The Circle of Life

“IN THE EYES OF A CHILD”
Luke 2:21-40
Faith United
December 28, 2008


When Sarah was a baby in Tilden, Nebraska
we took her faithfully to the Catholic Church basement
in Norfolk to get her immunizations
One of those times, we weren’t able to get to the scheduled day
at the Catholic Church,
So we had to take her to some community building
in a remote part of Norfolk where we’d never been
It wasn’t the nicest part of town
in fact, it was quite the opposite
it was a very old building on the “other” side of town
It was crammed with all kinds of people
most of whom didn’t speak any English…
We took our seats among the mass of mothers and children --
across the aisle, we saw a woman who was there
with her grandchildren, of which she had many
She was holding an infant, while all around her children were climbing,
playing, chattering, and running back and forth
It was pretty chaotic and noisy, and there was a variety of smells there too
We blamed that on a room full of babies…
Sarah, being a baby,
started to cry one of those crying spells that never seem to stop
We tried everything, but she screamed,
her face was all red, she kept kicking,
her whole body seemed upset….
I walked with her, pacing back and forth,
bouncing her, humming to her, putting her on my shoulder
laying her in my arms, singing into her ear…. nothing worked
Larry and I passed her back and forth,
but nothing would make her stop crying

Suddenly I heard a yell--
actually it didn’t sound like words to me,
but excited noises
Startled, I whirled around and saw the old Hispanic woman
reaching out her arms toward me, shaking her hands insistently
exclaiming something in Spanish quite energetically
She motioned one of her granddaughters toward me
the little girl approached me and simply said, “She wants your baby…”
Oh, really…
My first instinct was panic, of course,
I wasn’t too comfortable in my surroundings to begin with--
and the old woman nodded, gesturing insistently
that I give her my baby
I looked around, looking for a way to escape,
but we did have to get the shots
and the place was packed with people
The old woman grunted again, loudly, shaking her hands at me
like why wasn’t I just doing what she told me to do??
and the girl said again, “she wants to hold your baby…”
Against my better instincts, I thought at the time,
I made my way over to this stranger, this old woman
and handed my screaming child into her arms
Immediately the woman’s face brightened up into a toothless smile
as she held Sarah gently in her arms
She began to sing to her,
in Spanish, softly, so softly I could hardly hear her above the noise
And in the midst of that noisy, crowded place,
she acted as if it was only her and my child in the world
Sarah stopped crying and stared into the old woman’s eyes
as she sang to her,
until her eyelids began to droop and she fell asleep

The old woman kept singing for a little while, rocking Sarah in her arms
and then she just looked up at me and grinned again
without a word, she nodded to me
got up slowly from her chair,
and gently placed my sleeping child back into my arms
She sat back down in her chair and pulled one of her own grandchildren
into her lap
she smiled and nodded at me as if I’d already said “thank you”
I was astonished…
for a moment the room seemed quiet,
or at least I didn’t notice the noise and the chaos
I was embarrassed at my own panic and mistrust of the old woman
I nodded back at her and simply said, “gracias”
but she was already yelling at one of the children near her…

I think of that day when I read this story
I can imagine a little bit of what Mary might have felt
coming all the way to Jerusalem
for the ritual of purification and of dedicating her child to God
Coming out of her quiet little town
into the big city, still scared and a little bit shaken
at all the uncertainties of being a mother for the first time
Moses’ law commanded that the mother go through a period of isolation
after giving birth,
and then after a certain period of time,
she was to present herself to the priests
make an offering to God
to be declared clean again
The law stated that every firstborn male
was to be designated as holy to the Lord…

It was their tradition, like our baptism
something you did, something that was expected
There was even a clause in the law
that allowed for poor people to make their humble offerings
Those who couldn’t afford a lamb
could bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons…
So they ventured into Jerusalem with their little boy
sticking close to each other,
a little awed by the crowds, and protective of their child
They saw the temple, and came forward to the outer courts,
looking for the proper authorities
to whom they could make their humble offering…
Before they were inside the court, they were startled --
by an old man who seemingly accosted them
he didn’t even seem to know that Mary and Joseph were there
his eyes were shining, and his face was bright with joy
He wasn’t dressed like a priest
or he wasn’t well-kept, so they knew he wasn’t a leader
but without asking permission,
he simply took Jesus right out of Mary’s arms before she could protest
I can imagine her panic, who is this man
and what is he doing with my child??
He was very, very old
His long white hair was wiry
His hands were very wrinkled,
you could see the skin hanging off of his bony fingers
That old, wrinkly, blue-veined skin looked so odd
against the new skin of Mary’s baby

