What
a fantastic reading from the gospel this morning. Luke is a master story-teller
– every phrase appears to be pregnant with meaning. Each character is part of
the story that brings to an end of Christmas-Epiphany season. Indeed each one
of us is part of that self-same story.
I
have been on Ynys Mon just a comparatively short time. I would love to suggest
a strap line for the now defunct Tourist Information Centre: Visit Anglesey:
the land of the skies, sea, sand and saints. The story of our Island is rooted
in the story of faith, and as a church we are woven into its landscape.
This
is not just a nice neat phrase – but the reality of our Anglican identity and
theology of the incarnation.
-
Mary
and Joseph bring their first born to the Temple to be set aside for God
o
Town
folk from the North going to the big city
o
New
parents
o
Struggling
to come to terms with what God had asked them to do
-
Mary
comes to be purified
o
An
ancient tradition that sits oddly with our 21st Century ears
§
Reminder
of how some of our traditions sit oddly with those around us
-
They
are fulfilling the law of God
o
Jesus
circumcised on the 8th day
o
The
first born son was to be offered to God
o
The
mother purified
o
Mary
and Joseph were good Jews who honoured the covenants that God had established
with his people.
-
The
fact that they offer two pigeons testifies to the fact that they did not have
lots of money, but what they did have, they gave sacrificially
-
Simeon
and Anna waiting for the consolation of Israel and the redemption of Jerusalem
respectively
o
They
were older Jews
o
They
had waited a long time
o
They
had kept the flame of faith alive, like so many of our saints who worship
alongside us today
-
Mary,
Joseph, Simeon and Anna – different generations steeped in the spiritual
heritage of their religious tradition
-
In
the watching and waiting, the two prophets can see what is before them in the
forty day old baby placed into the worn hands of the priest for blessing. This
is the Lord’s Christ – Messiah – Anointed One
-
Their
seeing demands a response and moves them to a new place
o
Simeon
§
Master,
despostes –
§
Dismissal
§
Seen
your salvation – God contracted to a span
§
But
salvation was not going to be achieved with a glorious overthrow of the might
of Rome
§
Light
to the Gentiles
§
Glory
to the people of Israel
§
Whispers
of redemption/ sibrwd o adbrynu
§
As
Mary and Joseph begin to marvel about what is being said about their son, there
is a warning albeit following a priestly blessing
§
It
will be achieved at some cost
o
Anna
§
Faithful
§
Watching
and worshipping
§
Widow
§
Tells
to all who will listen... telling is an important part of Luke’s ministry
-
They
went home and waited..
Each
facet of Luke’s gospel narrative asks that we digest it and take it in, each
sentence seemingly precise.
Watching
and waiting and sharing and telling and of course where possible tying in with
worshipping God, growing the church and loving the world, which are not just a
good strap line but intrinsic to our very DNA as churches and Christian
communities.
Watching
and waiting have a bad press sometimes. We are not generally good at waiting.
There is a sense that we can be in a hurry. We live in the world of the instant,
where being asked to be still is contrary to how we would wish to live: at the
traffic lights that always seem to be at red for a millennium and a half when
we are running late. But it would be a
mistake to believe that waiting is merely a passive activity. It is far from that.
It requires us to do something: to be watchful. It is an activity that requires
our full attention.
Pan yn siarad ag arweinwyr AW mewn cyfarfod ddiweddar,
dywedodd yr Archddiacon bod gwylwyr...y rhai sy'n gallu dirnad beth sy'n
digwydd..yn un o brif alwadau'r gweinidogaeth heddiw. Rwyf eisiau bod yn
Anglicanaidd; a chytuno ag anghytuno a fo ar yr yn pryd.
The
Archdeacon when speaking to MA leaders at a recent gathering said that being
watchers... those who discern what is happening... was one of the primary
functions of priestly ministry today. I want to be Anglican; and agree and
disagree with him at the same time. It should it be essential for each and
every one of us.
Simeon
and Anna are watchers as well as prophets
To
wait is to watch.
Don’t
believe me? Listen to car horn behind you when you wait without watching at the
traffic light.
What
are we called to watch?
We
called to keep a look out at what is happening and if necessary speak out...
We
called to be rooted, like Simeon and Anna, in our tradition and be conversant
with salvation history – but also be challenged to change
-
We
live in a world that increasingly knows little of traditional Christianity
o
We
live in a world with a wonderful appetite for spiritual truth
-
We
live in a world where absolutes no longer hold sway
o
We
live in a world where living out what you believe is important
-
We
live in a world where our language and the language of those who not come to
church appear at odds
o
We
have countless opportunities to be bilingual
And
yet as well as to be watchers... we need like Simeon and Anna to be people who
share and tell the story of God and our own stories within it – we are not all
evangelists of course, although more of us are than we think.
We
need simply to get on with it.
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