SERMON - January 1, 2012
Rev. Kevin E. Johnston
"The TIme Came"
Luke 2:22-40
A reading from Luke's account of Jesus' life:
When the days stipulated by Moses for purification were complete, the time came for Mary and Joseph to take their newborn child to Jerusalem to offer him to God as commanded in the Law: "Every male who opens the womb shall be a holy offering to God," and also to sacrifice an offering of the poor – a "pair of doves or two young pigeons" prescribed in the Torah.
In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel. And the Spirit was on him. The Spirit had shown him that he would see the Anointed One of God before he died. Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. As the parents of the child, Jesus, brought him in to carry out the rituals of the Law, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God, saying:
God, you can now release your servant; release me in peace as you promised. For with my own eyes I've seen your salvation; it's now out in the open for everyone to see: a God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations, and of glory for your people Israel.
The child's father and mother were speechless with surprise at these words. Simeon went on to bless them, and said to Mary his mother,
This child marks both the failure and the recovery of many in Israel, a figure misunderstood and contradicted - the pain of a sword-thrust through you - but the rejection will force honesty, as God reveals who they really are.
Anna the prophetess was also there, a daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher. She was by now a very old woman. She had been married seven years and was now eighty-four. She never left the Temple area, worshiping night and day with her fastings and prayers.
At the very time Simeon was praying, she showed up, broke into an anthem of praise to God, and talked about the child to all who were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem.
When the family finished everything required by the Law, they returned to Galilee and their own town, Nazareth. There the child grew strong in body and wise in spirit. And the grace of God was on him.
Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church
May it be so.
The Message
"The time came….", the writer notes.
Within the religious culture and tradition in which Jesus was born and raised, there were three particular ceremonies that every Jewish family had to undergo in order for a newborn male child to establish a Jewish identity.
There was the ritual of circumcision that took place eight days after birth. According to Jewish faith, circumcision is a rite symbolizing God has graciously received the new child into the covenantal community. It was also a public statement on the part of the baby's parents, that they would faithfully raise him within that covenant.
It was also the naming day. When Mary and Joseph were asked, "How shall this child be named? What shall he be called?", they replied, "Jesus". He was given a common name, much like our John, or Megan, or Cameron, or Emma would be today. They gave their son an ordinary name well-known among their friends and community. He was a regular, everyday, run-of-the-mill child, who experienced the usual religious ritual that all male babies of his culture underwent.
Second, was the Redemption of the First-born. According to Jewish law, every firstborn male – whether human or animal – was sacred to God, and for the sum of five shekels – equivalent to approximately $1.35 Canadian – parents could "buy back" their son from God. The money went to the priests, and this could not take place before the child was thirty-one days old. It was also known as the dedication of the first-born male. In our minds, he wasn't worth very much. In ancient Israel, it was a lot.
For forty days after giving birth to a male child, his mother would take part in the third rite the purification. For female children, mom had to wait eighty days in order to be purified. She could go about her household and daily business, but not enter the Temple or take part in any religious ceremonies. The child's mother, having given birth to a male child, was required by religious law to take a lamb as a thanksgiving sacrifice offering, and a turtledove, or pigeon. This was a rather expensive sacrifice, so provisions were made for "the offering of the poor", in which two pigeons – in lieu of a lamb and the pigeon – were offered as sacrifice. It was this offering of the poor Luke's writer tells us Mary brought to the Temple.
So we can derive that he was born into an ordinary home – where there were no luxuries, where every penny had to be looked at twice, where the members of the family knew all bout the difficulties of making a living and the haunting insecurity of life. Perhaps his family-of-origin, then, was not that unlike that of many in our world – our country – even our city. Perhaps it was like yours. Have you ever wondered about that? And according to the storyteller, "the time came" for this third ritual to take place.
A new life – a new beginning – a new reality for a new reality. "The time came".
As the family made their way into the Temple to experience one of their usual religious traditions, there were two rather ordinary people who noticed their presence. In particular, it was the child who got their attention. There was something about this little person that drew the two seeming-old folks to him.
