December 31, 2023
Holy Moments
Luke 2:22-40
Rev. Shannon Jordan
One of the first questions I ask when I read a story in scripture is why do I think this story is in here? Why did the writer, in this case, Luke, include this in our passage among the many options? As you read the passage, remember this is just after famous Luke 2 passage that begins with “In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.”
And ending with “The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”
Hear the word of the Lord:
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord’), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.’
Now 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. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided 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, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,
‘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.’
And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. Then 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 so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’
There 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 for seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At 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.
When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
As I sat with the passage, I realized how normal the people in this passage are. No one was famous. No one was powerful. No one did anything but be faithful—and so this passage has a great deal to say to us, as normal people.
First, the passage highlights that this young couple came to the Temple to fulfill the law in presenting their son as required by the law of Moses. They did what normal people did. The obedient and faithful nature of Mary and Joseph is emphasized by the text three times in three verses. They were fulfilling the law and doing what the law required. It is important to Luke to emphasize the fulfillment of the law and of prophecy and it is highlighted here.
When they get there, they meet a man named Simeon. He is called righteous—which means he acts in alignment with God’s law. He is devout—which means he was careful in his obedience and intentional. Simeon was also filled with the Holy Spirit. Before the ascension of Jesus the Spirit was only with some people for specific times and reasons. Apparently, this was Simeon’s time and place. Simeon had been waiting for the consolation of Israel—the comfort of Israel.
As we have discussed on and off, the circumstances when Jesus was born were of significant oppression by Rome. And by the time Luke was written, Rome had overthrown Jerusalem and had destroyed the Temple after a horrific five-month siege. People hearing this birth story would have absolutely understood what Simeon was hoping for as they too would be hoping for this.
Simeon, led by the Holy Spirit, goes to the Temple and sees the Holy Family and takes Jesus in his arms.
Now as I imagine this story, I am in the Cracker Barrel in Statesville. John and I have met Anna and her seven month old son for brunch on a Friday. James has learned to wave and has waved AT EVERY PERSON IN THE RESTAURANT and they all wave back or come up and speak. One of the women finishes her meal and comes up and asks to hold James. I was shocked when Anna said yes, as I would not have! But as this older woman, by whose face or countenance seemed to have had a hard life, held James, she picked him up and the look of joy spread on her face as she looked at this stranger’s baby. As David said last Sunday morning, babies are special and full of hope. Not just for us grandparents, but for all of us. This is the joy I imagine on Simeon’s face when he breaks into a song of praise because the promise God had made to him had been fulfilled.
It is called Simeon’s song of praise—it is also called the Nunc Dimittis or “the dismissal” in Latin.
‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel.’
This song, these four verses, have comforted and inspired people now for two millennia. They are a reminder that: God is faithful. God keeps promises. People can see God’s Messiah—Simeon has seen Jesus. It is a reminder that God saves all peoples… Gentiles and Israelites.
The joy and the hope of these words in the midst of the oppression where they were first spoken is so powerful. Simeon sees his life as being complete and he is thankful and at peace. He can die in the knowledge of God’s grace.
Simeon’s song of thanksgiving, his prophecy to all people is a word of hope. A word of future peace. A reminder of God’s faithfulness. We can rejoice with Simeon that the consolation of Israel has arrived—knowing it won’t all be smooth in an earthly sense, but on a cosmic sense, in an eternal sense, things are radically different. That whether circumstances are good or bad, we can rest in the knowledge God is with us. Emmanuel.
Mary and Joseph marvel about that. And as they are taking that in, Simeon continues; he blesses Jesus and then turns to Mary and says:
This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
These words are not all positive and victorious, but they are words of justice, and are a portent of the future cost and divisions brought by the arrival of the Messiah. There will be a cost to the arrival of the Messiah.
If I could preach emoji’s I would use the head exploding one here. Remember for a moment what this couple had been through. Angel visits. Surprise pregnancies. Trips to Bethlehem. More angels. Shepherds. Now this. Imagine for a moment.
