Isaiah 6110 - 623
Galatians 44-7
Luke 222-40
When we lived in Toronto, our church sponsored a group of eight Vietnamese boat people- the Do family- five brothers, the wife of the oldest brother, and two young children. What an amazing saga! They had escaped from Vietnam in an open boat, and had survived two encounters with pirates. The children, cold and wet in the prow of the boat, scanning the foaming water anxiously for sight of land. Are we nearly there yet, Dad? And the father, with a steadfast hand on the tiller cresting the towering waves, strong in his hope of a new life.
When they reached Canada, the plight of the family was much like that of Joseph, Mary and Jesus after their flight into Egypt. Their possessions were just the clothes that they were wearing. I remember driving the family out to Eatons at the Fairview Mall. We lined the bedraggled crew up against a wall, and asked the somewhat surprised shop assistant to go down the row, finding new pants, sweaters, shoes, and socks for all of them from tallest to shortest. But they were an earnest, hard-working group. They had caught the vision that came with a new country and a new beginning. Very soon they had opened their own business- a Vietnamese supermarket- and like Joseph and Mary they were looking forward to the birth of a new baby. And they chose as the name for this child a Vietnamese word that means "New Hope."
Our Hebrew scripture comes from what many people call the second book of Isaiah. It carries this same message of hope. Much was probably written during the terror and hopelessness of the Babylonian exile. The author certainly lived in dangerous times. After a disastrous conflict with Syria, the northern kingdom of Israel had been conquered, and even Judah was under heavy threat from an angry, war-torn world. As with terrorism today, Isaiah saw the root cause of these unhappy events as social injustice. And he fought bravely against it, berating the people for the sins that had given rise to their troubles.
But to a nation despairing under tyranny, Isaiah brought a message of trust and confident hope. God would soon restore Jerusalem to its former glory. He would make it a home of peace and righteousness, not only for penitent Jews, but for all humankind. The prophet identifies closely with the hope that will be found in the new homeland. The people will rejoice greatly, for God will save the city and its inhabitants. Are we nearly there? The wait seems interminable. But after many years of seeming silence, God will speak. The rescue effort of the Creator is just as sure as the long-awaited new growth of a desert Spring. The once adulterous Israel will be married to God, and become the state that God intended. God is yearning to assure the good life of righteousness and praise.
The letter to the Galatians is written to a Jewish congregation in central Turkey. Paul dwells with typical chauvinism on the problem of circumcision. We can be pretty sure he is thinking about male children. As always, his arguments are complex, and we cannot take time to unravel them today. But let us seize two points. Firstly, let us see where he was on the side of the angels. Many of the Galatians had argued that converts to Christianity must first embrace Judaism, and observe the latest elaborations of Levitical law. But Paul insists that union with God comes through faith in Jesus, rather than through any churchly ritual. So, this book becomes a charter document of Christian liberty, helping to transform Christianity from a tribal sect to a religion that embraces all of God's people.
Paul also speaks of a long-awaited hope. Are we nearly there? Paul thinks of an orphaned boy who is heir to a big estate. In theory, he is rolling in money, but the finances are firmly controlled by trustees until a date set by the father. Now, that time has come! In the "fullness of time," "God has sent his chosen Son" as a puny human babe, born "of a woman." We are open to transformation right now.
Then we turn to our gospel reading. Luke is no chauvinist- indeed, he is ahead of the Catholic and Anglican churches, starring a female prophetess. Anna, the 84-year old widow who had known much sorrow without becoming bitter. She never ceased to pray and indeed spent much of her life in God's house. Our story has something of the poignancy one expects in many female authors- a couple with their beloved firstborn child, yet too poor to bring the expected lamb as a thank offering- they must make do with just two pigeons.
Here the story gets rather personal. The temple hierarchy are a bit disgusted with this small gift, and they decide to foist the service of thanksgiving upon a really old retired chap who still wanders around the temple yard. But what a gift this senior had! Simeon was not yet past it. He was a man who was willing to wait for a special opportunity, even if it came in retirement. His whole life has been filled with hope and anticipation. Now he takes Jesus into his arms, and he knows that at last, the longed-for promise has been fulfilled. He has seen the Messiah, and at last God will comfort his people. Israel will be freed from bondage; indeed, the promise is to "all peoples." Now, Simeon has seen it all. He is free to die in peace. And Anna shares his vision, praising God, and telling many that the long-awaited time of redemption has come.
This, surely is both the message of the Christ child, and the opportunity of the New Year- at last, we are there! The time has come! Beginning around 1755, John Wesley set aside this day as a time of covenanting; in a solemn communion service, all members of a Methodist congregation commit themselves anew to the realisation of this hope. And if we will renounce the old, sinful ways that have so long enchained us, we also can find a new hope of peace for our bitter, tangled world, a new hope of rebirth for our sometimes struggling church, and a new hope of growth and fulfillment for sad and muddled lives. May it be so for each one of us. AMEN.
Roy Shephard.