SETTING THE CONTEXT

The shepherds had gone home. The angels were nowhere in sight. The Christmas story as we know it was over, yet the story of Jesus was only beginning. Mary and Joseph were devout Jews who lived their faith. They performed the rituals that were required after the birth of a male child. They followed the purification ritual for Mary as dictated by Leviticus 12 and presented the child to God so he may be designated as holy. Holy means to be set apart for the service of God, to be set outside the norm, so God’s will can be done. Two aged saints representing the best of Israel: devout, obedient, constant in prayer, led by the Holy Spirit, at home in the temple and looking forward to the fulfillment of God’s promises, see the child for who he is.ⁱ They begin to answer the question posed by the Christmas carol, “What child is this?”

Read Luke 2:21-40

THE SERMON

George: What struck me about this passage was the influence the people we read about had on the shaping of Jesus’ life. When we reflect that Jesus is the presence of God who came into the midst of the world’s life, we are continually trying to understand how Jesus shaped the lives of those around him. But this passage is very clear about how his world, his culture, his religious tradition, those who helped to raise him into adulthood, also shaped his understanding of himself and his life.

Nancy: Luke is the only gospel writer that shares anything about Jesus’ adolescent years. Matthew shared a birth story, but then continues Jesus’ story with John the Baptizer preaching his message of repentance. Mark simply begins his gospel with the Baptist and The Gospel of John throughout, actually downplays his humanness. So this is the only glimpse we get of Jesus’ early years and those who played a role in them.

George: Right from the beginning we see that Jesus is indeed a Jew and that this heritage shapes who he is. When he receives his circumcision it is a sign that shows he is a child of Abraham, the very first Patriarch of the Jewish faith. In Genesis 17:11. God speaks to Abraham, “You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of covenant between you and me.” Far be it from me to question God, but I do not understand why circumcision had to be the sign. Why not an ear piercing or a tattoo?

Nancy: So, what was the covenant God made with Abraham that is so important in understanding how it shaped Jesus’ life?

George: As you know a covenant is not a contract but a promise. Even if one party breaks their part of the covenant, breaks their promise it does not absolve the other person or party from keeping theirs. God is always faithful in keeping covenant. God promised Abraham that he would be the Father of many nations, and even the father of kings.

Nancy: We now know that it is even more than this. Abraham is recognized as the Father of three of the world’s major religions. Not just Judaism, but our own Christian faith, and he is also recognized as the Father of Islam, the Muslim faith.

George: So from the very beginning of his life, Jesus is dedicated to a heritage of inclusion for all of God’s children. You can hear it proclaimed in the words of Simeon we read. “My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the gentiles, gentiles being anyone who is not a Jew, and for the glory to your people Israel.”

Nancy: We can hear this religious and cultural influence in Jesus’ own words when he tells us why he has come and what his ministry is all about. “I came not to do away with the law, but to fulfill it.” The Law, Torah, is the first five books in what is still the First Testament, which of course includes Genesis and this Abrahamic Covenant.

George: Israel was the chosen people of God not for special benefits, not because they were seen to be better than anyone else. They were chosen precisely because they were small and meek to be the voice of God’s good news, of God’s love for creation. Even when Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life,” I believe we need to understand these words within this context of inclusion; Jesus is the way, which is the first name for Christianity, this way promised by God from the very beginning with Abraham is showing us the inclusiveness of God’s love for all of humanity. So this is how this heritage influences his life and his ministry.

We, too, as Christians have important signs and rituals that when practiced set our lives on a path, and point us toward a destination. We practice infant baptism, which reminds us that as parents, but also as the church, we play a very important role in shaping the lives of our children, not only by teaching them their heritage, but also how that heritage shapes us into becoming the very people God has asked us to be in our covenant, in our promise to be God’s people.

