“Visits with Jesus” – Jan 1, 2012 Sermon/Story
Jan 1, 2012
Scripture: Luke 2: 22-40
About a month after Jesus was born, it was, according to the Law of Moses, time for Mary and Joseph to bring the baby to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (Mary and Joseph come up here). The law said that every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord. They offered a sacrifice of two young pigeons (Joseph, put pigeons on the chair, then stand to the side.)
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon (stand up Simeon); this man was righteous and devout, and he looked forward to the time when Israel would be healed and whole and strong. God’s spirit was strong in Simeon, and he’d been told by the Spirit that before he died, he would see the Savior of Israel, the Messiah.
One day while Simeon was going about his day, the Spirit urged him to go to the temple. When Jesus and Mary brought the baby Jesus in and made their sacrifice, Simeon went to the baby and took him in his arms and praised God. (Praise God.) He said, “Master, you can now take me, your servant, in peace, for my eyes have seen 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.”
And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him (Mary and Joseph look amazed). Then Simeon blessed them (Simeon go and put your hand on the baby’s head, and then on Mary and Joseph) and said to his mother Mary, “This child is will be so important for the fate of our nation, and even the world. Through him, the pain and problems of the world will be revealed. It will hurt, but it is the only way the world can be healed. It will hurt you, too. Both of you. (Everyone go sit down)
There was also a prophet, Anna, at the temple. Anna was 84 years old. She had been married for just 7 years when her husband died, and she had been a widow now for a long, long time. She never left the temple, but stayed there fasting and praying night and day (Anna, put your hands together in prayer.) When she saw the baby Jesus, she began to praise God (Praise God) and to speak about the child to everyone who came to the temple praying for Israel to be saved. (Anna go up to people and point to the baby.)
When Mary and Joseph had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. (All head back to your seats.) The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
Sermon/Story: Visits with Jesus
Rev. Doreen Oughton
Here we are at the end of our holiday vacation, one more day. I bet lots of you did at least a little visiting, or had visitors in. I think today is a good day to talk and tell stories and reflect on visits, specifically visits with Jesus. At the Christmas services we talked about visitors to the stable, the angels and shepherd, and animals (though maybe it was the holy family visiting the animals rather than vice versa). Later this week, on the holy day of epiphany, the church recognizes the visit of the magi to the child Jesus. Even though in the Christmas stories, we have them visiting the stable, according to scripture they visit Jesus in his home, and it happens as late as two years after his birth. And then today we have Mary and Joseph taking Jesus to the temple, as was the Jewish custom, to dedicate their child to God. Now even though Mary and Joseph had been visited by angels and the amazing things they’d been told came to pass, still they are amazed by the things Simeon and Anna say about their baby.
This morning while I am telling a story, I invite you to have a little visit with baby Jesus. I will ask “Mary” to pass the baby to the next person, and so on, so that the baby representing Jesus makes it around to everyone. As you hold the baby, consider your reaction to Jesus. What has God revealed to you personally in Jesus? What do you know is true about him, what do you wonder about? Where do you see Christ in your life? Where do you long to see him? The last person to receive him can bring him up and lay him in this basket.
I’d like to tell another story I’ve heard about a visit from Jesus. This story was written by Leo Tolstoy. It is quite a long story, so I will shorten it a bit. This story is about Martin the shoemaker. Martin lived in the city, in a basement apartment. He was an honest man who did good work, and almost everyone in the city went to Martin to have their shoes fixed. Martin had a little window set up high. He could look out it and see all the shoes that walked by, and he knew who was going by just from their shoes.
Martin was very sad. His wife had died years before and he raised their son up by himself. Then recently, his son died. He was upset, and asked God to take him also. He got more upset when he kept waking up each day, wondering why God would take his son, but not him, when he was so old. One day he told his friend how upset he was. His friend urged him to read the bible and learn to live for God instead of looking for his own wishes to be done. This meant a lot to Martin, and he took his friend’s words to heart. He began reading the bible every day, and he just loved the stories. It wasn’t long before he felt so much better in his heart. He never asked God to take him anymore, but instead gave thanks to God for each day, and thought about how he could live for God even more.
He read a story in the bible about a rich man who had Jesus over for dinner, and how a woman that was a sinner interrupted the dinner and anointed Jesus’ feet, and washed them with her tears, and how he forgave her. Martin read: “And he turned to the woman, and said to Simon, See this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet: but she washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. You gave me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in has not stopped kissing my feet.” Martin finished reading these verses, and thought to himself, the Pharisee must have been like me. I too have thought only of myself—how I might have my tea, be warm and comfortable. I wonder if the Lord came to me, would I do right by him? Then Martin closed the book and fell asleep. He woke up to the sound of voice saying, “Martin, look tomorrow on the street for me. I am coming.” Martin called out “who is there.” But no one answered. He figured he must have been dreaming. But as he drifted back to sleep, he heard the voice again. “I am coming tomorrow.”
