JUST WAIT A PEOPLE OF HOPE LUKE 2:21-40; MATTHEW 2:1-23 DECEMBER 28, 2014

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1 1 JUST WAIT A PEOPLE OF HOPE LUKE 2:21-40; MATTHEW 2:1-23 DECEMBER 28, 2014 The wait is over. Christmas gifts have all been opened. The wrapping paper has been wadded up and thrown out. There s still that holiday season smell in the air. But traveling relatives are packing up to return home, causing a mix of sorrow and relief. You re starting to think about where to put those Christmas gifts. At some point you ll begin dismantling all those decorations, boxing them up, and putting them back in the attic. And before long you ll be going back to the office, and the kids will be digging out their backpacks to go back to school. The wait is over. Now the challenge is: How shall we live our everyday lives in our everyday world, but still live as people of hope? Today we ll gather clues for what hope looks like when lived out in the world. We ll look at two hopeful people in Luke s Gospel, three hopeful people in Matthew s Gospel, and some folks who did not live by hope. Hopefully from that we can get some idea of how we might live lives of hope today. LUKE 2:21-38 Joseph and Mary were following the biblical rules for the circumcision of their baby, the ritual purification of Mary after childbirth, and presenting their firstborn to the Lord. It s interesting to note they offered a sacrifice of two doves. The standard sacrifice was a lamb. (Ex.13:2, 12) But the law allowed them to bring doves or pigeons, because they were poor, even by the standards of their time. (Le.12:8) When they were leaving they encountered these two silver-haired people, a man and a woman, who had been living on hope. Simeon and Anna. They were not temple priests, not even Pharisees. There s no mention of a seminary education, ordination, or anything official about them. But they were faithful Jews. They d been hoping for God to bring salvation to their people. hearing God repeatedly say, Just wait, year after year. So they kept waiting and hoping. They d been hoping for the messiah. It was a common Jewish hope, but it took many different forms. Some hoped for a new law giver like Moses. It s interesting to note that Matthew arranges the teachings of Jesus in five great discourses,

2 like Moses five books of the law: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. And Matthew brings us the first discourse as the Sermon on the Mount, almost like Moses bringing word from God on Mount Sinai. And in so much of that discourse Jesus quotes teachings from Moses and then takes it deeper. A messiah like Moses. Some hoped for the coming of a warrior king like King David had been. The Gospels make the point that Jesus was from the family tree of King David. And many times Jesus was referred to as Son of David. It may be that Judas Iscariot and Simon the Zealot were attracted to Jesus because they were sure he would reveal himself as God s warrior king. Simeon and Anna had been living on hope, but it seems their hopes were not so tightly defined as that. They were open to whatever God might do to bring salvation. They were open even to the possibility that God might show up in the form of a helpless tiny baby born to parents of meager means and lowly station. They knew the common hopes and dreams. Everybody did. They knew that God was good and would surely do something good. Salvation, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, the redemption of Jerusalem, however it might play out. They were open to whatever it might be. Perhaps our hope needs to be more open-ended, ready and willing for God to do the unexpected. They waited, they watched, they worshiped, fasted and prayed. Because of their devotion to God, and not so much to their own ideas about how God ought to do things, their hope was sustained, and they were eventually led by the Holy Spirit to this unlikely baby. No flashy gift wrap, no ribbons and bows. And their responses mirrored each other: First, they spoke of the goodness of God in fulfilling his promises. And second, they said, Now I ve seen it all! I m fulfilled; I m satisfied. You can take me home now, Lord. Their hope kept them committed to waiting, watching, worshiping, prayer and fasting. And when their hope was fulfilled there was great joy. They told others what they d seen. And they so felt their lives were completely fulfilled, they had no fear of death. I saw that in my mom. When she received the diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer, she already knew she was not going to do chemotherapy or any other drastic treatment program. She knew what that would do to her quality of life, 2

