In a World of Change, God Remains

Rev. Alex Sloter Luke 2:22-40 In a World of Change, God Remains Christmas 1 (12/27/2020) Change in 2020 Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, Amen. When I left seminary, the professors told me, “Don’t change anything in your first year.” They told me that because they wanted me to realize that every church is made up of deeply embedded habits. Practices and routines that make that particular church particular. That make that congregation what it is. I may be trying to figure out how to be a pastor, but they have already figured out how to be a church, and I needed to respect that. Well, that may be good advice. But things have changed over the last year. Some of that change was intentional. I wanted to try something new, and I planned it in advance, such as the service for All Saints Day. Some of that change was unintentional. It happened because I didn’t know any better. We’ve all sung, or in some cases, not sung, a lot of new hymns over the last few months. Often, I just didn’t know what music to pick. It was unintentional, but it was still change. Change can be good. But it can also be disruptive, destructive, even evil. But whether we want to or not, whether we plan it or not, change is going to happen. And whether we like it or not, change will usually be resisted. Change is usually resisted because old habits die hard. Even if the habit is destructive, it still dies hard. In fact, those habits seem to die the hardest. For example, if a person is addicted to caffeine, he may realize that over-consumption of coffee is bad for him. But good luck kicking the habit. Regular consumption of coffee has probably become a deeply embedded habit that will resist change, even good change. A person may be able to go without his regular coffee for a couple of days, but he will probably come back within a couple of weeks. Change is usually resisted. But sometimes change is resisted because it would lead to something bad. You hear about a new plan at work, and you instinctively resist it. You can just tell that it is going nowhere. The results won’t be what the bosses expect, and the new initiative won’t last as long as they want it to. So you go along with the change as far as you have to, while waiting for the change to wear itself out and disappear. And it sometimes does. Change is usually resisted. But while we may resist change, change is guaranteed. Sometimes it is intentional, sometimes it isn’t. But it is going to happen. Change is inevitable. Change in Israel In our gospel reading this morning, Israel stands on the cusp of change. The old ways are clearly in view. They are strictly observed. But they are about to change, and that change is going to be resisted. Mary and Joseph are in the temple to present Jesus to the Lord. They are about to perform a rite that God had instituted immediately following the exodus. The point of the rite was to remember how God had saved Israel from Egypt. Israel had been enslaved for about 400 years, so twice as long as Africans were enslaved in America. Then God sent Moses to Pharaoh and told him to say, “Let my people go.” But Pharaoh refused. Change is usually resisted. So God sent a series of ten plagues Egypt until Pharaoh was compelled to let God’s people go. The tenth and final plague was the death of the firstborn. God threatened to kill every firstborn child of man and animal in Egypt unless Pharaoh let his people go. But Pharaoh refused and threatened to kill Moses if he ever saw him again. So Moses leaves his presence and waits for the final plague to fall. However, God provides protection for his people. He commands them to slaughter a lamb and to paint the door posts of their homes with the lamb’s blood. When the angel of death sweeps through Egypt later that night, he passes over every house whose door is painted in lamb’s blood. Pharaoh awoke in the middle of the night to the death of his firstborn son. And only then did he let God’s people go. Change is inevitable. Then God gave his people this rite. They are to present every firstborn son to him and redeem that son from God at the price of five shekels, a small amount of money. That is what Mary and Joseph are in the temple to do. And while some find in this passage an example of infant dedication, the Israelite children, including Jesus, Mary’s firstborn son, aren’t being given to God in this rite. They aren’t being dedicated to the Lord. They are being bought back from God as a reminder that God claimed the life of every firstborn son in Egypt but spared the firstborn sons of Israel. Mary and Joseph are in the temple to observe an ancient rite, one that God had given his people to remind them of how he saved them from Egypt. For 1400 years, every firstborn son of an Israelite family went through this rite. But change is inevitable. Mary and Joseph have barely entered the temple courts, when an old man comes up to them. He scoops the child in his arms and begins to sing praises to God, “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all people, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” Mary and Joseph were in the temple to celebrate an old rite, a reminder of an ancient act salvation. But this old man declares to them that a new salvation is on the scene. A greater salvation has come. And that salvation has a name. Jesus. Change is inevitable. While God had saved his people from slavery in Egypt, he had a greater act of salvation yet to accomplish. He was going to save his people from their sins, and even from their death. And he was going to do it through the baby in Mary’s arms, Jesus. But while change is inevitable, it is usually resisted. So Simeon turns to Mary and prophesies about the life of her child. He says, “This child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce your soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.” This child is going to bring salvation to the world