(PREFACE)  There are three classic songs or “Canticles” of Christmas: The Magnificat (Mary’s Song), The Benedictus (Zechariah’s Song), and The Nunc Dimittus (Simeon’s Song).  We usually add a fourth with the Song of the Angels to the shepherds.  Lakeland is walking through these four Canticles this Advent Season.  Go towww.lakelandcommunitychurch.org for more about our resources for celebrating Advent at home.  

 
Coincidentally, there are four classic stages to the spiritual journey:  1) Awakening 2) Purgation 3) Illumination and 4) Union.  For a nice presentation of these four stages consult M. Robert Mulholland Jr.’s Invitation To A Journey, Formatio IVP, 1993.  This is the third week of Advent.  We come to Simeon’s Song, Nunc Dimittus, found in Luke 2:25-35.  
28 Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,
29 “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised.
30 I have seen your salvation,
31 which you have prepared for all people.
32 He is a light to reveal God to the nations,
and he is the glory of your people Israel!”
It is difficult to place Simeon’s Song (Nunc Dimittus) within the classic four stages of the spiritual life.  Simeon certainly belongs to the later stages, Illumination and/or Union.  But which one is he?  Is he both?  He is supposedly old since he is near the end of life.  In the stages, Union is the last.  I planned to save Union for the Angels (Gloria in Excelsis Deo).  But Simeon shows affinity for Union perhaps more than Illumination – except for one feature:  Simeon seems to be “experiencing” g-d and this is not a part of Union.
Janet Hagberg and Robert Guliech’s The Critical Journey, divide the spiritual stages into six, subdividing Purgation into Discipleship and Productivity, and subdividing Illumination into the Inward Journey (with its famous “Wall”) and the Outward Journey.  The Inward Journey is a dark journey, self-indulgent, introspection filled with doubt and questions.  One can get stuck and caged at The Wall within the Inward Journey and never make it out.  The Wall results in no longer attending church, cynicism, or even no longer believing in God.  The way through The Wall is to own up to the fact that your old God is not the real unbidden, unknown and uncontrollable g-d. The inability to make this major repositioning kills the spiritual journey and I believe it also kills one’s soul or life.
The Outward Journey then is summed up in one word: Acceptance.  A joy comes from accepting that we do not know the g-d but we are surprisingly overwhelmingly loved by this g-d we cannot control.  Acceptance means a loss of control.  As Richard Rohr puts it ‘we jump off our tower we built during our entire productive adult life.’  We must jump into the unknown mystical fog of an uncontrollable g-d.  All our previous convictions and certainties no longer apply.  The Bible looks like a brand new book. Yes, the words on the pages look and sound familiar but now we read them for the first time in the light of a new g-d.  The church is redefined in mystical terms.  But mostly the Outward Journey is about finding and accepting our true self, our true identity.  We no longer “rob” g-d of providing us with our identity by DOING things for g-d and others for OUR benefit, affirmation and self-worth.  Now in Illumination (Outward Journey) we embrace the Subjective “I” – an identity that is only defined in terms of g-d’s love for us.  Our old Objective “I” based on information, doctrine, beliefs, dogma and certitudes no longer seems valuable.  Our old beliefs are not “wrong” but rather just outdated and trivial compared to the love of the Lover.
Union however is a different stage than Illumination or the Outward Journey.  Union is a deep settled peace and confidence.  Union is NOT filled with emotions and feelings, as much as we are now engulfed inside of g-d.  We are fully seduced.  We are complete.  We no longer desire to go to heaven because we already in heaven here on earth.  We no longer think about praying because our subconsciousness is submerged in unceasing prayer.  This is why Union doesn’t “experience” g-d as though g-d is external from us.  But rather g-d is within us or more accurately, we are within g-d.  In Union Teresa of Avila says we no longer experience the consolations of the Spirit – we cease sensing, and become simply divine (theosis).  In Union we serve others out of our Being, our Identity within g-d. We no longer serve others for personal gain or satisfaction.  Everything we “do” is prayer, and prayer is doing.  Tirelessly serving, Mother Teresa said for the last forty years of her life she did not feel g-d.  The Press thought this meant she did not believe in g-d.  What an absurd Western modern materialist response!  That response is couched entirely within a world of belief-control.  But I think every old monk who heard those words of Mother Teresa smiled wryly and just nodded slowly, Knowing.
Where is Simeon?  Illumination or Union?  Actually any guess is pure fiction.  I don’t know.  This entire spiritual journey overlay on top of the Canticles is just an idea.  But I do like the idea of saving Union for the Angels who sing before the shepherds.  No doubt the Angels are in Union with g-d.  And it is even feeble of me to think of Angels “progressing” toward g-d.  They are g-d’s messengers.  They are completely submitted.  The can’t progress – and they envy us because we can and cannot progress(1 Peter 2:10).
But don’t be surprised someday if you a) hit The Wall, b) feel all alone in your joy of Acceptance, giddy and in love with your Maker, c) finally quietly fall into a deep unknown mystery, a divine BEING or state (instead of “knowing” as we think of it in the West).  Don’t be surprised if someday you can joyously say, “Now you can dismiss your servant because I have seen the salvation of all the people of the earth…”  And those are you last words.

​(PREFACE)  There are three classic songs or “Canticles” of Christmas: The Magnificat (Mary’s Song), The Benedictus (Zechariah’s Song), and The Nunc Dimittus (Simeon’s Song).  We usually add a fourth with the Song of the Angels to the shepherds.  Lakeland is walking through these four Canticles this Advent Season.  Go towww.lakelandcommunitychurch.org for more about our resources for celebrating Advent at home.  

