by Marjorie D. Grevious, Evangelist for Spiritual Healing
Good Morning! It’s been a while. One year ago on this first Sunday in February I first stood before you as your Evangelist for Spiritual Healing and serendipitously preached about the Prophetess Anna from the lectionary. I am deeply honored and profoundly humbled to be with you still. Much has happened in the world since I was last here in November.
First, I want to welcome you into Black History Month. I have an interesting fact to share but first, a bit of a side tangent that will hopefully bring me back around.
On Tuesday January 21st, The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde nearly converted me to be an Episcopalian, something my dear Seminary Brother, your own Father Craig has been trying to do for years. Her sermon for the incoming presidential administration was rooted in the theme of unity. She was clear that unity is not conformity, being victorious, nor a passive way of being. She outlined three points of unity: 1. honoring the dignity of all, 2. honesty so that our actions match our prayers, and 3. humility-being careful to recognize that we are all fallible human beings creating imperfect systems and institutions.
At the end of her sermon she briefly pauses, takes a deep breath, bites her lip and includes a respectful yet direct and urgent plea for mercy on children that are gay, lesbian, and transgender because they are fearful of the plans based on the rhetoric of the incoming administration. She pointed out the need to recognize and consider the humanity, dignity and productive lives of immigrants living and working in our country. This was not her first time speaking out. She had spoken up before, when in 2020 a Bible and nearby Episcopal church were used as props in a photo-op by the President while he had ordered the tear gassing of racial justice activists peacefully protesting nearby. Bishop Budde was not new to this, she was true to this. I understand many of you may have known her in her time here in the twin cities. I was inspired as a Christian, as a woman of God, and as a preacher. My own faltering spark of hope as an American citizen was fanned into a flame of conviction by the steady and sure words of the Bishop.
We bandy about the phrase to be Christ-like, to follow in his footsteps, ‘I wanna be like Jesus’ but we forget the bold clear purpose that led the life of Jesus. He was steadfast and firm in his work and words to uplift, heal, and validate the oppressed while speaking truth to power. He broke rules, flipped tables, and challenged tradition in society and in Judaism. Like with many of our heroes it got him killed. And now– there Bishop Budde stood in Washington National Cathedral, in the same pulpit where The Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood and gave his last sermon just days before he was assassinated in Memphis. In his final sermon Dr. King warned of the possibility of a fascist takeover of the United States if social unrest continued. He highlighted the country’s widespread poverty and the need to address it. He called for people to learn to live together as brothers, sisters, and beloved siblings.
Likewise, Bishop Budde courageously spoke a clear and present truth including a sincere plea to the most powerful man in this world. I was moved and ignited. As I said to you on Nov 2nd the Sunday before the election, We as Christian people are being called to a time such as this. Today’s reading in Hebrew includes this phrase in verse 18 “Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.” Bishop Budde used her own position of power and privilege to act as proxy for the many LGBTQ+ youth and the immigrant community who are terrified at what is happening, and what yet may come. The Bishop knows we are ALL called to be sanctuary, offering care and protection to the least of these, the oppressed, the marginalized, the sick, the young, and the elderly. The most vulnerable among us, whose voices and needs fall on deaf ears and hard cold hearts, need us to live into our Christ-like convictions now. There are those who claim to be christians that use our holy book as a weapon instead of the open invitation of loving care and radical acceptance of all people that it is meant to be. In watching Bishop Budde I thought to myself: THAT is a Christian ‘in real life’. That is a preacher. That is what it looks like to be about the work of the Lord. I want to be like that. I want to be like Christ. I want to be made ready when called to stand and do what is right. (Now back to the lectionary for today)
Last year the scripture in Malachi for today frightened me, I didn’t know what to do with it. Now I read Today’s old testament scripture in Malachi as it speaks to God sending a messenger. Some believe it was John The Baptist, I imagine that can also include someone like Bishop Mariann Budde, or the Rev Dr. King to make way before God’s epic arrival. We will all need to go through a purification process. It is likened to a refiner’s fire, like the bleaching power of fullers soap- “Malachi 3:1-4 reads:
Thus says the Lord, See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight– indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?
For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.
By using such terms as refiners fire, fuller soap, purifier of silver, being refined like gold and silver—we are being told that this will not be an easy process, but the cleansing is a necessary one as God comes to profoundly transform a harsh and cruel world. Now I don’t mean to sound like a fire and brimstone old school southern preacher. I don’t even believe in Hell the traditional way. I do believe we live the consequences of our own choices and actions due to the power of our God-given free will to make our own Hell, or Heaven. Basically this passage in Malachi is teaching us that we need saving from our own fool selves, but it won’t come easy. I imagine that fire might feel like Bishop Budde standing before the leader of the free world as a messenger of The Lord to come, while the president and his cohorts later twist her message of unity and pleas of mercy into one of self-righteous, self-serving contempt.
