First Encounter
Commentary
A family has recently moved into a community. As the moving company truck unloads their lifetime of accumulated furniture, valuables, mementos, and numerous boxes and tubs, they look around the neighborhood. This is their first encounter with the new environment they will be spending much of other lives in. True, the wage earner, who has visited here and is employed in the area, has already scoped out the geography of this area. But the rest of the family themselves observe that their car now has an out-of-state license plate on it that makes them already viewed as “outsiders.” Down the street is a Christian church. How will this family experience their first encounter with the church, and how will the Christ believers receive a new family into their community? The Presentation of our Lord is an opportunity for believers to focus on “first encounters” in a society that is constantly changing and in transit due to employment, family or financial necessity.
Malachi 3:1-4
“Where is the God of justice?” (Malachi 2:17). This might be a good point of departure in the study of this text. This text is a response from disillusionment that God’s delay of justice suggests that such a day is unreal, so there is some “pushback” on behalf of God’s people. This text is Malachi’s response. Generally dated during the Persian period of Israel’s resettlement in the land, already the people are in a malaise and apathy. They are in their home, but on the terms and conditions of a foreign nation -- Persia. The Persian empire needs more taxes and resources rather than conquest of another nation. Therefore, occupied lands such as Israel are allowed to rebuild their temples on the condition that there is a tax collection sector of the building.
Malachi is informed by the northern (Elohist) traditions of the covenant of the Leviticus priests. The prophet believes that right living under the covenant must persist. Meanwhile, the people are to prepare for an inbreaking or disrupting, regardless of how the natural order of events seem to be headed on the international political front. Such a disruption of events can be seen as an “apocalyptic” act of God in a broadly defined sense of the term. There will be a different exodus, and God’s people will be renewed with a special possession (Malachi 3:17).
Malachi’s response to “Where is the God of justice?” is that there will be a messenger that arrives in the future. Is this the Lord or the Lord’s messenger? This might be another question. But the relationship of this text to the Presentation of our Lord is that God will encounter the people in a new way. As this might apply to the opening illustration, any given congregation may be challenged to revisit their membership and their attitudes toward growth, and to use a new family’s entrance into the community as a way to revisit their hospitality ministry. That is, what do people see in us as Christians and our fellowship when they first encounter us in worship and within the larger community? How we present ourselves as Christians is one tie to the theme of how the Lord has presented himself to us on this day. [Sources: J.J. Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Augsburg Fortress Press, 2004); “Malachi,” in The New Interpreter’s Bible: One-Volume Commentary, Beverly Gaventa Roberts and David Peterson, editors (Abingdon Press, 2010)]
Hebrews 2:14-18
“Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested” (Hebrews 2:18). This verse might serve an interpretative lens for the whole lesson. Jesus is being presented as a high priest here. In any age, humans are held in slavery of many types. Hebrews announces Jesus as being a high priest who liberates humans from the fear of death (and the devil, which enslaves people, v. 15). The epistle of Hebrews is written to a community of faith who experiences malaise and weariness due to persecution and suffering because of their faith in Jesus as the Christ. Hebrews is a sermon to appeal to believers of all times to remain faithful despite burnout from stress and other pressures in life. In this text, Jesus is qualified to be the ultimate priest because he has come under the same whips, hurts, and pain that much of humanity experiences even today in 2017. The author uses selected portions of quotes from Isaiah 8:17-18 to underscore his case to readers.
This priest identifies with any form of human suffering which we may see within our congregation. This might be the loneliness of feeling financially strapped in an officially improving economy; family members who continue to test our limits; as well as bills appearing in the mail without end. Unexpected bills soon due are reminders of demands which may or may not be reasonable. However, they are as real as unexpected acts of violence in our world. This priest in Jesus is in solidarity with believers who experience these grim realities as their new normal. This priest points them to new life as well as provides assurances that the God whom he embodies is good for God’s promises. Hebrews believes no other deity is reliable in the universe.
As this relates to the family in the opening illustration, there may be people in the local congregation who have had to relocate and experience unexpected bills. They might have also had miscues in time scheduling, accidents on the highway which create bottlenecks in scheduling, and the sticker shock of unexpected fees and charges while moving. There is new life. This too shall pass. Jesus the great high priest understands, has lived this life, and is on our side.
