Tuesday, December 30, 2014

A Matter of Life and Death

Sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC on 12/28/14


Read Luke 2:22-40



(Image courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)





When I read our scripture for this morning, my mind was taken back to one of my favorite movies as a child, The Lion King. The movie starts off with the sun breaking over the lands in Africa, and wild animals are all for some reason on the move. Finally, the animals stop at the edge of a great cliff, where a Lion is perched proudly atop. Then out of the crowd an old baboon named Rafiki climbs on top of the cliff and hugs this great lion, and then we are introduced to the reason for all the commotion, the Lion has had a son. Rafiki, who is clearly a priest of the animals performs some rituals over this little lion cub, and then grab the cub, walks to the edge of the cliff and holds the lion cub high for all the animals to see. There is then a loud cheer and animals start to bow before the one who will soon be their King.
            Our scripture for today is very much a similar celebration for the newborn King Jesus. It is a few days after Jesus’s birth, and now Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus have traveled to the Temple in Jerusalem for what was a Jewish custom of dedication and purity. This dedication and purity actually had three parts to it. First, because cleanliness and holiness were so important to Jewish customs it was a time for Mary to be deemed clean after the birth of her child. Secondly it was a time for Jesus to be circumcised. This was the covenant act given to the Israelites by God through Abraham. Through circumcision, Jesus became part of that covenant, part of the people of God. Finally, this time of dedication would be one in which a name was given to the child. Typically a Biblical name or a name with some theological significance was given to the child as a way to give thanks to God and to dedicate the child’s life to God. For Jesus though this act of dedication was a little different. Mary and Joseph did not come up with a name for their child, but they were told by the angel Gabriel that his name would be Jesus. So here Mary and Joseph are offering up their child, to the God who has already offered this gift to the world and has already named it Savior, which is what Jesus means.
            This dedication is a special time for Mary and Joseph to give thanks for their child, but also in dedicating this child to God, they remember the uniqueness and significance of this little babe. And just in case they had forgotten that this is no ordinary child, Mary and Joseph are interrupted by two strangers in the Temple. The first of these interruptions is from a man named Simeon. Scripture tells us that Simeon was a righteous and devout man; he was a man late in his years and wanted more than anything to see the time in which Israel would be redeemed. We are told that the Holy Spirit lead him to this Temple on this day, and upon seeing the baby child he started to sing for joy. He even takes the boy into his arms and as he cradles him he praises and honors the Son of God in which he holds. To me I can imagine this scene to be a lot like that of the Lion King. There is a  recognition that the one you hold is also your King and so you just want to hold him up for all the world to see and to adore.
              But the praise and adoration did not end with Simeon. There was at the same time in the Temple an 84 year old prophet named Anna. Anna had a husband for only seven years and then was left widowed for the rest of her life. Anna found home in the Temple where we are told that she would fast and pray day in and day out. Having practically lived in the Temple for at least 50 years, we can assume that Anna had seen her fair share of extraordinary events. She had surely been witness to some holy events, and most likely been in contact with some important people. But here is a little child is being brought for a dedication, something that she has probably seen on a daily basis, but there is something special about this child. Like Simeon, Ana comes forward to the child and begins to praise the child as the savior of the world.
            Something special is happening here at the Jesus’s ritual of purity and dedication, like the animals in the Lion King, those around this little child begin to bow and praise the newborn King. And just as the scene in the Lion King open with song proclaiming “Circle of Life” so too do we find in our scriptures a celebration of the complexities of Life. For our scripture for this morning is truly a matter of Life and Death.  I do not mean this in the traditional sense of that phrase, but simply our scripture speaks both to the joy of life and the fear of death.
            How does this scripture speak about death you may ask? I thought that this scripture was about the birth of the Jesus, and it is. The introduction of Anna and Simeon into the story however reminds us about the reality of death. If you noticed both Anna and Simeon are later along in their lives. Scripture makes it sound as though Simeon will soon die, and Anna is a poor widow that has lived alone in the Temple for years and years and is now in her later stages of life. These characters are in stark contrast to the baby Jesus and even to the young Mary and Joseph, and there is reason for it. Mary, Joseph and Jesus are young, the have the hope of a long life, (though we know for Jesus that would not be the case.) These youngsters have their whole lives ahead of them as we would say today.
            That is not the case for Anna and Simeon. They do not have a long life ahead of them, they do not look to the future in joy for what it might bring for their lives; they look forward in fear, wondering when their time on Earth would come to an end. It is truly a contrast between hope and hopelessness. To truly understand the despair that they faced we must first grapple with the understanding of the afterlife at that time for the Jewish people. While as is the case today, there were different beliefs about the afterlife at the time, one of the most prevalent of those times for the Jewish people was a belief in Sheol, also known as the pit or as the underworld. For the people there was no Heaven and there was no hell, just Sheol. It did not matter if you were a righteous person or the most egregious criminal, all who died went to Sheol. In the more recent years of Jesus’s birth there was an idea of a segregated Sheol where the wicked faced punishment, a lot like the modern understanding of Hell, but there was still no celebration for the righteous who died, the was no glory, Heaven was for God, not for the dead.
