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The Rev. Frank
Logue Reintroducing Ritual I am a strong proponent of a close reading of scripture. A close reading means that you look for what is said, what is not said, and how it all relates. To closely read scripture is to turn it and look at a story from different angles, closely following the words of the text to see what is revealed. My sermons most weeks result from my attempt at a close reading of scripture in the company of a host of reference works that help me to answer the questions that arise in my reading. This week’s reading comes with a point that even the most cursory glance will reveal—Joseph and Mary are raising Jesus according to the Law of Moses. Whatever else Jesus may be or grow to become, he is raised as a faithful Jew. If you were tempted to skip over the fact that they are keeping to the law, Luke makes reference to it five times. Luke tells us that the timing of their visit was “according to the law of Moses” that they came to “present him to the Lord as it is written in the law.” Mary and Joseph “offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord.” Simeon saw Jesus when they brought in Jesus “to do for him what is customary under the law.” Finally, the story wraps up saying, “When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee.” Whatever else might be happening in this story, Luke wants us to hear loud and clear that Joseph and Mary raised Jesus as a faithful Jew, following closely the Law of Moses. Since Luke makes it crystal clear that Jesus’ parents did not miss a trick in following the law, then it highlights two things that Joseph and Mary did not do. First, Luke said that they offered a sacrifice in accordance to the law of the Lord, which requires a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons. The law required a lamb together with either a turtledove or a pigeon to be offered for the birth of either a son or daughter. However, Leviticus 12:8 did note that poor families could offer two birds instead as a lamb would present a financial hardship. Luke lets us know that Joseph and Mary are part of Israel’s working poor and qualify for what amounts to a hardship discount. By highlighting that Joseph and Mary do everything required by the law, Luke also subtly shows us the economic condition of the family. Jesus, who will be a spokesman for the poor, knows what it is to be raised in an underprivileged family. Secondly, while Luke is busy telling us that Joseph and Mary do everything required by the law, there is one provision they do not fulfill. Jesus was Mary’s firstborn son, as such Joseph and Mary were required to redeem him. This provision in the Law of Moses was no small matter. Many of the peoples who the Israelis uprooted on moving into Palestine practiced human sacrifice. Ancient Near Eastern fertility practices often called on the firstborn animal or human to be offered as a sacrifice to ensure continued fertility. In giving the law to Moses, God forbid human sacrifice completely. The firstborn were to be bought back. The price set in the book of Numbers (18:15-16) was for all firstborn humans, male or female, to be redeemed after one month of life with a five-shekel offering to a priest. With one stroke, God forbid human sacrifice and put in its place a provision to redeem firstborn children for five shekels. In telling us at some length that Joseph and Mary did everything required by the law, while not mentioning Jesus’ parents’ payment of the five-shekel fee for redemption, Luke leaves us to conclude that Jesus’ parents never intended to redeem the infant Jesus. There was no provision for this in the law. Yet there had been a precedent for not redeeming a son with the Old Testament story of Samuel. I believe remembering Samuel’s story is the key to understanding our Gospel reading for today. The First Book of Samuel opens with the story of Elkanah and his two wives, Peninnah and Hannah. As the book opens, Peninnah already has sons and daughters with Elkanah, while Hannah remains childless. Peninnah is always rubbing this in Hannah’s face, making her feel worthless for not having children. The husband Elkanah is content with the way things are. Elkanah loves Hannah very much and does not understand her need to bear children. He asks Hannah, “Am I not more to you than ten sons.” Hannah was afraid that she would never have a child, as she was getting past childbearing years with no children. Elkanah always gave Hannah a double portion to offer as a sacrifice to the Lord when they went to the priests at Shiloh. This was well before the temple was built in Jerusalem and Shiloh was then the center of Jewish worship. On one of their annual trips to the priests at Shiloh, Hannah poured out her soul to God, praying desperately for a child. The priest Eli talked with her and then told Hannah to go in peace as God would grant her request. Hannah did conceive and bore a son, who she named Samuel, meaning “he who is from God.” After Samuel’s birth, Elkanah made preparations to go to Shiloh to sacrifice and pay his vows. He intended for Hannah and Samuel to go too, fulfilling the law, just as Joseph and Mary would later do. But, Hannah did not want to redeem her son from God. Instead, Hannah dedicated the infant Samuel’s life to God. The father agreed. The couple did not pay