Signs of Redemption in the Temple Luke 2: st Sunday after Christmas Dec 31, 2017

Transcription

1 Signs of Redemption in the Temple Luke 2: st Sunday after Christmas Dec 31, 2017 I ll confess. I ve been binge watching Christmas specials. Starting Christmas Day after the services, the next day, and even a little bit of the next, I ve been watching lots of the classics and some are the newer ones. Maybe not quite binge watching. I don t have the stamina for that, but a lot more than I would normally do and I m not sure I m done yet. I ve found a recurring theme in a lot of them. I referred to it in my Christmas Eve sermon but I didn t realize how strong it was. It s this whole idea of believing in Christmas and the Christmas spirit. Think about it yourself. The conflict or the drama is that people don t believe in it. Some even actively oppose it. The challenge is to get the right people to believe in it again. And the story resolves when they do and everyone lives happily ever after. This is what passes for faith for lots of people. People will say they believe. During Christmas, they believe in the spirit of Christmas. The rest of the time, they believe in the goodness of man and the existence of God, as though that s what Christmas and Christianity is all about. It seems Simeon s prophecy about Jesus finds its mark today, maybe even, especially today. He said that Jesus would be a sign spoken against. A sign of the salvation of Israel and the whole world. It s not so much that we see it spoken against, it s just that it s completely ignored. It amazes me, and disappoints me that we can be immersed in the celebration of Christmas for several weeks, but not really get to what it s about. I suppose all this stuff about Christmas spirit keeps that from happening. But because this is the air we ve been breathing for the last several weeks, I m not sure we can emphasize too much what is the real meaning, the real one. And it s kind of tough to make it clear, because we keep getting told what is the real meaning, and it s still not the real one. I m sure you know what I mean.

2 Now, don t get me wrong. I would love to see what is usually described as the real meaning peace on earth among men, good will toward one another. Life would be better if it were true, but it doesn t come because people make a big deal about it one day a year. They skip Jesus and what He s doing here on our terrestrial globe. If they really wanted it, they shouldn t skip the crucial step, and even then, it s not guaranteed. We know this from experience. We know who Jesus is, and what He s done for us. We ve been brought to faith; we ve been made new creatures and still we find we aren t doing much toward bringing all of this about. He s the only way toward really having it, but that s not the ultimate purpose. You know the ultimate purpose. It s to be able to present us as holy to His Father, which He does through the Gospel. Now, having the Gospel has the effect of changing us, but even then, change is not complete. The sinners we are remains undeniable. Their dream of the real meaning remains just that just a dream. You ll see I tagged on one verse before this reading. Since this is the reading for New Year s Eve and we won t be having services at either church this year, I wanted to squeeze it in. It s the circumcision of Jesus and in this, we see what Jesus is doing here on earth. At this point, He s only 8 days old. He s still an infant. But even as an infant, He is allowing Himself to be subject to the regulations that would apply to any sinful Jewish boy. Circumcision was the Old Testament baptism. Does He need it? No more than He needs N.T. Christian baptism. But we need Him to do it. He shows that He is like any other Jewish boy born in those days. Surely as God, He could have said, I don t need to do this. I have no sin. And He would be right. (Matt done for righteousness sake) But He identifies with sinners. He is born under the Law. He will keep it perfectly in your place and mine because we can t.

3 There s more. He sheds His own innocent blood. It may be just a few drops, but He sheds it for you and for me. He will not only live a perfect life under the Law, He will pay the price for our rebellion. The payment is in blood. 33 years later, He will shed His blood again, but it won t be just a few drops. This time it will be all of His lifeblood. He sheds it for the salvation of mankind, that there may truly be peace on earth between God and sinners. That we on earth may know peace between us and our holy God. Oh, how I wish the Christmas celebration for everyone else took all of this in. Of course, it could get distorted and probably would, but at least you get to hear it. 33 days after He sheds his infant blood, His parents bring Him up to the temple. If you were to do a quick calculation on the calendar, you will see this falls on Feb 2, Groundhog s Day. I have a feeling Groundhog s Day may have something to do with this presentation, but I m afraid to try and figure it out. If it does, you ll see what I mean when I say I m convinced, no matter what it is, it would get distorted. Anyway, we again see why He is here. He is being brought as a dedication of the firstborn (Ex 13). Before His parents can even carry Him up the steps of the temple, His mother, Mary, however, has to be purified. She must do this so she can come into the sacred place of the temple and be a part of the people again. But once this is done, as Mary and Joseph walk up those steps, carrying their little infant boy, they are about to brilliantly fulfill a prophecy made 500 years earlier. Malachi had said, Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. It was a beautiful and joyous moment, as the shadow of Mary and Joseph fell across the stone floor of the temple. The angels held their breath. The one so long waited for has come to His home now in His own flesh. It wasn t a particularly busy day. The temple wasn t stuffed to the gills like it would have been on a regular festival day like Passover or the Pentecost. One guy was there because he had been told to be there that day. Another one was there, simply because she spent all of her time there.

