Simeon’s Song of Praise (c. 1700/1710) painted by Aert
de Gelder: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aert_de_Gelder_-_Het_loflied_van_Simeon.jpg
‘Now I
have seen for myself, you can let me go in peace, I can die a satisfied man!
It’s out in the open now for all to see: a God-revealing light to the
non-Jewish nations, and a glorifying light for us Jews’ (Luke 2:29-32, adapted
from The Message).
Simeon’s prayer as he holds the Christ child has become
known as the Nunc dimittis, and
forms part of the Church of England’s service of Evening Prayer. It has become
one of the prayers most widely set to music in the church choral
tradition. Nunc dimittis is
Latin for ‘Now dismiss’. These are the opening words of the Latin Vulgate translation
of the Song of Simeon, Luke 2:29–32. Simeon says he is ready to die because he
has seen what he was waiting for, the promised Messiah. ‘Lord, now lettest
thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes
have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A
light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.’
All-age worship at
its best is inter-generational worship. It is worship to God that involves all,
from the very young in church to the older members of the congregation, from
those who may have seen very little to those who may have seen a great deal. It may
involve several generations of worshippers, none of whom are potential
or ex-members of the congregation. In the past, worship tended to be age
segregated, but since the 1970s attempts have been made in the various
denominations to overcome age-segregation and back inter-generational faith
formation. There has been relatively little scholarship on the subject, apart
from James White’s 1988 study entitled Intergenerational
Religious Education and more recently the Generations of Faith Project.
As
a result of age segregation, some of the very important gifts that adults can offer in their relationships with younger worshippers are not being experienced:
passing down traditions, having meaningful conversations, being engaged together in giving and serving to help
the needy, modelling giving and serving to make life fair and equal, discussing
religious beliefs, and discussing personal values.
In Christian
spirituality, Candlemas commemorates the ritual purification of Mary, forty days
after the birth of Jesus; she and Joseph present a sacrifice ‘in keeping with
what is said in the Law of the Lord: a pair of doves or two young pigeons’
(Luke 2:24; cf. Leviticus 12:8) if she cannot bring a lamb. The presentation of
Christ in the Temple by Joseph and Mary is special because of the welcome given
to him by two older members of the congregation, Simeon and Anna. We may truly
say that this occasion, celebrated 40 days after Christmas (or on the nearest
Sunday to it) marks the first All Age Worship in the Christian era! It is in
essence an inter-generational event.
Candlemas, it has been said, is about
recognition, revelation, and the renewal of hope. Simeon observes something
special in Jesus and knows that he had indeed witnessed the Lord’s Christ, and
that he can depart in peace, for the eyes of faith have seen God’s salvation;
perhaps not the salvation he was expecting, the vindication of a particular
people, but the salvation which God has prepared for all people.
Yet Simeon also adds some disturbing
words to his joyful song of recognition (Luke 2:34-35). This salvation has a
dark side. Not everyone will take kindly to Jesus; there will be a falling as
well as a rising of many in Israel. Jesus will be spoken against; the thoughts
of many hearts will be revealed. No one will escape this penetrating,
heart-searching event, not even Mary the mother of Jesus.
Yet
Jesus remains the source of hope, for all our hope rests in God, and God is
alive in Christ. This is what Anna and Simeon recognize, and this has continued
to be revealed through the Spirit to many whose lives would otherwise have been
hopeless.
The other side of all age worship is
exemplified in another passage in Luke’s gospel, the only account of the
teenage years of Jesus in the New Testament. Here, Jesus’ distraught parents,
who have lost him on the way back from Jerusalem, finding him sitting and
questioning the rabbis in the synagogue: ‘After
three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening
to them and asking them questions’ (Luke 2:46). The key to inter-generational
worship and learning is that it is a two-way process. Everyone learns from the
interchange of questions and answers between generations: ‘And all who heard
him were amazed at his understanding and his answers’ (Luke 2:47). We will
never know what wisdom proceeds from the relatively young unless we approach
them in a spirit of openness.
Each generation of church leadership
has to discover an appropriate model for itself. Luke’s account of Jesus in the
temple serves as an inspiration to us of what needs to be done. It was Jesus’
encounter with scripture that honed his learning and stimulated his later
teaching. But there are different ways in which young people’s encounter with,
and understanding of, scripture can be managed. The most important thing we
have learned for this generation is not to repeat some of the mistakes of the
past: that children have to fit our model of church; that we know what is best
for them, and don’t need to consult with them or talk to them, to find out what
they feel they want for themselves; and that young people do not have something
to offer us, just as much as we hope we may have something to offer them. In
other words, two-way communication with young people is the only way forward
and more careful listening to their views than perhaps was the case in the past.
