When, in 2007, a collection of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta's personal writings was released that revealed that she had gone nearly 50 years without feeling God's presence, some people, like Christopher Hitchens, took this to mean that she was a closet atheist who knew deep down that religion was a man-made farce. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth, for during that long "dark night of the soul" she remained steadfast in prayer and doing God's work.
In the account of Jesus' presentation at the temple (2:22-38), we meet Simeon and Anna, Scriptural exemplars of that most difficult demand of the life of a believer: perseverance in faith when there is no immediate reward, no consolation, and no end in sight.
Simeon was "righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel" (2:25), and "it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ" (2:26). Did he ever wonder, in all his years of waiting, whether that assurance had been just a silly dream or hallucination, a product of his own imagination or of cultural conditioning? I think I would have.
But Simeon's patient, steadfast faith is finally rewarded as he meets his infant Lord face to face and holds him in his arms. And he rejoices, "Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word" (2:29).
Likewise, the prophetess Anna "did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day" (2:37). Her radical faithfulness is also rewarded.
When we're in the depths of a dark night of the soul or a spell of spiritual dryness, it's good to remember that, if we persevere in faith, we too, like Simeon and Anna, will one day see the Lord face to face.
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It was hard not to write about one of my favorite passages in the Bible, Luke 2:8-14, but I could not resist posting this narration of it in what has to be one of the greatest moments in television history:
(Image: Alexey Yegorov, "Simeon the Righteous," 1830-1840s)
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We had a sermon on "waiting" this Advent, and my pastor pointed out how we can erroneously consider waiting to be "passive," when Simeon and Anna model a kind of "active" waiting.
ReplyDeleteA very good observation, Kevin! I love how the Nativity is interlaced with beautiful characters such as Simeon and Anna, whose presence affirms the universal significance of the moment.
I stopped this time upon reading of Jesus' answers in the temple. I guess it's because I am working with children, and I now realize what it means to be twelve years old. My sixth graders are curious, lovable, but very rarely profound. I asked myself, "How did Jesus come to learn so quickly?"
One answer I thought of is that He was completely obedient, both to God and His earthly parents. Obedience to one's teachers is a prerequisite to good learning, and Jesus had it in abundance. Hebrews 5.8 says that, "although Christ was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered." Philippians 2.8 says that Christ "humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death."
Jesus was completely devoted to the loving instruction of His parents. Sin, rebellion, and selfishness canalize the mind (I speak from personal experience). They divert it, diffuse it, until it is difficult to really perceive the mysteries of God's truth. Jesus, in His perfect obedience, kept a pure and focused mind, and then blew the minds of everyone else in the temple!
-Chris-
Chris:
ReplyDeleteYeah, waiting -- in the sense that is modeled by Simeon and Anna and called for in Advent -- is definitely not a passive thing. If it were, we wouldn't have a special season of the church year devoted to it!
I like your thoughts on Jesus' learning through obedience. I generally avoid talking about those verses that refer to Jesus learning, because my mind has yet to wrap itself around all the nuances of the doctrine of the two natures of Christ.
One of my favorite bloggers, Mark Shea (who also happens to go to my parish), has a favorite saying that sums up your last paragraph: Sin makes you stupid.
Of course, I wouldn't want to have it appear that my mind has wrapped itself around all the nuances of the doctrine of the two natures of Christ!
ReplyDeleteBut I would add that this explanation of Jesus' answers in the temple bears more upon Christ's human nature. The answer that bears upon His divine nature is that, well, He's God, so of course He knows the answers! It's just that the latter was an answer I'd heard already.
-C-
I didn't mean to imply that you had any such pretensions -- I was just glad that you brought it up rather than me. I know the answer is that while in his divine nature Jesus knows everything, in his human nature he could learn as he grew. But that is one of the mysteries of the faith that is still almost complete darkness to me.
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