One option all preachers might exercise while preaching on the epistle of Hebrews is to draw from Hebrews 12:1-2. Here, Christians are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses who have gone before any of us. They have run the races we currently run, and have persevered. They all looked to Jesus as their “pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” On the Presentation of our Lord, Hebrews presents us with the priest who has experienced, suffered, and risen beyond any difficulties people in our pews might be facing during these wintry months of the year. [Sources: Thomas Long, Interpretation -- A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Hebrews (John Knox Press, 1997); Robert H. Smith, Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament: Hebrews (Augsburg Fortress Press, 1984)]
Luke 2:22-40
This text contains the traditional Nunc Dimittis, the dismissal prayer of an upright Jew named Simeon. He is an older priestly figure, like Zechariah with John the Baptist (Luke 1:67). One recurring theme in Luke’s gospel is that God still works through the traditional institutional religious structures of the times. The gospel begins with the account of Zechariah in the Jerusalem temple in Luke 1:5, and ends with the disciples returning to the Jerusalem temple to worship God (Luke 22:52-53). This entire text is a reminder that God works through the traditional piety, practices, and rituals of the traditional temple. As the young Jesus is presented in the temple on the eighth day for circumcision (2:21), it resonates with the mother Hannah presenting her son Samuel to God in 1 Samuel 1:22-24.
Simeon, who is described as having the Holy Spirit with him (Luke 2:25), prays over the child. There is also the practice of the parents presenting two turtledoves, which has roots in Leviticus 16:6. This has raised questions regarding the nature of sin related to Mary, or any of Jesus’ family. The topic remains contested (Fitzmyer, p. 421). The point remains that it was elderly, upright, traditional Jewish temple residents -- Simeon and later Anna -- who were present while the world has its encounter with God in the form of the infant named Jesus.
The pronouncement of the child’s greatness to mother Mary has dimensions that might seem contradictory. On one hand he is destined for the rising and falling of many people. On the other hand, “a sword will pierce your own soul too” (2:35). Might this be a reference to death on the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18-23; Fitzmyer, pp. 422-423)?
In practical terms, this child reminds all congregations -- be they traditional or more contemporary in their worship, liturgy, etc. -- that Jesus is presented as one who delivers not only traditional people of faith, but also the outsiders or “gentiles” of any given period in time. This text is a deliberate effort to pair the traditional synagogue with a future outreach mission beyond the borders of Israel (Green, p. 13).
Preaching themes on this text might include how do traditional church people as well as not-so-traditional church people encounter Jesus for the first time? A couple years out of being trained in a traditional Lutheran seminary, I was aghast at the “Jesus Seminar” writings which seemed to suggest that Jesus was a peasant preacher who had little intention of creating a major church movement. How is Jesus encountered for the first time in a world of Facebook, e-mail messages (which never disappear!), and where words are drowned out in an avalanche of various forms of text messages?
Jesus’ mission to seek and save the lost remains intact (Luke 19:10). Bureaucracies still burden citizens, as the first family experienced “in the days of King Herod of Judea” (Luke 1:5). Injustices still occur, as the lessons from Malachi and Hebrews suggest. However, our challenge as a church is to discover ways that we encounter Jesus for the first time.
For example, a small congregation might be surrounded by larger towns and churches who are able to organize, orchestrate, and publicize phenomenal Christian education ministries all year around. Rather than starting another Vacation Bible School or another Sunday school ministry, this particular congregation could start a community garden and a community collection center for donated items to be distributed to secondhand-store ministries. Fresh vegetables and a place to dispose of used items later to be distributed (or recycled) could be ways this church believes people can encounter Christ in a fresh, new way. Yet, like the temple in Luke 2, it is a basic traditional Gothic church. How can we as church re-present Christ in a new way? [Sources: Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Anchor Study Bible: The Gospel According to Luke I-IX (Doubleday, 1979); Joel Green, New Testament Theology: The Theology of the Gospel of Luke (Cambridge University Press, 1995)]
Application
Traditional congregations need not despair that they may not be able to “go to the next level,” “be transformational,” or worry if they have the right skill sets to make a difference with the gospel. Today, traditional people of faith named Simeon and Anna whose home base is the temple have blessed a child who will change the world. For Luke, this is an example of a “reversal” where God takes the lowly and makes them great. What objects, icons, and so-called relics still have value today which can point people of faith to a hopeful future? Congregational past anniversary books often contain nuggets of facts, photos, and visions of hope of the early pioneers of the faith in any given church (similar to a Hebrews 12:1-2 motif).
Alternative Application
Are we surprised when symbols or ideas are not in keeping with what the group expects? A group of dispirited retreat attendees wanted to grow spiritually, as they were tired of institutional church programs and new PowerPoint presentations with slogans and acronyms that spell out an organizational theme. At the retreat event, the participants were asked to sit on chairs in a circle while holding a candle; they were then asked to breathe after portions of scripture were read. To break up the retreat, the participants are told to work on making wooden crosses. While the event was not exactly high-tech, all participants left feeling renewed, refreshed, and were able to go back onto the road after the two-day event back into rat race of daily life. Christ was presented in a new way for all retreat participants.
