12/26/04

What a Babe !

Isaiah 61:10 - 62:3
Galatians 4:4-7
Luke 2:22-40

Is it just me, or does it seem to you that each Christmas gets more and more hectic? A lot of people I spoke to in recent weeks and days seemed quite frazzled as Christmas Day got closer. Take my brother out here…last year he was wrapping his gifts as he distributed them to each of us on Christmas day! And it was that same Christmas morning that the septic system backed up at my sister’s house just before we all arrived. Christmas can strain our temperaments in many different ways.

There’s the story of the eight-year-old little girl who had a very disappointing Christmas. She didn’t get the one thing she really wanted, and then she got into a nasty fight with her older brother, and then her mother blamed her for starting it—and then, she took her anger out on the cat! She was, you’ll not be surprised, sent to her room for the night quite a bit earlier than usual. Later her father tiptoed in, just as she was saying the Lord’s Prayer—as she usually did—and he heard her say, “…and forgive us our Christmases, as we forgive those who Christmas against us.”

I hope none of this describes your Christmas and that your day yesterday was filled with only good things.

Now to our Bible story. Most of us stop counting the days after Christmas when we get to the twelfth day—Epiphany; but not Mary, Jesus’ mom. She was a good Jewish mother, and she kept counting up to the fortieth day after Jesus was born. For according to Jewish law—that is, the Law of Moses laid out in the Book of Leviticus—that was how many days she had to be set apart from everyone else, because she had given birth. It had to do with blood—the substance of life that is often present when a child is born. There were lots of taboos surrounding it, and one of them was that after 40 days a new mother needed to go through the ritual called “blood purification” at the Temple. This was so that she could reenter the life of her community and her synagogue. It seems odd to us, but that was Jewish religious tradition.

So on that day at the Temple where we pick up our gospel reading this morning, Mary and Joseph, carrying the Baby Jesus, had brought their ritual sacrifice with them—two turtledoves. Two turtledoves were acceptable if you couldn’t afford to buy and bring a lamb. But…before they could present their firstborn to the Lord, Mary needed to be purified.

We do not know whether they walked or rode to the Temple, or where they bought the birds, but we do know that Mary and Joseph were poor, because there was no lamb involved—unless you count what Mary carried in her arms. Maybe that’s what old Simeon saw when the young couple entered the Temple adjusting their eyes to the dim light. He saw the Lamb of God in a little child.

So who was this Simeon? Stopping off at the Temple that day had not been on Simeon’s list of things to do, unlike it was for Mary and Joseph. But the Spirit of God had suddenly tapped him on the shoulder. Now maybe it was something that happened to Simeon all the time; maybe it was the first time, but he could not ignore the tap, because the Holy Spirit promised Simeon this time that he would not die before he got a good look at God’s Chosen One. And since Simeon was a devout man, he was pretty used to following God’s lead—this time right in through the Temple arches.

Even though the scripture doesn’t say that Simeon was necessarily an old man, we do picture him that way, shuffling up to Mary and Joseph as they arrived and holding out his skinny arms asking if he can hold the baby. Mary must have decided it was OK, because she let him take Jesus. Then, as old Simeon snuggled the warm bundle in his arms, he said the beautiful words we now call the Nunc Dimittis, which is Latin for the first two words of “Now you are dismissing your servant.” Remember that the Holy Spirit had told Simeon he wouldn’t die—or be dismissed from life—until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah? Obviously, Simeon saw something. Here’s what he said, addressing God as he gazed at the Baby, “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” (Luke 2:29-32).

Mary and Joseph were very moved by what he was saying, but they also found it a surprising revelation about their son. Maybe they should have gotten used to this by now, because since the moment Jesus was born, a constant stream of perfect strangers had been showing up on their doorstep to tell them who their Baby was! But verse 33 says they were “amazed” by what Simeon said. Nevertheless, whether or not the old man could see three feet in front of him, he could read the Child in his arms, and this Baby had God written all over him. This One was going to light up the world!

As he handed the Baby back to his parents, Simeon knew that his wait was over. Death would not be far off, now. The Holy Spirit had kept its promise. Simeon was “dismissed,” but he was dismissed blissfully happy and in a state of perfect peace with God.

However…as he was blessing the little family, Simeon had reluctantly revealed the rest of the truth to them—that Jesus’ bright light would cast deep shadows, and many people would oppose Jesus even as he worked to bring people closer to God. Eventually these people who opposed him would do their best to get rid of Jesus. Foreseeing Jesus’ death, Simeon regretfully tells Mary and Joseph in verse 35, “--and a sword will pierce your own soul, too.”

While Mary was reeling from that, she heard someone else over in the corner saying something about their son. It was a woman this time, praising God for this precious Baby Boy. It was old Anna, called a prophet because she pretty much lived in the Temple, praying and fasting ‘round the clock. We don’t know if she had overheard Simeon, but here she was, telling anyone who would listen, that God was right there that day in that Baby!

It was a day to remember for Mary, for Joseph, for Simeon, for Anna—and for us. None of it would have happened if it wasn’t for the coming together of Law of Moses, the Holy Spirit, the Temple, and the community of faith. In other words, What if Simeon had decided to stay home and write in his journal that day? What if Mary and Joseph had decided to postpone the presentation until the aunts and uncles could make it down from Galilee? What if Anna had finally gotten cranky that no one ever listened to her prophecies and had stomped out of the Temple in a sulk? God would have had a much harder time arranging a revelation, that’s what!

Because, you see, revelation requires people who are not only looking for God, but people who come together looking for God—just as Mary, Joseph, Simeon, and Anna did that day.

Part of the continuing life of this Bible story in our lives is that it tells us what is happening in our “Temple,” as you come here week after week. Some of you come out of obedience to the Law, Like Mary and Joseph, who were keeping the fourth commandment—“Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” Some of you come, like Simeon, because you have been led here by the Holy Spirit. There are even some of you who never seem to leave this place, like Anna: you’re always around the church, being a deacon, doing committee work, teaching kids, decorating, serving, cleaning up, rehearsing music, or folding bulletins.

However you get here, God gives you to each other this Christmastime, just as God brought Joseph, Mary, Simeon, and Anna together long ago. God shapes you into a community of faith capable of receiving revelation, and while you’re here, God becomes present to you in scripture, in the sacraments, in the word, in the music, and in one another’s faces.

When you are together here in this temple, you take turns saying what you see. Sometimes, like Anna, you get to announce that God is surely here! Whoever you are, and whatever role you get to play in the life of this community, the point is to keep looking—together—so that you do not miss the Light when he comes!

And in your faith life together, Jesus keeps on presenting you back to God. Every time you come here, Jesus arranges your purification, bringing you before God in this place with the necessary sacrifice in his hands—not two turtledoves or a lamb, but himself—God’s precious Baby Boy, who became the Christ, and keeps giving himself away for the love of us.

This is why you are here with one another and with me and Peggy and Mary, and Cathy, and Anne and Carol and Bob and Steve. This is why you’re here and not somewhere else today saying, “I don’t need organized religion this morning, especially the day after Christmas—and when it’s snowing.” All I can say is, thanks for coming, and keep coming here, and bring your friends in 2005. May you return safely home today filled with light, and, like Jesus as he grew, become strong and filled with wisdom, and may the favor of God be upon you (Luke 2:40, adapted). Amen.

Rev. Beverly Latif Duncan
Pilgrim Church of Duxbury