Monthly Archives: December 2011

Christchurch earthquake.

Posted on by

Today's seismograph (Hat tip the Herald)

 

As usual, I did not feel anything in Dunedin. But Christchurch has been hit with another shallow earthquake: one of 5.8 at 1:30 and another of 6.0 at 4:30. There are still aftershocks.

Looks like the airport is up, and the plumbing is still working at least.

Twitter is useful in emergencies

Now, recurrent earthquakes have led to some odd behaviour. This is from Twitpic, and shows how you leave your computers at the end of the day… Monitors flat on the desk.

Thanks Twitpic http://http://twitpic.com/7wyu0k/full

Geneologies.

Posted on by

One of the things that matters in NZ is ancestry. Most Maori can recite their ancestry back to the mists of time. It matters. For the local people (Ngai Kahu) state “There is no Maori (the people) just iwi (tribe) and whanau (family group)“. If you are not of the blood of the tribe, you are not of the tribe. (Marrying in is allowed, but that is because your children are of the tribe). Since Ngai Kahu control millions and millions of dollars of assets (they intermarried with the Scots and are quite canny) this matters.

So to a Maori, this geneology, with its contractions… makes sense.


Luke 1:67-80

1An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

2Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, 3and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, 4and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, 5and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, 6and Jesse the father of King David.

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, 7and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, 8and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, 9and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, 11and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

12And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob,16and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.

17So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

Luke likes symmetry and numbers… yes. But let us look at some of the things we have forgotten which are in this, the geneology of our LORD.

  1. This list is of patriarchs. Of men. It is the geneology of Joseph, who traced himself through  Zerubabel (the governer who restored the temple) Jechoniah (the last king), David, jesse, Obed, Judah… Abraham.  The list contains heroes in the history of his tribe, his kingdom, his faith.
  2. Jesus could claim this geneology because Joseph was the husband of Mary. Luke has just spent most of the first chapter of his gospel describing Mary’s pregnancy — by the spirit. But the covenant of marriage, in which Jesus was born, meant that Joseph was accounted as his father, and that this is valid. It is thus who raised you that matters, not the blood line as such. (This is personally important: I am adopted and acknowledge my families history back to the Taranaki settlement when I have to  give a formal introduction on the Marae (formal meeting area run on Maori ceremonial rules).
  3. The list is not matrilineal. One woman is acknowledged — Mary. Now, Matthew acknowledges Rahab (who was a prostitute and hid Joshua’s spies when they visted Jericho), Ruth (who was a Moabite widow of Jewish exiles and Mary). The ancestry follows patrilineal lines. Again, my Maori friends understand this. They acknowledge both men and women… those who have served, those who were heroes, and those who led the family. But the main lineage is male.

Finally, both the geneologies are there to prove a point. Jesus is to be accounted in the line and geneology of David, from whom the Messiah was to come. Although he was to fulfil the law and move beyond the law, he had to meet the qualifications or fulfil the prophecies that were written and known about the Messiah. Paul comments on this…

Galatians 3:15-22

15Brothers and sisters, I give an example from daily life: once a person’s will has been ratified, no one adds to it or annuls it. 16Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring; it does not say, “And to offsprings,” as of many; but it says, “And to your offspring,” that is, to one person, who is Christ.17My point is this: the law,18For if the inheritance comes from the law, it no longer comes from the promise; but God granted it to Abraham through the promise.

19Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring would come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained through angels by a mediator. 20Now a mediator involves more than one party; but God is one.

21Is the law then opposed to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could make alive, then righteousness would indeed come through the law. 22But the scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin, so that what was promised through faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

The promises and inheritance of all those in faith are for Christ. Who chose to give them away… because the law is sufficient to condemn us, but not save us. That required that Christ not only intercede for us, but bleed and die for us.

The incarnation — the birth — the faithfulness of Mary and Joseph in raising this child — all was leading to a death some thirty-odd years later.  And in that death, the promises given to Abraham, and the faith that was shared down the geneology, has become the faith of all peoples, even the Ngai Kahu in antipodes.

