THIS WEEK’S GOSPEL: Luke 2: 22-40 (MESSAGE)
Then when the days stipulated by Moses
for purification were complete, they took him up to Jerusalem to offer him to
God as commanded in God's Law: "Every male who opens the womb shall be a
holy offering to God," and also to sacrifice the "pair of doves or
two young pigeons" prescribed in God's Law.
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 Holy Spirit was on him. The Holy Spirit had shown him
that he would see the Messiah 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:
Jesus' 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 a widow for 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 they finished everything required
by God in 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.
Imagine spending your whole life waiting for something. Imagine waiting for something you can only
describe as “I’ll know it when I see it.”
Imagine the years of waiting and wondering if while you were asleep or
out getting coffee or running errands that you missed IT – whatever it is. Imagine investing your entire life in a
single pursuit.
Now imagine all that time, all that energy, all that
focus and seeing it come to fruition.
What would it feel like to have all your hopes and dreams become real in
a single moment? What would you do? How would you acknowledge the moment? Would you be elated? Would you feel like your life was
complete? Would you be satisfied?
Today we hear that Anna and Simeon have spent their
lives waiting and watching, praying and fasting. They have spent their lives focused on God
and God’s Messiah, honing their spiritual lives through service and prayer. They have spent their lives in service to
others all while anticipating and living into God’s faithfulness.
Then Mary, Joseph and Jesus arrive in the Temple. They arrive eight days after Jesus’ birth for
the bris (ritual circumcision) that begins by people greeting the baby by
saying "Baruch HaBa," which means "Blessed be he who comes"
in Hebrew. Later, they return to the
temple for the ritual sacrifice and consecrate Jesus.
After all that waiting and watching, praying and
fasting, with the presentation of Jesus in the Temple, Simeon and Anna
experience lives that are both complete and satisfied. They acknowledge that their work is done and that
they can die in peace knowing that God is faithful. What commitment they had!
What about us? Are
we capable and do we enjoy that level of commitment in our lives? Will we, no matter the circumstances or
interruptions, remain committed to anything?
Does that commitment extend to our God, to our religious lives and to
our Church community? If we were that committed to God, imagine what we would
see and experience.
Join us on New Year’s Day, January 1 at 10:00am in
Christ Church for a service with hymns, prayers, reflection and Holy Communion.
Together we will think about what it means to make a commitment and will have a
time to re-commit to God, to one another, to Church as well as to health, to happiness
and to hope for the future. What a great way to begin a brand new year!
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