Two of our texts for today have inspired beautiful, powerful music. The Nunc Dimittis, the song of Simeon in the temple, is sung at the end of every day by monastics. Malachi inspired Handel to write some of the most beautiful, most-loved sections of the Messiah. We know the words, and some musical settings. But what are we to do with these messages?
Malachi anticipates the day that God returns to the temple in Jerusalem. This will not be a day of simple joy, however. It will bring testing and cleansing, a painful process. The goal is not punishment, but purification so that we can truly rejoice in God’s presence. Still, the imagery suggests a big, powerful, maybe angry God who will come and shake us to the roots.
How does this relate to the lovely picture of the infant Jesus in the temple? Simeon’s song is peaceful, comforting. Anna, named as a prophet, praises God for this gift. If this infant is the Messiah, the Savior, then perhaps we don’t have to fear the day of the Lord’s coming after all.
And yet.
Tucked in between Simeon’s song and Anna’s praise, a darker note appears. “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed.”
Jesus’ coming looks like a Hallmark card, but in fact it is the light in which our own characters and souls become visible.
It’s not an accident that this sign appears as a child. How we respond to children, what we see in them and how we treat them, shows who we are in critical ways.
Alice Miller, the noted Swiss psychoanalyst, once said that Jesus became the man he did because of the way his parents raised him. She wrote,
“Jesus was respected, admired, loved and protected, his parents saw themselves as his servants and it would never have occurred to them to lay a finger on him. Did that make him selfish, arrogant, covetous, high-handed or conceited? Quite the contrary. Jesus grew into a strong, aware, empathic and wise person able to experience and sustain strong emotion without being engulfed by them. he could see through hypocrisy and mendacity and he had the courage to pillory them for what they were. He had no need of power over others because he was entirely at one with himself.”
Jesus came to the Temple and was named the Messiah. His parents were likely confused. But they had to choose.
They could raise him as if they were raising the Messiah, a gift from God for them to steward. Or they could raise him as their property, or their problem.
Given how he turned out, it’s likely they raised him as the Messiah.
It’s not just Jesus who rises to expectations, who grows through being treated as holy. Another story illustrates the power of expectations.
Once, a small monastery in the woods was dying. People no longer came for consultation or prayer. No new brother had come in years. The brothers continually bickered and blamed one another for the hard times. The abbot had become friends with a rabbi who lived in the woods. One day he went to the rabbi’s hut in despair. The rabbi greeted him, and listened to his troubles. Then he said, “I have great news. One of you is the Messiah.” But he didn’t say who it was.
The abbot rushed home and told the brothers what the rabbi had said. All of them were shocked. One of us? But who?
They quickly realized that playing it safe meant treating every brother as if he were the Messiah.
As time went on and they lived this way, people started to visit again. Men began to ask to join the community. Everyone noticed the peace and harmony that radiated from the monastery. And the rabbi rejoiced.
We know this is true. In our hearts we know it. It is Gospel truth. We will be judged, we will be known, by how we treat one another. We will be most clearly seen in how we treat the most vulnerable among us - children, the poor, the oppressed.
In this country, in this world, our record is not strong. 22% of U.S. children live below the official poverty line - and most experts say that the official poverty line should be twice that, so that 45% of our children are endangered in this way.
Every year 3 million children are reported as victims of abuse, and 1.8 million are reported missing. One in five will be sexually abused by the age of 18. Many of them will run away, and become the victims of human trafficking. Some of them will become parents and abusers in turn.
I suspect that matters were no different in Jesus’ time. Children were a resource. If they were lucky, they were a treasured resource, but many, especially girls, were seen as a burden to be disposed of as soon as possible. In the meantime they were to be worked. Even if the family was privileged, there was no guarantee of safety or respect.
This is the world Jesus came into. But somehow he became who he was.
Somehow Mary and Joseph knew how to raise a Messiah.
How would our world look if we saw each child as the Messiah?
This is not only a matter for parents and children, though it is that. How do we vote on funding for our schools?
How do we reach out to children whose parents cannot care for them adequately?
How do we share our faith with them, and learn about faith from them?
The nation that neglects its children neglects its future. Our children will become what we expect them to become, what we show them we believe them to be.
May our hearts be shown to be purified, to be cleansed, to be turned toward one another when God comes among us today.
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