(NB. I’m not Maori: I’m of English descent (with some Polish and French via Australia, according to my grandfather. One branch (maternal grandmother) settled in NZ in 1857 as part of the Taranki Military: she married a man whose father failed in farming in South Australia due to drought: her daugther married a man whose father had emigrated as a stable boy and married a woman whose family had been established in Auckland for at least three generations… they farmed. My parents met when they were both teaching.  He was Anglican, she was Presbyterian. Both had vibrant faith, and both are far more righteous than me. Our tribal roots may flow through, and the history of faith has to be acknowledged, but in Christ we are all of one generation: those who have gone before and those who follow).

 

Christmas is for faith (not works).

Posted on by

Queens drive, Summer evening

The clinical christmas rush is starting this morning. People are trying to get well enough to go home before the holidays — and at the same time some families are wanting people admitted, or some people want to be on a psychiatric ward because being alone at christmas is harder than they can cope with.

And I have to find the paraphenalia I need from the university this morning because they will close on the 24th for the Christmas break (which is until the 9th). Unlike the Northern Hemisphere, Christmas is also the start of the summer break. The schools have closed, parents are trying to juggle childcare with the busiest time for retail..

At least the sun is out.

GALATIANS 3:1-14
1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! 2The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? 3Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? 4Did you experience so much for nothing? — if it really was for nothing. 5Well then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?
6Just as Abraham” believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” 7so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham. 8And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.” 9For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed.
10For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.” 11Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law; for “The one who is righteous will live by faith.” 12But the law does not rest on faith; on the contrary, “Whoever does the works of the law will live by them.” 13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us — for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” — 14in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

At this time of the year we are busy. We are getting ready to visit our families, or preparing to have our families visit. We are giving to those in need. (And the charities like the fundraising they can do now).

All well and good. But we need to remember what Paul is saying. Jesus arrived to take our sins. To suffer for us. We cannot balance this, and we cannot keep the law of God (let alone the laws of men, which contradict themselves). Our salvation is not by works.

The works we do are instead worship. Because God was generous to us, we should be generous to others. Because God cared for us, we should care for others.

In the end this time is not about business. It is about Jesus. And the world wants to shut that out.

Against a monopoly of discourse.

Posted on by

The very idea of freedom of speech is a Christian one. It comes out of the attempts the puritans made to reform the Anglican church, the breakdown of cuis regius, cuis religionis during the 100 years war. There was an acceptance that free speech would allow the truth to be proclaimed… and unfree speech could shut it up.

For the truth needs no defence. Good speech drives out bad speech as light drives out dark. However my son has taken my e reader and is giggling as he reads Steyn. One of the points that Steyn makes… is that freedom if speech is lost. It has become rude, a social faux pas, ot not accept the current progressive shibboleths.

As the republic fades (Steyn’s point) ant the eurocrats destroy democracy (one of Cameron’s points, if he consciously made it). These are the times we are in. What are we to do?

Titus 2:11-3:8a

2:11For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, 12training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, 13while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 14He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.

15Declare these things; exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one look down on you.

3:1Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show every courtesy to everyone. 3For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another. 4But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. 6This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8aThe saying is sure.

So we are to live Godly, sober and upright lives. There is no law against this. We are to be gentle… polite. But not silent. We are commanded to preach the gospel, in season and out of season. Titus is told to exhort believers to live a Christ-like life, for we are his witnesses in this world.

And at this time, the church needs to stand on issues. We need to give an alternative… to the current systems of courtship and marriage, to the failing systems of social welfare, against contentless education. We need to defend our faith, speak truth to power, defend beauty from modern “art”… and we need to speak against the euphemistic set of stultifying rules that limit our freedom to do so.

Submission.

