Simeon

“There was a Man by the Name, Simeon …”

 

There will come a time when neither you nor I are in this world. We do not know the date, but we know it will happen – maybe when we are young, maybe when we get old. This became even more real two weeks ago as a shooter killed 20 children and six adults in a school. 

·         What is there that you would still like to accomplish before that time comes?

·         Maybe you would answer the question light-heartedly, saying you’d like to win the lottery (just once!), or sky-dive, or walk on the moon.

·         But others of you may be more thoughtful: perhaps you’d like to write a book, or visit Norway, or shoot your age in golf.

I asked my mama that question once, in 1984, shortly after my dad died. Sitting in the living room, I posed the question to her: “Mama is there anything you’d like to do while you are still able?” Her response did not come immediately, but she finally said “Yes, there is; I’d like to visit Ireland.” She has always been interested in Ireland and England – she has countless books on the countries.  I regret, by her choice, my mother is not going to go to Ireland.  She had tickets and a trip planned once, but turned them in. And yet, that experience has alerted me to the fact that a life without regret might include making a list of the things which I might want to do in my life before my life is over.

 

 

There are two more parts of the Christmas story – one today and then one next week. Our story today is about two people who had only one wish before they died – one thing they wanted to see happen before they left this world for the next.  There is a man in Jerusalem whose name is Simeon.

·         He is a very righteous Jewish man.

·         He has been promised that he would not die until he sees the Messiah face-to-face.

 

This event occurs on the eighth day of Jesus’ young life.  As a young Jewish male, Jesus is being dedicated to God through circumcision. Mary and Joseph, being in Bethlehem, only a few miles from Jerusalem, have brought him to the Temple for his dedication to the Lord. Jesus appears to Simeon in his mother’s arms. Simeon responds by telling God that it is now okay for him to die; he has met the Savior face to face.

 

But that’s not the end of the story.  The story continues with a woman named Anna; eighty-four years old, and she too is looking for and speaking of this Savior who is to come.

·         The Bible says that she never left the temple;

·         She stays there day and night, fasting and praying and eventually seeing this One whom God has sent to redeem Israel.

·         Again, God brings them together at the right time, and Anna prophesies that this child would redeem Israel.

·         All her years of watching and waiting and fasting suddenly came to an end, as she tells the people in the Temple who this child is.

 

We see in these stories of Simeon and Anna, evidence that the religious life is not a brief sprint, as we sometimes presume, but it is a marathon. And this is the most significant aspect of Simeon and Anna; the legacies they left behind. Rather than asking “what would you like to do?” perhaps I should be asking “how would you like to be remembered?” What do you want your legacy to be? What shall we write as an epitaph on your tombstone? What should be written on mine?

·         “There was a man named Mike …”

·         “There was a man named Terry….”

But notice: Luke does not leave these stories in isolation – he connects them to something taking place almost twelve years later … Why? Why place these stories together? Listen, "(Jesus') parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover."  Did you ever notice that part I just read, "Every year"?  Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem every year for Passover. 

 

                Travel is so easy for us today that we forget how difficult it used to be.  I mean how many in this church traveled hundreds, if not thousands of miles this past week?  It will take the mission team just over a day to travel half-way around the world to Cambodia on January 24. Joseph and Mary traveled from Nazareth to Jerusalem every year for the Passover.  When we read that, we may think of Joseph taking a couple of days off work, hopping into the city for a night or two, and returning home.  It wasn't like that.  It wasn't like that at all.  Remember, travel to Jerusalem is an eight-day journey from Nazareth––each way!  Mostly it was walking!  They walked.  They spent several days in Jerusalem observing the Passover, and then another eight days getting back home. 

·         Three weeks away from home! 

·         Three weeks on the road! 

·         Three weeks sleeping wherever they could!  

·         Three weeks eating the simple fare that they could carry with them! 

·         Three weeks without a paycheck! 

·         Three weeks of extra expenses! 

Luke says that they did that every year! Not occasionally! Not once in a full moon. I am sure that this trip to Jerusalem is the closest thing to a vacation that Joseph and Mary ever got.  It cannot have been much of a vacation. 

                Why did they do it? 

·         Simeon – waiting at the gates. 

·         Anna – waiting at the gates. 

·         Mary and Joseph, yearly, headed to the Temple. 

Joseph and Mary went every year.  Scripture indicates a good Jew should make one pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but they loved God so much that they were willing to go above and beyond the call of duty observing Passover. 

                I believe Luke wants to tell us what kind of people had influence in Jesus’ life.  They are people devoted to God.  That makes sense, doesn't it! 

·         God would not have chosen Mary had she not been that kind of woman. 

