Dear friends, we stand at the brink of a historic event.  At midnight tonight, the first moments of the actual new century and millennium, Anno Domini, "the Year of the Lord" 2001, will begin.  But with all the Y2K hoopla behind us, the change to this new year won't be different from most others.  Unless, of course, we pause to recommit our lives to Jesus Christ as the year begins.  That's a good resolution to make every year, one that fits all sizes.  Never be afraid to re-dedicate yourself to God.  We all need a second chance, and only He can truly give us one.

          In the drama of the Holy Family, today's Gospel Lesson takes Mary, Joseph and the baby into the Temple a month and a half after the first Christmas.  Following the birth of a son, Jewish mothers had to wait 40 days before going to the temple to offer the sacrifice of purification.  If the couple could not afford a lamb and a dove, then they could offer two doves, as Mary and Joseph did.  All Jewish firstborn sons were dedicated to God, and because they could not all go into fulltime temple service, the Levite tribe was designated to serve God fulltime in their place.

          Leaving the temple Mary and Joseph encountered Simeon, an old Levite who had been awaiting the promised Savior for years.  The Bible tells us the Holy Spirit gave Simeon special insight to recognize the Savior, and when he saw the Holy Family, he knew Him immediately.  It's interesting that some modern day theologians have claimed it wasn't the first time Simeon had done this.  Some say he said the same thing of other male babies brought to the Temple, an old man's wishful thinking gone overboard.  These supposed biblical experts have no proof for this, only their reason accompanied by a large dose of arrogance.

          What do you do when people question your Christian doctrine?  How do you react when you're questioned about the Bible?  This past week one of my members told me that someone in his office questioned his belief in the Virgin Birth, insinuating that the birth of Jesus was really not the way the Bible explained it.  Trying to debunk the Christmas story always happens this time of year.  Such questions are usually brought up by those who don't accept the Bible as God's Word and therefore are threatened by it.

          I gave my friend some biblical information, but also encouragement not to let this kind of thing discourage him from sharing his faith.  Questions like this are good for us.  They make us think, are a witness to others, and they also show our need to be in regular Bible study.  It's a struggle to know what to say if we aren't sure what God's Word says.  If you want another great New Year's resolution, get into a regular Bible Study!

          This past fall a highly visible politician was praised for being an orthodox practitioner of his faith, but later we learned he was following only parts of it while rejecting those elements that disagreed with his party's platform.  This is called the "salad bar approach" to religion, picking and choosing only the parts that justify our personal point of view.  And oh, how the devil loves this!  He's great at getting Christians to do it.  Picking selected parts from the Bible and tossing the rest aside results in our being half-Christian, half-humanist and totally confused.  When we do this, the Gospel no longer has life-saving power in our lives because now we sinful people have become the judge and jury over a holy God and His sacred Word.

          History is full of occasions when God's Word has been bent, shaped, and used as a tool for an unholy purpose -- to support the Crusades, for example, or to justify slavery.  Always this approach uses Bible verses taken out of context.  So also today's salad-bar approach to Christianity uses the Bible to justify one's own personal prejudices, political views or lifestyle.

          One example is the effort to remake Jesus to fit a modern, secular perspective.  This is being done by several who call themselves Christian.  John Spong, a retired Bishop, wrote Born of a Woman, in which he makes the preposterous suggestion that Mary was raped and that the Virgin Birth was concocted by the church as a cover-up.  In her book, Jesus the Man, theology professor Barbara Thiering writes that Jesus didn't die on the cross.  She says He was poisoned, later revived and went on to marry and raise three children.  Mormons pick up on this and say Jesus married the sisters Mary and Martha, and that Joseph Smith was a direct descendent of their offspring.

          Former priest John Dominic Crossant rejects nearly all the Bible, and believes the Church over the centuries has added most of its contents through its translators.  He believes all the actual words of Jesus could fit on two small pages.  He's so radical even liberal theologians think he's a heretic.  Yet if you watch most any television special about the Bible, there stands Dominic Crossant the expert, airing his opinions that cast doubt on the truth of the Bible.

          Other theologians are even saying the Bible's condemnation of homosexuality doesn't apply to homosexuals who are in so-called "committed relationships."  One even teaches that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah wasn't their homosexuality but that they weren't inclusive of other points of view.  I guess God rained down fire and brimstone on them because of their intolerance!

          Taken together, teachings like these can create the notion that the Bible is simply a collection of fables or mistranslated texts.  The danger with these fraudulent ideas is that some Christians may even come to accept them, and question the whole Bible.  This kind of skepticism is certainly confusing to most of us, but it can help us realize our need to know the Bible.  If we're not in a regular Bible study, you and I will stumble when confronted by skeptics.

          So in this New Year, re-dedicate yourself to the Lord and get into a Bible study!  Don't wait until you're being robbed before learning to use your weapons.  Like the Apostle Peter once said, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  But do this with gentleness and respect." (1 Peter 3:15)

          Holy Scripture never questions its message about Christ.  Jesus was the Son of God and that's that!  St. Paul argued that if Christ had not physically died and was raised from the dead, our faith would be worthless and foolish.  Furthermore, he warned against changing the Gospel to suit our own purposes.  Once you accept this or that part of Scripture as being wrong, you become a biblical surgeon.  You cut out certain details and stack them on a table marked "believable," and the rest goes into the dumpster marked "unbelievable."  You and I need a few handfuls of faith and hope this New year, not bushels of doubt.  In Jesus we have all the faith and hope we need.

          Old Simeon had hoped and waited years for the Messiah, and he recognized Him the moment Mary carried Him through the door.  You may recognize these words as part of our liturgy, called the "Nunc Dimitis", usually sung at the end of our evening liturgy.  The Bible says Mary and Joseph marveled at what was said about Him.  Simeon also said "this child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many..." and that "a sword will pierce your [Mary's] own soul."  Here again Simeon is prophetic in saying Mary (her name comes from the Hebrew word "bitter") will experience bitter sadness in her life because of her child.  His later suffering and death proved this.  But her bitterness was removed in His glorious resurrection.

          Holy Scripture is not a beanbag chair:  it cannot be reshaped to fit individual tastes.  We must accept the Bible's total message.  God's Word shows us as sinful people who need God, and it shows God as providing us faith and hope in His only Son Jesus.  To pick and choose what we want to believe about the Bible is to remake God in our own image.  Isaiah 29:16 tells us, "You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!"  Great words for modern experts to ponder.  Those "new" thoughts are only 2,500 years old!  You see, modern people aren't really thinking new thoughts, just re-cycling old ones.

          We human beings with all our frailties, lusts and self-centeredness are poor judges of God's Word.  We'd best let His Word do the speaking and we do the listening.  When you hear your neighbors, co-workers, or family members engage in a salad-bar approach to the Bible, let them know the dishonesty and dangers of this tactic.  Picking the contents of your salad plate is one thing, but picking the contents of God's Word is a plate filled with trouble.  With the Bible, there can be no tolerance of other ways to heaven; it needs to be all or nothing.

          As we move into a new year, let's do so with hope and faith in the "Little Lord Jesus, Asleep On The Hay."  He is the One who saves us; He is the Holy One of God.  Trust in Him for all things in your life.  Jesus endures!  No agnostic can take away His gift of heaven to us.  He survives the assaults of human skeptics.  Jesus died to take our punishment on the cross and He rose again to assure that we, too, will rise.  As John McFarland wrote in that beloved hymn verse:  "Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay, Close by me forever and love me, I pray; Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care, and take us to heaven, to live with Thee there."  Amen

Copyright © 2000 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.