In the New testament lesson for today are the stories of Simeon and Anna-these are stories of hope and assurance. Each waits a lifetime to experience the promise of the coming messiah. They each experience overwhelming joy when realizing the presence of the baby Jesus. It reminds me of the old hymn Blessed Assurance which goes in part “blessed assurance Jesus is mine, oh what a foretaste of glory divine…” Simeon bursts into his own song of praise when he sees baby Jesus:
“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.”
Simeon sees what Mary and Joseph do not in that moment for the passage goes on to read: And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. (Now, here I imagine that the newborn Jesus may have had one of those infamous newborn blowouts on the way to the temple. They had to stop, frustrations were high, newborn parents are infinitely exhausted and an argument ensues-you know the drill if you’ve ever gotten an infant ready for church. then they get to the temple and this old man is fussing over their baby) Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed– and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” This foreshadowed Christ’s life, ministry, and crucifixion.
I want to highlight my favorite part of these scriptures- before Simeon’s song which reads:
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple;
“And the Holy Spirit rested on him” that part resonates deeply for me, mainly because in order for something to rest on you -you have to be still. If my beloved lays her head on my shoulder. I get still. When I try to watch a bird or butterfly that has rested nearby-I get still. When I am given an infant in my arms, I get still. You cannot be all over the place and have most anything rest on you or near you. You have to be still, and allow space for knowing…You know that scripture from Psalms 46:10-Be still and know that I am God. In these moments Simeon had been assured that he would not see death before he witnessed the coming of the Lord’s Messiah. In what I imagine is another moment of quiet stillness he was guided by the Holy Spirit to go to the Temple on that day, at the exact right time to see Mary, Joseph and the infant Christ. He knew instantly this was the great hope for which he had been waiting all his life.
Stillness comes with age and maturity. When you are young and full of energy and ideas, it feels as if you are in perpetual motion with school, with university, with career, with ideas, with friends, with family, with parenting, with, with, with…you are in constant motion. Stillness comes with wisdom and age. It is in the later chapters of life you may come to realize you hear more and learn more when you make space and time for quiet stillness. In that place you can hear the soft voice of the Holy Spirit and what it has to reveal to you.
I am now a woman of a certain age. I have lived through some things, and survived others. Quiet stillness comes much easier with every passing month. More than it did even four months ago when I was still caring for my mother and working in my new mid-life career, more than it did 10 years when I was still parenting and going to seminary, and working full-time, more than it did when I was a young undergrad putting myself thru school always with two jobs, more than it did when I did all the things one had to do as a teenager to have a full application for not only college but scholarships. You see us older, more mature adults have something to teach youth about the magic and wonder of blessed stillness, holy quietness. There is an old hymn we used to sing when I was coming up in church: “Blessed quietness, holy quietness—what assurance in my soul!—On a stormy sea Jesus speaks to me, and the billows cease to roll!” There is something about the presence of God that brings peace no matter the situation or circumstance. In this choppy sea of tumultuous confusion and turmoil not only in our country but in the world—We all need to take a hint from the clear present calmness of Bishop Budde on that day in January. I could see the Holy Spirit came and rested on her. Didn’t you see it? If you read the New York Times article where she was interviewed about that day. She had completed her final sermon draft, but something called her back to add that direct, sincere, and empathetic plea.
In the noise and chaos of this time, have you gotten still and quiet so you can know what God is calling you to do in a time such as this? Have you sat, like the Quakers do, and just waited on the Holy Spirit to show up and lead your words and actions? Today’s gospel in Luke tells us: Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple. Where will the Holy Spirit guide you to be, or call you to do when you allow it to rest upon you as Simeon did? as the Rev Dr. King did? as Bishop Budde did? Simeon met God’s fulfilled promise to him and got to hold the Christ child. Dr. King changed not only our nation, but the world. Bishop Budde spoke truth to power and created a space for a revolution rooted in lovingkindness. The two stories of Simeon’s fulfilled promise, and Anna’s heartfelt prayers answered—end in triumphant joy, and celebration. We have the jubilation of Simeon’s song that we still sing today, and the euphoric preaching of Anna on seeing the Christ child, telling all who were looking for redemption.
In this time of so much angst, stress, tension, and desperation—Get quiet, get still. As the elders used to say to us young people, “Go on somewhere and sit yourself down and be yourself quiet!” The elders knew sometimes the next best thing to do was to pause and wait.
I leave you today with this Psalm that I recite often to myself in times of stress/tension (I am going a little off book here, I don’t know how hard and fast these lectionary rules are)Psalm 27:14: Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.
