LUKE 2:22-40
EVERY FRIDAY I SPEND A
FEW HOURS VISITING PEOPLE WHO ARE REALLY OLD. I'M GETTING OLD, OF
COURSE, BUT WE ARE TALKING THE HIGH EIGHTY'S TO THE EARLY 100'S. A
LOT OF THE PEOPLE I VISIT SUFFER FROM LOSS – LOSS OF CONTROL OF
MOVEMENTS; LOSS OF STRENGTH; LOSS OF THE ABILITY TO FEED ONESELF; AND
EVEN LOSS OF THE ABILITY TO THINK, TO RECOGNIZE; AND IT'S SAD TO SEE.
I THINK A LOT OF THEM SUFFER FROM DEPRESSION. SOME OF THEM SLEEP
ALL THE TIME, WAKING ONLY TO EAT OR BE CARED FOR BY THE NURSE'S AIDS.
OTHERS HAVE THE TELEVISION GOING FROM MORNING TO EVENING, SITTING
LIKE STONES WHILE GAME SHOWS AND SOAP OPERAS AND TALKING HEADS
SUBSTITUTE FOR REAL HUMAN CONTACT. MANY OF THEM WORRY. THEY WORRY
MOSTLY ABOUT THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS – THEY DON'T WANT TO BE A BURDEN;
THEY WISH A SON OR DAUGHTER WOULD VISIT, BUT THEY KNOW HOW BUSY THEY
ARE. SOME OF THEM HAVE BROKEN A HIP OR TAKEN YET ANOTHER FALL, AND
AFTER A PERIOD OF REHABILITATION, WILL GO HOME, BACK TO A LONELY
APARTMENT, KNOWING THAT SOONER OR LATER, THEY WILL BE BACK.
AND I FIND MYSELF
WONDERING, IS THAT MY FUTURE? AND I CAN'T HELP BUT ANSWER, PROBABLY.
ONE LADY I SPEAK WITH
SPENT MUCH OF HER LIFE AS AN OFFICER IN THE SALVATION ARMY. IN HER
ROOM WERE PICTURES OF HERSELF IN HER OFFICER'S UNIFORM. SHE HAD WON
SOME AWARDS FOR SERVICE, AND PUT IN HOURS RINGING BELLS AROUND
CHRISTMAS, WORKING WITH ALCOHOLICS AND HOMELESS PEOPLE, OVERSEEING
THE THRIFT SHOP WHERE SECOND HAND GOODS WERE RECYCLED. SHE HAD DRAWN
TREMENDOUS SATISFACTION FROM THIS, BUT NOW BECAUSE OF PARKINSON’S
DISEASE, BLINDNESS, AND COMPLICATIONS OF DIABETES, SHE IS TOTALLY
HELPLESS. AND HER BIGGEST COMPLAINT IS THAT SHE IS USELESS, SHE HAS
NO PURPOSE IN LIFE. ANOTHER VERY ELDERLY MAN WHOSE MEMORY IS LIMITED
TO THOSE THINGS THAT HAPPENED LONG AGO ALWAYS REMINDS ME THAT HE
USED TO LEAD THE DAILY PRAYERS IN THE SYNAGOGUE WHEN THE RABBI
COULDN'T BE THERE. AND HE GETS A FAR-AWAY LOOK IN HIS EYES AND
SIGHS.
TODAY WE MEET A VERY OLD
MAN AND A VERY OLD WOMAN IN OUR GOSPEL PASSAGE. IT DOESN'T SAY HOW
OLD SIMEON IS, BUT LUKE IMPLIES THAT HE'S OLD AND LIVED A LONG LIFE.
AND SIMEON MORE OR LESS CONFIRMS THIS WHEN HE SAYS, “NOW, MASTER,
LET YOUR SERVANT DEPART IN PEACE...” HE HAD BEEN LIVING FOR ONLY
ONE THING, TO SEE THE MESSIAH, AND NOW THAT THAT HAD TAKEN PLACE,
THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT. AND LUKE TELLS US THAT ANNA WAS 84 YEARS
OLD, AND SPENT ALL HER TIME IN THE TEMPLE, EVER SINCE SHE HAD BECOME
A WIDOW AFTER ONLY SEVEN YEARS OF MARRIAGE. WE DON'T KNOW IF SHE HAD
CHILDREN; BUT IN A FEW WORDS LUKE SUGGESTS THAT SHE, TOO, IS ALL
ALONE.
THE TEMPLE WAS A BUSY,
BUSTLING PLACE. WE KNOW THAT IN THE OUTER COURTYARD, MERCHANTS WERE
SELLING ANIMALS TO BE SACRIFICED. IF YOU WANTED TO OFFER A SACRIFICE
IT HAD TO BE A PERFECT SPECIMEN OR THE PRIEST WOULDN'T TOUCH IT. THE
BEST WAY TO ASSURE THAT WAS TO BUY FROM THE MERCHANT. AND SINCE
ORDINARY MONEY COULDN'T BE BROUGHT INTO THE TEMPLE PRECINCTS, YOU HAD
TO CHANGE YOUR MONEY FOR TEMPLE MONEY. ALL THIS COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY
ALONG WITH THE NOISE OF THE ANIMALS, MADE THE OUTER COURT MORE LIKE A
SHOPPING MALL. AND WHEN YOU GOT INTO THE INNER COURT, THE ACTUAL
SACRIFICES WERE GOING ON. THAT WAS NOISY AND BLOODY AS WELL. AND
FURTHER IN PEOPLE WENT TO PRAY, BUT AS WE LEARNED FROM THE STORY OF
THE PHARISEE AND THE TAX COLLECTOR THEY DID NOT PRAY SILENTLY – SO
EVEN IN THE HOLIEST PART OF THE TEMPLE, THERE WAS A LOT OF NOISE.
