Beholding Salvation

Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,

you may now dismiss your servant in peace.

For my eyes have seen your salvation,

which you have prepared in the sight of all nations"

Luke 2:28-30

A child's birth evokes family, religious, and social traditions. Announcements are sent to family and friends. A new life begins filling parents with hope, imagining great things ahead.

Jesus' parents fulfill the obligations called for in Leviticus 12:3-8; circumcision and offering a sacrifice. These ancient traditions remind them that Jesus is born as part of the covenant between God and God's people. This holy moment in the holy place of the God's temple is a moment of hope. 

This hope, though needs to be understood in the context of the time.

On the one hand, Luke is recalling a time when life seemed safe, tradition observed, and Joseph and Mary could safely travel to register in a census and worship in the Temple. 

On the other hand, it's a sad reminder of a catastrophe: the Temple’s destruction.

Filled with hope, Mary and Joseph present Jesus to God, confident in God’s promises. Jesus birth fills Mary and Joseph with a parents hope and dreams.

 

Filled with hope, Simeon comes seeking encouragement for Israel as he links the birth of Jesus to a renewed hope in the coming of the Messiah. Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, "This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel.

Filled with hope, the prophet Anna fasts and prays for the recovery of Jerusalem. Her fasting is a state of mourning for the people of God. However, seeing Jesus, her mourning turns to praise! God is bringing God’s people home from exile.

 I am filled with hope from their stories. For me, these are living stories of hope as powerful today as then because in these dark times they tell of God's promises, a Messiah's hope, and "turning mourning into dancing".

Merry Christmas

Our Nativity with Gifts

Our prayer for you

is that you have

peace in your heart,

calm in your soul,

joy in your spirit.

Elaine and Rich

Holy Interruption

The angel Gabriel went to Mary and said,

 “Greetings, you who are highly favored! 

The Lord is with you.”

Luke 1:28

The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary saying, "Greetings favored one, the Lord is with you." Knowing of God's presence helps Mary understand this holy interruption. She doesn't know why an angel would disrupt her daily life since angels appear and change things.  Look what happened to Hagar. And how about the angel appearing to Moses in a burning bush. These people's lives were dramatically changed. Would her life be dramatically changed too? She probably asked herself—Am I favored? Is God with me? What will this involve?

Gabriel informs Mary she will conceive, bear a son and name him Jesus. The angel describes this child's identity and destiny. Yet Mary responds saying, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word."

The story of Mary and Gabriel doesn't include the realities of the ancient world. Mary lives in a fishing village where she cleans, slices, and prepares fish. Her back aches carrying water from the well. She plants and gathers the harvest. She gathering grain and kneads it for the evening meal.

 Mary's life wouldn't be easy because village folks ridiculed and isolated unwed mothers. She still had to live up to village duties, homemaking, and marriage. She probably felt shame and self-doubt which impacted her mental well-being. Yet in all these changes, there was one thing she knew from Gabriel's holy interruption, "The Lord is with you."

Mary's story assures us God is with us. Thinking about this chaotic, unprecedented  year, Gabriel's words to Mary are true for us—God is with us. As God visits an unsuspecting young girl named Mary so God visits us. The uncertainties of life need to be seen with this conviction—God is with us. As Mary was impacted by the realities of her day, we, too, are impacted by the social challenges of 21st century America. And God is with us. Gabriel reminds, assures, and comforts us—God is with us. 

Shouts of Joy

May those who sow in tears

 reap with shouts of joy.

Psalm 126:5

Maurice walked about a mile every Sunday from his group home to church. He seldom missed worship. In the sub-zero temperatures frequently occurring in Vermont winters, he entered the sanctuary in his flannel shirt, suspenders, work boots, and khakis. Down the left aisle he would go, greeting each person as he went. "Mornin". "Beautiful day, ain't it".

 Then he would sit in a pew.  Alone in the front.

One snowy Sunday right before Christmas, he didn't make it to church. Considering the weather, no one was really surprised. He wasn't in church the next Sunday either. The men's fellowship called the home to find out if he was alright. No, he wasn't. On his way to church he had slipped on black ice under the snow, fallen and broken his ankle. He was confined to bed and very depressed.

Men from the fellowship visited him several times. Two days before Christmas, they all came for a visit. They sang Christmas carols and brought a few presents, including a new flannel shirt. 

To Maurice, the Lord had done a great thing for him because the men's fellowship knew in their hearts that the tears of weeping didn't have the last word. They knew God does great things. God changes weeping into joy.

In this season of a Covid Christmas, we are to live expectantly, fully convinced that the tears and weeping of our day don't have the last word. After all, aren't we the people waiting with expectation for tears to be changed into joy? 

Advent is a time of expectation, of waiting; a time reminding us tears will be changed into joy. Advent reminds us that our waiting is not in vain.

Preparing the Way

 “I will send my messenger ahead of you,

    who will prepare your way”

 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,

‘Prepare the way for the Lord,

    make straight paths for him.

Isaiah 40:3

Sunday after Sunday 12-year-old Amy came down the center aisle of the church and sat in the second row from the front. One Sunday she brought an older woman, her, grandmother. Sunday after Sunday they came. One Sunday they brought an older man, Amy's grandfather. After church one Sunday Amy's grandmother said her husband had never been baptized. We agreed on a Sunday for his baptism. On that day Amy's grandfather stood before the congregation, said the vows and was baptized. After the service I learned that Amy's grandfather couldn't read and had memorized the vows so he would know when to answer and what to say.

Amy came looking for hope. Something beyond the darkness of the poverty she lived in, a jailed mother, and an absent father. 

Just like Amy, aren't we looking for hope. Something beyond the darkness of this winter's  pandemic, rising unemployment, and increased food insecurity. Something beyond the darkness and disruption of the "new normal".

A word of hope to the Israelites came in the messenger of John the Baptizer. He comes to the people "living in the land of deep darkness" preaching a message of hope by saying, "Prepare the way of the Lord." Repent. Be baptized. "One more powerful than I is coming after me." 

He is able to preach that message of hope because it is grounded in God’s faithfulness. That's why it's true, and real, and solid, something to ground you in the weeks and months ahead.

In the midst of darkness, light breaks in. In the midst of despair, hope erupts. After long waiting, a branch will sprout. The complete fulfillment of God’s promises has not yet happened, but it is coming. 

God promises light beyond darkness and God keeps promises.