On the one hand,
He looked to be right at death’s door,
on the other hand, there such fire in his eyes
a joy, a life, a passion that seemed so young, so hopeful…
in that moment, he had much more energy
than Mary felt in her tired body
Mary tried to reach out to take him back,
but Joseph put his hand on her arm
to stop her,
and put his finger to his lips and smiled
as if he knew that something special was happening
the old man seemed to dance where he was
to a music that only he could hear
but when they listened closely, he was humming softly
Mary looked around self-consciously,
but in the temple courts in Jerusalem
there were so many people,
such a disturbance went unnoticed
Was the old man crazy?
Was he suffering dementia?
His eyes were closed as he clutched the baby to his chest
praising God, and swaying to his own music…

Suddenly he opened his eyes
and he looked toward the skies
and he began to speak toward the heavens
while also gazing back down into the child’s face
“Master,” he said, “now you are dismissing your servant in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have your salvation,
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel…”
Mary just stared at the old man
The last six weeks had been so ordinary
so typical, just getting to know her baby
knowing his quirks, his schedule
Losing sleep from frequent feedings during the night
Hardly sleeping herself, as she listened closely to his breathing
always making sure he was still breathing….
It had been six weeks
since anything extraordinary had happened
since strangers acted so…. strangely…
around her child…
The shepherds, their story that night,
the smells, the animals, crazy stories
about angels and heavenly hosts
it all seemed so long ago…
she wondered if it all really happened
or if it was just a dream….

What was the old man saying? What did it mean?
The old man blessed the child
with his thin, wrinkled, claw-like hands
and for the first time he looked at Mary
His light-filled eyes narrowed and grew darker
the joy in his face seemed to melt away
he swallowed as if he had terrible news
“This child,” he said solemnly,
“this child is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel,
and is to be a sign that will be opposed
so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed…
and a sword will pierce your own soul, too..”
Mary gasped
and was frightened by the sudden darkness in the man’s face
But just as suddenly the old man’s eyes softened again
as he stroked the baby’s chin, then his cheek
It wasn’t the kind of thing you’d want to hear
about your child
The words didn’t feel like a blessing
the words were confusing
her son would make people face themselves?
face truths that they didn’t want to face?
He’d cause strife? Division?
But what about what the angel Gabriel had said to her
in that dream…
that he would be special,
the one that her people had been waiting for?

Deep down we all know
that babies are a wonderful blessing and gift,
but they also cause us pain
Besides the screaming, the loss of sleep
and the worry they cause,
They cause us pain just by the fact that we love them so intensely
our hearts are made vulnerable in a unique way
when it comes to loving our children…
They’ll grow up to make mistakes of their own
they’ll choose paths we may not agree with
there will come a time that they will have to find their own way
and we just have to pray that we gave them everything we could
Whenever you love someone, whenever you give your heart over
to another,
there is always the risk that they will break it…

But we know what Simeon is talking about
we know what Mary can’t know yet
and it’s best that she doesn’t
We know the rest of the story
we know that Mary will bear the awful burden
of having to bury her own child
We know that when he grows up,
He will claim a difficult calling
and leave his mother to worry daily about his sanity and safety
We know the bad news that comes with the good news
that for the promise to be fulfilled,
this child will suffer
and consequently break his mother’s heart
For as long we live in this crazy world,
things are not one-sided
Jesus is the incarnation of God himself
the incarnation of pure holiness,
of deity, of the goodness of God
In the face of that goodness and holiness,
all things and all people are revealed for what they really are
and it’s not always pretty
we’re not always ready to deal with truth
Jesus is the Truth
and the Truth is not always welcome
The truth that Simeon had to share
was unpleasant
He would have preferred to just bless the child
to give glory to God and celebrate
but he was called to tell the whole story
that to be the bearer of truth,
the incarnation of holiness and righteousness
This child will scare, offend and anger many people
who don’t want the truth revealed
This tiny, 6 week old baby has a difficult calling
already this child bears the weight of the world
and so his mother’s heart will bear it too
But though we know the rest of the story,
we also know the end of it, as well
that nothing will be able to hold this child back
not even death itself
And his mother’s grief will once again
burst into rejoicing
her tears will become joy in the morning