Malachi 3:1-4
“Where is the God of justice?” (Malachi 2:17). This might be a good point of departure in the study of this text. This text is a response from disillusionment that God’s delay of justice suggests that such a day is unreal, so there is some “pushback” on behalf of God’s people. This text is Malachi’s response. Generally dated during the Persian period of Israel’s resettlement in the land, already the people are in a malaise and apathy. They are in their home, but on the terms and conditions of a foreign nation -- Persia. The Persian empire needs more taxes and resources rather than conquest of another nation. Therefore, occupied lands such as Israel are allowed to rebuild their temples on the condition that there is a tax collection sector of the building.
Malachi is informed by the northern (Elohist) traditions of the covenant of the Leviticus priests. The prophet believes that right living under the covenant must persist. Meanwhile, the people are to prepare for an inbreaking or disrupting, regardless of how the natural order of events seem to be headed on the international political front. Such a disruption of events can be seen as an “apocalyptic” act of God in a broadly defined sense of the term. There will be a different exodus, and God’s people will be renewed with a special possession (Malachi 3:17).
Malachi’s response to “Where is the God of justice?” is that there will be a messenger that arrives in the future. Is this the Lord or the Lord’s messenger? This might be another question. But the relationship of this text to the Presentation of our Lord is that God will encounter the people in a new way. As this might apply to the opening illustration, any given congregation may be challenged to revisit their membership and their attitudes toward growth, and to use a new family’s entrance into the community as a way to revisit their hospitality ministry. That is, what do people see in us as Christians and our fellowship when they first encounter us in worship and within the larger community? How we present ourselves as Christians is one tie to the theme of how the Lord has presented himself to us on this day. [Sources: J.J. Collins, Introduction to the Hebrew Bible (Augsburg Fortress Press, 2004); “Malachi,” in The New Interpreter’s Bible: One-Volume Commentary, Beverly Gaventa Roberts and David Peterson, editors (Abingdon Press, 2010)]
Hebrews 2:14-18
“Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested” (Hebrews 2:18). This verse might serve an interpretative lens for the whole lesson. Jesus is being presented as a high priest here. In any age, humans are held in slavery of many types. Hebrews announces Jesus as being a high priest who liberates humans from the fear of death (and the devil, which enslaves people, v. 15). The epistle of Hebrews is written to a community of faith who experiences malaise and weariness due to persecution and suffering because of their faith in Jesus as the Christ. Hebrews is a sermon to appeal to believers of all times to remain faithful despite burnout from stress and other pressures in life. In this text, Jesus is qualified to be the ultimate priest because he has come under the same whips, hurts, and pain that much of humanity experiences even today in 2017. The author uses selected portions of quotes from Isaiah 8:17-18 to underscore his case to readers.
This priest identifies with any form of human suffering which we may see within our congregation. This might be the loneliness of feeling financially strapped in an officially improving economy; family members who continue to test our limits; as well as bills appearing in the mail without end. Unexpected bills soon due are reminders of demands which may or may not be reasonable. However, they are as real as unexpected acts of violence in our world. This priest in Jesus is in solidarity with believers who experience these grim realities as their new normal. This priest points them to new life as well as provides assurances that the God whom he embodies is good for God’s promises. Hebrews believes no other deity is reliable in the universe.
As this relates to the family in the opening illustration, there may be people in the local congregation who have had to relocate and experience unexpected bills. They might have also had miscues in time scheduling, accidents on the highway which create bottlenecks in scheduling, and the sticker shock of unexpected fees and charges while moving. There is new life. This too shall pass. Jesus the great high priest understands, has lived this life, and is on our side.
