Reflections on "Eight Days In" Luke 2: 21-40

Another sermon that had a good insight, but maybe could have been developed better.  I also free-lanced quite a bit, so these notes are not as close to what was preached as is often the case.

This sermon represents a new thought on my part.  A thought not supported by the scholars I read on this passage, I might add.  As I read the text, I had this desire to shout, "No," to Jesus' parents as they immediately submitted him to the status quo and its rules and regulations.  Not sure if that response was led by the Holy Spirit, something going on in me, or if it true to the text.  Once it was in my mind, however, I could not get away from it.

“Eight Day's In” FPC, Troy, OH; January 1, 2012; Luke 2: 21-40; Galatians 4: 4-7

Move 1: Eight days ago, on Christmas Eve, we told the story of Christ being born.

a. As we tell the story with glorious music and candles to light the night, we can easily forget how radically God departed from the status quo in the coming of Christ.

1. Consider how the religious and secular powers in that time responded to what God was doing.
2. Before Jesus' birth, the priest Zechariah, part of the religious hierarchy, is told that his wife is going to bear a son named John who would prepare the way for the coming Messiah, Zechariah refuses to believe. As you may recall, Zechariah is struck mute, unable to speak, throughout his wife's pregnancy.
3. A priest, one of the officials who probably had preached the coming of the Messiah, cannot believe what God is doing.
4. King Herod, the secular power, is so threatened by this outsider that he decrees the death of all the new born baby boys.
5. The secular ruler may not understand what God is doing, but he wants nothing to do with anything the departs from the status quo that keeps the kin in power.
6. . Why are we surprised at these examples of the institutional authority figures not welcoming the Christ=-child into the world?
   b. Look at how Jesus comes into the world.
   1. his parents had so much stature in the status quo, they could not even sequester a room to spend the night or to have the baby.
   2. Born to a young woman, who had no standing and no power in the religious or secular circles.
   3. First people to admire the baby are shepherds, who apparently came straight from their fields.
   4. if Jesus had been the darling of the religious community or the secular authorities, you can bet he would have made a better entrance and bigger splash.

c. So we recognize in the circumstances of Jesus' birth, that his coming is unexpected and surprising. A sign that things are going to be different.

Move 2: But then, eight days later, Jesus' parents start following the rules.

a. Jesus is circumcised, just like the he is supposed to be.

1. He is named, just like he is supposed to be.
2. He is presented for baptism, just like he is supposed to be Just like it's supposed to happen.

1. Mary and Joseph present their child, just like they are supposed to do.

4. They make a sacrifice, just like they are supposed to do.

5. Eight days into his life, this unexpected, surprising child is following all the rules and being tied into the status quo.

b. We can make the point, as scholars have through the years that these acts show the Christ comes to fulfill the law.

1. Later, when he will speak out against the law, they can look back and note that he really actually wanted to make the changes from within the religious structure.

2. Or, one day people can argue that the tension Jesus will create between the old and the new is about the poor interpretation of the law, not the law itself.

100. And if we look closely, we can see glimpses of Christ's subversive nature in this story.
     
     
     1. Old man and old widowed woman.

2.  marginalized.

3. Simeon's announcement that Jesus will be opposed .

But, it still hits me that eight days in, Jesus has already been co-opted by the religious status quo.

Move 3: too easy to tame Christ.

a. I suspect most of us tend to like things neat and orderly (we are Presbyterian, after all).

1. We sort of like the rules, especially if we are the ones who make and enforce them.

2. Resist the temptation to figure out how Jesus fulfills our expectation, and work on seeing how Jesus calls us to redefine our expectations.

3. Instead of quickly noting how Jesus confirms our beliefs, look for our Jesus might critique our beliefs and call us to new understandings.

4.  Instead of folding Jesus into the status quo, discover the new places to where Jesus calls us.

b. New Year's resolutions.

1. Commitment to make us better.

2.  I bet many of our resolutions help us fit into the status qou better.

3.  One wish for New Year's resolution – include something unexpected and surprising.

4.  something that pushes us outside the parameters we set and leads us closer to the radical nature of Christ's birth.

Conclusion: Family tradition that began when my mother and father spend new Year's eve with the grandchildren.
1. Through the years, that has happened quite often.
2. My mom had the grand kids write up their New Year's resolutions, and then shortly into the New Year, the grand kids receive a nice, type-written, set of their New year's resolutions from their grandmother.
3. There is a lot to like about that tradition.
4. In years when the kids dare not with my parents, they still her their resolutions, and she types them up

This year maybe free hand drawing. Or a picture out of crayons.

A resolution for 2012 that pushes us to follow baby Jesus, instead of making him part of our status quo.