First Sunday after Christmas

First Sunday after Christmas 27 December 2020 | Sermon on Luke 2:22-40 | By Brad Everett | 

There is much of the miraculous in today’s gospel lesson. Simeon, a man righteous and devout, on whom the Holy Spirit rested, is guided by that same Spirit to the temple so God’s promise that he would not see death before seeing the Lord’s Messiah might be fulfilled. Holding the infant Jesus in his arms Simeon praises God and confirms for Mary and Joseph what the angel had already told them about their son as well as foretelling to Mary how she herself would suffer.

Not long after this, a prophet by the name of Anna approached the young family and she too began to praise God and speak about the baby Jesus to anyone and everyone within earshot who was waiting for the coming Messiah of God.

The events of the Christmas story were already wondrous for Mary and Joseph, and now here, out of the blue, two complete strangers, directed by the Holy Spirit, approach them separately in the holy temple of God in Jerusalem to affirm the prophecies concerning the child. Prophecies the people of Israel had been waiting centuries to be fulfilled, prophecies that would change the course of history not just for Israel but for the entire world—the effects of which we experience still today—would be accomplished in the life of the infant they held in their arms.

Yet all of this happens in the context of the ordinary and mundane. Everyone is simply doing what they know to do on that given day. Mary and Joseph are following the religious practices of their time, the Law of Moses—40 days after giving birth the mother and father bring their firstborn son to the temple to present him to the Lord and offer a sacrifice according to the Law. An important occasion for the little family, but so too for however many other families were at the temple to do the same thing.

Simeon, it said, was guided there by the Holy Spirit, but there is no sense this was a unique event. As one on whom the Holy Spirit rested, it’s probable he was often at the temple and having his words and deeds guided by the Spirit wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary. There’s no indication he went there with the knowledge that “today’s the day” God’s promise that he would see the Lord’s anointed was going to be fulfilled. Rather it appears he was simply being obedient to the leading of the Spirit, which is, often than not, undramatic.

And Anna—her day began as another in a life of obedience and worship. Widowed after seven years of marriage she was now 84, constantly in the temple, worshipping there with fasting and prayer night and day. Again, she’s where she’s supposed to be, doing what she knows she’s supposed to do, content and consistent in the life God called her to.

Now of course, if you were to compare Anna to a random sample of other 84-year-old widows in Jerusalem, her life might seem unique or even odd. And the same might even be said of Simeon in comparison to other men in his demographic. But for them, this was just another day.

It’s as these people go about another day of faithful living, that the miraculous occurs. Simply, but prayerfully, doing the next thing they believed God intended for them to do. Not necessarily expecting or anticipating the miraculous, but focused on what it meant for them to be faithful that day. And in then in God’s time and his manner, brought them all together on that day, in that place, so that Mary and Joseph might have the Word God spoke to them confirmed, Simeon would have God’s promise to him kept, and Anna know for herself and then tell others, the prophecy of the Messiah was fulfilled.

This is good and godly counsel held up for us in Holy Scripture today. As we come to the end of a year that was rife with chaos, confusion and the unexpected, we can find ourselves scrambling to sort out what 2021 will look like and what we can do to prepare for it.

This gospel shows us a different way. Problem solving and preparation aren’t bad, but they aren’t to be the focus of our lives as followers of Christ—that would be faithfulness. It’s as we are faithful, that God works out his purposes among and through.

What does it look like for us to be faithful to Jesus on this day, in this place, at this moment in our lives? Not looking to the left or right to compare ourselves to others and what they may or may not be doing. But simply walking with God in this time and place, doing the next thing he has put before you to do, much like we just heard Mary, Joseph, Simeon and Anna did.

So, time in prayer, reading and thinking on Scripture. Gathering for worship as you can and are able to do these days. Being intentional about what you give your attention to i.e. are you fixated on the negative or looking to see where and how God is graciously at work? Taking care of your daily routine of chores and tasks. Trying to be mindful of the words you speak and actions you do, over the course of the day, that they might in some way convey God’s grace to others. Being open to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to pray for someone who comes to mind or giving them a call. Offering a hand and help to someone you know who needs it. Looking for ways to remind and be reminded of God’s love and mercy for you and for all.

And in doing so, being comfortable and content that your version of all this may or may not, to varying degrees, look like what another brother or sister in Christ is doing. Recalling how faithfulness looked similar and different for Mary, Joseph, Simeon and Anna and God used it all—and continued to, as after their encounter at the temple Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus return to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth, back to the ordinary, the everyday and the next steps in their journey of faith.

As we move into a new calendar year, may we trust that as we live faithfully in the ordinary God can and will use us to accomplish his purposes—perhaps even occasionally giving us a glimpse of the extraordinary.

Pr. Brad Everett

Ascension Lutheran Church, Calgary, AB