Coincidentally, there are four classic stages to the spiritual journey:  1) Awakening 2) Purgation 3) Illumination and 4) Union.  For a nice presentation of these four stages consult M. Robert Mulholland Jr.’s Invitation To A Journey, Formatio IVP, 1993.  This is the second week of Advent.  We come to Zechariah’s Song, The Benedictus, found in Luke 1:67-79. 


Let’s think of the progress of the Canticles this way:  Mary is young and innocent.  She is “the vibrant, enthusiastic awakened beginner.”  Mary is obedient and submitted.  So she receives G-d’s favor and blessing.  Next comes Zechariah.  He is an old experienced priest.  But Zechariah fails to trust G-d and so he is “purged.”  
  
Luke 1:18 – Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”
 Purged?  Yes, “purgation” is the old-fashioned spiritual term for “cleansed” or purification.  Zechariah, John the Baptist’s father, should be identified with the middle stage of Purgation.  The angel Gabriel tells Zechariah that because he doubts G-d’s plan for his wife Elizabeth and him to have a child in the post-child-bearing days, he is not allowed to speak (and apparently he is deaf as well.)  He isn’t allowed to speak or hear until John is born.  
Luke 1:19-20 – The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.  20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”While this sounds tragic and severe, purgation requires us to turn away from our sin and sinful habits.  When we move out of Awakening and into Purgation, we move into the life of discipleship.  We find new loves and likes.  We now devour Scripture.  We eat up books, sermons, teachings, lectures on the Christian life.  We get into discussions, debates and outright arguments on just about everything… which translation of the Bible is best, New American Standard or New Revised Standard.  Which local church is the “the purest.”  Why the Roman Catholics are wrong and Evangelicals are right.  Why Calvinism is THE system of doctrine.
We gather information.  Our soul drills down deep spiritual roots.  We journal and have a quiet time, a time of surrender each day.  We pray rich petitions.  We sing and worship with abandonment.  We buy Christian music CDs/downloads.  We judge other Christians – who’s wrong and who’s right.  To sum up, we are discovering what we believe and who we belong to.  We are in love with Jesus and all that Jesus stands for.  We are in love with the Christian life.  In my little world, this is when I spelled g-d “God.” I knew all about God.  I fled the world and worldliness.  I was in the world but not of the world. 
In my early days of the Christian life, I went to a meeting nearly every night.  I had a quiet time each day.  I read volumes of books on Apologetics and Doctrine.  I loved it. I became a Calvinist because it was so clear, and made so much sense: We are totally depraved, unable to save ourselves; God is sovereign so he must know everything, so he knew me, he predestined me for salvation.  Since God is so efficient, no one who isn’t elect will be saved.  Like science, this doctrine is so very clear.  In Purgation G-d is not a mystery to be pondered, so much as he is a puzzle to be solved. 
In Janet Hagberg and Robert Guelich’s helpful book, The Critical Journey, they divide Purgation into two distinct stages: a) the Life of Discipleship and b) the Productive Life.  The Productive Life focuses on our doing-ness.  We Do.  We do everything.  We realize G-d loves us, and love G-d back.  So we use our g-d-given talents to perform for our Lord.
In my journey I learned to play guitar.  I led worship.  I studied and taught and preached.  I developed leaders, and wrote up scores of Bible Studies and lessons.  I was useful.  Like Zechariah, I learned how to be “a priest” in the temple of Belief.  Also, everyone thought I was useful and wonderful. 
Zechariah had spent his whole adult life (most likely) learning his craft as priest.  He was probably an expert in the Law (Torah).  Unfortunately he knew too much.  He knew the hopes and dreams of the nation had not come to fulfillment.  He knew the Hebrews had been in slavery for over 600 years.  He’d learned to not expect another Moses.
Perhaps what Zechariah needed was a thunk in the head – a thunk to help him think.  He had eyes but could no longer see, ears but no longer hear.  I think when G-d wants us to have a thunk in the head it isn’t always some tragic pain like hip surgery (but I wouldn’t rule it out).  No, G-d sends us into silence.
The solitude of inner silence.  This was Zechariah’s big thunk.  Hagberg and Guelich call it “The Wall.”  It is actually a part of what they call the Inward Stage, which follows the stages of Discipleship and Productivity.  Imagine instantly you are deaf and you can’t even speak!  For nine months he is alone with his thoughts and G-d.  The Inward Stage with it’s unavoidable Wall is time of unprecedented upheaval.  You might still believe in God, but this new g-d is not like your old familiar God.  If the stage goes well, you get “a new g-d” and learn to accept that you don’t know anything about God, but you now truly love the unknown G-d.  Best yet, you know G-d is with you.  At this point you no longer know your direction in life – and it’s okay, but you certainly know who is with you.  It is the Lord.  What a rich time of prayer and turmoil this is.  We know that Zechariah comes out of this inner sanctuary humble and submitted to G-d in a new fresh way.
He asked for a writing tablet, and to everyone’s astonishment he wrote, “His name is John.”64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue set free, and he began to speak, praising God.
  I bet Zechariah never doubted G-d again for the rest of his life.  He was purged clean of doubt.
Do we pray for this kind of purging for ourselves?  Well, do we have a choice?
By the way, if my spelling of the name of God as “g-d” or “G-d” drives you crazy, then you are definitely in the Discipleship Stage!