“Who sees it?”
Luke 2:21-38 (December 29, 2024)
Merry Christmas everyone! I say that, because it’s still Christmas. Maybe not Christmas day … 
But do you remember that old English carol, “On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me …” It goes on forever! The song recognizes 12 days in the Christmas season.
It was lovely to have our service at Bethany Manor on Christmas Day. But what about today? Is this morning a kind of anti-climax? Is Christmas finished?
Perhaps some of you were wondering if you should come to church at all. Or just stay home, rest up and recover from all the hoopla. I can hardly blame you for that. All these celebrations can be exhausting.
But I’m here to tell you that the work of God isn’t finished in a day. Or in seven days. Or a hundred-thousand days! God is moving in our world! The saving, redeeming, healing, peace-making, community-building, work of God goes on. And guess what? We can be part of it!
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The Catholic priest and writer, Andrew Greely, has something important to say about our celebration of Christmas:
“Perhaps the hardest thing to remember about Christmas is this,” he writes. “It celebrates the incarnation, not just the nativity. The incarnation is an on-going process of salvation, while the nativity is the once-for-all-historical event of Bethlehem. God continues to take flesh in our midst, in the men and women and children who form his body today. And the birth we celebrate is not just the past historical event but Christ’s continuing birth in his members.”[1]
Did you hear that? It’s not only about a birth long ago. It’s about the ongoing incarnation of Christ, God taking on our flesh and blood. And continuing to dwell in our midst by the power of the Holy Spirit. “Christ in you,” writes the apostle Paul, “the hope of glory!” (Colossians 1:27)
So where do you see that presence in the world? In whom does Christ continue to be embodied? Where is God’s saving power at work?
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https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57074 [retrieved December 28, 2024]. Original source: Lauren Wright Pittman, http://www.lewpstudio.com/. " width="159" height="178" />
I should pause here, to give you an update on our status as grandparents. There’s still no baby in our family. Our daughter, Katie, has yet to give birth. She’s now one day past her due date. We’re all still waiting.
But of course life goes on, even as we wait. The children who’ve already arrived need to be cared for. Giving birth is a big thing. But it’s not the only thing! It’s just the beginning. After birth comes the real work of parenting.
How do we care for this gift of new life? How do we treasure it, nurture it, encourage it to grow and thrive? In this Christmas season, how do we treasure the life of God’s reign that comes to our world in Jesus? How do we tend to its flourishing within us and among us?
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In our scripture reading, Mary and Joseph bring their infant child to the temple, honouring the traditions of their Jewish faith. They were typical of any young family, I suppose. But when they arrive at the temple, two people see something very different.
I’m talking about Simeon and Anna. Before I tell you about them, have a look at this picture from the front cover of the bulletin. The artist, Kelly Latimore, asks, “Who are the saints that are among us here and now? Where is Christ present right in our own backyards?”[2]
This image is her take on a modern-day presentation story. It’s humble, folksy. Mary and Jospeh are pictured as peasant farmers, from Central America. The pair of turtle doves to be offered in sacrifice become roosters tucked under Joseph’s arms. The temple is re-imagined as the humble village church. Anna and Simeon are elderly neighbours, greeting them at the door.
It all seems so very ordinary. And yet it absolutely isn’t! There is, after all, holiness and divine presence at the birth of every child.
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In our story, Simeon and Anna have eyes to see how special Jesus is.
Simeon was a righteous man, a person of prayer. “The Holy Spirit rested on him.” The Spirit had given him assurance that before his life ended, he would see the Messiah, God’s anointed ruler. “Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple.” And guess what? It just happened to coincide with the arrival of Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus!
When he saw them, the old man, who’d been waiting for this very moment, took Jesus into his arms. His face lit up! His heart was filled with praise! “Now, Lord, I can go in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation! Here it is, shining like a light for everyone to see.” And he means everyone – Jews and gentiles, the whole of God’s blessed humanity.
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Then there is Anna. Scripture calls her a prophet, which means one who speaks the God-given truth. We need people like that, don’t we?
