My youngest son had been impatiently waiting for Christmas for months. He is only six, so he has no concept of time, which means he has no idea what it means to wait for something patiently. Since at least August he had been asking me nearly every day how soon Christmas will come. Every time we went to Wal-Mart he would ask if he could get this toy or that toy for Christmas. I would somewhat dismissively say something to the effect, “Christmas is a long time away,” or “We will see son.” He wouldn’t lose heart though; he would just happily move on to the next thing in his head. But his perseverance, my goodness. It is something to behold.
It is a little comical, but there
is something admirable about the tenacity of his hope. Everyday Christmas was a little bit
closer. He might not understand how
close, but he understood it was closer to his grasp. He understood that soon his hopes would be
fulfilled to receive the promise of Christmas gifts.
This week’s lectionary puts that
hope of Christmas in its proper place.
“And when the time came for their
purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to
present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, ‘Every male
who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’) and to offer a
sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, ‘a pair of
turtledoves, or two young pigeons.’ Now
there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous
and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon
him. And it had been revealed to him by
the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s
Christ. And he came in the Spirit to the temple, and when the parents brought
in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took
him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
“’Lord, now you are letting your
servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your
salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation
to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.’
“And his father and mother marveled
at what was said about him. And Simeon
blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘Behold, this child is appointed for
the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a
sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many
hearts may be revealed.
“And there was a prophetess,
Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with
her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until
she was eighty-four. She did not depart
from the temple, worshipping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to
give thanks to God and speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption
of Jerusalem.
“And when they had performed
everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their
own town of Nazareth. And the child grew
and became strong, filled with wisdom.
And the favor of God was upon him.”
-- Luke 2:22-28
In this reading we find Simeon, who
is described as a righteous and devout man, who was waiting for the consolation
of Israel. He was waiting for someone to
come who would comfort Israel in its mournful state. To understand why Israel would be in
mourning, and why Simeon was patiently awaiting its consolation, we have to
review the Old Testament.
In Genesis, we read of the Fall
of Adam and Eve. Through Adam and Eve, sin
entered the world, and all creation was subject to the corruption of sin and
death. In Deuteronomy we read of the
Mosaic covenant given to Israel, in which Israel received the Law from the hand
of God. In this book of the Law were blessings
for obedience to the Law, and curses for disobedience, and a promise that a prophet
would come that would overshadow Moses.
Throughout the books of the Old Testament, we read of Israel’s habitual disobedience
to the Law. In the prophets we read of
the desolation of the Davidic line, the destruction of the temple, and the
humiliation of Israel as they are taken into exile away from the Promised Land.
Simeon had much to mourn.
However, in the Prophets along
with words of condemnation and judgment upon both Israel and her enemies, we
also see promises. We read of the promise
to raise up a shoot from stump of Jesse.
We read of a suffering servant who will take the sins of Israel upon
himself, that he might make atonement in his body for them, and that though he
would die and would live again to see his offspring. We read that from Israel a light will go
forth to all the Gentile nations and make them holy. We read that one like a son of man will come
and establish an everlasting kingdom where wickedness will be judged and the
righteous vindicated. All of these
promises would be fulfilled in the coming of an anointed one, the Messiah, the
Christ.
This was the word of consolation
that Simeon was waiting for, and had been assured that he, himself, would see
it.
And so, it happened. Led by the Holy Spirit, Simeon entered the temple
complex and came upon Mary and Joseph with the infant Jesus, waiting to be
consecrated according to the Law.
Simeon saw what had been long
promised. He saw the Christ child, an
eight-day old infant, who would fulfill the Old Testament promises concerning
the re-establishment of the Davidic kingdom, the atonement of Israel, the
enlightenment of the Gentiles, and the bringing forth of everlasting
righteousness. Simeon held that hope in
his hands. And though he only witnessed
the beginning of their fulfillment, it was enough for him to say: “Lord, now
you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my
eyes have seen the salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all
peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
We too find ourselves in a period
of intense expectation and waiting. We
too find ourselves waiting for consolation.
Though the Christ child has come, though he took our sin upon himself,
and suffered, and died, and rose again, we have not yet seen the completed
fulfillment of all that was promised.
We still live with sin, death,
and suffering. We still struggle with
broken relationships, the loss of our loved ones, sickness, pain, death, and
mourning. We still must patiently
persevere in hope and faith as Simeon did so long ago. Like Simeon we live in the pages between the
promises guaranteed by the prophets, and their complete fulfillment foretold in
the Revelation of John.
Yet, what we have seen is enough
to hold us until all is finished. We
still see the Christ child in the manger on Christmas. We still see the bloody corpus on the cross
on Good Friday. We still see empty tomb
on Easter. We still see the gospel
proclaimed to all nations on Pentecost.
And in the Eucharist, we still hold the body of the promised Messiah,
and it is enough. And even though we
may die waiting for the final consummation of God’s promises, we have seen
enough to confidently say in the same faith as Simeon did, “Lord, now let your
servant depart in peace, according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation that you
have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the
Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
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