Activley Waiting to Die
Luke 2: 25-35
January 14, 2007
We shall overcome. Overcome. What does it mean to overcome. It implies that there is some sort of challenge or obstacle. Overcoming something implies there is some work that still needs to be done. But, it also suggests that it is possible. That there is motion when you speak of overcoming. And, if we are honest, I think this is true for how we believe the living to be. We find it to be filled with challenges and obstacles. They meet us from within our person and our individual experiences of family and growing up. They meet us in neighborhoods and schools. They meet us in our work place and our home life. They meet us in our physical existence. In fact, challenges and obstacles seem to be intricately woven into each day. So how is it that we can be the people who join in the chorus of We Shall Overcome. How do we know we can overcome? How can we be sure we will overcome some day.
We Shall Overcome was the theme song of the 1960s civil rights movement in this country. It was often sung at mass meetings and marches. It was the naming of hope, if we just keep showing up. If we just keep standing up. If we just keep sitting down…someday these small things will make a difference and the color of our skin will be seen as an asset whether black or white, brown or tan together we will be a stronger people more capable of overcoming the difficulties that life hands us.
We Shall Overcome could have been Simeon’s theme song. Simeon had a long life. He was a righteous man, who worked each day to be filled with the Holy Spirit. However, he was not a priest or of any special order. He was simply Simeon. And yet, upon seeing Jesus, his waiting has been stopped and life is overcome. His waiting is ended by exalting these beautiful words from 1 Samuel,
Master, you are dismissing your servant in peace
According to your word
My eyes have seen your salvation
Which you prepared in the presence of all peoples
A light for revelation to the Gentiles
And for the glory to your people Israel
He wasn’t going to get to see any of this. But, someday, his prayer would be answered. And, by just seeing one who pointed beyond oneself to God, Simeon felt he had overcome all obstacles in the living. He was now prepared to die. He had fulfilled his life’s call.
We shall overcome is perhaps the hope that Mary and Joseph held in their hearts about bringing this child to the temple. Perhaps it was to overcome shame. Perhaps it was to overcome fear. Perhaps it was simply to overcome the gossip and just get back to normal. But, Mary and Joseph come into the Temple to present Jesus and Simeon grabs him away. It was amazing! No matter where they went with this kid, from the moment he was born, people kept coming, they were coming out of the woodwork, to talk about this kid. Even here, here in the Temple, this old man, a prophet, he grabs their son and talks of all he’ll be to help others overcome. It’s amazing. It’s mind boggling to think about all they’d overcome just to be in this moment and yet, we find them right where tradition would tell us they’d be.
We shall overcome is what Mary should have written inside her wedding ring. Absolutely nothing went right for this “chosen” one from the start. She was too young, and was chosen. She held God with us within her body. She had never been married or had a child before. She had to travel away to Elizabeth’s. Then she had to travel to Bethlehem giving birth alone with a man she really didn’t know. Then, all these people keep saying the most far out things about this sweet baby of hers. Even here in the Temple. What more can I take Simeon? What more can I take dear Lord? I have been your obedient and faithful servant and now this will pierce my soul? How much more can I overcome?
You know, that none of these examples of Overcoming just happened. In each case it took work. Oftentimes a lifetime of work to overcome. There were celebratory phases throughout but mostly it seems to me an uphill battle. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a charismatic speaker. He drew people to himself and the civil rights movement using a social gospel in a cultural context. But, the sacrifices were profound. Living in fear and exhaustion on a daily basis. Putting his kids and his wife into harms way daily. Wondering every day in a very real way, if today could be his last. Overcoming. Simeon, could have stayed home and shriveled up. I mean he fostered an entire new generation, maybe even two. Why should he, in his retirement, have to travel to the temple looking for the one who will bring about hope for God’s movement? But, he did. He was actively waiting to die. He was doing what he could do to live into his call, even at his age in his time. And, he overcame. Mary and Joseph had an extraordinary challenge to overcome. This birth outside of marriage was not something that was easily overcome in those days. It usually put the woman to death. And yet, through Mary’s visit to Elizabeth. Through the travel to Bethlehem. Through the work of God’s messengers Mary and Joseph overcame this ridiculous scenario and made it to the Temple. Beloved Mary…she was there to conceive this child, to birth this child, to see this child’s first breaths. He denied seeing her at one point. He even denied her any special status as his mother. And yet, she was there to see her child, executed as a criminal, mocked, scorned, killed, and breathe his last. Mary could not have been a passive person to have been in the story from beginning to end. She was tenacious, loyal, faithful and loving aching to be one with this God who calls to us from such unexpected places. Mary actively lived. She didn’t have one miracle and move on to bigger and better things. She just simply stayed in her being, and kept showing up. Mary overcame.
You know, we read these passages from the Bible each week to find meaning in this living that we’re doing. And, today this work is so important. Do not languish. It matters not where you find yourself on this journey. It matters not if your life is tormented with addiction. It matters not if you are in debt to your eyeballs and fear ends will not meet. It matters not if you have left your family and find yourself alone. It matters not if you are frail. It matters not if you are a healthy, thriving infant. It matters not if you are filled with shame. It matters not I f you have a good dose of realism. God can and is calling to you in that context, in that place. This waiting of Advent is not about God’s waiting, it’s about our waiting. Our waiting or refusal to let go and allow God presence in our lives. God is always ready to go, God simply waits for us to allow that work to happen. It can happen, and will happen today if we just believed that we too shall someday overcome. Overcome whatever stops us from allowing God to work in our lives. Overcome whatever forces try to demonize ourselves. Overcome whatever fear that makes dying so difficult. We are the people who shout resurrection after the cross. We are the people who believe that Christ still lives within us and around us. We are the people who believe that God is still calling and creating. Surely, within that context, we too shall overcome some day.