New Year's Day - the first Sunday of Christmas

{The congregation today was small, but mighty! 21 people including the pastor, with a capella singing of some Christmas carols. A nice, rather intimate service.}

 The Pastor’s Sermon

for the First Sunday of Christmas, January 1, 2012

Disclaimer: At the request of a few of the congregation, I’m ‘publishing’ the text of my sermon ‘as written.’ I cannot guarantee that I will deliver the sermon ‘as written.’

  Today's theme is fulfillment and there is a lot about fulfillment in the readings today.

  The prophet Isaiah, in a section scholars call “Third Isaiah”, proclaims that the shame and sadness of the people of God, personified in Jerusalem, is at an end.

  For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out like the dawn,
and her salvation like a burning torch.

  God's mercy will vindicate the people and see to their joy and fulfillment.

  In Paul's letter to the Galatians, he writes “when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.” Jesus had taken on all it meant to be human and all it meant to be Jewish (“born of a woman, born under the Law...”) and in that fulfilled the Father's plan in both content and time, being born “when the fullness of time had come...” The fullness of time means “at the proper moment according to the plan” as well as “at the point when the entire plan is completed.” In this, Jesus fulfills the plan of the Father for all time. A lot is said in these few words.

  In Luke's Gospel, there are actually two fulfillments. The first is the “purification of Mary.” For years, the teaching had been that she needed to be purified because childbirth made her unclean. Over time, a number of scholars have changed this idea.

  Mary's purification is not from uncleanness, being befouled, or dirty from childbirth, but she was emerging from mystery to ordinary life. Childbirth was a mysterious event, bordering on the supernatural and very much out of place in ordinary doings. Now Mary was fully reintegrated into the community by a rite of “purification” since there really is no other word for it.

  The second fulfillment is found is what is referred to as “Simeon's Canticle” which is the last of three big poetic prayers in the beginning of the Gospel of Luke.

  This canticle or song is used in the service of Night Prayer for the entire Western Church and is often used as the post-Communion canticle in the Lutheran worship tradition.

  Luke writes that God had revealed to Simeon that he would not see death until he had seen the Messiah, an amazing gift. He embodies the hope of the Jews in the time of Jesus, waiting patiently or maybe impatiently for the fulfillment of God's promises - “For my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples”

  It makes me wonder a bit: what fulfillment are we waiting for? We have all experienced disappointment, disenchantment, and even failure. Many of us have seen terror beyond mentioning and all of us have experienced fear. Yet we have experienced joy and happiness, success and triumph as well. What are we looking forward to?

  With Isaiah, we are waiting for our God to remove our sin and shame and all that separates us from God... and Jesus has done this.

  With Paul, we look for the completion of God's plan for our humanity and for his Kingdom. Jesus has done this and we still wait for the fulness of the completion of God's promises, knowing that Jesus will go this in “the fullness of time...”

  With Mary, we look for the fulfillment of our community, although still keeping the mystery of what it means to be both a human and a disciple of Jesus Christ.

  With Simeon, we await the fulfillment of all that God has promised – the coming of his Kingdom and the fullness of the reign of Jesus, in our lives and in our whole world.

  All these things are fulfilled in our faith and we look forward to the time when they will be fulfilled in all creation. For faith, seeing isn't believing; believing is seeing, as the old saying goes. It is our faith that will see us through to the fulfillment of all God's promises and plans.

  This new year begins with us gathering for worship, and I can see no better way to start a new year. This year is God's, as is every year. God's promises will be fulfilled and we will see the “salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the (nations) and for glory to your people Israel.”