The next day Martin wondered whether it was real, or just a dream, that voice he heard. He told himself it was silly, but he wondered whether it was Jesus talking to him. He tried to work on shoe repairs, but found himself looking up and out the window over and over again. Whenever he saw a pair of shoes go by that he didn’t recognize, he moved right to the window and looked up at the face. No Jesus. He saw the boots of his old neighbor, a former soldier, slow down near his window. He was holding a shovel and began to clear snow away from the building. The owner let him stay in a room for free in exchange for work around the building. Martin kept looking up and noticed Stefan the old soldier had stopped and seemed out of breath. Martin invited him in for tea to warm him up and give him a chance to rest. Stefan was very grateful. They chatted a bit, and Stefan noticed how Martin kept looking out the window. “Are you expecting someone?” he asked. Martin looked embarrassed, and said, it’s silly I know, but I am sort of expecting Jesus. He told Stefan about the voice he heard. You know, Martin said, I do think if Jesus visited, he would visit people like us, working people or poor people. He always said things like blessed are the poor. He chose his disciples from regular folk, instead of rich people and rulers. Stefan was very touched to hear this, and was a little teary-eyed as he thanked Martin again and went back to shoveling.
Then Martin saw a woman with shoes very light and work for the cold weather. He looked up and saw she was holding a baby that was crying. She was wearing summery clothes, nothing to keep them warm. He tapped on the glass and signaled her to come in. He gave her food and tea as she told him how her husband was in the army and off overseas. She was on her way to stay with her grandmother, but ran out of money and had to sell her coat for food. She didn’t know what to do. Martin found a warm old coat he gave her, and some money too to get a bus ticket. She was overwhelmed with gratitude and joy. She wrapped the baby in a warm blanket from Martin, blessed him and went on her way.
Martin kept checking out the window, looking for Jesus, but wasn’t even sure what kind of shoes Jesus would wear. As he was looking out he saw a woman with a basket of apples. There were only a few left as she had sold most of them. She was also carrying a heavy sack on her shoulder. She put the sack down on the ground, and put the basket of apples on a wall. As she turned around to pick up the sack with the other arm, a boy ran up and grabbed an apple and tried to run away. She was quicker than he thought she’d be, and she grabbed his arm and started pulling his hair as she yelled for the police. Martin hurried up his stairs and outside. The boy yelled that he didn’t do anything. Martin urged the woman to let the boy go. “Forgive him, ma’am, he said, for Jesus’ sake.” As the woman loosened her grip, the boy tried to run, but Martin held him back. Young man, I saw you take the apple. Now ask her forgiveness and don’t do such a thing again. The boy had tears in his eyes as he asked the woman to forgive him. Martin was pleased and handed the boy an apple, telling the woman that he, Martin, would pay for it. The woman seemed still angry, and talked about how spoiled kids are these days, how they get away with too much. Martin sympathized, but reminded her it was up to them as grown ups to teach children how to do right. He also reminded her that even grown ups make mistakes, and that God forgives us, so we likewise should forgive others. The woman agreed, and even smiled at the boy, saying ah well, it was just a childish prank, wasn’t it. As she went to lift her sack, the boy said, Let me take that for you. She took her basket and the two went off chatting and smiling.
Martin went back inside and finished his work. It was starting to get dark. As Martin went to turn on the lamp, he heard a whisper in his ear, and thought he saw something moving over in the corner. The voice said, “Ah, Martin, did you not recognize me?” “Who?” Martin replied. “Me,” said the voice, “It is I.” From the shadows in the corner, Stefan stepped forward. He smiled, and like a little cloud faded away, and soon vanished. “And this is I,” said the voice. From the dark corner stepped forth the woman with her child: the woman smiled, the child laughed, and they also vanished. “And this is I,” continued the voice; both the woman with the apples and the boy stepped forward; both smiled and vanished.
Martin’s soul rejoiced: he crossed himself, put on his eyeglasses, and began to read the Gospel where it happened to open. On the upper part of the page he read: “For I was hungered, and you fed me: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in.” And on the lower part of the page he read this: “As you have done unto one of the least of these, you have done unto me. And Martin understood that his dream did not deceive him; that the Savior really called upon him that day, and that he really received Him.
I hope you have all had a chance to hold baby Jesus this morning. Before we go on to Communion, I want to share a poem by Mary Cole. It is called, “When the Holy Mother Says, ‘Wanna Hold the Baby?’”
O Mary, thank, but you hold him. He looks like such… – a demanding baby – sure to speak up and walk early, certain to get into all kinds of trouble. Seriously. This baby will ask so much of you. It’s a bitter pill, from such a sweet-looking child. Next he’ll be asking you to give up your life, forever, to follow him, to walk on water, to leave the rest of your family behind, to give up everything you own, to forgive everyone way more than once, without a grudge, and even to love those dirty lepers the same as you love him. He’ll tell you not even to take something to eat on the road-trip of a lifetime; just a pair of sandals and a little faith, and not to forget to wipe the sand off your feet before you leave town. He doesn’t want you to fall in love with the simple act of staying at home, eating bread, drinking wine. We’ve sought solace all our lives, and this baby – look at him! – this baby wants us to toss it all up to God. I get it about those shepherds, all that fear and trembling. You look like a good mother, Mary. You hold him.