and glory to Israel. He is going to be a sign of God’s salvation for all people. But this sign will be opposed. And Jesus is opposed, even to the point of death. He is opposed the very first time he claims to be the savior. In Luke 4, he preaches in his own hometown, and the people try to throw him off a cliff. He heals a man on the Sabbath, but the religious leaders are filled with fury and they accuse him of breaking the Sabbath. Jesus feeds the crowds, but when he declares that he is the bread of life, they desert him. Change is usually resisted. It is resisted because it means the end of something old. And that is what Jesus meant. We no longer present our firstborn sons to God and buy them back from him to remember the Exodus. Jesus meant the end of that. We no longer observe the Sabbath according to the Jewish law. Jesus meant the end of that. We no longer offer blood sacrifices of any kind. Jesus meant the end of that. To us who live so far removed from Jesus’ day, none of this seems exceptional. These things ended a long time ago, and that is the point. Something old came to an end. Something that had given God’s people their identity and their purpose for thousands of years came to a close at the birth of a little boy. Something that had become the normal, the expected, the framework for a way of life, reached its end overnight. Imagine if all the practices in your life, those things which give you order, and meaning, and certainty just ended tomorrow. Who wouldn’t fight against that? Change is usually resisted. But change is inevitable. The change Simeon held was already in the temple. Israel’s world was going to change overnight. And while change in our own church has taken a lot longer, it still feels far to fast. The Christmas season was filled with joy for me, and I hope for you too. But I had more than one person tell a sad story about change in the church. One person remembered how we used to get out folding chairs for our Thanksgiving service. If you didn’t get there early, you didn’t get a seat. Our Thanksgiving Eve service this year had about 40 people. What a change. How did it happen so quickly? When I first got here, I looked at all the confirmation pictures in the fellowship hall. Some of those classes were huge. A dozen students in a single grade. This year’s class has seven students. And that is only because I combined two grades. What happened? I was talking to a person recently who wasn’t able to come to our children’s Christmas program, and I was bragging on the kids. They did a great job. I was hoping to give her a little joy. And I think I did. But she also said, “We used to have so many children.” What happened? And how did it happen so quickly? In each of these situations, our church life has changed dramatically. We do things the same way, we still have holiday worship services, we still have confirmation and Christmas programs, but they are not the same. They have changed. Like Israel, change for us is inevitable, even though we resist it. It is already present in our church. Things Change, God Remains But here is the good news. While change in the world is inevitable, God remains the same. It’s true that Israel’s way of life changed. Its even true that that change was brought about by God. He was the one who chose to do something new. But it is also true that the God who once rescued his people from Egypt did something new to rescue his people from their sins. It is true that the God who set up Israel’s old way of worship and remembrance through various rites changed it all when Jesus came. But it is also true that he gave his people a new way of worship centered on Word and Sacrament where an even greater salvation is remembered and received. It is true that the defining act of redemption in the Old Testament, where God struck down the first born of Egypt and compelled Pharaoh to let his people go is no longer central like it once was. But it is also true that the God who struck down the first born in Egypt to rescue his people from slavery struck down his firstborn Son in order to rescue his people from sin and death. This God can be trusted because he remains the same. Things may change, God may even be the one doing the change. But one thing will never change. The eternal faithfulness of God. The love of God. And the fact that he is on a mission to save his people from every evil. In the midst of inevitable change, God remains the same. Two Guarantees for 2021: Change and God As we enter a new year, we recognize that change is going to happen. We recognize that change has already happened. Some of that change will be intentional. Some will be unintentional. A good deal of it may not be good, just as a good deal of the change that has already happened is not good. And because change is both difficult and sometimes dangerous, it is usually resisted. But in a world of inevitable change, God remains the same. The same God who was born to save his people from their sins, is the same God who rules our church. The God who was held by Simeon in the temple courts is present in our own church today. And in a world of inevitable change, one thing remains the same. The eternal faithfulness of this God. The love of this God. And the fact that he is on a mission to save his people. Two things are guaranteed for 2021, change and God. Therefore, no matter what the year brings for our church, no matter what the year brings for us as individuals, no matter what variety of obscure hymns assault the ears our members from a pastor still trying to figure things out, we are able to look forward to the year with hope. We may not like what comes. It may be good; it may be bad. It may be within our control or well beyond it. But no matter what, the center of our church and the center of our lives holds steady. Because in a world of inevitable change, God remains the same. And he is on a mission to save us all. Go in peace, people loved by God, Amen.