Jesus and the Church: Week 1

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0:00 For the rest of us, I'm looking at this story in Luke this morning, right after the traditional Jesus or Christmas story in Luke chapter 2, starting at verse 22. It's funny, the tradition I grew up in, there's a lot of, it's a big deal to give

0:35 someone your pulpit. So there's a lot of regulations you go through before someone be able to preach out of church. So you're not preaching growing up, you're not preaching like in youth group. And then if a pastor is out of church and needs a break, he's got to find someone that's certified to preach for him. And so when we were in seminary, one of the earliest things you do in seminary is get certified to be able to preach. Then there's all these churches around who the pastor can call a seminary and ask for

1:09 someone to come preach and then you get to practice your messages. The sermon you always get is the Sunday after Christmas, right? Because every pastor wants a break. And the text that is usually given, traditionally given for the Sunday after Christmas is this one in Luke chapter 2, verse 22, right where they're going to present Jesus to have to temple. So I got good at this one because I felt like I did a lot.

1:49 The story of Simeon and Anna. And so like any passage of scripture, if you spend time in it, you tend to start to really like it. You find little different corners in the text and that old midrash that the text, the script here is like a diamond that you can turn it an infinite number of times and see it from a different angle and see something different inside of it. It's true for this story for me. And it's a good, calm Sunday story for us to look at.

2:22 So let's look at Luke chapter 2 starting at verse 22. Really the story starts up at 21 even though they put a text break at 22. Verse 21 says, and at the end of eight days when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Of course, this is maybe the first indication to the outside world, people that don't know Mary and Joseph well that Jesus is something different because your first son, you would

2:55 almost certainly name the name of his dad. Zachariah had the same problem with John the Baptist. They didn't know why he would name him John instead of Zachariah. So it's conspicuous that they name him Jesus meaning something around God saves. And then the eight days, now remember that circumcision was a big deal because when God was establishing circumcision, when God looks at you, if you follow the story of Scripture,

3:29 he does something different with Abram where he's like, I can't deal with all humanity in mass all the time. I've got to, they are not finding their way to me or the life they were made for. So what I've got to do, it seems like when you follow the story is God realizes that humanity needs God's presence closer to them. Of course, the problem is that the fatal flaw of humanity is that we are sure we make better God than God himself.

3:59 And so when God comes down closer, proximate and present, our fatal flaw wanted to be God. There's just like almost like two magnets repelling. It creates problems. This is why Adam and Eve had to leave the garden for their own sake, right? They not be destined to this life of guilt and shame. So God says, I'm going to bring my presence down, but he realizes then that he needs to establish a whole system.

4:30 And he can get his presence into a group of people with a system where they can handle and physically and then emotionally allow God to be God through this sacrificial system, acknowledging his rules and laws that changes the relationship where it fights against their fatal flaw of wanting to be God. They have this sacrificial system that reinforces the idea that God is God and they are not. Then his presence can come down and be among them and it will change their whole experience of life.

5:00 And the rest of the world will look to Israel and say, oh man, that's the life we were made for. And he starts this relationship by saying Abraham, Abraham, right? Then Isaac and Jacob. And then all coming out of the into the desert where he really establishes it strong, right? Where he says, I know all the world is saying that we, that you should sacrifice your kids. So many of the other gods, you would sacrifice periods of your kids to the gods. He says, instead of doing that, I want to know that when your kids are eight days old,

5:35 when they're young, too young to make a decision, too young to do anything. Give them the mark of my covenant that says my blessing goes down to them as well because I love you so much. I'll include your children in my covenant blessings. And so on and off with intermittent frequency, the people of God followed the practice of circumcision because it was a distinctive, says the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is different. His love is the initiator, not the responder to our sacrifice.

6:10 He includes our children before they can make a choice for him. He chooses them. And so we could talk for a long time about the significance that Jesus goes through the right of circumcision. St. Basil the Great used to say, whatever Christ inhabits, he blessed it. Physical body, waters of baptism, right of circumcision. We could talk about that for a long time, but I just want to pause there for a second to

6:41 recognize that we see the character of God in circumcision and Jesus doesn't push it aside. You can remember when in the sermon on the Mount when he says, I didn't come to abolish the law and the prophets but to fulfill them, to bring them to their fullest, most complete sense. There's nothing wrong with the law and the prophets. The thing that's wrong is with us, our inability to keep them. Jesus keeps them fully. And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought

7:13 them up to Jerusalem to present them to the Lord. Lastly, Luke is the one who mentions this story and as we said on Christmas Eve, he gets in depth with the story of Jesus probably because we're thinking he had so much content from Mary and God bless Mary for remembering this and having the courage to tell it all to Luke so that we could learn from it. Because we'll see from this story of the circumcision, we learn that we're a characteristic of God is reinforced that is really helpful.

