Sermon: The Letter Sent from God’s Future
Text: Luke 2:22-40
We may believe that we live in an ordinary world, an ‘ordered’ world, quite straightforward. There are rational, thought-out reasons why this world exists: the chain of cause and effect, evolution and the slow workings of natural law, with nothing beyond or beneath. Assuming the literal existence of a Heaven, presuming a whole different plane of being that interrelates with life in this world sounds farfetched, pre-modern. I can’t imagine a literal heaven; I have no idea how it would work. Yet, I’ve experienced the mystical in my own life, and I have talked to many people who have encountered that other plane of being, of knowing there is something beyond us. Each person’s experience is different, unique. Religious experiences are personal, individual; no two are exactly the same. I believe this presence of the deeper mystical reality of the love of God connects us all as believers.
I was raised as a Roman Catholic. I grew up hearing stories of all the miracles and apparitions of Mary and Jesus that were recorded in the biographies of the Catholic saints: St. Francis of Assisi, St. Dominic, St.Teresa of Avila, St. Loyola, and many others. I grew up reading them, fascinated by the pure hearts and good deeds of God’s beloved saints. Our United Church hymn books include songs and chants that are based on their words, their prayers and writings - words of beauty, insight, and faith. The past is not just the past, but the accumulation of the wisdom and witness of faith.
When I was a child, I had dreams that I believe foretold my destiny. What is interesting about dreams is that they can help direct us to nurture our sense of destiny. A sense of destiny is different from fortune-telling - a sense of destiny doesn’t predict your fate, like palm-reading is supposed to do. It’s like a letter from the future - something you can follow or reject. You are not bound by it - you can choose it, or you can put it aside. A sense of destiny is something that helps you go deeper into yourself, foster self-awareness and an appreciation that life is not just an accumulation of moment after moment. You map out a deeper continuity - a story that evolves with its own force.
One morning, when I was around 9, I woke up from my dreams and jotted them down as promptly as I could. I dreamed two very vivid dreams, and I didn’t want to forget them. I drew them with coloured pencils, then folded the paper and inserted it under the vinyl cover of a photo album, so that I would never lose them. In my first dream, I was playing with other kids in the graveyard. It was late afternoon, twilight. It was not surprising for me to play in the graveyard in my dream; I actually liked to play in the graveyard in real life. Next to my apartment were several gravesites on the hill. I often went there and played with other neighbourhood kids. In the next scene in the dream, all of a sudden, the heavens opened. A flood of light came down to earth, as if water was pouring down. All the other kids were scared - they panicked, and they all ran away. When all of them were gone, and I realized that I was the only one left, surprised yet curious, I didn’t leave the place. I wanted to see what would happen next. Then, there was Jesus in a cloud-like white robe, (a child’s typical image of Jesus …) and Jesus was also like a cloud. His feet were then firmly set on the earth where I stood. I knelt down, and Jesus reached out his hands, laid them gently on my head, and blessed me.
In the next dream, I was on the earth: the blue marble of the universe, again, alone. Suddenly a strong force propelled me from the earth to outer space, and there I saw the earth, the blue beautiful globe, suddenly set ablaze with flames, agony, pain. It was very hot!
They may be just dreams, yet they have been a story that helps me understand why my life path has been chosen and directed in certain ways. Since those two remarkable dreams I have had more dreams, met Jesus in a highly detailed vision, experienced mystical events in which I was one with the glorious and beautiful light and assurance of the love of God. I have only experienced that sort of immersive union a handful of times, yet they remain in my memory as strong, intense experiences. I treasure them, and I firmly believe that this knowledge about the blessings that come from contemplation must be shared, and this union can be experienced by anyone who opens themselves to this experience. Until now, I have been very shy to speak of these things, keeping them all as private experiences. Not only was I shy, I was not sure that anyone would be interested in this mystical path. Yet, I tell myself that I need to share this news, this path; once you experience it, you will changed by it, and you will understand the complete sufficiency of God’s power and grace.
In today’s Gospel, we see Simeon, described as righteous and devout. Most commentaries and pictures illustrate him as a very old man, for the Gospel tells us, “It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s messiah”.
But there’s no hint, actually, of how old he may have been. Simeon may have been, as Thomas Steagald described, a “young idealist who stayed mostly away from the temple, distrusting those who had long since lost their own idealism”. However, on the day when Mary and Joseph bring the child Jesus to present him for the ritual of purification, the Holy Spirit rests upon Simeon and, being guided by the Spirit, he comes into the temple and prophesizes about Jesus’ identity. He says, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people, Israel.” Joseph and Mary are amazed at what is being said about Jesus. Then Simeon blesses them and says to Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed.”
When you believe in Jesus, it means that you are anchored in a destiny. You are “destined.” It does not mean that we are chosen when others are not, as we believe, and others don’t. It is not that we are destined for Heaven, when others are not, as we believe, and the others don’t. Believing means that we know that this mystical realm, the Holy Spirit, as the Gospel tells us, will unsettle us, ushering us to find our true destiny with God; Our accustomed life, our accustomed thinking and actions shall meet with the letter sent from God’s future.
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