Both Servant and Free

Lord, you now have set your servant free *
   to go in peace as you have promised;

For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, *
   whom you have prepared for all the world to see:

A Light to enlighten the nations, *
   and the glory of your people Israel.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
   as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

Lord.

You now have set your servant free.

To go in peace as you have promised.

And yet, Sunday after Sunday we are told to serve.

Serve the hungry.

Serve the poor.

Serve those needing homes and so on.

How can we, if we are doing this right, find freedom in God and yet be servants?

In fact, Martin Luther once said,

A Christian is an utterly free man, lord of all, subject to none.

A Christian is an utterly dutiful man, servant of all, subject to all.

How are we both servant and free?

Well, because of love.

Going back to John 3:16 where we read that famous phrase, “...for God so loved the world he gave us his son...”

Or something close to that.

God so loved God’s creation, that God joined us in that creation through the life and miracles of Jesus Christ.

We are still at the beginning of Luke’s gospel and the beginning of Jesus’ story.

The story today is the presentation of Jesus at the Temple.

And at the beginning, Jesus is recognized by very few people.

There are the shepherds who are told by the angels that this kid is going places.

And there is Mary who felt God’s blessing when carrying the child.

Then.

Then there was Simeon.

Lord, you now have set your servant free.

You see, Simeon was promised that the messiah would be revealed before his death.

He was promised by God that he would witness God’s people’s salvation.

It is thought Simeon was not a young man, in fact many think he was elderly.

So, imagine this man Simeon witnessing Jesus, carried in his mother’s arms, entering into the Temple.

Imagine the anticipation of seeing the doors opening, the light shining through, that light getting brighter and brighter as the door opens wider and wider.

He is here!

He is here.

Imagine Simeon at the front of the church going about his business as he usually did, perhaps praying as he was a very devout man.

Perhaps encouraging others to pray as he was a righteous man.

And then he sees the light.

The light that shone on Israel, shone on it’s people, now entering into the Temple, growing brighter and brighter as the door opens wider and wider.

Did he stop mid-prayer?

Did he stop mid-conversation?

Perhaps he was facing away from the back of the Temple and had to slowly turn towards the entrance to witness...

At last.

Promised first and now Simeon witnessed the arrival of Jesus in the Temple.

Promises kept, Simeon, God’s servant was free.

Servant and free.

Now, back to love.

Simeon took this child in his arms and caressed his cheek and sang to him a song: The Song of Simeon.

He is facing the child, singing to the child but what he sings is intended for God, God of the heavens and God, this vulnerable infant, as the Sprit rested upon all three.

This allusion to the Trinity is perhaps intentionally by the gospel author.

That our triune God, our God three in one, appears in this scene together perhaps infers a certain sense of completeness.

A sense that everything now is as it should be.

Simeon prays to God while hold the Christ child as the Spirit moves among them.

And this song speaks of Simeon’s freedom, a freedom to leave this earth complete.

As complete as the Trinity, Simeon can now rest having been rest assured that his messiah has arrived.

God’s promise fulfilled; Simeon’s dream complete.

All because of love.

Simeon loved the lord.

Simeon devoted his life to God and perhaps in recognition of that devotion or perhaps because God makes this promise to all God’s peoples, God promised Simeon that he would one day witness his salvation.

His salvation was Jesus.

And he held his salvation in his arms and sang him a song.

And said a prayer of Thanksgiving to God.

Simeon loved God and carried that love in his arms.

Simeon.

Through God’s love, was free.

And still, this servant, God’s servant, was free.

Both servant and free.

Did he then hand the child back to Mary?

Did he then carefully place the baby in her arms?

Did he then, now free, head towards the light that shined upon all Israel?

There was another there in that Temple as well.

This was a joyous day in the Temple for the Jesus was about to enter into the purification ritual.

A whole community would be there to witness his circumcision and welcome him into the community.

Perhaps there would be cheering and hooting and maybe even some hollering.

But there was still one other there in that Temple as well.

She was always there.

She had been there since her husband died after seven years of marriage.

She was younger then.

She was older now.

Following her husband’s death, Anna moved into the Temple and she was known as prophet.

In the Christian tradition, though never mentioned in the canonical gospels but discussed in the gnostic gospel The Protoevangelium of James, it is thought that Anna might even be Mary’s mother.

Now, Anna had been in that Temple for many years and as she saw the child, she began to praise God and proclaiming the good news that this child would redeem those looking for redemption through God.

Following the Shepherds, she was perhaps the second evangelist we read about in Luke announcing the Good News of the Christ’s arrival.

Was she in the Temple for those years specifically to witness Christ’s arrival?

Was her reward for being a prophet and devoted to God the witnessing of Jesus on earth?

Or is that all our promise?

Anna served the Temple with great devotion.

You serve this church with great devotion.

Will your reward because of your devotion be witnessing Christ at some point?

Or is that humanity’s reward for being children of God?

Anna spoke to the congregation about redemption.

And like waves that story grew.

Soon it would be told outside the Temple.

Soon it would be actions and not words.

Soon it would be Christ healing and feeding.

And through Christ, all would be made free.

Through Christ, all are made free.

Servants and free.

Now, back to love because I haven’t quite answered the question of how can we be both servants and free?

How, in the words of Luther, can I be lord of all and subject to none yet dutiful to all?

My answer, not Luther’s per se, my answer is love.

We are beholden to two commandments.

Two commandments that distill all the law found in our holy texts.

Love God.

Love your neighbor.

You might have heard me bang on this before, but I’m not giving up.

Love God.

Love your neighbor.

That’s it.

Sounds easy but it’s not.

Doesn’t seem like too much but it can be.

Yet, when we love, we are free.

When we love, we are in relationship with God.

The question of whether we are servants to the law becomes moot.

In loving God, we become unified with God.

We serve the law to become free of law.

We love to become love.

And from that place of love comes everything.

We see no color barriers, only the beauty of diversity found in the people around us.

We see no documented or undocumented, only our neighbor.

Only our siblings.

Only those we love because we are love.

There is enough separation in this world and if we wish to serve division and strife then we serve another master but we do not serve love.

And.

We.

Are.

Not.

Free.

If we hate our neighbor because they are different in status or race or creed then we are serving hate and not love.

Hate and not God.

When we deny mercy we are serving division; when we are deny a coat to the those in the cold even though we have two, we are serving the cold and not sharing the loving warmth of God’s embrace.

We are not free when we do not love.

These are not platitudes, I promise you.

This is only about love and God is love.

And in love is found freedom.

So, there will come a time when the doors behind us are opened and the light that shined on Israel will shine through once more.

That light still shines behind the clouds, it shines even brighter in the darkness.

That light is our beacon.

That light is our salvation.

That light lets us know we are free.

And everything starts from here.

Just as it once entered into the Temple and then returned to Galilee, so too does it enter into this church for us to take to those who hunger.

Who are cold and need warmth.

Who are thirsty and need a drink.

Because we are loved by God and because it follows that we love God and love each other, are free to feed.

Free to clothe.

Free to sate one’s thirst.

Because we love, we are free.

And in a world serving division and hate and vitriol, that freedom is needed.

In fact, it is necessary.

Let us open those doors.

Let us enter into the light.

Amen.