·         Joseph would not have been in the picture had he not been that kind of man. 

·         God chose them, God chose Simeon and Anna because they are the kind of people who would take Jesus to Jerusalem every year for Passover. 

 

                It made a difference!  Jesus grew up in a family that is devoted to God, and it makes a difference for him.  Jesus is human, and he needed the nurture that his human family offered.

·         When he came from heaven to earth, he accepted the limitations of human flesh. 

·         He began life as a helpless infant. 

·         His parents had to diaper him. 

·         He caught colds. 

·         He got ear aches. 

·         He experienced all the miseries and all the joys of a normal Jewish baby. 

·         And he grew. 

By the time he had grown into a twelve-year-old boy––very different from the helpless infant of the manger.  He was bright!  His insights amazed people!  But Jesus wasn't finished growing yet.  Luke tells us that this twelve-year-old boy grew in wisdom––and he grew in stature––and he grew in his relationship with God––and he grew in his relationships with other people. 

                Even as a very bright twelve-year-old, Jesus had lots of growing yet to do.

·         He did that growing in a family who journeys to Jerusalem every year for the Passover. 

·         He did his growing in a family who goes beyond the call of duty to honor God. 

·         He did his growing in a family who helps him to develop strong ties to his Heavenly Father. 

Life in that kind of family made Jesus strong.  It prepared him for life.  It prepared him for death.  It prepared him for whatever he might face. We will see that in a few weeks.  On February 17, the First Sunday in Lent, we will see Jesus begin his ministry.  Do you remember how Luke continues to describe the story?  Jesus begins his ministry with the temptation in the wilderness! 

·         Satan tries to get Jesus to make bread from a stone.

·         He tries to get Jesus to take the easy way and to worship Satan.

·         He tries to get Jesus to jump-start his ministry with a spectacular stunt.

But Jesus passes every temptation.  He counters every temptation with scripture. 

                Where did he learn those scriptures?   He learned the scriptures from Mary and Joseph in their home.  He learned the scriptures in the synagogue, where Mary and Joseph took him to worship––and to learn.  He learned the scriptures in Jerusalem, where Mary and Joseph took him every year to observe Passover. 

                So when the test came––Satan's temptations––Jesus is ready.  When the test comes, Jesus passes it with flying colors.  He is able to pass the test because he had grown strong in a family that goes to Jerusalem for Passover every year––in a family that goes beyond the call of duty to honor God––in a family that worships in the synagogue every Sabbath––in a family that gives thanks at the dinner table––in a family that prays together––in a family that told him about a man named Simeon and woman named Anna. 

                What does that have to do with us?  It gives us a model of a family.  It gives us a model for growing strong kids.  It gives us a model for growing kids who can handle temptation. 

·         It is NOT a kid-centered family. 

·         It is a GOD-centered family. 

Parents in kid-centered families think that they need to give their kids everything.  No, give them yourself.  Give them your time.  Give them your love.  Give them your faith. Do what you can to help them to adopt good values.  Do what you can to help them to learn that God is their loving Father––and that Jesus came to Earth to save them––to save them from ordinariness––to forgive their sins.

                Jesus didn't grow up in a KID-centered family.  He grew up in a GOD-centered family.  He grew up in a family that sacrificed nice-to-have things so that they could observe Passover in Jerusalem every year.  Growing up in a family like that made Jesus strong.  It gave him the strength to resist temptation once he was on his own.

                Someone put it this way:  To discover what you are to leave behind – our true place in life, we need to discover, not WHO we are, but WHOSE we are.  Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple when he was eight days old and then again, year-after-year. I helped Jesus to learn WHOSE he was––to whom he belonged. Only then could Jesus know what he wanted to do before he died.

 

Straight to Bethlehem

“Straight to Bethlehem”

It is a hasty trip to Bethlehem – not an expected trip. According to Luke, the Emperor issued a decree requiring everyone to return to their hometown for registration of taxation.  And we think we have it bad! We have Turbotax, until April 15^th and if we want, we can file for an extension!

Joseph is a Bethlehem boy, so here they go – an 8 ½ month pregnant woman and her husband, 80 miles down a dusty, dirt & rock road to be taxed.  Have you ever wondered what this trip was like?  

·        Mary is pregnant, her body is changing. I am sure her bladder reminded her of these facts often.

·        She still has a stigma attached of being pregnant prior to the wedding’s  “taking home ceremony,”  and,

·        She was still getting acquainted with Joseph, someone she is now married to, but in name only.

The 80 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem through hostile territory would be at least an 8-day trek, for someone in wonderful shape, and Mary’s shape is anything but a perfect athletic specimen.  