Then Anna enters the scene. She is named as a prophet. Simeon gives a prophetic word, but Anna is named a prophet. Prophets that day were known not known as much for telling the future, as for speaking God’s word. She was not as much of a teller of the future as the teller of God’s truth. If a prophet tells the future and it comes to pass, it is a confirmation that the prophet is indeed from God. We read that Anna comes from a “good” family and she is has lived a long time. She had been widowed for probably six decades or more. With some hyperbole, scripture says she never left the Temple, but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to the young family she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
In Raymond Brown’s commentary The Birth of the Messiah, Anna’s description of widow was fleshed out. As a faithful widow over the age of 60, she would have many of the attributes of the widow described in 1 Tim. 5. She would be known for her good works. She would have “brought up children, shown hospitality, washed the saints’ feet, helped the afflicted, and devoted herself to doing good in every way.”[i]
The scripture makes it clear that Anna is not all talk and no action—nor is she all action without attending to her inner, spiritual life. Anna does both. This is an important theme in Luke.
For example, in Luke 11 Jesus is quoted as exclaiming “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the love of God; it is these you ought to have practiced, without neglecting the others. Woe to you Pharisees! For you love to have the seat of honor in the synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the market-places. Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without realizing it.’
They look good, but they are unclean.
Anna is not like the Pharisees…she has attended to both her inner and outer life. Both Simeon and Anna have an interior life that is in tune enough with the leading of the Holy Spirit that they can act on the leadings of the Spirit. And following the Spirit they were present at this holy moment.
Our passage concludes with the family returning to their town of Nazareth where Jesus grew and became strong, filled with wisdom and the grace of God was on him.
These interactions are in Luke to highlight that faithful people identified Jesus as the Messiah. That Jesus met the various prophecies for the Messiah. Luke gives this description of these two people showing their faithful obedience, their devotion, their godliness to highlight that Jesus was indeed the Messiah for those studying Luke in the future. Simeon and Anna have a great deal to teach all of us about becoming people that God can use for God’s purposes in our world now. We live in a culture that measures our accomplishments, our belongings, our bank account, our youth, and our skills. Simeon and Anna are not described by any of these parameters. They were described by their faithfulness and devotion.
This morning is the precipice between 2023 and 2024. While I am not a big fan of resolutions, I am a fan of reflecting on the year behind us and looking forward to a hope for a future of promise. Thankfully with God we have “mercies new every morning” and we can reboot at any time, not just for the new year. People who explore what helps some people meet goals, and why some people don’t, say that it is the attitude of focusing on the future version of yourself. To explore your values and align our “do” with our future “who.”
The new year is a great time to dream about who we want to be as human beings in 1, 5, 10, or 50 years. It is a time to ask God for a vision for a future self. It is a time to realistically look at our lives and ask God to help us become more like the people God created us to be. For God to help both our inner lives and our outer lives be in line with divine wisdom. A time of the year for us to discern if we are experiencing the joy, peace, contentment, and love that we experience when we live lives in line with God’s will for us. Lives where God is working in and through us to bless us and to bless others.
I was scrolling through my photos over the break, trying to find photos for the next gallery show, Visio Divina – information is in the Thursday email – I came across this photo of the coastal redwoods in California. These trees are old, really old. 700+ years old. We read about their deep roots, their communal nature, and how they support and protect each other. The older ones help newer ones. The canopy and roots support and strengthen each other as well as animals and birds and bugs.
They are a beautiful representation of the intergenerational nature of our church family here at FPCA and how this intergenerational community can further bless the wider community. I love how the children and youth here have the opportunity to have the extended family that geography often denies families in our culture. For those of us who do not have family in town, this is your family. We may not be able to pour into our children and grandchildren because they live so far away, but God has placed families here that we can bless here. Just like Simeon and Anna encouraged the Mary and Joseph while they were far from their own families, we are a church that values and supports our children, youth and parents.
As I read and studied this passage these past few weeks I have had a birthday and a new grandson. While many of us would love to identify with the new parents, we find ourselves between these two generations and as we consider the years we have until we are the age of Simeon or Anna, or we may already be there, we can wonder about our spiritual maturity. Not just are we doing what God wants us to do—but how are our souls?
As I read about and imagined being Simeon and Anna, I realized that I want to be intentional on my spiritual life so that I can have the same peace in the midst of a violent world, joy in the midst of loss, and faith in the midst of chaos. Scripture does not promise if we follow God’s way that we won’t have hard times. As a matter of fact, scripture says we will have hard times. God promises us that God will never leave us or forsake us. God is with us. Emmanuel.
[i] Raymond Brown The Birth of the Messiah