This was first shared as a sermon at St Denys Evington on 29th January 2023. The audio can be found at the bottom of the page.
Suffering was the way of life for Simeon and Anna, Joseph and Mary. Suffering is the way of life for us, too. Be that the personal suffering of illness, grief, and damaged relationships, or the suffering we are witness to locally and globally, from the climate crisis, or oppression or war, suffering is all around us. And we cry, “It’s not fair! It shouldn’t be like this!”. Some of us cry to God, some of us cry to the universe, those around us, the media or anyone who will listen, but we are united in feeling that this suffering shouldn’t happen. Why?
In short, the reason is that the world was not meant to be “like this”! God created the world, and everything was good! Until…
… until humanity was tempted by the idea of ‘knowing good and evil’ – of being able to make the judgement of what was right and wrong for themselves, or, as Genesis 3 describes it, were tempted to eat the fruit of the Tree of the “knowledge of good and evil”. The authority and power to make that call belongs only to God – that was why Adam and Eve were told “not to eat the fruit” of that tree. Sometimes we see the consequences of this clearly – when harm occurs as the result of particular actions. Other times, it’s less obvious to us, but ultimately, humanity’s relationship with God was broken, collectively and individually, and the result of this affects the whole of Creation. As a result of this broken relationship, we experience death, and humanity lives under the slavery of the fear of death.
Humanity was the pinnacle of God’s Creation, but it had damaged itself, the world and its relationship with God, seemingly beyond repair. This grieved God.
Grief, the word we use to describe the pain we experience when we lose a loved one. When humanity sinned, God lost His loved ones. How could this relationship be restored? How could God reconcile us to Himself, and set us free from our enslavement to the fear of death?
There was, and is, only one way. God started to write the story of the restoration of His Kingdom through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, through Moses and the Law in the Old Testament, and through the prophets. Then God acts, and the story is written through Mary and through Joseph – God sends His Son, to become flesh and blood, to become a vulnerable baby in a hostile world, in a world full of the suffering which should not be.
Simeon and Anna are part of the story, too. Righteous and devout, Simeon is waiting for the consolation of Israel – the promised Messiah who would restore Israel, and probably carried his own personal suffering as well as that of his people. Anna, now aged 84, is a prophet, was married for 7 years and had been a widow for many years, and all that time has been worshipping God, night and day, in the Temple, fasting and praying. Simeon and Anna are waiting in hope for the promise of God’s Kingdom.
The Letter to the Hebrews describes the climax of the story that God has been writing: that Jesus, coming to rescue humanity, shared our flesh and blood and shared our fate – the fate of suffering, the fate of death. In sharing in flesh and blood and in sharing in death and suffering, He frees humanity from their enslavement to the fear of death. Just before the passage we heard read, the author of Hebrews writes about the family of God, about how all those who are sanctified – that is ‘made holy’ – are Jesus’ brothers and sisters, and it was because we are His brothers and sisters that Jesus became man, took on flesh and blood.
This is the wonder of the incarnation – that God’s Son would become like us “in every way”, having flesh and blood, experiencing suffering, temptation and death, and because of this we are able to be called “children of God” and Christ’s brothers and sisters!
Hebrews talks a lot about Jesus as high priest. Not just ‘like’ a Jewish high priest, but perfectly fulfilling the role of a ‘high priest’, as intended by God from the beginning. A high priest should be:
Someone who is able to act as God’s representative, without sin, embodying God’s mercy and faithfulness
Whilst, at the same time:
Being someone who is able to fully sympathize with those to whom he ministers.
Jesus is the only One who is able to do both – fully God and fully human, experiencing temptation yet was without sin, and so able to free us from the fear of death.
In Christ, we are reconciled to God, and so the consequences of humanity’s broken relationship are no longer binding – Jesus has defeated death, and not only death, the one who held the power of death – that is the devil. The devil’s power has been stripped away by Jesus dying on the cross and rising again.
Like Simeon and Anna, we are also waiting. There’s an important difference between our waiting and Simeon and Anna’s. Jesus’ defeat of the one who holds the power of death means that we have a certain hope as we wait for the final fulfilment of the story of God’s Kingdom to come on earth. God’s promise has already come, we know that it is here and that God will keep His promises, because Jesus himself showed us that God is merciful and faithful.
We are all invited to be a citizen of God’s Kingdom, and to be part of spreading God’s Kingdom and inviting others to be a part of it.
First, if you already know yourself to be a citizen of God’s Kingdom, then I invite you to ask God “what are you calling me to do?” It might be something out of the spotlight, quietly serving and sharing God’s love and the hope of God’s kingdom with those around you, as and when the opportunity arises. Or, it might be something that feels more uncomfortable, either in Church or in your everyday life, but you can’t get it out of your head. Or, it could be a bit of both! Either way, God has a part for each of us to play in His story. If it would be helpful to explore this with others, there is a day exploring what ‘calling’ – formal or informal – looks like at St Martins House on 11th February, have a chat with Anthony, Mark, Geraldine or myself after service.
Secondly, if any of this is new to you – the news of God’s Kingdom, the news that we can live free from the fear of death, the news that you are invited to be a citizen of God’s Kingdom, and you would like to accept that invitation, then, as I pray, I encourage you to join in, quietly where you are. Please do tell one of us if you join in, so that we can continue to pray for you.
Let us pray…
Lord Jesus, we thank you that you became one of us, with our flesh and blood, experiencing our suffering, trials and temptation, and even one of the cruellest deaths imaginable, to repair the relationship between us and God. We thank you that because of this, you have defeated the one who holds the power of death, and give us the gift of life free from the fear of death.
I thank you that you have done this for everyone here, including me. I want to be a citizen of your Kingdom, and I know that that is only possible through you. Forgive me for the times when I have decided for myself what is right and wrong, and lived life my way. I choose to live life your way, instead. Amen.
repairerofwalls 