“In Jerusalem at the time, there was a man, Simeon by name, a good man, a man who lived in the prayerful expectancy of help for Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him. The Holy Spirit had shown him that he would see the Messiah of God before he died. Led by the Spirit, he entered the Temple. As the parents of the child Jesus brought him in to conduct the rituals of the Law, Simeon took him into his arms and blessed God:
‘God, you can now release your servant;
release me in peace as you promised.
With my own eyes I’ve seen your salvation;
it’s now out in the open for everyone to see:
A God-revealing light to the non-Jewish nations,
and of glory for your people Israel.’
Jesus’ father and mother were speechless with surprise at these words. Simeon went on to bless them.”
– Luke 2:25-35
“How many days until Christmas?” It seems like forever. As long as the department stores and pharmacies keep placing holiday ornaments and giant nutcrackers down their aisles in October the wait will be endless. And as I write that… my mind shifts to that old saying… “if IFS and BUTS were candy and nuts… we’d have Christmas every day!” But… if that were so… perhaps Christmas would not mean as much. Faith matters. Which Christmas is in your wallet?
Sometimes I sit in my vintage 1979 Boston rocker… the first real piece of furniture I ever owned… and consider Christmases past, present and even future. What am I longing for this time? What memories do I have of them? Each year brings more and more… from everything of waking up Christmas morning as a child to a fully decorated Christmas tree and gifts when the night before that corner of the house had a solitary chair to singing “Silent Night” with lit candles on Christmas Eve at old St. Paul’s Church in Youngstown, OH… to that one Christmas as single parent all alone as my children spent that first part of the holiday with their mother… to that first Christmas … a couple of years later… when my wife and I boldly corralled our five children into a van off to the mall on December 23rd to share in the gift-giving and receiving practices of the season… sending them out two by two to purchase a gift for someone other than themselves. The hot chocolate in the food court seemed much sweeter that evening! And just for the record… none of those memories top gathering in God’s house filled to the brim and joining in with the throng of worshipers singing “Joy to the World” to launch the 12 days of Christmas… the window of time pastors and many others relish to wind down from all the efforts leading up to the celebrating of Jesus’ birth.
For Simeon… Jesus’ birth was to die for. Imagine the longing in the hearts for the people of Israel… being trapsed off into captivity by the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Persians… being stuck in Egypt for generations and then now… the Roman occupation going on for just over 60 years when everyone was waiting for a new king… a Messiah to put all things back in order… imagine that… and now he proclaims he can die in peace as he has seen the face of God and blessed the name of God in doing so.
What is it we are waiting for? Christmas? This time of year? Easter? Next spring and the one after that? Or waiting for something else perhaps. Those who follow the way of Jesus live in between two ‘advents’… like this one for Simeon when Jesus first appears… and the second… in the promise of Jesus’ return so all will participate in his eternal reign… with more blessing… blessing worth waiting for and blessing causing some to rejoice and others to be speechless!
