Mircea Eliade is one of the most prolific writers on the origins of theology today, and
in his book "The Sacred and the Profane," he tells how religious people have always tried to relate to
the world in an attempt to create a godly order out of chaos. I think very few people would doubt that we are presently
in a time when former patterns of living in the world have broken down, and whether you would go so far as to say
we are presently living in chaos, the truth is that it has certainly made the work of teaching spirituality more
difficult.
I say that because there are far fewer points of commonality among the average congregation. Former images and
stories no longer have the same impact as they once did, since they are no longer common knowledge and experience,
and while some who still find them to be powerful sincerely argue "that's the problem, and that's where we
need to get back to," the reality is that would be tantamount to trying to reconstruct a new foundation under
a skyscraper which is still under construction at the top. Two very important areas in life continue to exist however,
though both are severely damaged - the first is the family and the second the Church.
There is a concept that was part of early church theology from the very beginning which is at the heart of our
gospel today, and is why we have a Sunday devoted to the "Holy Family," and that is that the family is
the "domestic church." But what model can we use to define "family" today, or for that matter
"Church"?
The reality is that the family is seldom what it once was, or at least what we once envisioned it could, or should
be. Yesterday's Ozzie and Harriet is today's Osbornes. Many who find themselves seeking God on Sunday morning are
also seeking some kind of reconciliation or peace with a family member from whom they are estranged, be it their
own parents, or a willful child. Many of your own children, because of divorce and remarriage, have only visitation
rights to some of their children and often have more normal relations with step-children than they do their own.
We no longer live as extended families in the same village or region, but now find ourselves scattered across the
country, and sometimes across the globe. And since the tradition of not marrying outside of one's childhood faith
is long since past, very few families have any consistent ancestral traditions to pass on.
Some of this "current chaos" can be found in the Gospel narrative as well. The First Century and the
Twenty-First are not as far removed as we might think. Jesus, Mary and Joseph also find themselves "a long
way from home," and yet in today's narrative they are able to find a connection in two very elderly people
whose lives are centered at the Temple in Jerusalem. Simeon and Anna are as thrilled to see this child as any doting
aunt or uncle would be. The proclamations they make about him are stunning, and yet they have the form of the kind
of loving remarks that would be made by closest kin.
Strangers who once again discover that it is God who brings order out of the chaos, that it is God who will show
us the way, are re-enacting the Creation Story, the Exodus, the Gospels, and the Revelation. Such simple and yet
profound discoveries enable us to co-act with God just as did the handmaid of the Lord, who birthed the Kingdom
into the world.
And Luke tells us "The child grew, and became strong, and filled with wisdom." That is such an ideal
vision of what we could hope for any child. Yet our reality is that we live in a world filled with countries and
national leaders who have grown, and become strong, but seem to need all our combined prayers that they might also
have wisdom. How can we rejoice in the Christmas message of peace and joy,…when we keep hearing the world's messages
of war and power? When the list of potential enemies grows daily, and we become more and more convinced that we
know less and less of what is the real truth?
How do we go successfully from the "magic of Christmas" back to the reality of life, and not feel as
though the experience was just a holiday from the dark side?
Luke struggled with the same problem in narrating the life of Jesus. After the magic of the first half of chapter
two we find ourselves back at the level of practicalities. Like his cousin, John (1:59), Jesus is circumcised on
the 8th day and, like his cousin, John, Jesus is also named on that day. Luke intentionally sets both of these
events in parallel.
According to popular etymology, the name Jesus meant "Yahweh is salvation." Jesus' family showed a preference
for using names from the ancient epics of Israel, such as James (Jacob), Joses (Joseph), Jude (Judah), Simeon,
and here Jesus (Joshua). The family was not very "trendy" avoiding the more fashionable Hellenistic names
of the time like Andrew or Jason (a common equivalent for Joshua). Luke no doubt assumed that most of his audience
would be very attuned to what all of these names meant, and how the name itself would be an indicator of what one
could expect from that particular child. Salvation will return as a key theme in the latter part of the chapter,
just as it was in the words of the angels to the shepherds: "For to you is born a savior" (2:11).
And Luke continues to keep us focused on practicalities, the practicalities of the Law. Mary had given birth to
a male child. She was, according to Leviticus 12:2-4 "unclean" for 33 days. Modern readers, or hearers
of this story often equate "unclean" with defiled or impure, when in reality the ancients connected "unclean"
with having come into mystical contact with the creative forces of God. So whenever one experienced an event like
birth, or death, or had contact with blood which was believed to be the life force, one was "unclean,"
by virtue of the fact that they had come too close to the very veil of life itself.
Luke portrays the couple as being especially observant, even super-observant, going up to the temple, which was
not required for the purification at all, but only for the offering in relation to the firstborn. He fails to mention
the required payment of 5 shekels, but does include the offering of the pair of birds to reflects the option for
the poor, who could not afford a lamb. This cluster of practical legalities has its purpose for Luke, who continues
to repeat "in accordance with the law of Moses", "according to what is written in the law of the
Lord", and a few verses later, "according to the custom of the law." The section ends with and "When
they had completed everything in accordance with the law of the Lord" so that we will know for certain that
not only the names, but also the practices of Jesus' family demonstrate that they are devout followers of Torah.
They are the best of true Israel, as also was John's family.
Luke is concerned with continuity, and he is writing his gospel at a time when it was important to prove that Christians
were not simply followers of another new religion, but part of a tradition with a long and evolving history. He
goes so far as to say that Jesus did not come to abolish any of the old laws, but rather to fulfill them.
Simeon and Anna are true saints of Israel, primarily because they both moved and lived in the Spirit. As wise and
aged people they hail this child. They are prophets who may be frail and able to achieve little that counts on
the scale of economic rationalists, but who are rich sources of wisdom. The name Simeon in the Hebrew language
means "to hear,"
and Luke tells us that though he had been longing for the consolation or liberation of Israel, now he "sees"
it. And Anna, whose name means "grace", when coupled with "the daughter of Phanuel," which
means "face of God," and "of the tribe of Asher," which translates "blessed," becomes
"Grace from the blessed face of God."
That "grace" would continue to fall upon Jesus over the course of the next thirty years, the silent years
that we know nothing about. Did Jesus visit India, or Alexandria, or spend time at Qumran, or even stroll the hills
of England all the stuff of legends? We can never know for sure. Yet, just as Simeon and Anna grew old, nourished
by the passions of hope and liberation, so this child grew as a child of his people's hope, nurtured in a household
devoted to taking scripture seriously, including cultural practices which are strange to us but were real to them.
Luke wants us to be "on the side" of Jesus' people, and with the cries of people everywhere who long
for liberation - big liberation which reaches from individual release to community justice and peace. His gospel
was revolutionary…but who knew? Only those with eyes to see and ears to hear. We have just come from Christmas,
and with the start of a new year, we are being encouraged to re- evaluate our role as the Church in this present
age. In the words of martyred bishop Oscar Romero let us remember that:
No one can celebrate a genuine Christmas
without being truly poor.
The self-sufficient, the proud,
those who, because they have everything,
look down on others, those who have no need of God -
for them there will be no Christmas.
Only the poor, the hungry, those who need someone
to come on their behalf, will have that someone.
That someone is God, Emmanuel, God-with-us.
Without poverty of spirit there can be
no abundance of God.
Who knew? May we be so blessed to be counted among them. |