Sunday, January 1, 2012
Christmas 1B
Text: Luke 2:22-40
22When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23(as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), 24and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” 25Now 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. 26It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27Guided 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, 28Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, 29“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; 30for my eyes have seen your salvation, 31which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” 33And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. 34Then 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 35so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” 36There 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 seven years after her marriage, 37then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. 38At 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. 39When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
Simeon and Anna.
They were fixtures at the Temple. They’re the ones who knew where those special candles and the decorations were stored from one year to the next, and just as important, HOW they were supposed to be stored. They kept track of that stuff because, for the most part, being in and around the Temple was their LIFE. That is what they’d come to dedicate themselves to.
But they weren’t the only ones. There were the priests, the assistants, the moneychangers, the suppliers, the deputy assistants and THEIR assistants.
They were all there just as often as Simeon, and had structured their lives around Temple worship from the time they were kids. Some had been there longer than Anna, which was saying a LOT, considering how old she was now and how young she was when she lost her husband.
So what was different about Simeon and Anna? How did they key into what was really happening when Joseph and Mary showed up with their newborn baby, and not the others?
Scripture gives us part of the answer in introducing us to Simeon: The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die until he held the Messiah in his arms. We find that in verse 26. But if we go back just one phrase, we read this at the end of verse 25: ‘The Holy Spirit rested on him.’ So how does that happen? Does the Holy Spirit just show up one day and say ‘here I am!’ and move in like an unwelcome guest?
Not at all.
To be in a relationship, there must be reciprocity – a mutual exchange. That is, there is something offered and received by both people who are involved in the relationship. If you have ever been involved in a one-way relationship it doesn’t take long to realize that the word relationship doesn’t quite apply when everything flows in one direction and one direction only.
It is no different when we enter into relationship with God. What WE struggle with is to try to identify what it is that we bring to the relationship. After all, we ARE talking about being in a reciprocal relationship with the creator of the universe…talk about figuring out what present to give to the person who has everything … this is kind of the ultimate example.
But that IS the question, isn’t it? What would God want with us, much less FROM us? As soon as we hear that, if we’ve spent any time in Sunday School, the quick and easy answer is right on the tip of our tongues: our hearts, or our lives, our souls. But I think that might actually skip over what is at the heart of the question.
Let me back up a little bit. We think of being in relationship with God in terms of salvation. Or we’ve been trained to think that way: that a relationship with God MEANS being ‘saved’. And to a degree that is correct. But let’s look at this from a slightly different perspective.
We believe salvation is by grace through faith, not by works, to quote scripture, so if salvation is a done deal as soon as we have the faith to declare that Jesus is Lord of our lives, then what does that mean for our relationship with the Lord? In other words, if, as soon as we move in the direction of God and receive the gift of salvation, THAT aspect of our relationship is taken care of, God is saying, essentially, ‘you know all that stuff you worry about doing and being and following in order to gain salvation? The right living, the right thinking, the proper attitude, the right schedule of church attendance, all that stuff, it’s dust in the wind. You HAVE salvation. Here, it’s yours. Free to you. Somewhat costly to me, but that’s just the kind of God I am.
So, now, what are you going to DO about it? How are you going to carry on, in the understanding that what you do has absolutely no bearing on your salvation, on how much I love you or on what I was willing to do for you, because that’s all been taken care of?
If we reframe the question of our relationship with God away from that initial salvific connection into an ongoing, growing, and developing relationship, then we begin to understand that THIS relationship is not that different from other relationships in our lives – of course, this one MATTERS exponentially MORE than other relationships we may have, but it is also one that we express THROUGH ALL the other relationships in our lives. But in the sense that it is one that we have to work at, that we pursue, that we engage, that we … nurture, that we tend to, that we CARE about, it is not so different.
You see, God wants company.
God created us to be in communion with him. Genesis tells us that God walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. Actually, if you read the verse, it’s not exactly such an idyllic picture. That verse, in chapter 3 verse 8, says that Adam and Even heard God walking in the Garden, and they hid themselves, because they knew they had sinned. It is not an image of pre-fall perfect harmony, but of a post-fall seeking – on the part of God – for his creation – even then, however you want to interpret the beginning of Genesis, the image we have is of a God who is already, as soon as that separation happens, working to reestablish the relationship with us.
And that is the story that is found throughout scripture. Time after time after time, we turn away from God, or turn away from who God intends us to be, and are either distracted by other shiny but ultimately worthless ‘treasures’, and God is always coming after us, sending food in the night, prophets to declare his jealous love, sending angels to announce his purpose into our lives, and, eventually, coming and living with us.
So how we ‘see’ salvation changes depending on how we view our relationship with God. If we think of that relationship in formulaic terms – sort of like a math equation – A plus B = C; where A is God and B is us and C is salvation and that’s IT, then it is a very bare-bones, shallow image of salvation, isn’t it?
If, however, we think of our relationship with God as one that is as involved, as interesting, as demanding as our relationship to our dearest and closest friend, then we begin to get the picture of who God has been throughout history – you’ve heard me say it before, God is about relationships – God is a relational God – that is how God communicates, that’s how God operates.
Will you join me in entering into that relationship more deeply and fully this year?
Let’s pray.