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1-3-10
Text: Luke 2:21-40
● If you’ve been tracking with it, this has been quite a story--- geriatrics
and virgins having babies, shepherds conversing with angelic messengers,
pagan astrologers following stars like some primitive GPS system which leads
them to Jesus.
But, it’s a “Messianic” story, so who would expect anything less of God,
right?
The story is a mass of paradoxes and contrasts--- just like our lives.
The story is so unbelievable, yet it just seems to incite belief. The scenes
are so fantastic and ordinary, all at the same time. There are expressions
of marginalization and welcome; profound faith and paralyzing doubt--- the
‘already’ and the ‘not yet’.
● What caught my attention this year was that amidst the fantastic, the
spectacular and the extra-ordinary was this story of
Simeon and Anna: a picture of
the ‘commonplace’; of ‘reliability’ and ‘custom’.
Anna:
● She had witnessed countless children being brought to the temple,
presumably, none of them her own, but when she laid her eyes on the infant
Jesus she knew at once who it was--- something inside of her “moved”,
something within her was “stirred”.
Simeon:
When the scripture refers to Simeon as
‘devout’ and
‘righteous’, it means that he
was a Torah-observant Jew.
Simeon has been awaiting the moment when God would bring relief to those who
are in exile (in Babylon or the Roman Empire). Taking the child in his arms,
he declares that that moment of deliverance has arrived.
This story suggests that God is not only the God of surprises toward those
considered ‘outside’ the story, but toward faithful ‘insiders’ as well.
This is really good news for those of us who had been conditioned to
disdain order, and routine and liturgy. ● Did you notice that Mary and Joseph’s every action was ordered by the story? Notice how often, just in this passage, you see phrases like, “As required by the Law…” or “according to the Law".
● They were living in a story that had been going on for a long time. They
were pursuing a centuries-old script which they believe will direct them
toward God.
God doesn’t come to ‘disrupt’ the tradition, but to fulfill it--- to
fill it with meaning. He isn’t bound by the tradition, but he does choose to
work within it.
● Notice that although he was following the Law and the prescribed
practices, he was identified as a man who was “Spirit-empowered” and
“Spirit-led”.
● In our world, we most often see
“religion” and “spirituality”
as polar opposites. Simeon and Anna saw them not as mutually-exclusive,
but as one-in-the-same.
God intended that the two be mutually-supportive; so that the Spirit would
enliven our practices and infuse them with meaning in order to keep them
from becoming ‘rote’ and ‘hollow’.
● All of our practices simply keep us aware of God; God-focused. They
intentionally make room for God in an often over-crowded life.
James 1:27
says that there is a type of religion that is pleasing to God (“…
to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from
being polluted by the world.”)
“religion” (Gr.)---
‘worship, especially as it relates to external expressions and disciplines’.
● James is not dismissing religion, but condemning religious expressions
which are detached from “glory”…
religious claims which fail to
rightly-represent God and significantly transform the inner-person.
James says that you are fooling yourself and that those practices are
worthless.
● So, the contrast is really between
“authentic religion” and
“simulated religion” (i.e. driving simulator: no one would ever confuse
the one with the other. You turn the wheel, you depress the accelerator, but
it’s not taking you anywhere).
Maybe we’ve been waiting for the sensational moment--- this ecstatic
experience, when the story has been there all along, inviting us in?
It is true that God often “breaks
in”, but it’s also true that God simply wants to be
“invited in”.
Faithfulness is so boring, yet it’s so noteworthy.
It’s not exhilarating; it’s not entertaining.
Interestingly, it’s the quality of God most celebrated in the
scriptures, and the quality least evidenced in humanity.
It offers such stability, yet breeds
such contempt.
Maybe we are quietly convinced that it won’t last: soon enough, God
will grow weary of my failed attempts at following and he’ll show his true
feelings?
● It’s what we most need from God and it’s what we most desire from each
other. But, we want scandal and controversy and tales of infidelity.
● There’s a predictability to faithfulness which is not easily distracted
and does not abandon the commitment even when it seems monotonous. It just
keeps ‘showin’ up’.
‘Sacred’ (holy) is what happens when we realize that the ordinary moment is
filled with God.
Have you ever noticed that, most often, ‘holy’ stuff looks pretty ordinary?
● Simeon and Anna: these are not some crotchety old, stiff, passionless,
law-abiding church goers… they are
steady and devout and
observant, but they are
also expectant and
discerning and
Spirit-led followers of God who
have trained themselves to be Godly (1 Timothy 4:7).
● They had waited their entire lives for this encounter, but you get the
feeling that had it not come, they would have died still trusting, still
believing; still faithful, still expectant.
‘Spontaneity’ and ‘routine’--- our lives are such a wonderful blend of the
two.
Authentic religion nurtures within us a sense of both stability and
expectancy. It fosters a sense of
discernment so that
when God shows up, you will recognize
it and embrace it… your worship rightly.
● Habits, routine practices, keep our lives from being determined for us;
they help to ensure that life is not just ‘happening to us’.
But, spontaneity prevents
our lives from becoming rigid and predictable. It makes room for God, but
does not attempt to define what those divine-interruptions look like.
Make God part of your routine (custom, habit, schedule, practice), but
welcome the disruptions.
For someone who spends their entire life gazing to the heavens, the
night sky, although spectacular, may appear so familiar that you fail to see
the extra-ordinary (‘Oh, yeah, there’s the big dipper’).
● For someone who has faithfully followed the prescribed order of practice,
one child looks pretty much like all the rest.
But,
maybe it’s ‘not just another star’;
maybe he’s ‘not just another child’? |