One option all preachers might exercise while preaching on the epistle of Hebrews is to draw from Hebrews 12:1-2. Here, Christians are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses who have gone before any of us. They have run the races we currently run, and have persevered. They all looked to Jesus as their “pioneer and perfecter of our faith.” On the Presentation of our Lord, Hebrews presents us with the priest who has experienced, suffered, and risen beyond any difficulties people in our pews might be facing during these wintry months of the year. [Sources: Thomas Long, Interpretation -- A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Hebrews (John Knox Press, 1997); Robert H. Smith, Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament: Hebrews (Augsburg Fortress Press, 1984)]
Luke 2:22-40
This text contains the traditional Nunc Dimittis, the dismissal prayer of an upright Jew named Simeon. He is an older priestly figure, like Zechariah with John the Baptist (Luke 1:67). One recurring theme in Luke’s gospel is that God still works through the traditional institutional religious structures of the times. The gospel begins with the account of Zechariah in the Jerusalem temple in Luke 1:5, and ends with the disciples returning to the Jerusalem temple to worship God (Luke 22:52-53). This entire text is a reminder that God works through the traditional piety, practices, and rituals of the traditional temple. As the young Jesus is presented in the temple on the eighth day for circumcision (2:21), it resonates with the mother Hannah presenting her son Samuel to God in 1 Samuel 1:22-24.
Simeon, who is described as having the Holy Spirit with him (Luke 2:25), prays over the child. There is also the practice of the parents presenting two turtledoves, which has roots in Leviticus 16:6. This has raised questions regarding the nature of sin related to Mary, or any of Jesus’ family. The topic remains contested (Fitzmyer, p. 421). The point remains that it was elderly, upright, traditional Jewish temple residents -- Simeon and later Anna -- who were present while the world has its encounter with God in the form of the infant named Jesus.
The pronouncement of the child’s greatness to mother Mary has dimensions that might seem contradictory. On one hand he is destined for the rising and falling of many people. On the other hand, “a sword will pierce your own soul too” (2:35). Might this be a reference to death on the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18-23; Fitzmyer, pp. 422-423)?
In practical terms, this child reminds all congregations -- be they traditional or more contemporary in their worship, liturgy, etc. -- that Jesus is presented as one who delivers not only traditional people of faith, but also the outsiders or “gentiles” of any given period in time. This text is a deliberate effort to pair the traditional synagogue with a future outreach mission beyond the borders of Israel (Green, p. 13).
Preaching themes on this text might include how do traditional church people as well as not-so-traditional church people encounter Jesus for the first time? A couple years out of being trained in a traditional Lutheran seminary, I was aghast at the “Jesus Seminar” writings which seemed to suggest that Jesus was a peasant preacher who had little intention of creating a major church movement. How is Jesus encountered for the first time in a world of Facebook, e-mail messages (which never disappear!), and where words are drowned out in an avalanche of various forms of text messages?
Jesus’ mission to seek and save the lost remains intact (Luke 19:10). Bureaucracies still burden citizens, as the first family experienced “in the days of King Herod of Judea” (Luke 1:5). Injustices still occur, as the lessons from Malachi and Hebrews suggest. However, our challenge as a church is to discover ways that we encounter Jesus for the first time.
For example, a small congregation might be surrounded by larger towns and churches who are able to organize, orchestrate, and publicize phenomenal Christian education ministries all year around. Rather than starting another Vacation Bible School or another Sunday school ministry, this particular congregation could start a community garden and a community collection center for donated items to be distributed to secondhand-store ministries. Fresh vegetables and a place to dispose of used items later to be distributed (or recycled) could be ways this church believes people can encounter Christ in a fresh, new way. Yet, like the temple in Luke 2, it is a basic traditional Gothic church. How can we as church re-present Christ in a new way? [Sources: Joseph A. Fitzmyer, The Anchor Study Bible: The Gospel According to Luke I-IX (Doubleday, 1979); Joel Green, New Testament Theology: The Theology of the Gospel of Luke (Cambridge University Press, 1995)]
Application
Traditional congregations need not despair that they may not be able to “go to the next level,” “be transformational,” or worry if they have the right skill sets to make a difference with the gospel. Today, traditional people of faith named Simeon and Anna whose home base is the temple have blessed a child who will change the world. For Luke, this is an example of a “reversal” where God takes the lowly and makes them great. What objects, icons, and so-called relics still have value today which can point people of faith to a hopeful future? Congregational past anniversary books often contain nuggets of facts, photos, and visions of hope of the early pioneers of the faith in any given church (similar to a Hebrews 12:1-2 motif).
Alternative Application
Are we surprised when symbols or ideas are not in keeping with what the group expects? A group of dispirited retreat attendees wanted to grow spiritually, as they were tired of institutional church programs and new PowerPoint presentations with slogans and acronyms that spell out an organizational theme. At the retreat event, the participants were asked to sit on chairs in a circle while holding a candle; they were then asked to breathe after portions of scripture were read. To break up the retreat, the participants are told to work on making wooden crosses. While the event was not exactly high-tech, all participants left feeling renewed, refreshed, and were able to go back onto the road after the two-day event back into rat race of daily life. Christ was presented in a new way for all retreat participants.