ALL OF THIS AND CROWDS AS WELL BECAUSE JEWS FROM ALL OVER THE ROMAN
EMPIRE MADE PILGRIMAGES BACK TO THE TEMPLE, BECAUSE FOR THEM THE
TEMPLE WAS THE PLACE WHERE GOD LIVED IN A SPECIAL WAY.
AND SIMEON AND ANNA MADE
THEIR WAY UP THE STEPS AND THROUGH THE CROWDS TO PRAY EVERY DAY, AND
ON ONE DAY THEY SAW A POOR YOUNG COUPLE WITH A LITTLE BOY. THEY KNEW
THEY WERE POOR BECAUSE ALL THEY HAD TO OFFER WERE TWO PIGEONS. AND
THEY SAW THAT THEY WERE FROM A LONG WAY AWAY BECAUSE OF THE
TRAVELER'S CLOTHING THEY WORE. AND THE LITTLE BOY WAS NO DIFFERENT
FROM ANY OF THE OTHER LITTLE BOYS WHO WERE BEING REDEEMED BY A
SACRIFICE ACCORDING TO THE JEWISH LAW; THERE WAS NO HALO, NO
MYSTERIOUS GLOW. AND IN ALL THE CROWDS OF PEOPLE, WITH PRIESTS AND
LEVITES AND PHARISEES ALL AROUND, THE HOLY SPIRIT REVEALED TO THEM
AND TO THEM ALONE THAT THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD HAD FINALLY ARRIVED.
AND SIMEON AND ANNA BORE
WITNESS – THE OLD MAN WHO WAS ALWAYS TELLING PEOPLE ABOUT HOW GOD
HAD PROMISED HIM THAT HE WOULD SEE THE SAVIOR BEFORE HE DIED, AND THE
WEIRD OLD WOMAN THAT SPENT ALL HER TIME IN THE TEMPLE, PRAYING AND
FASTING. AND WE HEAR SIMEON'S JOYFUL PRAYER – “NOW YOU MAY
DISMISS YOUR SERVANT, O LORD...”, AND HIS OMINOUS PROPHECY THAT
MARY'S HEART WOULD BE PIERCED; AND WE READ THAT ANNA WAS TELLING
EVERYONE IN EARSHOT ABOUT WHAT HAD JUST BEEN REVEALED TO HER.
BUT I SUSPECT LIKE MOST
REALLY OLD PEOPLE, LIKE THE PEOPLE I VISIT EACH WEEK, THEY WERE
IGNORED. SOME PEOPLE TURNED THEIR BACKS, OTHERS LAUGHED AT THEM. AND
A FEW WHO THOUGHT THEY WERE BEING KIND PRETENDED TO LISTEN, HUMORING
THEM.
A LOT OF THE PEOPLE I
VISIT TALK ABOUT THE OLDEN DAYS; SOMETIMES THEY SAY “IN MY DAY”
AS THOUGH TO TELL ME THAT THEIR DAYS LAY FAR IN THE PAST, AND THEY
WERE STRANGERS IN THIS DAY WE LIVE IN. BUT ISN'T IT INTERESTING THAT
GOD CHOSE TO REVEAL HIS SON TO TWO VERY OLD, ALMOST FORGOTTEN PEOPLE,
A MAN AND A WOMAN WHO KNEW THAT THEY WOULD NEVER LIVE TO SEE THE
PROMISE OF ISRAEL COME TO FULLNESS. A FRAIL OLD MAN AND AN ECCENTRIC
OLD LADY WHO HAD WAITED AND WAITED, AND PRAYED AND PRAYED, AND BEFORE
JOHN THE BAPTIST, BEFORE THE APOSTLES, BEFORE THE FIRST CHRISTIANS,
WERE CALLED UPON BY THE FATHER TO ANNOUNCE TO THE WORLD THAT THE
MESSIAH HAD COME, EVEN THOUGH NO ONE EXCEPT JOSEPH AND MARY BELIEVED
THEM. BUT THEY DIDN'T CARE, THEY HAD DONE THEIR PART.
NO ONE IS USELESS, NO ONE
IS WITHOUT PROMISE, AND GOD WHO ALLOWED THE UNBORN JOHN TO LEAP IN
HIS MOTHER'S WOMB TO ANNOUNCE JESUS ALLOWED THE VERY OLD TO DO SO AS
WELL. HUMAN LIFE IS SACRED AND GOD IS WITH US FROM THE MOMENT OF
CONCEPTION TO THE MOMENT OF NATURAL DEATH, USING US FOR HIS OWN
PURPOSES, AS HE USED HIS FRIENDS SIMEON AND ANNA.