the five shekels to redeem Samuel. Rather, when Samuel was weaned, Hannah took him to the priests at Shiloh to grow up in God’s presence. Samuel grew to be a great prophet of Israel. He would continue to be Israel’s spiritual leader even as Israel got its first two kings of Saul and David, each of whom Samuel anointed as kings. Just to round out the story of Hannah, we are told how she would make a linen robe each year and take it to her son on her annual visit to Shiloh. The priest Eli would bless the couple for the gift of their firstborn son. Hannah and Elkanah went on to have three more sons and two daughters together, but Samuel was the one who grew up in the presence of the Lord. Hannah refusing to redeem Samuel is the only precedent in scripture for not paying the five shekels. I think this is exactly what Joseph and Mary were doing. They did not avoid the five-shekel payment for lack of money. They fail to redeem Jesus out of a deeper understanding that this boy is not theirs, not now when he is an infant, not later when he is a grown man. Joseph and Mary understand fully what Hannah knew when she proclaimed of her son, “as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.” Where does all this leave us? What does this scripture have for us in the coming week? Certainly, we gain a bit insight into those shadowy years of Jesus’ youth. We know that Jesus grew up in life of ritual observance, which found its pattern in the Law of Moses and its purpose in drawing closer to God. Jesus’ parents were both careful in following the letter of the law and thoughtful in understanding with their hearts what their actions signified. But for us, we live in a time that has been depleted of ritual. Jewish life had a pattern of ritual observances from birth to the grave including daily practices of piety. Christianity too developed ritual patterns of life. Some of these remain. Even the least religious people you know are tempted to find a church for weddings and funerals as these are important events that seem to demand ritual. Yet there was in the Middle Ages, a pattern of ritual for pregnancy, birth, baptism, confirmation, wedding, funerals, and lots more. For centuries, rituals sustained the daily life of Christians throughout the world. Then with the Reformation, ritual fell on hard times. The Reformers knew that mere ritual which did not reflect the inner content of one’s heart, was meaningless. Of course, they were right. Ritual actions disconnected from one’s heart are meaningless. Yet, wouldn’t we be better served to infuse the rituals with meaning rather than to toss them out entirely? This idea of reviving and reinvigorating ritual was part of the pattern of the Reformation in England. While on the continent, Reformers tossed out any practice not found in scripture, and ended up with only baptism and communion left in observance. In England, the principle was that any practice that experience taught was valuable would only be tossed out if it was contrary to scripture. So the Church of England and eventually our Episcopal Church came to value time honored rituals they deemed to be biblical even if not specifically found in scripture. Today, this makes us a denomination, which is sometimes called Catholic light, “All of the liturgy, none of the guilt.” This brief history lesson means I am standing in good Anglican/Episcopal company when I say that one lesson we may gain from this morning’s glimpse at Jesus’ childhood is that we see the value of ritual into our lives. Reintroducing ritual can be as simple as being faithful to pray before meals, or at bedtime. Or reintroducing ritual can involve not just daily rituals, but rituals, which form part of the church year. For example, setting the practice of a nightly Advent Wreath ceremony for the four weeks leading up to Christmas, or beginning to mark the season of Lent with some practices such as doing the Stations of the Cross each, or observing the Passover. Then there are other rituals offered which come up more rarely such as Blessing of a Home. King of Peace offers means throughout the church year to mark the seasons with meaningful rituals which break your relationship with God out of a Sunday only pattern (or heaven forbid a Christmas and Easter only pattern) to open your whole life to a faith nourished by ritual. The guideline I use in adding or dropping ritual in my own life is to ask whether this is a practice that brings me closer to God. If something brings you closer to God hang on to it. If it is just an outward ritual act with no internal meaning for you, drop it. The only exception is that sometimes, a ritual you have found meaningful in the past may be worth hanging on to even when it seems fruitless. You may find it gaining renewed meaning by sticking with it. The goal is not to bog down your week with more to do. The goal is to follow in Jesus’ steps with a meaningful pattern of life centered on God’s presence in you life. Luke tells us that as Jesus did this, he grew and became strong filled with wisdom and the favor of God was upon him. I can aspire to nothing better. Amen. Here are two resources King of Peace is making available online as means of adding ritual to your daily life:
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King of Peace Episcopal Church + P.O. Box 2526 + Kingsland, Georgia 31548-2526