One of them, Simeon we are told, was "a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel.". We don't know if Simeon was a priest, was chair of to board, or even sat on one of the congregation's committees or ministry groups. Maybe he was just another "regular Joe" in the pew. Whether he was poor, or was financially well-off, we're not told. Perhaps it wasn't important for the storyteller. Perhaps it's not important to anyone for that matter – not even God.
We've seen before how the biblical writers often, if not frequently, told their stories in metaphor. And I wonder if Simeon perhaps symbolized the diehards – the established – the influential – "how it had always been" within and for the community – and had been looking, waiting, for something or someone perhaps new to come into their midst and rejuvenate, perhaps even bring transformation to them? Could "Israel" be a metaphor for all of God's people? Is it possible that "the time came" for the people of God to begin a new chapter in their lives, have the opportunity to make a fresh start on their journey?
Ken read that "the … Spirit was on" Simeon, and "had shown him that he would see the Anointed One of God before he died" . Here, Simeon had discovered a new "light…to reveal" in this baby. And as he "took the child in his arms", he realized that what he had been waiting – hoping – looking – for was here now. Looking into the face of the young, new life, Simeon exclaimed, "This child marks both the failure and the recovery of many in Israel, a figure misunderstood and contradicted— the pain of a sword-thrust through you— but the rejection will force honesty, as God reveals who they really are." This new life would no longer keep the status quo, but invite and challenge those around – sometimes prompting division, and sometimes change and revolution.
The other person named here was a woman identified as Anna. "She had been married seven years and was now eighty-four." Whether she was widowed after only seven years, or whether she married later in life – at the age of seventy seven – we're not told.
Maybe Anna was a prophetess. Maybe she was chair of the board or the worship committee. Maybe she was married to the priest. Or, maybe she was just a regular, "ordinary Jill in the pew" who, along with Simeon, had been praying, hoping, looking for new life for herself and her community. Perhaps it wasn't important for the writer and his, or her community to know more. Perhaps it's not really important for us to know Anna's complete life-situation and story. All that we are told is "She never left the Temple area, worshiping night and day with her fastings and prayers."
Whoever this "Anna" was, she, too, recognized something special and unique and life-giving within this child brought to the Temple that day. Whatever it was she said, we have no idea. All we know is that "broke into an anthem of praise to God, and talked about the child to all whom were waiting expectantly for the freeing of Jerusalem." Again, metaphorically speaking, Jerusalem is often how the biblical writers and storytellers named the place where the peoples' center of faith was based. I wonder if the "Jerusalem" that "all…were waiting for" was their center of faith, and not-so-much a physical city? Could it perhaps be where our – where your – where my – center of faith is too?
What do you dream? What do you hope for? Is it for yourself and your loved ones? Or is it for our faith community? What it is that we yearn and pray for – that we seek and desire for us and our community, perhaps even our world.
Is it at all conceivable that "the story" is ours as well?
It seems that "the time came" for both Simeon and Anna as well. Having "seen your salvation…now out in the open for everyone to see: a God-revealing light to
the non-Jewish nations, and of glory for your people Israel", Simeon was ready to take the next step in his journey, to be released "in peace" is how the storyteller puts it. Anna, too, appears to finally be able to move on, after eighty-four years. Both Anna and Simeon had been looking, praying, hoping, seeking, and waiting for new. And that "new", that "salvation", that "light" they discovered in a little child – an ordinary child, born to a family who just happened to be "there" that day – just because "the time came".
And I'm wondering this morning … has "the time" come for us as the United Church in Medicine Hat? What have you, or I, or we been dreaming of, waiting, hoping, yearning, praying, and looking for, in order that we and this community might find new and transforming and life-giving? Is, perhaps "the child" right here in our midst – the Christ within each of us who has been born again and anew – just waiting for you or me or us to take that One in our arms, to see through and with new eyes, and rest in the assurance that all will indeed be well – even if some destruction as well as salvation comes, even if many people will speak against whatever that might be?
Is it possible that the people within it are not individuals, but are all parts of us? Are we the child, his parents, Simeon, and Anna? I wonder if "the time came" now – for us – to not only bring our "child" – ourselves – to be blessed and circumcised, dedicated or "purified" – whatever that might mean? I wonder if perhaps there's something or someone we've been seeking, praying, hoping, and waiting for, that is here now? And if this has come to reality in our here and now – even if that "child" – that new life – who has come to us once again, might bring division and salvation, "which many people will speak against" and even "break your own heart", are we able, or willing, to allow ourselves also give thanks to God as did Anna and Simeon?
