SUNDAY 31 JANUARY 2010. THE PRESENTATION. ROBERT

Hebrews 2: 14 – 18 Luke 2: 21 – 40

Luke is the only Gospel writer who tells us anything about the childhood of Jesus. Either the other three didn’t know anything about his childhood, or thought that their readers wouldn’t be interested. It’s a generalisation, of course, but in the Roman world, unless you were a boy born into a princely family, babies and children were not considered important. Few people took any interest at all in children. Unwanted babies were left exposed to die. You were expected to grow up just as fast as possible and become a useful man or woman.

So if you were writing to tell the story of an important man – let alone a divine one – it would really not occur to you to write about his childhood. Of course, In the case of Jesus - his conception, yes – because that had to do with his divine status. His birth, yes – because that could be said to fulfil prophecy. But it would almost certainly not cross your mind that anyone would care about his childhood. Except Luke. Luke the Greek doctor, Luke the natural historical writer who picks out details from a story that brings individuals vividly to life, and whose Gospel reaches human places the others don’t touch.

This story has a fascinating cast of human characters. Firstly, proud parents carrying their first-born son in much the same way – and indeed in the same spirit – as we bring our baby into church for baptism; to commend him to God, and to pray that he or she may grow up to be godly and true, and men and women of integrity and faith. So Mary and Joseph bring Jesus into the Temple in Jerusalem to consecrate him to God..

And there they meet, apparently by complete chance, two totally fascinating people, Simeon and Anna, who spring off the page as totally true to life. And, because through prayer and spiritual alertness they were inspired by God’s Holy Spirit, each in turn recognises in a baby no-one else would pay any attention to, a very special human whom they will never forget. And what they say as they take the child in their arms sears itself into Mary’s memory for ever.

This Sunday marks an important point in the church’s year. It is the Sunday when we stop looking back to Christmas, and begin to look forward to Lent, Good Friday and eventually Easter Day. That’s because, as we rejoice with Mary and Joseph at the birth of Jesus, we begin to understand something of what his future life will hold. “This child is destined to cause the rising and falling of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce you own soul also.” How true that prophecy was to prove.

Now today we are told to read it in conjunction with Hebrews chapter 2. It’s always interesting to ask why these passages are chosen. And in this case, it’s quite clear. We are being firmly steered in a certain direction. Today we are to take careful note of the fact that Jesus is in every respect a fully human child, who goes through all the experiences of childhood that we share, and grows up in a human family just as we did. Jesus is, in every respect, fully and totally human.

In my experience, most church-going Christians are very clear in their minds that Jesus was God who had taken on the form of a human man. But they find it much more difficult to square that with the fact that Jesus was 100% human through and through.

The Christians to whom the author of the letter to the Hebrews was writing have a similar difficulty, but for different reasons. They are Jewish, and everything in their belief and tradition emphasises a totally exalted view of God. God is so great and holy and powerful that they could not even take his name on their lips. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. How could such a holy God become a mere human being? That was for many too big a jump, and they settled for a sort of half-way house. Jesus had come from among the angels. He could be described as semi-divine, which sounded perhaps a reasonable compromise, until you realise that that makes Jesus neither fully human, nor fully God – and that was a hopeless solution which the writer of this letter is determined to rule out of court.

That’s not usually our problem but we have other difficulties. We have to manage to hold squarely in our minds that fact that Jesus was fully, and in every respect, human like us. And that he was also fully God. How those two natures could exist in one person was going to stretch the best minds of the ancient world, and cause much debate over the next centuries, but we had better not go there this morning or you won’t get any lunch – indeed you could still be here tomorrow.

But there’s much to ponder from thinking more deeply about what it means to us when we understand that Jesus really was in every respect a human being just like us – so that the writer to the Hebrews can say that we are his brothers and sisters, and that we belong to the same family.

First of all, this means that there is absolutely nothing that you and I experience as human beings that He does not totally understand from the inside out. Jesus was in every respect tempted as we are – and tempted to the uttermost, because he did not give way and fall into sin. There is no temptation and no suffering – physical, mental, spiritual – which we shall ever experience with which he does not truly empathise, because he has been there too. God is not above, aloof or remote from our experiences as human beings. The child who was brought into the Temple was to share our human life in all its joys and sorrows, all its excitements and hardships, and he was to face both the fear and the fact of death just as we shall. We express this in many of the hymns we sing:

Saviour, breathe forgiveness us o’er us / All our weakness thou dost know;
Thou didst tread this earth before us / Thou didst feel its keenest woe.
Lone and dreary, faint and weary, / Through the desert thou didst go. OR

For he is our childhood’s pattern / Day by day like us he grew;
He was little, weak and helpless / Tears and smiles like us he knew;
And he feeleth for our sadness /And he shareth in our gladness. OR

Have we trials and temptations / Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged / Take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful / Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness / Take it to the Lord in prayer.

As today we contemplate Mary and Joseph proudly carrying their first-born son into the Temple to dedicate him to God, and then allow our minds to carry forward to everything he was going to experience. We can let it sink deep into our consciousness that whatever joys and sorrows, fears, temptations and pains we have carried into church this morning, we can with confidence take them to the Lord in prayer. If you can really and truly grasp that, it actually changes everything, down to the very deepest level of consciousness. Many of our burdens are buried somewhere – often quite deep down - so take a few moments to try and bring them to the surface. And then take them to the Lord in prayer – the Lord who knows all too well what it means to be human, and who is willing to meet us exactly where we are to minister his healing, forgiveness and grace.

Secondly, we can allow this child to be our inspiration – our role model - as well our deepest source of strength and comfort. Each day Jesus would place his life into the hands of God, and receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit. And with that limitless resource of love and power, he would go out in faith to face whatever came his way, and in the end not even death could defeat him. If we allow him day by day to walk alongside us, it is truly amazing how our strength and confidence grows, how our faith can blossom, how our attitudes and reactions can change.

The child in Mary’s arms can make many very practical changes to our daily lives. If Jesus is really the brother of every other human being, as the writer to the Hebrews says, then how must we react when we see one of those brothers or sisters in distress or practical need? How must we react when in dispute, or tempted to anger, impatience, gossip, slander, malice?

In his letter to the Galatians, Paul brings this to its logical conclusion. We are all one in Christ Jesus - all brothers and sisters in his family. Ponder the implications of that. As Paul urges, how we must cultivate the fruit that the Spirit gives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

So, as we share the peace, and come to communion this morning, I would like to suggest that we focus our minds and prayers on one aspect of our lives where there is pain or suffering, and where Christ can meet us today just where we are, to bring his strength and guidance into that situation and bring about change. And then, one aspect of our lives, where he wants to challenge our attitude to others – near or far - and prompt a particular change – a particular action.

If we listen to him carefully, I believe he has a special word for each one of us this morning. Do listen and do what the Lord says. It could really change your life.