Posted on by

I have probably used the most dangerous word in the western world. Because submission is seen as something we have to do to external and anti christian forces… from Islam to militant humanism. But we are told to submit. That there are roles in our life that we have because of our sex, our age and because we are in families. SInce I cannot call my young, I have highlighted those bits that are the duties of the older person in the faith (noting that there is nothing here about eldership or being a bishop. This is for all in Christ).

Titus 2:1-10

1But as for you, teach what is consistent with sound doctrine. 2Tell the older men to be temperate, serious, prudent, and sound in faith, in love, and in endurance.

3Likewise, tell the older women to be reverent in behavior, not to be slanderers or slaves to drink; they are to teach what is good, 4so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5to be self-controlled, chaste, good managers of the household, kind, being submissive to their husbands, so that the word of God may not be discredited.

6Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. 7Show yourself in all respects a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, gravity, 8and sound speech that cannot be censured; then any opponent will be put to shame, having nothing evil to say of us.

9Tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to talk back, 10not to pilfer, but to show complete and perfect fidelity, so that in everything they may be an ornament to the doctrine of God our Savior.

Men are expected to have what the Romans called dignitas Seriousness, an awareness that there is a higher purpose in our life, and a sense of their mana or clout. But they are not to abuse this by losing their temper, by being oppressive, but to be temperate, balanced (the prime Roman virtue) and to let their righteousness exceed the stoics. Common sins for older men — despair and grumpy anger — are warned against.

Older women are to teach the younger how to love their husbands and children. Not the young. Marrying is accepting that you are in an ultramarathon and not a spirit. And two common sins for older women — gossiping and drunkenness (which, today, would include benzos and other sedatives) are mentioned.

For the young… they are to submit to the teaching of the old and obey their parents or masters. Now,, you may say this is hard. Tough. Titus was living in a much more unjust society, with much harsher punishments (A Roman paterfamilias could kill any slave or child with impunity). We are to submit to each other because we are submitted to God.

WHich brings us to the Gospel. For Mary is honored precisely because she submitted to shame, dishonour and shunning for the sake of the gospel.

Gospel Luke 1:26-38

26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

(Yes, this was a reading on Sunday. The RCL notes the text for each Sunday, but there are daily readings at the site. On Sunday, I look at both…).

Mary submitted to the word of God, and became pregnant. By the law, she should have been stoned. Joseph was a righteous man: he did not want to do that but could not tolerate her clear infidelity (she was pregnant) and thus was about to quietly divorce her. Which would have been legitimate — she was betrothed to him. However, God sent him also a vision… and Mary spent much of her pregnancy in Judea, with Elizabeth. Away from the gossip and stares.

Mary may have been young, and somewhat inexperienced, but she was not stupid. She would have been aware as to what happened to girls who got themselves knocked up outside of wedlock. Her submission to the word of God was costly. We need to be aware that ours may be costly as well.

Murdering the mad.

Posted on by

This is from Today’s herald.

An American woman visited New Zealand to aid in the death of an Albany psychiatric patient, and watched from a doorway for two hours as the 49-year-old took her own life.

The visitor, who at times calls herself “Dr” Susan Wilson, then packed up the evidence, threw it out, and flew home.

She took away at least $2000 she received from the dead woman.

Coroner Katharine Greig today released her findings into the death of Audrey Wallis, who ended her life after years of deteriorating mental health as her marriage faltered.

Ms Greig ruled the death a suicide

No, in my view, Murder. Does not mater. because Stuff points out.. she will be charged.

An American who admitted providing the means for an Auckland woman to kill herself will be arrested and charged with assisting suicide if she ever returns to New Zealand, police say.

Audrey Monica Wallis, an unemployed 49-year-old, was found dead in her bed at her Albany home in August 2007.

In a ruling released today, Coroner Katharine Greig said Wallis had died by self-inflicted asphyxiation, in circumstances amounting to suicide.

