December 29: Meeting God in Our Obedience
♫ Music:
Visiting the Temple
Luke 2:22-24
And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”
Moonless Darkness Stands Between
by Gerard Manley Hopkins
Moonless darkness stands between.
Past, the Past, no more be seen!
But the Bethlehem-star may lead me
To the sight of Him Who freed me
From the self that I have been.
Make me pure, Lord: Thou art holy;
Make me meek, Lord: Thou wert lowly;
Now beginning, and alway:
Now begin, on Christmas day.
MEETING GOD IN OUR OBEDIENCE
Almost every event in the Advent narratives is preceded by a supernatural sign or visitation. An angel appears to Zechariah; an angel appears to Mary. Angels appear to Joseph and then to the shepherds in the field. A supernatural sign in the heavens guides wise men from the East, who get a further supernatural message by way of a dream. And angelic dreams continue, warning Joseph to flee to Egypt and then to come back to Israel once Herod is dead. Advent stories swim in angels, dreams, visions, and signs.
One exception is the story that concerns us here. Luke 2:22-24 is angel-free. Instead, Luke focuses on ordinary human faithfulness. Mary and Joseph receive no angelic message to present Jesus in the temple, they simply obey a command given long before in the Law of the Lord.
Luke reminds us that Jesus shared in that most universal experience of human life: birth! For all the supernatural aspects of the incarnation, at the end of the day, Jesus was carried in a womb, born of a woman, and entrusted to human parents of very ordinary means. On his 40th day, he was presented in a traditional temple ceremony; his life redeemed by animal sacrifice, in his case, mere turtledoves because of his parents’ poverty.
Simon Vouet’s Presentation in the Temple portrays this moment of Jesus’ life. Though presentations were daily Temple activities, all the figures in this painting are filled with astonishment and wonder. They strain to see the baby; they appear to resent anything that would impede their vision of him. It serves as an invitation for us to watch and wonder as well—to contemplate what lies in and around this seemingly ordinary event.
First we find a piece of history. The command to dedicate the firstborn (Exodus 13:2) emerges from the Passover story. The dedication is a reminder of the Passover, at least, children who ask about the ceremony are to be told the Passover story (Exodus 13:14-15). So there are two historical echoes in this command—the awe-filled praise of Israel for God’s deliverance, and the anguished cries of Egyptians mourning the loss of their firstborn, both man and beast. Life given and life taken away.
The temple dedication is also a reminder that life is drawn from God. It is a divine gift—or better, a divine stewardship. A stewardship because even after the gift of life is given it remains God’s, and God calls life back to him at its appointed time. For first born male animals, God calls their life back to himself in a temple ceremony on their 40th day. For first born male children, the 40th day is appointed to redeem their life by an animal sacrificed in their place. In all cases, the source and span of life is set by God’s sovereign choice. Life comes and goes by appointment—whether it seems like it or not.
That Luke trades the angels for tradition, law, and parents also merits contemplation. Our culture often devalues the law of God, the traditions of elders, the importance of parents, and even life itself. We need a reminder of the value of the divine law, of the respect due traditions, of the importance of faithful parents, and of the inestimable value of even infant life. It is good these things might be honored even in the absence of an angel choir. Indeed, one might argue that the highest honor is obedience that comes from daily attendance upon God’s Word rather than obedience induced by angels.
And as we contemplate Joseph and Mary, we learn about meeting God in our obedience. As Jeremiah put it, obedience teaches us to walk the ancient paths where the way is good (Jer 6:16). God meets us when we walk these paths—accompanying our pilgrim steps. That may mean seeing his glory in the gift of a new child—life brightening like the sun at dawn. That may mean seeing his presence in the darkness of death—like a candle in a window on a moonless night, flickering an invitation to come inside. But whatever the circumstance, life or death, God is there to meet us.
So may your ordinary obedience open your eyes to your extraordinary God!
Prayer
Lord, may I meet you in my ordinary obedience this Christmas. May I look around all that stands between you and me and see your face with awe and wonder. And Lord, please help me see you at my side as I walk the path you have set for me.
Amen.
Rick Langer
Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies
Director, Office for the Integration of Faith and Learning
Presentation in the Temple
Simon Vouet
Oil on canvas
Louvre Museum, Paris, France
About the Artist and Artwork:
Simon Vouet (1590-1649) was a painter who introduced an Italianate Baroque style of painting into France. Vouet formed his style in Italy, where he lived from 1612-1627. He returned to Paris in 1627 at the request of Louis XIII who named him his first painter. Thereafter, Vouet won almost all the important painting commissions and dominated the city artistically for many years. Vouet’s religious paintings like Presentation in the Temple (c. 1640-41), show a developed but restrained Baroque style characterized by soft, smooth, and idealized modeling, sensuousness of forms, use of bright colours, and a facile technique.
About the Music:
“Prepare Thyself Zion”
Lyrics:
Prepare thyself, Zion, with tender affection,
The purest, the fairest this day to receive.
The purest, the fairest, prepare thyself Zion
With tender affection.
Thou must meet him with a heart with love overflowing,
With a heart with love overflowing.
Haste then with ardor the bridegroom to welcome.
Haste and haste then with ardor the bridegroom to welcome.
About the Composer:
Johannes Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, and violinist of the Baroque period. He established his distinctly German style through skillful use of counterpoint, harmonic and motivic organisation, and the adaptation of rhythms, forms, and textures from abroad, particularly from Italy and France. Bach's compositions include “Brandenburg Concertos”, “Mass in B minor”, “Well-Tempered Clavier”, two Passions, keyboard works, and more than 300 cantatas, of which nearly 100 cantatas have been lost to posterity. His music is revered for its intellectual depth, technical command, and artistic beauty.
About the Performer:
Lupe Ríos comes from Ciudad Guzmán, Jalisco, México. He is one of 12 brothers and sisters born to a poor but happy family full of dreams and ambitions. When Lupe was a young boy, his family immigrated to the United States. In the USA he immersed himself in religious music. Lupe attended the University of Washington where he studied Political Theory and Economics with minors in Human Rights, Religion, and Music. He has served as the Director of Worship for Mission San Luis Rey Parish in Oceanside, CA, and is currently Director of Music at Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church in La Jolla, CA, where he is involved in a variety of music projects, including composing and recording.
http://lupedifranco.com
About the Poet:
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) is regarded as one the Victorian era’s greatest poets. He was raised in a prosperous and artistic family. He attended Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied Classics. In 1867 he entered a Jesuit monastery near London. At that time, he vowed to “write no more...unless it were by the wish of my superiors.” Hopkins burnt all of the poetry he had written and would not write poems again until 1875. He spent nine years in training at various Jesuit houses throughout England. He was ordained in 1877 and for the next seven years carried out his duties of teaching and preaching in London, Oxford, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Stonyhurst. In 1875, Hopkins, deeply moved by a newspaper account of a German ship, the Deutschland, wrecked during a storm at the mouth of the Thames River, began to write again. Although his poems were never published during his lifetime, his friend poet Robert Bridges edited a volume of Hopkins’ works entitled Poems that first appeared in 1918.