A sermon
preached at Kowloon Union Church on Sunday 28 December 2014 by Paul Cooper. The scripture readings that day were Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Galatians
4:4-7;
Luke 2:22-40.
Our gospel
story today is rooted in the very earliest origins of the people of God. It is
a part of the Passover story that is being re-enacted by Mary and Joseph in the
Temple; part of the fundamental reason for the very existence of the children
of Israel.
Let me
remind you of the story. It all happened many years after the time when Joseph
went into Egypt, and rose to be the governor of the land. The children of
Israel – the Jews – had become numerous, and the Pharaoh of Egypt had become
afraid that they would become too powerful, so he enslaved and oppressed them. God told Moses to ask Pharaoh to
allow the Jews to go free so they could worship Him. And we all know that Pharaoh refused, and the plagues
of Egypt were visited on Egypt until Pharaoh
relented. But Pharaoh would not relent until the final, dreadful plague – the
killing of all the first-born sons.
Only the first-born children of the Israelites were spared, by the sacrifice of
a lamb.
From this
time onward, from the days of the wandering in the wilderness, the Law of Moses
held that all first-born males, both animal and human, belonged to God. Animals
were sacrificed, but humans had to be redeemed or bought back from God by a
sacrifice.
For every
first-born boy, there had to be a sacrifice. The sacrifice prescribed in the
Law of Moses is a lamb; the sacrifice in our gospel of two doves was an
alternative for those who could not afford a lamb. So, in this reading we have
evidence that like a lot of newly wed couples, Mary and Joseph had some
difficulty stretching their budget!
A few
years ago, I read of a theory that Joseph was a bit more than a humble
carpenter – that he was something like a master-builder, or perhaps the better
analogy today would be a building contractor. But here we have evidence that,
at least when Jesus was born, Joseph was not in a big way of business, as he
and Mary had to go for the economy option when presenting Jesus at the Temple.
So far, so
good. As the writer of Hebrews says, Jesus had to share in every aspect of our
humanity, and on its own, the presentation of Jesus at the Temple is a sharing
with all other baby boys of the basics of the faith of the people of God. It is
a celebration of their deep roots; it is a sharing with all that makes them the
children of God. It is worth thinking about for this alone, and if it had not
been in the Gospel, I think we would have assumed that as good Jewish parents,
Mary and Joseph would have taken Jesus to be presented, as it is what the Law
prescribes. But Luke reports events that we recall every time we attend an
evening service. For Mary and Joseph didn't just go into the temple, and do
what was necessary and leave.
I don't
know if we can picture the events, but going to the Temple wasn't like going to
church, where things happen at set times and in set ways. We have the benefit
of good communications and of accurate time-keeping; in those days, the priests
had to be ready whenever the people turned up! So the Temple was always
thronged with people – priests, worshippers, people who simply wished to be
near the Holy of Holies, feeling the presence of God.
We can
imagine Mary and Joseph pushing their way through a crowd to find a priest
whose duty that day was to take care of those presenting firstborn boys. They
would have bought the doves on their way; perhaps they bought them from the
father of one of those whose tables Jesus overturned 30 some years later!
Perhaps
family members like Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist were there too;
perhaps the priest was someone known to them through Zechariah, Elizabeth's husband,
who was a priest. We don't know and can't know. But we do know that there was
no shortage of people to witness and take an interest in the presentation; it
is clear that as well as those coming to the Temple with specific needs, there
were a lot of people who simply “hung out” at the Temple!
Among them
were two elderly people, Simeon and Anna. Obviously both were known to the
Temple hierarchy; perhaps they were a sort of equivalent to our greeters!
Anna has
some standing as a prophetess; perhaps a bit like a Lay Reader or other
Licensed Lay Minister! For being female, and maybe not a member of the priestly
clan, she could not be a priest. But in her widowhood, she had found a niche in
the Temple, working for God's glory.
Simeon we
know less about! Some people wonder if Simeon was the priest to whom Jesus was
presented, but we simply don't know. He isn't named as a prophet, but in this
one instance – perhaps the only time in his life – he was given the prophetic
utterance that we know so well as the Nunc Dimittis, or Song of Simeon.
And it is
in the response of these two holy people that we see God breaking through.
Jesus isn't just another baby, important to his mother and father, who are
doing their best for him and to whom he is the apple of their eyes. Simeon and
Anna give us another view; the view of Jesus' real Father in Heaven.
Simeon's
song tells us all the essentials, “My own eyes have seen the salvation which
you have prepared in the sight of every people; A light to reveal you to the
nations and the glory of your people Israel.” In these few words, Simeon
encapsulates the wonder of God with Us; the amazement that God can break
through into our ordinary lives. And it gives the message that the Messiah is
about salvation and that this salvation is not only for the children of Israel
but for the whole world.
So much
for so few words!.
No wonder
we repeat them in our evening services! And Anna, though her words are not
recorded, goes round excitedly praising God and giving thanks for the child
Jesus. But Simeon knows the darker side as well; he is aware that Jesus will
not come into his glory without pain and opposition, and he foretells this
privately to Mary and Joseph.
I want us
to think about this intrusion of God into an ordinary setting. All of us lead
pretty ordinary lives. We work and play much as people always have; we are set
in the ordinary world. But God comes into our lives as a flash of lightening,
just as the child Jesus came into Simeon and Anna's lives. And the prophet Micah
says “Suddenly the Lord will come into his Temple; the messenger of the
covenant whom you desire will come”
Yes, our
lives are ordinary and often humdrum. Yes, things seem to go on as they always
have and it seems as if they always will. But we must make room for God; room
for Him to intrude into the ordinariness of our lives and to bring life and
light into them. Simeon and Anna are just two ordinary elderly people. They
probably thought that their lives would end without any real change. But God
intrudes; God reveals and God changes things.
And God
showed Simeon and Anna something wonderful; that the child that this poor
family had brought; this child for whom the minimum sacrifice had been made ,
was indeed the one who would change everything.
Are we
ready for God to enter into our own lives? Do we see the wonder of ordinary
things around us? Are we willing to let Him enter into our lives? In this
Christmas season, let us look for God in everything, and let us be ready to be
surprised by Him in the middle of the ordinariness of our lives.
AMEN
# posted by Kowloon Union Church : Sunday, December 28, 2014