4 But even though there may not have been a whole lot of people to celebrate this glorious day, even as it is for us, it did not have one bit of impact on what was happening. The Lord had come to His people! Predicted in so many ways, now so much more is being fulfilled. Sometimes they were direct prophecies like this the one in Malachi. Sometimes they were practices that became fully clear when Jesus showed up. Jesus entry into Jerusalem that day completed one of those. If you recall, the last plague before Israel finally left Egypt was the death of the firstborn. The firstborn of human and animals. From this, the Lord set up a practice of having His people dedicate their firstborn. If it was an animal, and it could be sacrificed, it was. When it was a child, a lamb was given in his place. For a couple thousand years, Jewish families would come to the temple or tabernacle and dedicate their firstborn son with a lamb, not realizing how this was pointing to the Messiah. Now this firstborn son is brought in, but Luke says nothing about Mary and Joseph bringing a lamb to sacrifice in the place of their child, even though he said very clearly, Jesus was brought up to Jerusalem to be presented, which was this firstborn dedication. Why do you think Luke mentions no lamb? Why does he talk about presenting the 40 day old Jesus, talks about his mother s purification, but says nothing about a lamb? Because Jesus is the lamb. Any other firstborn son would have a lamb sacrificed in his place, but this firstborn son is truly dedicated, in His entire life, to the service of the Lord. No lamb is necessary because He is the lamb. He is the lamb that takes away the sin of the world. (Jn 1:29) His work is already beginning. His work of being the perfect sacrifice has already begun. But while prophecies are being fulfilled, more are yet to be made. Simeon, prophesies about what is to happen. Most events up to this point have been positive and uplifting. His song was especially upbeat. It s the one we sing after communion. We call it the nunc dimittis, which simply means, Now dismiss. He had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would see the Lord s Christ before he died. Now he is saying it would be OK for him to die now.

5 Imagine how it must have been for him to hear that promise! His parents, and grandparents, had waited. So had their parents and grandparents, and so had theirs. It stretched all the way back to David, and then back even further to Abraham, and even further back to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Generations had waited. They heard about it and hope it would be during their lifetime, but they died not seeing it fulfilled. Now Simeon s parents were one generation too early, but Simeon had the promise. He would see the Lord s Christ. More than that, he would scoop the child out of Mary s arms to hold Him, lift Him into the air and praise God for Him. And now He blesses God by singing a song we all know so well. [sing Nunc Dimittis, but omit Gloria] It closes, of course, with the Gloria Patri, but that is at the end of so many psalms and canticles to make sure it has a trinitarian confession. His song becomes ours as we sing about the same thing. Lord, you can let us now die, because we have received the gift of forgiveness in your body and blood, and we have personally experienced the salvation you have prepared for all people, both Jews and Gentiles. Soon our last youth confirmand will be joining us, joyfully making this same confession. Having sung this, though, his prophecy takes a dark turn speaking about why Jesus is here not just in the temple but on this earth. We ve been saying it in different ways, but other than the circumcision, which technically isn t part of this reading everything has been positive and upbeat. We can t hide from the painful reality. The coming to the temple, the dedication of the Lamb of God, the purification of Mary-- none of these spoke so directly about His death, not like the prophecy of Simeon. And he brings us back to the sign opposed or spoken against. Should it surprise us? The serpent is not going to sit by idly. If there is enmity between his seed and the woman s seed, should it surprise us when we hear about conflict? It shouldn t. There s enough conflict among ourselves, and within ourselves. What should we expect among those who reject Him?