They would have joined with others going south to register. It was the norm for people to travel these routes in groups to avoid robbers and bandits. Once off the cliff where Nazareth stands, through the mountains of Galilee, there were two possible routes:

·        A path taking them through Samaria; or,

·        The possibility of crossing the Jordan River, going south through an area now called the Kingdom of Jordan, then crossing back over the river near the town of Jericho and traveling through the Judean Wilderness into Bethlehem. 

I have taken both of these paths – but in a bus.  Even then it was dusty and long.  Regardless of the stories, a modest man probably does not have a donkey.  And Joseph is a modest man. Perhaps, once or twice, a kind farmer or another traveler will let Mary ride a short way in his or her cart. But think about it, walking might have been easier for a woman 8 ½ months pregnant than riding a donkey.

Mary is a teenager by this time and a hardy one, as most people of the time had to be to survive. Even so, 13 years old and 8 ½ months pregnant does not a good traveler make: her back hurt and her feet are sore—I dare say she had indigestion most of the time. I dare say she was not the best traveling companion. And, Mary is still a woman – with duties/chores women perform:

·        When fuel is available, Mary has to cook meals over an open fire; and

·        When water is available, Mary still has to wash anything they are not wearing. 

·        They slept either on the hard ground, or in strange beds infested with heaven knows what kind of itchy creatures.

 

We do not know what path they took.  But as I shared week before last, Joseph is a pious Jew who follows the rules of his religion.  As such, I believe Mary and Joseph do not travel through Samaria – they are good Jews. I believe they take the longer route, crossing the river.  The route, while longer, is easier and safer than going over the hills and mountains of Samaria. Also, the temperature would be milder than on the mountains. Then, just before they reach the Dead Sea, they cross back over the Jordan River, perhaps spending the night in the city of Jericho – the oldest city in Palestine, the city where Jesus will later find a man sitting in a sycamore tree!

Today there is a road from Jericho to Bethlehem, but during this time, there was only one way to travel: through a valley called, “the Wadi Khelp.” Now, a wadi is a large gulley or wash-out. In Palestine, there is little water most of the year.  So, when it rains, the area quickly washes out!  Water would fly through the valley, creating a gulley, cutting a path – not as deep as the Grand Canyon, but the same principle. Anything in the gully would be washed away! 

Just above the wadi is a road: part of the ground that has not yet washed away, with places where gullies exist on both sides. It is frightening when the rains come – the road or path could easily wash away.  The roadway at the Wadi Khelp is believed to be the road Jesus is speaking about when he tells the story of the Good Samaritan who encountered a man beaten and robbed. During Mary and Joseph’s time, thieves often waited behind rocks for someone not traveling in a group to pass by! Here is where protection comes from traveling in a group! The wadi overlooks the barren Wilderness of Judea – this is the area where 30 years later Jesus would face his temptations!  

 

After at least an 8-day journey, Mary and Joseph arrive in Bethlehem. I am sure they want to wash up and settle in for a good sleep.  But, trust me, they do not look find a Hilton or Romanda Inn. An “inn” would have been a simple room, perhaps a loft of a house where caravans would spend the occasional night.  But, I have heard scholars say they believe Luke may have been speaking about Joseph’s own parent’s home.

If so, it is an actual house with one or two rooms and a loft for guests.  To get into the loft, you must climb a ladder – not an easy task for a pregnant woman.  The house is built over a basement area – or, a cave, where the animals are kept.  There are many caves in the Bethlehem area providing shelter for livestock and the shepherds. All the stones are built up into a fence to keep the livestock safe.

Often a cave would have more than one chamber. The animals will stay in the outer chamber, their body-heat providing insulation for the family or the shepherds who sleep deeper within the cave. This is similar to what Eskimos do with their dogs. The inner cave is referred to as a manger.

There is no “manager or innkeeper of the inn,” as we often imagine in our Christmas plays.  But perhaps the home-owner, perhaps Joseph’s own mother or father, allows Mary and Joseph to use the manger, the back-section of the cave. Not only was it easier for Mary, it afforded more privacy than the loft upstairs. It is here, in a cave, Mary gave birth!

On five or six occasions, I have visited a cave in Bethlehem believed to be the actual cave where Jesus was born. I have taken several teams and witnessed their awe as they see the space, now adorned with a star.  And I have gone deeper into the caves, seeing exactly what it must have been like for Mary and Joseph! I guess we might say God is born into the world as a caveman! It is a humbling thing to stand there and think here, right here, the Word became flesh and came and dwelt among us (John 1)!