            Knowing this we can understand then why Anna and Simeon may be living in despair. This beautiful life that God had given them would soon be over, their souls would soon rest in Sheol, and for someone like Anna who was poor and widowed, it was not like she could look back and say at least I lived a life full of joy. But prophets had foretold about a Messiah who would come and save the people. One who would come and bring Israel back to glory, one who would bring salvation. So imagine the joy in their hearts when they encounter this baby in the Temple who is the Messiah.
            Simeon’s encounter sums up the experience the best. Simeon had been told by the Holy Spirit that he would see the savior before he died. As Simeon enters the Temple through the guidance of the Spirit, that moment happens. He sees that baby Jesus and knows, this child is the Messiah. And so holding him in his arms he sings a song to Christ and he begins his song by saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation.”  All of the fear of death, all of the waiting and hoping is over, because here in his arms lies the savior of the World. Simeon is dismissed in peace, he can die in peace knowing that the one has come who brings life. The fear of Sheol, the fear of death is over, for Christ has come to bring eternal life.
            Anna can celebrate in this joy as well, for she knows that she too can die with hope of eternal life; but the presence of this savior is special to Anna in another way as well. As we have noted, Anna was a widow. Widows were not well taken care of in that society, in fact they were often rejected as being useless to society. It is why in the Book of Acts we see so much of the ministry of the early disciples was to the widows. Even Jesus when he grows up and is in the middle of his ministry pays special care and attention to the widows. In seeing the savior on this day, Anna is filled with hope that not only has Christ brought salvation through eternal life, but that the world itself may be saved. This little child would fight for the poor and the oppressed, would seek justice and peace for the world, and will usher in a time in which God reigns on Earth. Seeing Christ not only brought hope in death, but hope for life on Earth as well. Simeon and Anna realize that this moment with Jesus was a moment of life and death; for in seeing the savior they have seen hope in this life on Earth and in a life that conquers death.
            This first Sunday after Christmas day, after we have celebrated the birth of the dear savior, after we have opened our gifts and had our feasts, have we found hope in seeing the infant Holy?  Do we recognize in our hearts the true holiness of the season?  Do we comprehend that gazing upon the Christ child for us is a matter of life and death? Sometimes I don’t think we do. We are in hurry for Christmas day to get hear so that we can celebrate that good news, and then December 26th comes around and that good news becomes old news. We prepare for Christmas, and then take no time to truly celebrate it. Many of us don’t even realize that the 25th is just the start of Christmas, just the beginning of the season of joy and goodwill. In fact in the Christian calendar there are 12 days of Christmas, starting on Christmas day and lasting until we celebrate Epiphany. There is even the song about the twelve days of Christmas, that helps us to remember that the celebration goes on. And oddly enough, the song hints at our scripture for this morning, because what is it that Mary and Joseph bring forth as an offering on this day of purity and dedication, two turtledoves.
            While we celebrate Christmas with the joyful birth of Jesus and the announcement of his coming to the shepherds, remembering our scripture for today can help us to take to wrestle with and grasp what this savior’s birth really means for us. So often we as Christians want to jump straight from his birth to his ministry, as some of the other Gospels do, but Luke forces us to stop and honor this newborn King. Luke forces us to stop and think about what it means to have a savior; this scripture helps us to see this birth as a matter of life and death.
            Christ has come to give life to this world. Where anger and hatred reign, Christ is ushering in peace and love. Where there is pain and oppression, Christ is offering comfort and justice. Christ has established his Kingdom on Earth and our lives have been redeemed so that we can be part of its building until Christ comes in final victory. Today let us be like Anna the widow and celebrate that Christ is at work in the world. That this world is not destined for doom or destruction, but that through our savior all things will be made new. Let us think about what that means for our lives, and how we as Christians can be used by the holy one to participate in this holy transformation.
            And as we celebrate the way in which Christ is transforming our lives and all the world, let us also celebrate that when this life is over we shall no longer fear death. This is not a celebration of death, death is still and evil as the result of “the Fall,” but the presence of this baby child gives us hope, because through his death and resurrection Jesus Christ has claimed victory of death. That though we may die, we can have eternal life. During this season of Christmas, let us never forget why it is that we are celebrating. Let us like Simeon and Anna hold this child in our hearts, lift this child up as our King, and proclaim the good news that Christ has come.

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