We're told that "the child grew strong in body and wise in spirit. And the grace of God was on him." Could this be said about our "child" – that we too might also have the same remembered about us?
Perhaps you've heard at least one of these quips:
"Change is… Life refuses to be embalmed alive"
"The main thing in life is not to be afraid to be human"
"We have a technical name for people who do not change: dead"
Remember some of the stories about our faith ancestors, like:
God's call to Abraham and Sarah. "Leave your native land, your relatives, and your father's home and go to the country that I am going to show you"...
Moses and the Hebrew people called to leave Egypt and journey to the promised land of Canaan...
Jacob's wrestling with God who gave him a new name and self-understanding.
Jacob the 'deceiver' becomes 'Israel': 'he who struggles with God'...
Israel's 50-year exile in Babylon before returning to Jerusalem...
The call of the disciples Simon, Andrew, James and John who left their nets and followed Jesus...
Saul's Damascus road experience that gave him a new name and self-understanding...
Peter's vision at Joppa that changed his attitude to the Gentiles, and opened the way for their inclusion into early Christianities...
The God whom we say 'calls people' - calls us - to change, to be in new and different places, and to live in perpetual, turbulent, white-water conditions...also calls us to be alert and responsive, as we seek to share in the reconstruction of the church as an environment friendly to the imagination...Especially in times like these, and at the beginning of another year.
Some said there had been too much rain,
and the roof, long cracked after years of stress
gave way from water seeping in.
Others
said what fell from the heavens had nothing to do with it,
that
the church walls had pushed out toward the street
so that the
massive stained glass window of the Almighty Father
had fallen in
and left a hole,
a silhouette of the icon that used to command the
whole church from high above the nave.
Services now were held under the God-shaped hole:
prayers said, hymns sung,
infants baptised, sermons preached,
offerings made, communion
celebrated, couples wed, the dead remembered.
Meanwhile
reconstruction began,but it turned out harder than planned.
Some
folks had taken home bits of the original window
as a piece of
devotional or historical curiosity,
and when it was discovered
there was not enough left to restore the original ancient
grandeur.
Debates erupted if they should even try to recreate what
was lost.
Some
said they should begin and finish the project as quickly as
possible,
because people were not coming as they used to since the
window had collapsed.
Others pointed out new people were entering
the church, curious about the place
in a way they never were
before.
And these newcomers joined with
those who had always been scared
by
the window's fierce eyes to suggest they
replace the old image with a new one.
The differences about what to do broke into
conflict
so that for now the construction was nearly
halted,
though some workers tried to assemble the roof in bits and
pieces.
But
without an overall plan nothing would stay put.
Even the stars
from another section that surrounded the hole began to fall from the
ceiling
so that another group of folk arose suggesting they take
down the entire edifice
and
start all over anew - except that the
most devout could not bear to lose this or that pulpit,
or
rail where they had prayed so long,
and the carpet worn so thin by the knees of many generations.
So for the time being, all that was done
was
to rope off the area beneath the God-shaped hole,
to
make sure no one was hit by a piece of
falling glass that would fall from time to time
from a cracked
angel or star,
and to pray that people would keep coming while the
church continued to be,
as
the sign alerting those who entered said:
Under Reconstruction.
It's a new life and reality "that energised people in previous times and places…a new year and imagination, revealing possibilities within us, far greater than our local, conventional experiences allow…a vision that can energise this people - today."
I wonder – if five, ten, perhaps a thousand years down the road when folk look back on our lives and Fifth Avenue Memorial United Church, Medicine Hat, it might be said about us, "the time came"? Perhaps we'll never know. Then again, perhaps we will. In the end, perhaps it's up to us to accept, live into, and out of, that invitation.
Amen.
And may it be so.
Resources
borrowed and/or adapted from:
www.rexaehuntprogressive.com/sermon_collection/year_b_sermon_collection/
year_b_sermons_christmasepi/reconstructxmas1b112012.html