Sermon | Year A - The Year of Mark

December 28, 2008 | Christmas 1

Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Psalm 148; Galatians 4:4-7; Luke 2:22-40

Back in the 1960s and early 70s, the singer Andy Williams used to host Christmas specials with his French wife Claudine Longet and their three children. The Williams’ Family Christmas shows were among the most popular specials of the period; the nation was in love with his family and especially his charming and beautiful wife with her whispery French accent.

Claudine was a singer, too, who grew tired of being known primarily as Andy Williams’ wife; she wanted to be recognized as a star in her own right. She divorced Williams. Then, a year after the divorce was finalized, she was convicted of shooting to death her new boyfriend, the Olympic skier Spider Sabich who, it was reported, had become weary of his relationship with her.

Throughout the ordeal, Williams supported Claudine, because he said he would never speak badly of the mother of his children. Williams did not remarry until 1991.

I have not become a stringer for the National Inquirer by bringing up this tabloid story. I talk about it because a friend of mine in Pittsburgh said that the television stations there always air the old Andy Williams specials during the Christmas season.

This led us to wonder if Claudine ever regretted her decision to divorce Williams. After all, had she stayed married to him, she would have lived her life comfortably as a beloved personality with a fine family, and forever respected. Instead, she now lives in obscurity with the guilt of the death of the young Sabich hanging over her forever.

This story and the speculation my friend and I had about it lead me to consider something I have recognized about everyone I know including myself. It is so easy for us to sabotage ourselves. It is so simple to discard what is valuable for what is valueless. It is too easy for us to go against our better interest over something petty and fleeting. We can often violate what we love because we suddenly decide we want something that cannot compare to what we actually have.

The prophets were always calling attention to this trait because the Israelites would so frequently fall into idol worship and violate the laws of God even when they knew better. This trait is so universal that the ancient Greeks wrote of it, also.

The Greeks called it hubris. The ancient Greeks believed that human arrogance leads us to violate what matters. For the Greeks, as well as the prophets of Israel, there was always a price to pay for hubris. The result of it usually meant the loss of the very thing we want and cherish.

People often to not see the Christmas story and the story of Holy Week and Good Friday as speaking to this human condition. Both stories do. Both stories have the same message. The stories of Christmas and Good Friday may seem to be at opposite ends, however, they are cut of the same cloth. Both of these stories are the reverse of hubris. The story of Christmas and Good Friday are at the other end of doing something foolish that violates what is cherished and loved. In fact, both Christmas and Good Friday are expression of self-sacrificing love that is willing to take on whatever is necessary for the sake of the beloved.

God chooses what is humble to reveal himself. God comes in a manger as opposed to a palace. God comes to a cross as opposed to a golden throne. God remains faithful where humans do not. In these stories, our God is revealed as faithful, dutiful, and seeking the best for mankind. This is in contrast to all the other gods of the ancient world who lived by whim and sought to be appeased. One could never trust the idols of Rome, Greece, or the Canaanites. Our God lived according to his plan to bring salvation to all and life over death.

It is for this reason that today’s story of the Presentation at the Temple is important. It is part of the Christmas story. Mary and Joseph come to the temple to do what was normally done. They are going to dedicate their first born son to the Lord.

First of all, this act has ancient roots. The Canaanites sacrificed their firstborn to the idols. That baby would be slaughtered to the god as an act of worship. The Israelites in the worship of their God did not kill the firstborn, they offered the baby as a blessing from God. It said that our God is about life, happiness, and dignity.

Mary and Joseph come to fulfill this ancient rite of blessing and affirming of life. They bring Jesus to the temple. Waiting there is the old man Simeon. He would not die until he saw the Messiah. As Jesus is brought into the temple the old man Simeon declares Jesus to be the salvation not only of the Israelites, but of all people. It is a cause for rejoicing. Then, along comes Anna. She, too, speaks of the joy of the Messiah. He would bring the redemption that had been waited for by so many for so long.

There is no regret in this story. There are no second guessed decisions. There is joy over what is taking place. God does not act on whim; God acts according to faithfulness. For us, and the foolish things we do this is good news.

If you and I are honest, everyone of us has something we have done or said that we now know was so foolish, silly, and childish that to think about it embarrasses us. Our God came for just those things. The birth of Jesus was for just those kinds of regrets. Christ came humbly born in a manger. He does not lord over us our sins in contrast to his sinlessness. Instead, he takes our sin upon himself. That is what Simeon and Anna were celebrating in the temple that day of the Presentation. It is what they were telling those around them as they gazed upon the Christ Child.

The story of Christmas does not end with the shepherds at the stable. It continues to the Presentation at the temple, the flight into Egypt, and eventually to the cross of Good Friday where our sins are placed upon the cross with Christ. On that cross there are no regrets there is only hope. From that cross there is only life redeemed, saved, and restored. From the cross comes life eternal forgiven and free for Simeon, Anna, and all of us. Amen.