The Gift of Silence & Sacred Space
Simple Gifts - Part 5
Sunday, December 31, 2023
Habakkuk 2:20, Psalm 46:10, Luke 2:25-40
Simeon took Jesus in his arms and praised God. He said, “Now, master, let your servant go in peace according to your word, because my eyes have seen your salvation. You prepared this salvation in the presence of all peoples. It’s a light for revelation to the Gentiles and a glory for your people Israel.”
His father and mother were amazed by what was said about him...
There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, who belonged to the tribe of Asher. She was very old. After she married, she lived with her husband for seven years. She was now an 84-year-old widow. She never left the temple area but worshipped God with fasting and prayer night and day. She approached at that very moment and began to praise God and to speak about Jesus to everyone who was looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
Luke 2:28-33, 36-38 (CEB)
Listen to this Week’s Sermon here:
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In my opinion, Simeon and Anna are two of the most overlooked and yet possibly the most relatable figures in the birth narratives of Jesus. They don’t show up in the nativity scene, despite the fact that they encountered Jesus when he was only 8 days old, nearly a full two years before the Magi even arrive in town.
And yet, perhaps that is part of what makes them so relatable, for we did not go to the nativity either. And if we’re honest, we very rarely go to the out of the way places where the living Christ is born in our world today, among the smelly animals and lowly shepherds on the margins of society. No, perhaps we are more like Simeon and Anna because we stay in the temple, or in our case, in the protective walls of the church.
In general, we as Christians need to get out more. Jesus calls us to be in the world and not of it, but more often we are of the world and not in it. We are consumed by worldly concerns while working hard to separate ourselves from “worldly” people. Some, like Simeon, Anna, and various monastic saints and mystics throughout the centuries, are called to this unique vocation of remaining cloistered in the house of the Lord, in order to point others to the kind of deep encounter with the Holy Spirit which they experience.
This is the role of Simeon and Anna. They have spent a lifetime waiting for God in the Holy Place. They have devoted themselves fully to prayer, to fasting, and to waiting in silence for the promise of God to be fulfilled. They study the scriptures deeply and pay close attention for signs of God’s presence among them… until one miraculous day, God actually walks through the door. Well, actually he is carried through the door in the arms of his mother Mary, as an eight day old human baby brought before the priest to be dedicated to the Lord.
As one who has spent my life in the church, and admittedly does not get out nearly enough, I find great hope and comfort in this passage. It is a reminder that even when we fail to show up in the stables where Jesus comes to the least and the lost, no matter how good our intentions or reasons, Jesus still manages to come to us and meet us where we are, even in the church. But when Jesus meets us here, and he will, we must follow Anna’s example. We can no longer be silent. We must tell everyone who waits for redemption, especially when they don’t yet know what they are waiting for.
