Empowered by Grace to Serve

Rebecca Sheridan
Sunday, February 2, 2025
Luke 2:22-40

    When I hear about Anna in the temple praising God in welcoming Jesus at his presentation in the temple, my mind first goes to another Anna that I knew as a young person growing up at my home church in Omaha.  Anna Jensen was a remarkable woman – she lived to be over 100 years old and still played a piano piece for worship on occasion into her late nineties at church.  In confirmation class in middle school, each student was assigned an elder in the congregation to interview about their faith journey.  I was assigned to interview Anna.  I was an awkward, shy teenager but she was very easy to talk to.  We had a special bond after that.  And you know what, I still remember some of what she told me.  I think one of the questions I was supposed to ask was something like, “What’s some good advice you can give me?” She quoted from Ephesians 4, “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.”  That is – work your issues out with the people you love so you don’t let anger consume your life.  Well, I still try to take that advice from Anna to heart.  Our gospel for today reminds us to take the wisdom of our elders seriously!  We thank God for our mentors; for all who helped shaped us into the people we are today!
    Today is a big day!  It’s Groundhog Day (did he see his shadow)?!  It’s exactly 40 days after Christmas, which happens to fall on a Sunday this year, so we are celebrating the Presentation of Our Lord.  As we heard in our gospel, Jesus’ parents bring him to the temple as was the custom in Jewish tradition for a blessing for their firstborn son; so even though we’ve been reading about Jesus’ early ministry as an adult, we’re back to hearing about Jesus as a baby just for today in Luke 2.  It’s Boy Scout Sunday, and we are delighted to welcome our Troop 170 and their families today!  And then it’s the second week of our stewardship program where we focus on being “empowered by grace to serve.” Stewardship includes using our God-given talents and abilities to serve God and others as we are able.  In the stories of these famous elders, Simeon and Anna, people who have faithfully served God and others for many years as Luke tells us today, I’d like to pull all of what is happening today into the theme of mentorship – both the importance of seeking out trustworthy mentors so that we can grow, and being mentors to serve others and share what we’ve learned.
Mentors, like Anna Jensen and the prophets Anna and Simeon, are vital to raising the next generation as faithful people of integrity.  When Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to the temple, both Anna and Simeon recognize who Jesus is immediately.  They have years of practice being in-tune to what God is up to through prayer and devotion, Luke tells us.  In fact, the Holy Spirit is mentioned three times in connection to Simeon – “The Holy Spirit rested on him.”  “it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit” that he would see the Messiah before he died. “Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple,” Luke tells us.  Mentors help us pay attention to the Holy Spirit’s guidance.  Their words can be powerful divine words that guide and influence our lives.  They model for us what it means to serve God and our neighbors as ourselves.  
But this wisdom comes not only from age and experience but also from God.  Our stewardship theme this year is “Empowered by Grace” (to serve).  Like Simeon and Anna, we need the Holy Spirit’s help to do all the things we want to do, including what our scouts will recite in just a moment in the law and the On My Honor pledge.  This is God’s grace:  that God extends his power, the Holy Spirit’s gifts and talents to us first, without our earning or even asking for them first.  God’s grace, God’s undeserved love, equips and empowers us to serve.  Think of how many babies must have come in and out of the temple each day! Maybe hundreds!  Yet, the Holy Spirit helps Simeon and Anna immediately recognize who Jesus is.  The Holy Spirit often works through other faithful people to help US recognize more fully who Jesus is.  Beyond the human mentors in our lives that we remember today, we look to God as our greatest, ultimate mentor.
So Boy Scouts, some of you know that I have two Eagle Scouts for brothers, and similarly, they STILL talk about some of their adult guides and leaders they had in Boy Scouts – backpacking in Philmont, winter camping, helping them finish their Eagle projects.  You know, you can’t progress through Scouts alone.  You need parents and other mentors to guide and help you, maybe sometimes even cajole and push you! We can all take a moment today in worship to specifically call to mind some of our most influential mentors – thank God for them, and if you are still able to contact them, call them up and thank them personally!  
Here's the other half of our gospel story for today:  we need our elders’ wisdom and guidance, but we also need our young people.  Even babies have gifts to share!  As I’ve said before, one of the best things about a church community is that it brings multiple generations of people who are not related to one another together to learn from each other!  Simeon and Anna, wise, faithful guides, have faith in the baby Jesus to let him shine as he is, a light to the nations.  They know who Jesus is and his potential.  Anna is so excited, even though she is 84 years old and hasn’t left the temple in years, she goes OUT to speak about the child to everyone she meets!  
A good mentor doesn’t make mini-mes or expect someone to be just like them; mentors empower their mentees to become THEIR best selves.  Boy Scouts, we know your potential.  Even as older Scouts and adults are mentoring you to grow and fulfill the Scout law and promise, you are also mentoring others, I am sure.  You don’t have to wait until you are an adult to serve and live out your faith; people of all ages including children are called by God to shine their God-given lights in a world too often full of darkness.  Our prayer is the same prayer that Luke has for Jesus:  that you grow and become strong, filled with wisdom, that the favor of God be upon you.  Amen!