LK 2: 22-40

Laterally Luke…Christmas 1…Revised 2017

Take Simon - ‘righteous, devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, Holy Spirit being upon him’ - together with Anna - ‘prophetess, not departing from the temple, worshipping, fasting, & praying night & day’; what a formidable combination they make! Would that every congregation had combinations like Simon & Anna!

Whatever else we explore in the readings at this time of year, a main thrust in them is that God consistently works from the ground up, not from the top down. There is no trickle down effect in the way God’s Kingdom, God’s Rule works. God chooses & works with people who have little or no standing in the public eye. People like Zechariah & Elisabeth, Mary & Joseph, foreign astrologers, today’s Simon & Anna, a scruffy-looking & way-out, in more than one sense, Baptiser. Even you & I qualify if we’re more tuned into God than into ourselves.

Today’s church is mostly adrift as much as society in general. Rapid social change - the fastest since evolution began - has left many looking for, even longing for leadership to ‘trickle down’ from where someone has been elected to, or seized power. The lesson from Scripture is that meaningful change the way God sees it happens from the bottom up; as faithful people are called, & respond, to God & God’s way of looking at & doing things! (Church leaders are no more able to put things to rights by pontificating from the top than politicians - of any stripe - are!)

God works through people like Simon & Anna, to stick to those two now, out in the margins of life. People who are called to think & act laterally as God calls us into His confidence to be ‘righteous, devout, looking for the consolation of Israel (& a new Israel), Holy Spirit being upon us’ & ‘prophesying (in the best biblical sense of that word), not departing from the temple, worshipping, fasting, & praying night & day’. 

That’s the only way the world can be put to rights, & it will happen in God’s time & space, not ours. There are no short cuts. And there are likely to be more crowns of thorns in the short term, than golden ones. More crosses than thrones. But do it, do things, God’s way & praise & peace win out as God’s time frame kicks in!