7:44 And 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 male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, verse 24. And to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle dogs or two young pigeons. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon and this man was righteous and

8:15 devout waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the spirit to the temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word.

8:46 For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. We are going to talk about Simeon and Anna but first this guy is Simeon. He is an old guy. He is waiting for the consolation of Israel for Israel to be controlled, to be told for

9:21 Israel for the people of God who have been in the land and exiled and back in the land but occupied, promised to be the blessing to the world but seemed like a backwoods country paying tribute to the powers that be waiting for the consolation of Israel. For Israel to have and the Holy Spirit had told him he wouldn't pass on until he had seen the consolation of Israel.

9:52 I like that it says that Simeon came to the temple in the spirit. The spirit of the Lord was upon him and he came to the temple in the spirit. So Simeon is going through his day and something tells him, you know what, I ought to go to the temple and that something is the original spirit of God. The reason I like this so much is because Simeon is like one old dude. Like one old dude in the world and God, the spirit of God, has just accomplished the incarnation.

10:33 The incarnation over in the womb of Mary is like a second creation. It says that God the Father wills and then Gabriel says that the spirit will overshadow you just like the spirit hovers over the waters of the deep and the word of God will be constituted in you. This is like the Trinity aligning only like it does in creation. The story of the incarnation tells us that not only is it something only God could do, even God can't undo it.

11:04 Forever now the second person of the Trinity is encleshed in the person of Jesus and Azers. Forever you get there, now or in the end, when you meet Jesus, still have real arms and eyes and mouth and ears to hear the words that you tell them you'll have real body. The incarnation is this miraculous God-sized act that only God could bring into the world and even God cannot undo or take out of the world. And he accomplishes this unique act because he's changing the arc of human history.

11:39 He's securing a permanent future for all of humanity. This is the undoing of everything that is wrong in the world. This is the beginning of everything that is right in the world. This is the first act of the little incarnated baby. God could not be caught up in larger things. And while he's changing the course of all creation forever, he doesn't forget one old

12:11 dude, Simeon, who has a dying wish. Holy cow. The same spirit that constituted the word in the womb of Mary hovers over Simeon and nudges him and says, you want your dying wish? Step over here, sir. Wow. Look, I know God is generous.

12:44 He makes the world out of his own imagination and gives it to us unbidden and unasked for sins as done while we were yet sinners and also gives dear old Simeon his dying wish. God cares about people. God cares about people. I love that.

13:15 This prayer that then Simeon others once again, God bless Mary for remembering it for us. I'm sure by the time Luke writes down the gospel, Simeon has moved on. And so it comes to us no doubt through Mary herself. Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word for my eyes

13:46 have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. A light to reveal who God is to the people outside of Israel and for glory to Israel, for glory, for Israel to be seen as what it is, for the people of God to be seen for

14:17 who they are. And here's this thing about Jesus. I said he didn't come to abolish the law and the prophet put to fulfill them when you follow the story of Jesus, especially in the way that Matthew tells it. You realize that Jesus goes through life fulfilling everything that Israel could not. Like when he passes through the waters of baptism, much like Israel goes through the Red Sea. And then after they go through the Red Sea, they go out into the desert wandering for

14:49 40 years and Jesus goes out into the desert for 40 days in his tempest. And then he goes up to the Mount of Sinai, but Jesus goes up to the Mount to give his sermon on the Mount, the re-giving of the law. Jesus is Israel reduced to one. So now, whereas God's reputation was stake on this whole group of people who would fail miserably succeed in small ways and then fail again, now if you want to see who the God

15:22 of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is, you look to the Christ, which is why all of his followers now are called little Christ, little Christians. There's a degree that we look like people of Jesus, then we carry the emblem, the image of God, but the fullest image of God is found in Jesus, a light to pour revelation to the Gentiles and the glory. Israel revealed for what it is in the person of Jesus. Beautiful. This little prayer of Simeon is sometimes called the Song of Simeon, historically it was called

15:57 the Nunk to Middis. It becomes written in the Latin, becomes said in masses for generations, right? Sung beautifully in crowds. The Nunk to Middis, it's this beautiful prayer that the Spirit gives to Simeon and he speaks to Mary and Joseph. Mary remembers Luke writes down and we have it here, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word.

16:27 Here it starts. God, indeed, you are good. You did not, Simeon says, you did not forget the little quiet desire in my heart while you were caught up in the arc of human history. For my eyes have seen the salvation year prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people, Israel. He was the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to

17:03 be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the first to be the thoughts for many hearts will be revealed. He is finishing a prophecy to marry about the life of Jesus, then verse 36.

