Do not keep silence
Commentary
The prophet says he will not keep silent for Zion’s sake. Paul tells us that things have changed and we can no longer keep silence -- we must cry aloud “Abba!” because our relationship with God has changed. When Jesus is presented in the temple, Simeon cannot keep silent either. Simeon speaks both comforting and disturbing truths.
In our own time there are those will not keep silent either, but if you don’t listen you won’t hear. God is showing us something marvelous in Jesus. The prophet, Paul, and the witnesses in the Temple who have patiently waited for its revealing are rewarded. Patiently wait. Your reward is coming. Be sure you’re looking when it comes.
Isaiah 61:10--62:3
One of the themes of the scriptures is the image of God’s people as the bride -- sometimes the unfaithful bride. We are also compared to a garden -- sometimes an unproductive garden.
Our tumultuous relationship has had its ups and downs, but here, towards the end of the book of the prophet Isaiah, we have the response of God’s people to God’s plan and plea for justice -- adorned as a bride and crowned like a garden, God’s people exult in the Lord. We are at last on the same page. The prophet, having told us God prefers active justice to rote recital of the right things, is finally heard by us and we respond loudly and joyfully, because we cannot keep silence. In the larger sense of the Christmas season, it is as if we have opened a present and, perhaps after a delay, recognized it for the valuable gift it is, accepting it joyfully and telling everyone we know what a blessed gift we have received! It is a gift of Living Justice, Living Righteousness, Living Salvation that lasts forever.
Galatians 4:4-7
In the opening verses of this chapter the apostle Paul reminded his listeners that typically a minor is guided and guarded by a pedagogus, a slave who is tutor and enforcer. While the young person remains a minor he remains a subservient to this individual, but not forever. So in this passage, when the time was right, God sent a Son, born like every one of us. This results in the gift of God’s Spirit which comes not to throw us into an ecstatic state but to guide us into a new relationship with God. Paul is quoting Jesus, who addressed God as “Abba.” Ab is father. “Abba” is the sort of thing an infant learning to speak would say when addressing a father. It should be translated as “Dada” or “Daddy.” We are so overjoyed in this new relationship that we revert back to childhood and ungrammatically call the Father “Dada!” This is not a mistake. This is what is supposed to happen.
Luke 2:22-40
When the Los Angeles Dodgers won a playoff in 1959 to send them to their first World Series against the White Sox, famed broadcaster Vin Scully, perhaps the greatest announcer who ever lived, did something very unexpected. He said simply “We go to Chicago!” then remained silent and let his radio listeners hear the cheering and shouting of the crowd. Scully, an unmatched storyteller, knew that in certain circumstances silence can speak far more eloquently than any words.
Certainly Simeon cannot keep silent, as he speaks both comforting and disturbing words. Simeon has been waiting expectantly for time out of mind for the consolation of Israel, and here it is. His waiting was not in vain. Ready to die in peace, he speaks prophetically of how this child will be the cause for the rising and falling of many, and will be a sword to pierce Mary’s soul.
But in the midst of all this speechifying, I want to talk about Anna’s silence. Anna may well be ancient by our standards, much less when compared to the average life spans of the era, 25-30 years. The Greek can be interpreted two ways. It may mean Anna was 84 years old when she found Jesus in the temple. However, Luke may be inviting us to add Anna’s age when she married -- perhaps 14, say -- to the seven years of her marriage and her 84 years of widowhood. The total is 105. She is ancient indeed.
Though she is labeled a prophetess, a title given to Miriam, sister of Moses, Deborah, Huldah, and the wife of Isaiah, she is silent. Why? We don’t always need a running commentary on what is going on. Sometimes we can see for ourselves. There doesn’t have to be an Instagram report. It’s not always necessary to tweet. We don’t need a text or an e-mail. In the face of true glory, and our salvation, and the babe who will be king, Anna says nothing. We can do worse.
In our own time there are those will not keep silent either, but if you don’t listen you won’t hear. God is showing us something marvelous in Jesus. The prophet, Paul, and the witnesses in the Temple who have patiently waited for its revealing are rewarded. Patiently wait. Your reward is coming. Be sure you’re looking when it comes.
Isaiah 61:10--62:3
One of the themes of the scriptures is the image of God’s people as the bride -- sometimes the unfaithful bride. We are also compared to a garden -- sometimes an unproductive garden.
Our tumultuous relationship has had its ups and downs, but here, towards the end of the book of the prophet Isaiah, we have the response of God’s people to God’s plan and plea for justice -- adorned as a bride and crowned like a garden, God’s people exult in the Lord. We are at last on the same page. The prophet, having told us God prefers active justice to rote recital of the right things, is finally heard by us and we respond loudly and joyfully, because we cannot keep silence. In the larger sense of the Christmas season, it is as if we have opened a present and, perhaps after a delay, recognized it for the valuable gift it is, accepting it joyfully and telling everyone we know what a blessed gift we have received! It is a gift of Living Justice, Living Righteousness, Living Salvation that lasts forever.
Galatians 4:4-7
In the opening verses of this chapter the apostle Paul reminded his listeners that typically a minor is guided and guarded by a pedagogus, a slave who is tutor and enforcer. While the young person remains a minor he remains a subservient to this individual, but not forever. So in this passage, when the time was right, God sent a Son, born like every one of us. This results in the gift of God’s Spirit which comes not to throw us into an ecstatic state but to guide us into a new relationship with God. Paul is quoting Jesus, who addressed God as “Abba.” Ab is father. “Abba” is the sort of thing an infant learning to speak would say when addressing a father. It should be translated as “Dada” or “Daddy.” We are so overjoyed in this new relationship that we revert back to childhood and ungrammatically call the Father “Dada!” This is not a mistake. This is what is supposed to happen.
Luke 2:22-40
When the Los Angeles Dodgers won a playoff in 1959 to send them to their first World Series against the White Sox, famed broadcaster Vin Scully, perhaps the greatest announcer who ever lived, did something very unexpected. He said simply “We go to Chicago!” then remained silent and let his radio listeners hear the cheering and shouting of the crowd. Scully, an unmatched storyteller, knew that in certain circumstances silence can speak far more eloquently than any words.
Certainly Simeon cannot keep silent, as he speaks both comforting and disturbing words. Simeon has been waiting expectantly for time out of mind for the consolation of Israel, and here it is. His waiting was not in vain. Ready to die in peace, he speaks prophetically of how this child will be the cause for the rising and falling of many, and will be a sword to pierce Mary’s soul.
But in the midst of all this speechifying, I want to talk about Anna’s silence. Anna may well be ancient by our standards, much less when compared to the average life spans of the era, 25-30 years. The Greek can be interpreted two ways. It may mean Anna was 84 years old when she found Jesus in the temple. However, Luke may be inviting us to add Anna’s age when she married -- perhaps 14, say -- to the seven years of her marriage and her 84 years of widowhood. The total is 105. She is ancient indeed.
Though she is labeled a prophetess, a title given to Miriam, sister of Moses, Deborah, Huldah, and the wife of Isaiah, she is silent. Why? We don’t always need a running commentary on what is going on. Sometimes we can see for ourselves. There doesn’t have to be an Instagram report. It’s not always necessary to tweet. We don’t need a text or an e-mail. In the face of true glory, and our salvation, and the babe who will be king, Anna says nothing. We can do worse.