It was enough for Simeon to see the baby’s face
Just a baby,
a speechless newcomer to the world
The story will not unfold for many years yet
long after Simeon’s own life ended
This is just a glimpse of the future
a hint of what was to come
But for Simeon it was enough….
enough to make his life complete…

While Mary clutched her child with relief
staring at the back of the old man
as he disappeared into the crowd,
There was a woman
suddenly beside her,
Anna-- very wrinkled, and very old
Many would say that she was just waiting out her days
that she had nothing to offer
She’d lived a lonely life,
a long life full of loss and grief
They felt sorry for her, all alone
And yet on this day,
she, too, saw through the ordinary to the holy
and she praised God like a crazy woman
and told all who cared to listen that the redemption of Israel
had come…in this child
It’s crazy,
She just got a glimpse
so much could happen between now and when the child was grown
but she saw the potential in that baby’s face
She, like Simeon, touched the future
and she would end up telling everyone about this baby
that she only saw for a few minutes
and yet would spend the rest of her days celebrating…
It was a holy interruption
Mary and Joseph were just coming to fulfill the Church law
to do the appropriate rituals expected of the church
And in the midst of it they experienced the Spirit of God
the profound, surprising, sometimes scary Spirit
The Spirit that disrupts, challenges, and haunts our lives --
At first, it was frightening, confusing-- this interruption
yet it turned out to be a blessing,
a story they would share with Jesus when he was older
Words that Mary would keep in the scrapbook of her heart
A memory, a moment that they’d remember as they fell asleep
a memory they’d think about when they doubted
or were afraid for their son….

The name Simeon means “to hear”
and the name “Anna” means “grace,” or even, “the face of God”
Do we ever expect to see the face of God
in our daily lives?
Out there, in the rituals of our day,
the sometimes boring schedules we keep?
Simeon didn’t seek out the face of the Messiah
in the church building,
but he found him on the street
out among the people
in the midst of real life….
Do we look for the face of God out there?
Do we keep our eyes open for a holy interruption?
Do we expect to be surprised?
To experience something new amidst the familiar?
In the faces of people we see every day?
In the face of someone at the nursing home,
in the hospital,
in the grocery store, or on the street?

Simeon and Anna were two very old people,
Just a part of the scenery at the temple
quiet, yet very faithful
full of greater wisdom than anyone suspected
They didn’t stand out,
they weren’t famous until that moment late in their lives
and even then, it was just for a moment….
And when the moment came,
they cried out in prophecy
of who this tiny, ordinary looking baby
from a poor family
would grow up to be…
and that was enough
Simeon didn’t need to know the rest of the story
to see the rest of Jesus’ life unfold
It was enough to see his infant face
the fulfillment of the promise
the warm weight of the future in his arms
Now, he could die in peace,
knowing, seeing for himself,
that the world was in good hands
and his faith had not been in vain…
For he had the enviable pleasure of holding the Christ Child in his arms
feeling his warmth,
seeing the future in his eyes…
So don’t be afraid--,
We don’t know what we’ll see in ourselves
if we get close to Jesus, if we take him seriously
if we commit our lives to him
We may discover things about ourselves and our world
that are disturbing, because Jesus always reveals the Truth
no matter how difficult it is to bear
And yet in his eyes, we will also see the light of eternity,
God’s future, God’s hope and promise for the world
It’s always risky, it often opens our heart to deep and passionate love
that makes us vulnerable…
but don’t be afraid…to take Jesus into your arms…
For he will reveal the truth…
and the truth… will set us free…..