December 27, 2020: Those Who Dream Will Not Keep Silent
Luke 2:22-40
Rev. Rhonda Blevins
When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” 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 when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “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.” And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him. 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.” There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.
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Throughout the Advent season, I have invited worshippers to engage the story in tactile ways. You may not know that my undergraduate degree is in education, and as a part of that study I discovered learning styles. For instance, there are visual learners—their best way of learning is to see it. “Don’t tell me about it, show me,” they might say. There are auditory learners. The people with their eyes closed during my sermons aren’t sleeping, right? RIGHT?? They are simply blocking out visual stimuli so they can focus on the sound of my voice (like an angel singing I am told, haha). There are kinesthetic learners. They learn by doing, by embodying the lesson. I am a kinesthetic learner.
The best example I can think of to describe this is when I got my very first car. It was a 1980 model Pontiac Sunbird. She was a beauty! Bright yellow (my friends called it the “Taxi.”) Black plastic interior. Sweet! There were a couple of drawbacks—your first car can’t be too fancy. It didn’t have air conditioner. And it was a stick shift. The problem was I didn’t know how to drive a stick shift, but how hard could it be, really? I had seen my dad drive a stick shift. I had seen my older brother drive a stick shift. A couple of my friends drove stick shifts. I’m sure it would be no big deal.
I was wrong.
Now, my dad gave me auditory instructions for driving a stick shift. “Press the clutch, turn on the ignition, release the clutch and press the gas. Badaboom!” (He didn’t say “badaboom,” but you get my drift.)
“Great! Got it, Dad!” And off I went. Not! There’s this whole thing about “feeling” the clutch I just didn’t get. For several weeks, I drove around town avoiding any situation in which I would have to stop going even slightly uphill. That was hard to do in East Tennessee!
Nobody could tell me how to drive a stick shift. Nobody could show me how to drive a stick shift. I had to learn how to drive a stick shift by . . . driving a stick shift. I am a kinesthetic learner.
So there are visual learners, there are auditory learners, there are kinesthetic learners. There are those who learn best by reading and writing. I’ve engaged worshippers in writing different things throughout the Advent and Christmas season.
The first activity I invited people to participate in was on the third Sunday of Advent, the Sunday we traditionally light the pink Advent candle of joy, so the theme was joy that day. We gave out slips of red and green construction paper, and I asked worshippers to write three things in response to the question, “What’s bringing you joy these days?” They turned in their slips of paper, and unbeknownst to them, the ushers transformed their slips of paper into this festive “garland of joy” that you see here. It’s been hanging in our Narthex since that Sunday.
On the other end of the emotional spectrum, those who attended our Service of Remembrance and Hope were given strips of fabric and permanent markers. They were invited to write their laments, their sorrows, on the strips of fabric, and unbeknownst to them, the ushers took their laments and created this lament wreath, which has become a part of our advent wreath since then.
And then at the 7:30 service on Christmas Eve, each worshipper received a card, on which was printed, “My Dream for the World This Christmas Eve.” Worshippers were invited to write their responses; they placed them in the manger at the close of worship. The manger is here before you; the dreams of the Christmas Eve dreamers resting within, undisturbed, since that stormy night. But dreams aren’t meant to rest forever. Sad is the dream that remains silent. Dreams are meant to grow. Dreams are meant to be spoken! And so, I share the dreams from the manger with you now . . .
My Dream for the World This Christmas Eve . . .
Apparently, I’m not the only dreamer.
You may say I’m a dreamer,
But I'm not the only one.
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one.[1]
John Lennon couldn’t keep quiet about his dream for the world in his Grammy Hall of Fame song “Imagine” in 1971. That song has inspired people around the globe. In fact, Jimmy Carter said in 2006 that in his travels around the world, roughly 125 countries visited with his post-presidency work through the Carter Center, he would “hear John Lennon’s song ‘Imagine’ used almost equally with national anthems.” Carter said that Lennon had made a major impact on some countries in the developing world.[2] “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”
Apparently, there are those who dream around the globe. The dreamers of big dreams find it difficult to keep quiet!
Take Simeon, for instance, from our Gospel lesson today. He was a devout man who felt compelled by the Spirit to go to the Temple one day. No coincidence, according to the scripture, that it was the day that Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus to the Temple according to the ritual purification law. It must have surprised Mary and Joseph that Simeon just couldn’t keep quiet about their baby. A stranger to them, apparently, Simeon grabbed up the little baby Jesus in his arms and said remarkable things about the baby—both grand and disturbing: “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.” Simeon uttered a prayer for all to hear saying (my paraphrase), “Lord, I have seen your salvation and now I can die.” Simeon’s dream for the world had been fulfilled in the person of this baby Jesus, and he could not keep silent!
At that moment, another dreamer came up to Mary and Joseph and the baby. She was a prophet; her name was Anna. She was an 84-year-old widow who prayed in the Temple night and day. She came up to the Holy Family “and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.” Anna’s dream for the world had been fulfilled in the person of this baby Jesus, and she could not keep silent!
The Christmas carol that, in my estimation, best captures this idea that those who dream will not keep silent is “Go Tell It On the Mountain.”
Go, tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere!
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born!
I want you to imagine with me the setting from which that hopeful, ecstatic song was born. It must have been some happy place. It must have been some kind of utopia where a song that joyful emanated, right? Wrong. “Go Tell It On the Mountain” was born on the American Plantation. It germinated in the context of a brutal, oppressive system. It grew among slaves who had no reason to hope, no reason to rejoice, and certainly no reason to dream. Yet their faith in this babe born in Bethlehem gave them reason to hope, reason to rejoice, reason to dream. Because they could dream, they could sing! It’s hard not to sing along, because those who dream will not keep silent!
Their song was an act of resistance. “You can enslave my body, but my spirit is free!” And every time we sing their song, we should be compelled to stand in solidarity with the oppressed in all times and places, to ally ourselves with those who struggle in oppressive systems. “Go tell it on the mountain!” Do not give up hope. Give voice to your dreams!
Today is the first Sunday of Christmastide. Jesus Christ is born! And the world will not be the same. This birth of a baby boy in Bethlehem demands something of us. Jesus comes into the world as a baby, vulnerable and needy. It’s our job to give him a safe home in our hearts where he can grow in the world. We are the ones through whom the dream becomes manifest. Those who dream will not keep silent, because the good news is so good, so joyous, we absolutely must share.
Like a proud father giving away cigars upon the birth of his son saying, “It’s a boy!” we celebrate the birth of this babe born in Bethlehem. So rejoice! Unto us a son is born! Good news, friends! It’s a boy!
Good Christian friends, rejoice with heart and soul and voice;
Christ is born today! Christ is born today!
[1] John Lennon & Yoko Ono, “Imagine,” 1971.
[2] Debbie Elliott, “Carter Helps Monitor Nicaragua Presidential Election” on NPR: All Things Considered, November 5, 2006, https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6439233