If you read the articles, Ms Wallis was addicted to benzodiazepines, and appeared to have an anxiety disorder and depression. All these are treatable. Every one. By medications, by talking therapy.(including over the internet), and by exercise…

This is why we talk about not accepting euthanasia. The extreme cases lead to accepting this evil. I’m glad the authorities will charge this evil woman. She did not die well. And she died when treatment was available.

Elder and laity.

Posted on by

Today the Lectionary has a bunch of things we could discuss and consider, from Zechariah being told he was about to father John the Baptizer to Zephaniah prophesying forgiveness to the daughter of Zion…

But Paul has some teaching on eldership. And this matters. Because the leadership of the church can lead people astray.

Titus 1:5-8

5I left you behind in Crete for this reason, that you should put in order what remained to be done, and should appoint elders in every town, as I directed you: 6someone who is blameless, married only once, whose children are believers, not accused of debauchery and not rebellious. 7For a bishop, as God’s steward, must be blameless; he must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or addicted to wine or violent or greedy for gain; 8but he must be hospitable, a lover of goodness, prudent, upright, devout, and self-controlled. 9He must have a firm grasp of the word that is trustworthy in accordance with the teaching, so that he may be able both to preach with sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.

The church is not a democracy. it is not a place where all can lead. You have to be qualified. As a divorced man, I am not qualified to be an elder, though (I pray) that my children believe. If you cannot rule your house, you do not qualify. If you are a woman, you do not qualify. If you are clearly breaking the moral rules — you steal, cheat, are ungenerous, hot tempered… you do not qualify.

When we are called to Christ, none of us qualify, but those called to be elders will meet these criteria.

There is a final criterion hidden within the need to be able to teach true doctrine, and it is in the final phrase and confront those who do not teach so. An elder (or bishop, if my Greek is correct the word presbyter was used for both) must have a spine. He is going to have to say some unpopular things. He cannot be scared of people who listen to their friends, and voter against what is sound teaching/.

(And it is easy to find sound teaching. If you pare away the controversies around the sacraments, the role of Mary and saints, Ikons, styles of worship… you have a core of teaching that has not changed. If you find Calvin in agreement with Thomas Aquinas and the Orthodox fathers, you are on safe ground. However, it the teaching does not have a history and has not been discussed from the time of the church fathers to this generation, that teaching is quite shaky).

The failure of last century was that the Elders did not hold to sound doctrine but let the people go as they please — or the people went as they pleased and the church did not shun them. This is starting to correct itself. The churches that were wobbly wusses are dying. The churches that preach the gospel and sound doctrine are growing.

For without the Gospel we are but the Kiwanis with better buildings. We forget that we are going to be Christ;s. He is the ruler of the church, not us. and he appoints and empowers the leaders, not us.  And.. although it is a great privilege to lead, being lay is the usual position for a Christian, and that has its own role, rules and reward.

Cappy Cap’s Book.

Posted on by

Yesterday I was laughing out loud as I read Captain Cap’s new book Worthless. The son started reading, and since I read faster than him he sat down and listened… to me reading the last five chapters out loud.

But he as already got the message. He is dropping all liberal arts except History and English (which is still compulsory) and taking maths, biology, chemistry & physics. The science track with a backup arts subject in case he gets poor marks in English.

What we both found useful was a chapter on the signs of a useless degree, such as repeated content, talking drivel, and a lack of Math.  Anyway, if you have kids in high school, read the book — so at least they will not drop Math, and therefore get a degree without any career prospects

Cats, pray, diet.

Posted on by

Another misandric cartoon

Dalrock has a thread up on divorce and post marital spinsterhood. Go over and read it, but I want to start with one of the comments.  Sweet As hits the topic out of the park.

One thing that I point out to my 30-something and older single friends is that they are likely going to have to date older, which may also mean giving up on things that they might have wanted.

Dating an older man means that you will get marriage and stability. You might even catch a particularly wealthy older man, which is “even better.”

But, you will not get children (in most cases). And, you will not get a lot of respect (you will be seen as a gold-digger). And, you will not get everything eventually in the will (the kids from previous wife will make sure of that).