17:34 And there was a prophetess Anna, the daughter of Fanuel of the tribe of Asher. They work hard for us to know specifically who this woman is. Look for another place in the Gospels where they give you this much information on someone.

18:04 And there was a prophetess Anna, the daughter of Fanuel of the tribe of Asher. Luke is doing everything he can to call out this one woman. Why? Because the God of creation does. And there was a prophetess Anna, the daughter of Fanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin and then was a widow until she was 84.

18:39 Now it's not like she got married when she was 50 and lived with her husband until she was 57 and now is 84. Right? If she lived with her husband for seven years, she was like in her early twenties probably when he died. Right? Okay, living with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin and then as a widow until she was 84. She did not depart from the temple. She had been in fasting with fasting and prayer night and day.

19:12 It's a kind of a dual reason for that. One, widows without husbands have trouble taking care of themselves, right? Which is why the church has tried to take care of the widows and the orphans. And so if she stays at the church, she probably has a place to eat and a place to sleep where she's taken care of. And also though, she's like. I mean, can we say 60 years living at the church by herself, praying and fasting.

19:48 This little old lady living in the church, you come and go out of the temple. You come there maybe on high few states, maybe three times a year, four times a year and you see little old Anna in the corner because she's always there for 60 years. She's there not bothering anybody, praying and fasting her life away. And just so happens that the God of creation and life is restoring humanity to their intended

20:22 end, preparing a way for humanity to find their home in a recreated heaven and earth. He's doing it in the incarnated word in the person of Jesus of Nazareth and that young baby eight days old, the salvation of the world walks into the temple and God clues little Anna in. God blessing. He didn't want her to miss it. He let Herod miss it. He let the chief priest miss it.

20:56 He let the emperor miss it. He let Mary's family miss it. He let the neighbors in Bethlehem miss it. But he was not going to let little Anna miss it. What does this tell us about our God? God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Having lived with her husband seven years when she was a virgin and then as a widow until she was 84, she did not depart from the temple, worshiping and fasting with prayer night

21:29 and day and coming up at that very hour to be ending your thanks to God and to speak to of him to a hall who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem. Speak to them all who were waiting for the judgments of Jerusalem, Saint. Here it is, man. I started thinking about this a little bit more. That's usually what I got. I got to that part usually for us when I was like the seminary and the sign of preach for the pastor who didn't want to preach on the Sunday after Christmas. Wow.

22:01 This God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob pays attention to small people. Is unimpressed by power and wealth, but pays attention to the position of your heart. What is the position of your heart? This week I started thinking further though that this is a pattern good heavens for God. Not even just for God, but also for Jesus.

22:34 Remember when he's walking on the triumphal entry, he's making his way into Jerusalem. He's going to go pick up the donkey and the coach are going to be in the palm fronds and the Pharisees are going to say this is too big of a parade. He's going to draw the attention of the Romans, tell your people to be quiet. Jesus is on his way to that. He's raised lazzards from the dead. He's got a whole crew of people. They're walking through Jericho and one blind beggar calls out to him and everybody says,

23:04 dude, this guy is way more important than you. Would you keep it down? We're on our way to a big deal. The guy calls out all the more loudly and Jesus stops and says, hey, man, come and stand right here in front of me instead of calling out from the side of the road. Makes the whole entourage stop that will mount a parade for the triumphal entry and says, Bartimaeus, what can I do for you?

23:36 Bartimaeus does, sir, I'd like to see. Or even when he's like teaching the disciples and the little children come running to Jesus and they say, surely this teacher is too important for these little children. We're doing important things. And he says, y'all better quit. If you don't approach the kingdom of heaven like these little children, you'll never get in.

24:07 God is not impressed with your good work, with your power or your influence, with your money. God is impressed with the posture of your heart. This says, Lord, I'm waiting for you to do for me the thing that I need. What is it? A constellation of Israel? And I used to see joy in sadness, perseverance through despair, hope amidst confusion, creativity

24:52 amidst boredom. And the God that thought up Christmas is willing to pay attention to you. I just hope, like Simeon who developed ears to hear the Holy Spirit move when the Holy

25:24 Spirit called him like, like Anna, we might have space. Like little children to know the right person to ask, like Bartimaeus to call out on the side of the road that we would be people who are not afraid to ask the God of Christmas for what we need. Let me pray. Hey, Lord, increase our faith this morning. Give us courage and hope to ask in faith for what we need to be a part of your story

26:07 to receive your consolation to celebrate your hope and joy. In Jesus name we pray.