but i’d be lying to myself if i said i didn’t mind
leave it hanging on a line
Wednesday Evening was only a few days ago; yet the glory of Christmas already seems long past.
In fact, all we need to do, if we want to be reminded that Christmas has come and is long gone, is to look around us. Those 150 plus who came in through the doors on Christmas Eve, have not returned; they are not here today…
Honestly, this semi-annual binge and then inevitable purge of attendance, prompts something of a crisis for us…
For those of you who can remember when 150 attendance was relatively normal, I suspect Christmas Eve may evoke memories of yesteryear. The problem with all that though, is that once those memories have faded with the candlelight, all you’re left with is questions; why has everyone seemed to move on; did I miss the memo?
I want to note something before we move on; I never grew up in a church like that. More importantly, though, our younger members are not growing up in a church like that.
So, if we want these younger members to continue in the faith, we owe it to them, if nothing else, to live a life of faith that insists church is more than attendance numbers.
Because I’m telling you, if the only message our younger members get from us, is that we used to have more folks attending; they will get the memo; that church is something of the past.
Now I speak from personal experience here, I never considered the Lutheran-fold because I was impressed by stories of how large attendance used to be; I never considered the Lutheran-fold because I was inspired by folks lamenting how no one goes to church nowadays.
In fact, since I am part of the generation of “nowadays,” I was always a little insulted by those sentiments.
What did draw me into this fold, though, was meeting other who lived out their conviction that this Lutheran way of talking about how God acts, makes a difference - and, being invited to worship.
Seeing their lives, hearing their testimony, drew me in.
And do you know what? Here’s the miracle, as I learned about this Lutheran approach, I found that indeed, it does make a difference; all the difference, in fact!
This theology we all have actually works! (I shouldn’t have to say that)
I’m telling you, there are folks out there, folks longing to hear that God isn’t hiding behind some cloud waiting to nail us with a thunderbolt. Folks are dying to hear this Good News that we have, that God is up to all sorts of scandalous things to get to us.
The Incarnation we just celebrated for instance. That you’re made square with God, by what God has done; justification by grace! People need to hear this Good News.
That’s why I just love to hear about good ‘ol Simeon and Anna on this first Saturday/Sunday of Christmas.
Someone once pointed out that its odd these two aging people look upon a baby and see the glory of God, the savior.
Now, we think a lot of things when we look upon a baby, but King of Glory is not one of the things.
And yet these two; these two who have dedicated themselves to the worship in their old age; these two, when they look upon this baby from a meager family coming to the temple for ordinary reasons, these two see the glory of God!
The rest of the world looks for the savior in the brawny, brave and beautiful heroes; and yet these two look upon a baby and see the glory of God!
If there ever was anyone who was ready for a savior who would die on the cross, its these two.
The story of Jesus is the story of this savior coming to the world, and the world deciding we don’t want this kind of savior, thank you very much.
And yet here are faithful Simeon and Anna who look upon this baby and can’t help but cry, “now Lord you can let your servant depart in peace, for my eyes have seen your salvation.”
Indeed, if there were any people who would have been ready for a scandalous, a crucified savior, its these two.
Yet!
Yet, these two paragons of faith show up, and all Luke tells us that they see this child and rejoice. After that, though, Luke never bothers to mention them again!
Yet, these two paragons of faith show up, and all Luke tells us that they see this child and rejoice. After that, though, Luke never bothers to mention them again!
Isn’t that interesting?
You’d think Luke would want to tell us more about these two. And yet, Luke isn’t interested in that.
I think Luke omits these two from the rest of his Gospel, because it isn’t their absence from the rest of the story that’s interesting. No, what makes Simeon and Anna interesting is what these two have been up to before Jesus’ arrival.
We know Anna was in the temple day and night! We’re supposed to infer that Simeon was a church-rat, too.
These two are models for those of us who show up on the first Saturday/Sunday of Christmas. These two are exemplars for those of us who show up for church only a few days after the binge of Christmas Eve, and can’t help but wonder where everyone went…
These two, who have been at the temple during the days of feast and famine, know the same experience we’re all going through today.
Here’s what important; for them, the times when the temple is packed, and the times when the temple is nearly empty, is not the point. If all these two only cared about attendance, they wouldn’t have given two figs for this ordinary baby and his poor parents.
For these two, what makes the temple glorious isn’t that it’s full; but rather that the salvation which God has prepared, the light of revelation and the glory of the people, is proclaimed from that temple.
That’s the point for these two.
The life of faith isn’t about the attendance or budget of the temple. For them, the life of faith is about the God who has promised to show up, the God who has promised to redeem God’s people; and the God who has given God’s people the temple as a place on earth where that promise could be spoken and heard. That’s the point of faith for these two.
The tough truth is, sisters and brothers, for the time being, we are not going to hand on a church that is as financially stable or well-attended as the church some of you grew up in.
So what we can’t do then, is hand on a church that is financially and theologically impoverished. We won’t be able to rely on money or attendance anymore. Now we’re only going to have what the church should ever be about; God’s Word. All we will have is what Simeon and Anna had, God’s promise.
Simeon and Anna are our models today because they give us a way to be faithful in these changing days.
See, their pitch to join temple wouldn’t have to do with how clean, beautiful and well attended the temple is. No, their pitch would be about the promises of God that get loosed and fulfilled in that temple.
For too long we’ve imagined ourselves as the people who will build an impressive church; and then others will look at what we’ve done and be impressed.
Now, never mind that, that kind of thinking is exactly what the people at the tower of babel were up to. The problem with this way of seeing ourselves is that it is as helpful as it is faithful.
Today, on this Saturday/Sunday of Christmas, when the church insists we pause and hear about this widow and widower who looked upon a baby and saw all of God’s glory; I would like to propose another way for us to think about ourselves: church builders of the middle-ages.
The folks who labored on these larger than life temples; but died well before the temple was completed. These faithful people of the middle ages gave their labors to God’s church, but never saw the completion of their efforts; their efforts were always made in faith.
The truth is, that’s the kind of work we will have to be about these days.
Honestly, I do not think my generation will get the privilege of Moses; we may not get to look upon the promised land.
We will get to work with the people of God, though; and we will get to struggle with discerning how the church is to share the Good News in these days when so much is changing. What we won’t get to do, however, is look upon the fruit of our labor.
We will all be long past before we will know the impact of our attempts to share the Good News. Like Simeon and Anna, we will get to hold this new thing God has done, and then cry ‘now Lord, you are departing your servant in peace.’
For so long we’ve bemoaned the changes in the church, but maybe these changes are an opportunity to be faithful, to place our trust where we should have been all along.
Perhaps the crisis of attendance isn’t a crisis at all…
If we are to have any consolation these days, though, it will only be the consolation of Simeon and Anna, the consolation that does stand when the temple is full or empty; God’s consolation.
Amen
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