 

Well, the end of our journey has arrived:  Our days of watching and waiting and preparing are coming to an end tomorrow evening. We will celebrate.  If it’s not purchased or packed or wrapped or baked or decorated or hemmed or mailed, it will not be, so give it a rest.  The travel to Bethlehem is all about surprise.

·        The angel Gabriel tells Mary that she would conceive and bear a son, and he would be the Savior of the world. Mary is surprised, “How can this be?” But, she agreed, “Let it be!”

·        Joseph is told that his fiancée is pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Joseph is both shocked and angry, but then, against his own personal viewpoint, he agrees to keep his part in the Christmas play.

·        Elizabeth and Zechariah are astonished.  Here she is, an older woman, beyond child-bearing age, but she is pregnant. The angel announces that their child, Elizabeth’s child would usher in news of the Messiah, for whom the world had waited for a thousand years.

There is one more surprise trip to Bethlehem. It is one we sing about every year: shepherds keeping their flocks by night. 

·        They were shepherds, after all, not kings, not important village folk!

·        They were the uneducated, irreligious, uncouth and unlikely, but it is to them that the news first came.

·        “Do not be afraid” the angel said, but of course they were afraid; they were terrified.

What happens next is a marvelous miracle, one of many that happens on that first Christmas night. When the angels depart, the shepherds said to one another “Let us go straight over to Bethlehem and see this thing which the angel has made known to us.” And they went! Scripture says that the shepherds went with haste to Bethlehem and found it just as it had been told them.

·        Note that they did not form a committee;

·        They didn’t stop to consider the economic impact;

·        They didn’t take a poll, or call in consultants, or request more information from the angel.

They went! They left their charge! They ran with haste! Immediately! And they found it exactly as the angel had said.

 

But what does all of this mean to us, some 2016-2018 years removed from that holy night? We do not even know what year it was, but we think it actually took place between 6-4 BCE, due to other records we have on people like Herod and Augustus.

·        In 2012, shepherds have all but disappeared from our world;

·        The town of Bethlehem is an epicenter of conflict and bitterness between the off-spring of those of Jesus’ day and those who immigrated in the 20^th century; and,

·        We seem to do everything “with haste,” except consider whether there is any room for Jesus in our lives.

What does it all mean to us…today…in this present age?

Three things, I think:

1.     The first is that Jesus still wants to come into the lives of the plain and ordinary people in the little towns of this world. Common folk: people with lives filled with menial tasks and significant challenges, and often, just trying to survive. People, we have met the shepherds and they are us.

o   Nothing special.

o   Nothing extraordinary.

But, still people chosen by God to receive the greatest gift ever given. “This very night, a Savior has been born, for you.”

I know for a fact that there are many in our midst whose lives are hard:

o   You wonder where your life is headed.

o   You wonder if anything you do counts for anything.

o   You wonder if God hears your prayers.

Welcome to the shepherds’ guild. A Savior has been born for you!

 

2.     The second this has to do with fear. “Do not be afraid” the angel said. Well, easier said than done.

o   We live in a world of rumors and threats and “code oranges.”

o   We still have loved ones facing illness and death.

o   We have talk about a “financial cliff.”

o   We see our hope fading – our relationships strained.

Of course, we become afraid. To be afraid is to be human. To simply say “Don’t be afraid” doesn’t cut it! But that’s not what the angel said. The angel said, “Don’t be afraid, for I bring you good news a great joy; a Savior has been born for you.”

 

3.     And the final thing is this: the shepherds went to Bethlehem.

o   They didn’t have to go;

o   The angels did not command they go;

o   God did not require it, but the invitation is offered, “This shall be a sign for you; a baby, wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

The shepherds go straight to Bethlehem, not to see if it was true, but because they believe it is true. They know the world has suddenly changed, and they want to celebrate that fact. And I think that’s why we are here today.

Some may have come to church today because your parents made you when you were little, or your spouse “required” you to come, or your children guilted you into coming. That’s okay; we’re just glad you’re here! But most have come because, like the shepherds, you believe the message of the angels, “A Savior has been born, one who will bridge the gap between a sinful world and a gracious God. So you’ve come.”

·        God has touched us with a promise that has taken root in your heart. So you’ve come.

·        Though you are ordinary…though you are sinful shepherds and so am I…a Savior has been born for us, and we have a reason to celebrate.

·        We have reason to come and see!

Barbara Brown Taylor puts it this way... she says that Christmas is the time “when the membrane between heaven and earth is so thin you can almost see through it.” This church’s sanctuary, so beautifully decorated for the season, has become a waiting room. We find ourselves pacing the floor nervously until we get news the baby is born. That’s where we are.

Thanks be to God! Merry Christmas! The Savior is born! Amen and so be it!