Year C, The Presentation Luke 2:22-40
The summer after my
senior year of college, I interned in a tiny town outside of Harrisburg. The youth in this town were bored and one of
the churches decided to bring in someone who would work with those youth just
for the summer. It was a good
opportunity for someone like me, someone who was not sure if I wanted to work
in the church or not. However this was
before cell phones were common and I didn’t know anyone in the town except the
people who hired me and the youth I was working with. It was a lonely time in
my life and I was depressed. I was still
Roman Catholic and so I went to a Bible study at the Catholic Church. The priest was talking about the sermon on
the mount, also called the Beatitudes. He said that being blessed is not the
same as being happy. At the time, that
was a revelation to me.
One need look no further than the version of the Beatitudes in the Gospel of Luke to prove this. “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now for you will be filled.
The
Gospel reading for today tells the story of the Feast of the Presentation. Jesus’ parents (Mary and Joseph) were
observant Jews. Thus, they followed the
customs and laws of the Jewish faith.
One of those laws was presenting the child at the temple 40 days after
the birth. In that act, they were
dedicating their son to God. Of course,
this was no average child. This was the Son of God. Mary and Joseph knew that, but they still
followed the laws of their faith.
When they entered the temple, they
encountered a devout Jew by the name of Simeon.
We do not know much about Simeon, except that he was devout and
righteous and led by the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit is mentioned three times in relation to Simeon. He had been told that he would not die until
he saw the Messiah. He immediately recognized
this infant as the Messiah. He was so moved, he made this beautiful speech
which is known as the Song of Simeon or the Nunc Dimmittis. He essentially said
that he could die now, because he had seen salvation.
You might think, well this should not
have come as a shock to Mary and Joseph. They had heard all this before. But according to this Gospel, Mary had heard
very little. This is only chapter 2 of Luke.
At this point, Mary had been told by the Angel Gabriel that she would
bear a son who would be the Son of God.
Mary’s conversation with Gabriel had been affirmed by her cousin Elizabeth
when she met her. Upon seeing Mary
pregnant, Elizabeth greeted her as the Mother of the Lord. Mary and Joseph also received additional news
about their son from the shepherds who visited them right after she gave birth. The shepherds told them that angels had
appeared to them and told them this child would be the Messiah, the Lord.
This was all Mary and Joseph had, a few short conversations that
probably left them a little confused.
Then out of the blue comes this man who was a complete stranger but was
able to shed more light on this tiny baby they held in their arms. The text says that they were amazed by what
Simeon said. Then Simeon blessed the
child and they probably thought that was the end of that interaction.
Simeon had more to say: “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.” Can you imagine how the atmosphere must
have changed with that one comment? They
received a beautiful blessing from this devout and inspired man and then he
told them that their sweet little baby will be opposed and a sword would pierce
their soul. Sometimes when I read that, I feel that sword.
I want you all
to try to picture something. Think of
the most wonderful thing that has happened or something you hope will happen.
Maybe you just got some wonderful news—a baby was born, someone recovered from
a horrible illness, the Eagles win the Superbowl. Just think of something incredible…and then
you hear that someone who you love will suffer, will suffer so much that you
will feel like your soul is being pierced.
Try to wrap your mind around that. It would crushing.
I just can’t
get past the fact that Simeon would hold this child in his arms, bless him and
then provide that very traumatic prediction.
If this was a normal couple, they could have walked away and said, “Well
that guy was crazy.” But they knew that it all fit. Nothing about their lives had been easy thus
far. Why would it be now? For Mary and Joseph, the blessing came with
opposition and heartache.
Jesus would
affirm this strange blessing decades later when he said, “Blessed
are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame
you on account of the Son of Man.”
I think many of us already know, that even the most blessed life can be
full of opposition, pain, fear and death.
Hashtag blessings belong on social media, but not in our Christian
faith.
A part of me says this with some
trepidation because I think, why would anybody sign up for this? Why be a Christian when it’s so damn
hard? Because of hope. You see the other person in this story was
named Anna. She was 84 years old and had
been living in that temple for most of her life. She also recognized Jesus for who he
was. But the funny thing is, it doesn’t
say that the Holy Spirit guided her like it did Simeon. It says, “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.” As soon as Simeon said
that a sword would pierce the soul, Anna started praising God and reminded Mary
and Joseph that this child would bring redemption.
Hope always has the last word in our faith. Hope swings in after the blow that brings us
to our knees and says, “Redemption is near.”
Not only is redemption near, but Mary and Joseph held the child that would
bring redemption. Salvation was that close to them.
Today we Christians also hold that blessing, the blessing that feels
like a burden at times, but also brings redemption and salvation to world that
is sick of empty promises and superficial blessings. Will our message bring opposition? Yes it
will and if it doesn’t, we might not be proclaiming the right message. But the good news is this---hope always has
the last word. Weeping may linger for
the night, but joy comes in the morning.