3 and said it wasn t worth it for the possibility of buying a little more time. Better to live a shorter time with a bit more quality. She d known Christ for many decades, and so death was not so fearful to her. She was ready to face it. In Matthew s Gospel we get a story that shows us people who hoped and people who did not. It s the story of the wise men, the we three kings, or the magi. MATTHEW 2:1-2 Magi from the east. Magi is the root word from which we get our word magician. In no sense were they kings, as in we three kings. They were Gentiles, not from among God s chosen people. They were considered by some to be wise, and were often employed as counselors to pagan kings, because they supposedly gained insights from the spiritual world. There methods of discernment included things like astrology and other practices equivalent to reading tea leaves and tarot cards. They were also open to consulting religious writings from any tradition. The Jews understood their practices to be against God s law, sorcery, witchcraft, necromancy and idolatry, and we might call it New Age hocus pocus, but they were taken quite seriously in the pagan world. And somehow THESE are the ones who come looking for Jesus so they can worship him. People of hope are not necessarily the ones you would expect. Apparently they pursued their craft with minds open enough that God could speak to them. And God sending a star was the perfect way to get their attention, since they were into astrology. So they hoped to get to see the one who has been born king of the Jews. So they went to the very place you d expect to find answers, King Herod of Jerusalem. MATTHEW 2:3-6 King Herod and all Jerusalem were disturbed. The root word for disturbed is also the root for earthquake. The king and the ruling city were shaken to their very foundations. One born king of the Jews. Herod had clawed his way to the top with intrigue and assassination. And now there s one BORN king of the Jews? He had to nip that in the bud right now. So he formulated a plan and called in the Bible scholars, the religious experts. Where is the messiah supposed to be born? They had the answer right on the tip of their tongues: Bethlehem! And then they quoted the answer chapter and verse. They were sharp. What s interesting is, while they were sharp about the book, with the answer right there, not one of them was curious enough, not one was open-minded enough, none were hopeful enough, 3

4 to actually go see the baby. Hopeful living is not just knowing information about the Bible. It means being MOVED by what you know, moved closer to God, seeking out what he s GOING to do, and stepping up to be part of what he s doing. Herod shared the information with the magi, but not for the benevolent reason he gave them. MATTHEW 2:7-8 He wanted to use them to get the exact location of the child, not so he could worship him, but so he could eliminate him. Again, you can have all the factual information that s available, know the Bible inside and out. But if it doesn t MOVE you, if it does not draw you into a love relationship with Jesus, it s not hopeful living. In Herod s case, it was even hateful living! The magi, on the other hand, were moved. MATTHEW 2:9-12 These guys had already traveled miles and miles in hopes of seeing what God was up to. Their hopes had driven them over the sands to Jerusalem and then on to Bethlehem. Their hopes brought them to a place where they were overjoyed. Their hope drove them to bow down in humility and worship Jesus. Because of the power of their hopes, they had brought valuable and meaningful gifts: gold, a traditional gift for a king, frankincense, an incense burned by priests as a sacrifice, and myrrh, a spice used when burying the dead. All these things were quite expensive. And each one suggested something about Jesus: The gold said he is a king. The frankincense suggests his priestly role as intercessor between humanity and God the Father. And the myrrh, pointing toward the cross. This baby is born to die, to die for the sins of the world, that all who turn to him would be forgiven and have new life. We have no idea what these visitors actually knew about the child, nor how they knew about him beyond the star. Maybe that had some acquaintance with the Hebrew scriptures. Their hopes may have had some specific content that suggested these gifts to them. We just don t know. We DO know there hope moved them to leave their homes and jobs, to engage in a significant journey out of their way, and to give valuable and meaningful gifts. A little cold rain would not keep them from worshiping, and a tight budget would not stop them from giving. And then, because their hope was now attached to baby Jesus, they disobeyed the order of King Herod 4

5 5 and returned home without telling him where the baby was. There was a measure of risk in doing that, because Herod was known for his ruthlessness. But they did it anyway. MATTHEW 2:13-15 The angel had warned the magi, and now the angel warned Joseph. God was watching out for this family and their little one. Herod was watching, too, but not with the same benevolence. MATTHEW 2:16-18 This has been called the slaughter of the innocents. Actually, Bethlehem was a little one-donkey village, and there wouldn t have been that many children killed. But if you were the parent of one of those few children, it wouldn t matter that the number was small. It was your child, your next generation, your hopes and dreams, brutally killed. Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted. There is only one source of hope that can stand up to such loss and grief. The one who escaped Herod s brutality, Jesus. MATTHEW 2:19-23 Herod died, while Jesus lived. The soldiers he sent to kill babies were no match for the angel God sent to guide Joseph and Mary. And when the time was right, the angel guided that little family out of Egypt and back to Nazareth. He would live to fulfill his destiny, to be the hope of the world. People of hope. Simeon and Anna, two seasoned citizens who hung around the temple, worshiping, fasting, and praying. People with no official importance, power or authority. But devout Jewish seekers after God. And the magi, pagans dabbling in astrology, magic and sorcery. Respected among pagans, but declared heretics by Jewish law in the Old Testament. They could not be more different. But they had one thing in common. They were open to and desirous of hearing from God about what he had planned for the future. They wanted to be part of it. For the longest time when they sought him out they heard, Just wait. But they kept their hearts and minds open toward God. And one day. Christmas: Their hopes were fulfilled. Let us be a people of hope, immensely grateful for all that God has done, open to and desirous of participating in what he is going to do. And let s see what he does with us.