She spends hours in the temple, fasting and praying. Scripture says “she never left the temple but worshipped there night and day.” Both Simeon and Anna are “seekers” who want to know God’s way.
Anna sees this child. And praises God! She announces Jesus’ true identity to any who will listen. “Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere …”
Did folks in the temple think she was crazy? Who is this wizened woman, babbling nonsense about an ordinary baby? Best give her a wide berth.
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Simeon and Anna, two wise and faithful elders who clearly see the presence of God at work in the world. Even when others may not.
The temple was the centre of religious life. But not everyone there had visions of the Almighty. Life went on from day to day. And this day was very much like any other. Expectation was low. The surrounding circumstances were dismal. Life was hard for all but a few in Roman occupied Palestine.
Can we see the presence of God in our lives, even when all around is dark and dismal?
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There’s a poem by Mary Oliver, titled “Sometimes.” It’s a reflection on a variety of things she observes: death, God, sunflowers, thunderstorms, love … The poem does not flow easily. Nor does it make complete sense to me. I will have to sit with it a little longer, I think.
Yet at the very centre of her poem, written in italics, plain and clear as day, there is this:
“Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.”[3]
Isn’t that what a poet does? Poets pay attention. They notice things in the world around them. Important things, astonishing things. Then they lift them up in words and images and offer them to the rest of us, hoping that we will catch a glimpse of something too.
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Ignatius Loyola was a Spanish Basque soldier, who was seriously wounded in battle. During his convalescence, he experienced a religious conversion.
As founder of the Jesuit order, he was especially concerned with the formation of faith in the members of his community. So he developed a set of what he called “Spiritual Exercises”.
There is one form of prayer that he thought was particularly important. Even if you can do nothing else, he said, at least do this: At the end of the day, be still. Take time to recall what has taken place. And name those places where Christ has been present. Write them down in a diary.
The whole point is to help us become more in tune with God’s presence in our lives. And to be grateful for that! Because otherwise, we would miss it. And we would go through life unaware of the presence of Christ dwelling so near in ourselves and in others.
Don’t just let your life pass by! Each and every day, ask that your eyes may be opened. Notice the blessings of God.
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Pay attention. Be astounded, says Mary Oliver. Because life really is a most amazing thing! An awesome gift.
Sometimes I think there’s not a lot of awe left in the world. In our desacralized time, drained of holiness, filled instead with all kinds of superficial things – not God. Things that take us farther away from God …
Notice. Be astounded!
Then talk about it. Don’t just keep it to yourself. Tell others what you see. Because only as we speak and share and point and write and offer our vision to the world can others see it too.
How else will our children, or our grandchildren, ever know about these things we treasure?
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Reflecting on this passage, Karoline Lewis, a professor at Luther Seminary in Minneapolis, notes how Simeon and Anna both shared what they saw in Jesus. They didn’t hold it in. They opened their mouths and out it came, as simply and naturally as can be. It wasn’t forced. They bore witness. They couldn’t help it!
Some of us, says Lewis, find it easy to share news about the latest restaurant we may have visited. But when it comes to the really important things in life, deep matters of soul and spirit, we hesitate. Why is that, I wonder?
Pay attention. Be astounded. Talk about it. Be poets. And prophets. Be Annas and Simeons. “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!”
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I guess that’s what our story today invites us to do. When the light of the world comes to us … whenever we catch even a glimpse of it out the corner of our eye, let’s stop and take it in. Let’s embrace this new life that’s come into our world. Hold it tenderly. Treasure it.
And don’t keep it to yourself! Hold it out for others. Bear witness to the reign of God in word and deed.
Let God’s life continue to flourish and grow – in you, in all creation. May gratitude be in your heart and praise be on your lips, today and always. Amen.
[1] Fr. Andrew Greely, quoted in email list from Imago Dei Christian Communities, December 26, 2024.
[2] Kelly Latimore, https://kellylatimoreicons.com/pages/about, Accessed December 27, 2024.
[3] This poem appeared in Red Bird by Mary Oliver, published by Beacon Press, 2008. Shared here: https://readalittlepoetry.com/2014/09/10/sometimes-by-mary-oliver/, Accessed Dec. 26, 2024.