“The faithful remnant”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Thursday, February 2, 2023

Luke 2:22-40 (Forward, p. 4) CEV p. 1057

Some of the ‘official class’, such as the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, looked down upon the common people and treated them with distain, describing them as ignorant and beneath any consideration. We see this contempt expressed in Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9) but it is amply demonstrated elsewhere in the gospels as well.

The Pharisees probably ‘wrote them off’ as being unfaithful, and stuck in their sin, as well. And yet, there were many in Israel, a remnant you might say, who remained faithful and were devoted to the Lord and His ways. They were a class of people known as ‘the Quiet in the Lord.’ And indeed, even though it was often said that the Holy Spirit no longer spoke to people, it is quite evident—as in the case of Simeon—that He did.

Here, in today’s passage we hear of four of these ‘faithful ones’, part of the ‘faithful remnant’ often spoken of in the Hebrew Scriptures. Firstly, there were Mary and Joseph, Jesus’ parents. You would think that, being the parents of none other than the Messiah, someone who would usher in a new way, the kingdom of God, that they would be exempt. After all, weren’t they therefore ‘a cut above’ the ordinary people?

But no, they submitted themselves to the dictates of the Law, just as would any observant Jew. In today’s passage we find them faithful observing two of these age-old practices. Firstly, as declared in the Law of Moses (Exodus 13:2), every first-born male child belonged to the Lord and had to be brought to the Temple and redeemed by the payment of the sum of five shekels. Secondly, there was the purification after childbirth. It was also accompanied by an offering, in this case the offering of an animal sacrifice. While the usual offering was a lamb plus a pigeon or dove, an exception was made for the very poor. Given that they could not afford to offer something as precious and expensive as a lamb, the Law allowed them to offer a pair of doves or two young pigeons instead. This is what Mary and Joseph did, so it says something about their financial situation. They were just ordinary folk, not wealthy or highly placed, just ordinary folk trying to scratch out a living.

And, while Mary and Joseph were there in the Temple with Jesus—in what was probably meant to be a very private and individual affair, they found themselves with some unexpected company. Firstly, there was the elderly Simeon. He was a man who loved God and was waiting for God to save His people. The Holy Spirit had previously spoken to him and told him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. And, at this very moment, that self-same Spirit had told him to go to the Temple.

He met Mary and Joseph there—somehow he knew them for who they were, took Jesus into his arms, praised God, and blessed the boy’s parents. But then, he also had something to say. After uttering that ecstatic hymn of joy, the Nunc Dimittis, he also had some words of prophecy, some rather dark and ominous words, to say to Mary. “This child of yours will cause many people in Israel to fall and others to stand. The child will be like a warning sign. Many people will reject him, and you, Mary, will suffer as though you had been stabbed by a dagger. But all this will show what people are really thinking” (verses 34-35).

And, if this was not enough, they were soon joined by yet another aged personage in the form of Anna. From the Greek, we cannot be sure whether she was eighty-four years old or had been a widow for eighty-four years following a seven-year marriage—the Greek can be read either way—but we do know that she was extremely elderly. She was noted as frequenting the Temple and occupying her time there with fasting and prayer. And she too had been prompted—we do not know how—to also appear in there in the Temple at that very moment. And she too had something to say. She praised God and told everyone who hoped for Jerusalem to be set free about the child Jesus.

So, in spite of the disparaging remarks of certain people within the Jewish establishment there still were faithful people out there, probably myriads of them, in fact. Indeed, I would suspect that this has always been the case and is still the case today. As a parish priest I have been thrilled over the years to find people, who, without any prodding or encouragement at all, have consistently continued faithful in saying the offices—Morning and Evening Prayer, or engaging in their own private devotions, or reading and studying the Scriptures. I would think that it would be wise to encourage and applaud these practices, and add to them, if we can, our own faithful observances. I happen to think that God honours, blesses and uses such faithfulness to redeem and change this world. We just have to up the quotient, up the frequency and faithfulness a wee bit. Let us, then, be part of that ‘faithful remnant.’ Amen.

Forward notes: “She never left the temple but worshipped there with fasting and prayer night and day” (verse 37a).

“When I first heard Anna never left the temple, I couldn’t figure out what she did all day. Fasting and praying night and day: I bet she was starving and exhausted. How could she have possibly kept that up? Of course, this was before the country shut down, and I found myself at home with two weeks’ worth of groceries and nowhere to go.

“During those first weeks in March 2020, I took a closer look at the Daily Office and the practices of my church. Some days I joined my best friend’s church in Georgia for morning prayer on Facebook. On others, I joined my mother’s church in Greensboro. My church had Wednesday evening prayers. There was Celtic Eventide in Maine via Zoom. My diocese had Compline services—all online.

“Even in the midst of those uncertain times, I always had access to a way to pray with others. As we celebrate the presentation of Jesus in the temple today, I remember Anna’s steadfastness and witness that it is possible to stay and just pray.”

MOVING FORWARD: “How have your prayer habits changed? What can Anna’s witness teach us about faithfulness and steadfastness?”