You also have to realize that he will die before you. it likely won’t be while you are still young. You stay married until he dies, you might lose the “gold digger” title, but you’ll be in your 60s and 70s and you probably won’t be getting your groove back. Or, if you do, it has to be with older men again. I’ll likely still be trucking along with my husband, who is about my age. Because, he’ll probably die in his 90s. Like me.

I have two sets of comments on this. Firstly. to the Ladies. By older, Sweet As is talking 10 to 20 years older. That makes sense. I’m 51 — and over 35 is attractive (20 is not).  But I will probably not make it past 80. I have but 30 years. So if you are in your 30s, you will be a widow in your 60s.

And the corollary is that if you want kids, you better be prepared to breed as soon as you are wed. And for goodness sake, be pleasant. We may forgive 10 kilos of weight, but I want someone who is basically sane and pleasant.

For men… you cannot rely on any woman to keep you healthy. You can predict that you will be done if she lives in the US. Keoni has a story that needs sharing here.

One guy’s story is especially maddening.

He came home one day because a job had gotten rained out, only to find the mother of his two children getting her ass nailed to the bed by their neighbor. He went nuts punching holes in the wall and breaking things (but never touched her) while the neighbor ran out of the house. The cops got called and he ended up getting arrested for domestic violence.

She ended up with the house and a child support settlement.

He drives an old beat up pickup truck, she drives a lexus.

He lives in a small apartment, she a three bedroom house in an upper middle class property in suburbia, and her never employed loser boyfriend lives with her and the two kids.

She hasn’t had any kind of job in 20 years. He’s essentially paying her to live a comfortable life for her and her live-in surf bum fuckbuddy.

She gets 60% of his unemployment check, forcing him to find under-the-table work just to pay his own rent, food and transportation bills.

She regularly denies him visitation. He’s filed more petitions than he can count to force her to allow him time with the kids he’s supposed to have under their court adjudicated divorce settlement. They never enforce her violations of his visitation rights. The only thing he ever gets told is to file another petition. He finally gave up in frustration.

His son is now in his late teens…and he, like so many other boys raised in the typical broken home of our brave new world order, has gone off the rails and gotten involved in petty crimes, drugs and is now in rehab.

And now the ex-wife is telling him that once the boy turns 18, she thinks it would be better for the boy to come live with him in his one bedroom apartment.

As I was saying, you can’t rely on a woman to keep yourself healthy. Now kids are not stupid, and if they have contact with their dad and are allowed to be there, and she is crazy, she will be the one alone with the cats. The surfer boyfriend will find another to breed off.

Girls, stay with the one you already have, and look after him. Men are fairly simple and the good ones will not stray. We (that is men) tend to fall in love, you know. And most of us like women and being around women. It is this environment which is toxic, for women as much as men.

But what do, if you are divorced and male? Or a young man?

  1. Get your kids out from under. Teach the rules. Raise them. It will cost money, but that is something you can get.. or my rule one: Do not have sex with a woman unless you are prepared to raise her children.
  2. Choose where you live wisely. The US is bad. The UK may be worse. (It is the judges that matter, not who his the Prime Minister or President). The court is not your friend. Which leads to rule two Never go out with a woman from North America.
  3. Look after yourself. Eat right — cook from scratch more meals than you eat out. Go to the gym. Do something, each day. Get a family doctor — who will inevitabely put you on meds for Blood sugar, cholesterol or blood pressure. No not turn to booze or new booty for comfort. Let her develop the substance problem instead, because Living well is the best revenge.
  4. If you are anything like me, you have an ability to fall in lust virtually instantly and once your little head is engaged, your ability to ascertain your partner’s qualities go out the window. I am no saint: but there is a wisdom in avoiding the meat market. You need to think about your finances, hers, and how the kids will react. They do not want serial aunties. Wait until you are married minded. then don’t date, court. And (obviously) do not marry in the noxiously misandric states, nor live there.
  5. If you hold in long enough, then you will be a grandparent. And being a granddad is golden.

