Cherie Marckx

FCC Ukiah

1 January 2012 / New Year’s Day

 

Luke 2:22-40

 

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 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord"), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, "a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons."

 

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. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,

 

"Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,

   according to your word;

for my eyes have seen your salvation,

   which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,

a light for revelation to the Gentiles

   and for glory to your people Israel."

 

And the child's father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. 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 so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed — and a sword will pierce your own soul too."

 

There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband for seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

 

When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

 

“HOLY TO THE LORD”  (recognized and dedicated)

 

            We are now in Cycle B of the lectionary readings and will spend most of this year in Mark’s gospel, but because the cycle changes at the start of the Advent/Christmas season we rarely enter right into that year’s gospel and seem to spend most of the season in Isaiah or Luke.  Today is no exception.  Next week we’ll start in with Mark, but today we are still in the infancy stories and so we are reading one more time from Luke, the gospel with the most extensive writing on Jesus’ birth and early years.

            Luke was a disciple and fellow-traveler with Paul on his journeys through Asia Minor, we know that for certain, and was probably the only one of the brothers with Paul when he was executed in Rome.  As far as his gospel account goes, he admits himself that he did not see these things in the flesh but gathered all the information he could from eye-witnesses still among the living.  Since he wrote so extensively of the birth and childhood years of Jesus, church tradition has long suggested that he got much of his material from Jesus’ mother, Mary, herself, but this is only tradition, not verifiable fact.

            Luke was most likely a Gentile – Luke is a Greek name – but like all the gospel writers, it was very important to him to show that Jesus was the fulfillment of Jewish traditions, Jewish prophecies.  If Jesus is to be accepted by the Jewish people, he must be shown as a righteous Jew from the very beginning.  And so, today’s story.  By bringing their child to be dedicated at the temple, Mary and Joseph were fulfilling Jewish law for the birth of a first-born son.  As Kathryn Huey, a UCC pastor says, “The shepherds, the angels and the heavenly hosts are all gone now, and Joseph and Mary have a baby to raise.”  So they are here today to do the next thing in an ordinary life of a Jewish male child.

            And just as I often stand at the communion table and remind us that everything that happened at the Last Supper was fully within normal Jewish practice, until it suddenly took a left turn and became something utterly new – so it is here in the Temple in our reading for today.  There were probably other couples there that day doing the exact same thing that Mary and Joseph were there to do.  But here again, it all takes a left turn and becomes something new – something not a normal part of this occasion.

            And all because of a old man named Simeon.  At some point in his life, Simeon had been told that he would see the messiah with his own eyes – that meant that the Messiah was coming very soon – within his human life-span.  You can imagine how he waited, how he looked around himself every time he was in a crowd – how he lived in constant expectation!  But he was an old man now and time was running out.  I wonder if he ever doubted the prophecy?

            And now the moment has arrived – the moment he waited for and believed on all his life.  And Simeon is given the grace to see – to see, not just another baby, looking much like all other babies – but to see what is right in front of him.  And what he sees – what he recognizes – is the salvation of the world, the long-awaited salvation of his people.  Having seen, having recognized, he speaks words that have stayed with us down through the ages:  “Lord, now let your servant depart in peace.”

            Luke often uses "sight" in his Gospel as a metaphor for recognizing and understanding the Word of God.  Several of the stories in Luke’s gospel are about people being healed of their blindness.  It has long been understood that when the adult Jesus speaks of regaining our sight, he isn’t talking just about seeing with our physical eyes.  All Simeon saw with his physical eyes was a baby.  The vision of his Spirit saw so much more.  It saw God’s own self – loving creation so much that it was willing to become part of it – one of us – to save us from being lost along the way – to try to get us to open our eyes and really see all that God has given us.

            Simeon had to wait for the birth of Christ before he could see God in this world.  But we are assured that, through Jesus’ life and death, and our adoption as children of God, God now lives and dwells among us – all around us – right next to us – even within us.  We don’t have to wait.  Our Savior is here - right now.  So the question is: have we seen him lately?

            Simeon saw Jesus because he was looking for him.  He expected to see him, and so he did.  He believed the prophecy given to him.

            Do we expect to see Jesus when we look around us?  Do we believe what we are told about God actually being in us and with us?  We say we are all children of God and that God is in each of us.  Another question is: do we believe it?

            What would it look like if we really went through our days expecting to see God around each corner?  What would this church be like if we truly believed that God was present in every soul we meet?  How would your life – how would my life – be different if we went through our days looking for God all around us?  Remember, Simeon, as far as we know, did not just sit at home and wait for the Messiah to pop up in front of him there.  He went to the Temple everyday expecting that today would be the day he’d see the Chosen One, the Promised One.  He looked for the promise that was given to him.  He looked. And he kept on looking.  And he believed that he would see.  And because he looked, when the infant Jesus was brought before him, he saw – he saw him and he recognized that which he had sought all his life.

            How would our lives be changed if this year we go about our everyday lives expecting to see God?  If wherever we go, we go looking for the divine?

            Our God is not a distant God.  God lives right here among us because God loves us so much he wants to be one with us.  We don’t have to wait – we don’t have to search.  I have a feeling that if we truly believed what we claim – if we allow ourselves to recognize what we see – we should be falling on our knees in awe on a regular basis – stunned at the glory all around us.

            How would your life change if you open the eyes of your heart and actually see Jesus everywhere, right there in front of you?  That sounds like a New Year’s resolution to me.

            May God bless us all with vision to see this world as God sees it – as God see us – with love and hope.

Amen.