and others like us all around the world know that God loves us and loves our neighbor, our planet, everything in God’s creation and it is called good. Our message at church is a message of hope for the futures as well as a message of action that we are called to be the prophets of today bringing God’s realm to earth. The message of the church is not to sit comfortably in your seat or to cloister yourself within the love felt within our walls. We are to build ourselves up so that we can challenge societal norms that are in conflict with the ethic of our Lord. Jesus gives us hope that we can indeed change what is wrong in our world. God giving us hope is God making each of us a powerful change agent! We should actually be feared as powerful prophets of our time!
Author Annie Dillard is quoted as saying, “On the whole, I do not find Christians, outside of the catacombs, sufficiently sensible of conditions. Does anyone have the foggiest idea what sort of power we blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with chemistry sets, mixing a batch of TNT. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us in our pews. For the sleeping god may wake us someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out where we can never return.”
We have hope in 2018, and that hope calls us into acting out our faith as earth-keepers, as people who fight for justice and equality, and who wish to see the good and possibility in all people and things. We are Simeon and Anna, who look at Jesus and have hope.
…….So….. Put on your crash helmets and welcome in 2018. And let’s pray and hope for all of God’s creation as we pray and work for God’s realm to come to earth. Amen.