The game is not that long. There are phases in our lives. You cannot breed forever, you will not be a parent forever, and you won’t be around forever, Keoni’s workmate should be honoured, for he is trying to support his children, and Sweet As is speaking the truth to the sisterhood.

And yes, we all need to pray, There is nothing wrong with love, But we need to get our physical health under control — diet, not eat, and stability not some form of romantic instability…  for someone is going to have to correct the dysfunction of this generation. And it ain’t going to be the single mommas.

 

 

Advent prophecies.

Posted on by

One of the things that happens in reformed churches is that we hold to the lectionary lightly. Today we had a sermon on the song of Simeon. This is the lectionary for today: it is the Magnificant. Not Nunc Dimittis.. But that is the nature of us… we moved ahead to talk about Simeon.


Jesus Presented at the Temple

22 And rwhen the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem sto present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in tthe Law of the Lord, u“Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in tthe Law of the Lord, v“a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was wrighteous and xdevout, ywaiting for zthe consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not asee death before he had seen bthe Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when cthe parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and dblessed God and said,

29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant4 depart ein peace, faccording to your word; 30 for gmy eyes have seen your salvation 31 ithat you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 ja light for revelation to the Gentiles, and kfor glory to lyour people Israel.”

Now one of the men of the church, who is studying theology preached today. He talked about how Simeon and Anna were both righteous and old. They had lived their entire life in prayer, waiting for a poor couple (the sacrifice is the one the poor people gave for purification of the woman. (For those who do not “get this” you had to be ritually pure to enter the congregation of the temple…. and you had to be of a certain tribe to lead the worship, and of a certain family to be a priest. And everyone could not have had sex, nor be menstruating, not have just had a child, nor have touched a dead body… to be in the temple). There are rituals and symbols, and this was one for women). For they were led to the messiah.

What we then talked about was that Simeon told Mary that a sword would pierce her heart also. As Jesus suffered, his mother hurt. This seems to be a universal: when a child is in difficulty the father may be angry, sad, and grieving, but he generally can harden himself and do what is right. The mother… sees the babe she bore, and nursed, and her heart breaks. Mary was going to have to see Jesus on the cross.

But the lectionary is a balance, for it is the Magnificat, and the beginning of the incarnation. It is quite interesting to look at what Mary actually said.

Luke 1:26-38

26In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:47-55

46b My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48 for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50 His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52 He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53 he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55 according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

Some points:

  • Mary may have been poor, and living in Galilee (the hillbilly part of Palestine) but she was not stupid. She knew sex was needed for babies, and she was a virgin. The question she asked… “How can this happen?” only makes sense of we take the usual meaning of that term: she had not had sex. I am sure that then, as now, many young women get pregnant in the usual way — the liberal interpretation of this word is “young woman” — but that does not explain why the angel talks about Elizabeth, who had found herself pregnant when post menopausal.
  • The Magnificat talks about Mary’s personal saviour. (which is why the reformed would say that Mary was, like all humans, not sinless). But then she expands on this.
  • The expansion of what it means to be saved has almost nothing to do with her. She is not talking about herself. She is talking about a scattering the proud, pulling down those in power, and feeding the hungry…
  • And she called herself blessed.

Mary did not lack courage. What she lacks in th s prayer is selfishness and pride. She gives all the glory to God… and she accepts the pain that is to come.

Because Advent is not the end of the good news. It is but the beginning. There is a child of God in the world. He has to survive (for Herod tried to kill him),. grow up, and then… walk to his own death.  For only in breaking the power of sin is our salvation assured.

For Mary, like all mothers, had to let her child go. She could not keep him as a little boy forever, But most women do not have to see what she did: most women pray that they will not have to live through their child being in trouble or being ill, or burying their child. Mary became the mother watching her son on the cross. Mary watched her son being buried.

And Mary saw the joy of our salvation in his resurrection.