Nancy: We also can see even how his name defines who he is to be and influences his destiny. This is still true in many parts of our world today. Even now in India, the Middle East, in parts of Asia and Africa, a baby isn’t named until several days after they are born and their names reflect something about them or their family. Some friends of mine from a former church were from Nigeria. According to their cultural practice, a baby is not named until eight days after his or her birth just like the practice in the Bible. During that time, the parents carefully consider what to name the child for their name will shape their future. The grandparents and other relatives offer their input, but it is the responsibility of the parents to name the child. This family’s children were given names that proclaimed who they are and in hopes of shaping who they become. The oldest child, a son, is named Oluwatosin which means “God is worthy of service.” His brother was named Oluwaseun which means “Thank God.” Seun’s mother struggled with infertility. She and her husband prayed for a long time for her to conceive a child. In the tradition of Hannah (1 Samuel 1:20) who we talked about last month, Tinu named her son, “thank God”. Can you imagine how it would feel to go through life hearing your name and being reminded that your parents thanked God for you? Names are very important in the Bible. Names are more than a label, they say something about the reality and being of the person. Jesus, it was the name given to him by the angels who appeared to his mother (Luke 1:31) and her husband (Matthew 1:21) Jesus is his name in Greek, Yehoshuah or Joshua was his name in Hebrew which means Yahweh (the proper name for God) saves.ⁱⁱ What child is this? This child‘s name, God saves, defined and I am sure influenced his destiny. He would be the one as the angel told Joseph who will rescue people from their sins for he is Emmanuel, God with us.

George: That’s interesting. Do you know what your name means?

Nancy: Yes, Nancy is a nickname for Ann and it means grace. George means “farmer.”

George: Well that one didn’t do much in shaping my destiny. I can’t even get the tomatoes to grow in our garden. In fact I am the only one I know who has trouble growing zucchini.

I believe a very important thought expressed in this passage is one that is probably read many times, but maybe passed over in its implications. Luke tells us that Jesus grew in strength, which I take to mean as he matured into adulthood, but he also grew in wisdom. We know that Jesus’ family is poor by the fact that they used turtledoves in his dedication at the Temple. The Law stated if a family was too poor to afford the purchase of a lamb, they could use turtledoves. So we can see that in the many things we recognize about Jesus from his humble beginnings of being born in a stable, to his murder on the cross, we can also add that he lived these formative years in poverty.

Nancy: So when he says in the Gospel of Matthew, “when you gave me food when I was hungry, you gave me drink when I thirst and then goes on to say, you did this when you did it to the least, my brothers and sisters” he is expressing this from his own personal experiences.

George: I believe that. Maybe even literally, as we know he did have brothers and sisters in his family. But also with people who become his family by his being able to identify with them and their lives. We are one, he says, because we have had these experiences of poverty together.

Nancy: I believe that’s true also. There is always a special bond between people who have had similar experiences in their lives. There is a spiritual connection in these shared experiences that connect us at the very core of our lives.

George: It is the biblical understanding of compassion. Compassion means to be able to understand another’s life from their perspective. Jesus teaches us that we are to be compassionate as God is compassionate. It is the understanding of the name Emmanuel, God with us. God was with us, God lived and grew in our midst to show us that I, God, have experienced your life and I understand from my own experiences what it is you face, what it is you feel, what it is I can do to bring salvation, healing and wholeness to you. Truly, this is the one who came to save us.

Nancy: What child is this? He is a child of the Covenant, a child with compassion who is destined to bring God’s saving grace into our midst. Simeon, the elderly holy man led by the Holy Spirit saw Jesus for who he was and what he would become. I love this picture of this elderly man taking the infant Jesus into his arms looking in wonder and joy at the fulfillment of his life’s dream, the Messiah, the chosen one had come. I think sometimes we domesticate this coming, we make it so “gentle and mild” that we overlook that “This child marks both the failure and the recovery of many … A figure misunderstood and contradicted … but the rejection will force honesty, as God reveals who they really are.”ⁱⁱⁱ This is how the Message Bible paraphrases Simeon’s words to Mary. Jesus forces us to make a decision: will we move toward God or away from God, will we make God the sovereign authority of our lives or will we reject God’s ways. The challenge for us is that we make this decision every day in every moment. Jesus will reveal how that movement toward God looks and he will unmask hollow and flawed practices of piety. His light reveals the shadows of sin. This child who looks so vulnerable and peaceful will bear a great burden and great opposition as he embraces his destiny to bring God’s salvation to all. He continues in our lives to reveal the shadows, the masks, and the pretensions as we stand in his awesome light. What child is this? This child, Jesus, God saves, calls us to a decision, calls us to movement toward God every day in every decision. So you see, really, the story is just beginning and it will develop throughout this year and in every year as we experience the relationship, the Covenant of God in our lives. For this moment, let us join with Simeon and Anna looking in wonder and joy at what God has done and is doing. Amen.