6 Even Anna, the prophetess, sings about the redemption of Jerusalem, but this does not come at a cheap price. This is the life and soul of this little child. To redeem Jerusalem, the name for the people of God, He must take on their sins, and pay their penalty. This will be done on a day that appears dark for all of creation. The creator is dead. But we call it Good Friday. In the process, He gives His holiness. This is what He does for you. Our Hymn of the Day puts it so well. He undertakes a great exchange, Puts on our human frame, and in return gives us His realm, His glory and His name. It s just like what II Cor 5:21. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. It s too much to expect any of the world s Christmas celebrations to go this far. But you know what Christmas is about. Therefore your soul sings like Isaiah had, for Zion s sake I will not keep silent and for Jerusalem s sake I will not be quiet, because and then jumping back a couple verses because He has clothed me with the garment of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness. That s way too much to expect from any Christmas specials. Even religious ones don t come anywhere close to this, but if the people who talk about the real meaning of Christmas were ever to get even a whiff of this, then they would know what peace on earth, and the meaning of Christmas really is. AMEN Luke 2:21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

7 The fullness of time has come, God has sent forth His Son to redeem us. Therefore, with confidence that He will hear us, let us pray to the Lord. Brief silence For all those who have received God s adoption as sons, that they would continue to rejoice in all that He has done for them, grow in faith and bear witness to others, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy. For all the congregations of The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, that God would make them places where righteousness and praise sprout up, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy. For all the work of the Church s ministry, particularly her ministry among those who are of different cultures, and speak different languages, especially as we pray for Pr. St. Onge, Danelle and Jim and Susan, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy For those who struggle with regret and guilt over sin, especially those who have terminated a pregnancy, that they would find in God total forgiveness and a righteousness that shines forth as brightness, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy. For those who suffer persecution for the sake of Christ, that they be kept firm in their faith as they bear witness to the light of the world, and that they never lose sight of their identity as children of God, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy. For our nation, that God would grant us wise leaders who would serve with wisdom and integrity, and for all who let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy. For the sick, the suffering, the lonely and all who call upon God in their time of need. That He would answer their cries for mercy and, according to His will, grant them healing, relief, companionship and patience to endure in the face of trials, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have For all those celebrating the gifts of creation, marriage and life in general, as they celebrate birthdays and anniversary, especially For those who commune at this altar today, that they would depart from here in peace, knowing that they have seen and tasted salvation in the Lord s Supper, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have For those who mourn and those who are remembering their loved ones who have died in the faith, that they would find comfort in the communion of saints, the promise of the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting, let us pray to the Lord: Lord, have mercy. We commend to You all for whom we pray, trusting in Your mercy, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

8 Questions from the Sermon 1. What passes for faith during the Christmas season (but is not real faith)? 2. How old is Jesus when He is circumcised, when He first begins to shed His blood? 3. What is the secular celebration that corresponds with the day Jesus is presented? 4. Why doesn t Luke talk about a lamb being offered in Jesus place? 5. What is the name of the song Simeon sings? Latin and/or English Questions from the Sermon 1. What passes for faith during the Christmas season (but is not real faith)? 2. How old is Jesus when He is circumcised, when He first begins to shed His blood? 3. What is the secular celebration that corresponds with the day Jesus is presented? 4. Why doesn t Luke talk about a lamb being offered in Jesus place? 5. What is the name of the song Simeon sings? Latin and/or English Questions from the Sermon 1. What passes for faith during the Christmas season (but is not real faith)? 2. How old is Jesus when He is circumcised, when He first begins to shed His blood? 3. What is the secular celebration that corresponds with the day Jesus is presented? 4. Why doesn t Luke talk about a lamb being offered in Jesus place? 5. What is the name of the song Simeon sings? Latin and/or English

9 Answers to questions from the Sermon 1. Belief in the spirit of Christmas and in Christmas itself 2. 8 days old 3. Groundhog s Day 4. Because Jesus is Himself the Lamb, the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29) 5. Nunc Dimittis/Now Dismiss Answers to questions from the Sermon 1. Belief in the spirit of Christmas and in Christmas itself 2. 8 days old 3. Groundhog s Day 4. Because Jesus is Himself the Lamb, the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29) 5. Nunc Dimittis/Now Dismiss Answers to questions from the Sermon 1. Belief in the spirit of Christmas and in Christmas itself 2. 8 days old 3. Groundhog s Day 4. Because Jesus is Himself the Lamb, the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world (Jn 1:29) 5. Nunc Dimittis/Now Dismiss

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