Hanging On

Luke 2:22-40

Christmas has a way of making us behave differently than we normally might.  Have you noticed that?  There are a whole myriad of behaviors that seem only to manifest during this season of wild possibilities and radical love.  I have seen people who don’t usually hug, feel compelled to throw their arms out in a wide embrace.  I have noticed that folks who tend to appreciate lots of silent time manage for weeks on end to attend a whole host of social gatherings.  And I have seen countless families dress in matching outfits, which is a phenomenon I have only witnessed in December.  It seems as if we give ourselves permission to engage in wildly happy and joy filled, perhaps especially spirit filled behavior.  Christmas is a time when we are invited beyond that place, which is most comfortable and convenient for us.  It is almost as if the very idea that God is busting through right now with light in the darkness, hope amid despair and freedom in empire, that we are compelled out of our tiny worlds and into the lap of God.

And though some lament all of these funky behaviors, others secretly anticipate just such occasions.  For some of us, it seems as if we wait all year, to embrace these odd Christmas behaviors.  Maybe we hold tight, and hang on for God to break through and then we have a reason to engage in unusual behavior- we have a reason to give gifts to strangers, we have a reason to make cookies for our neighbors, we have a reason to sing songs in the streets about things like peace on earth and nights that are silent and calm.  It seems as if the very thought of preparing to greet God in the Christ child sends us out a limb of reckless love and odd behavior. 

And so it was for Simeon.  He was waiting, he was holding tight to the hope that the savior would come; he was hanging on to see love, real love, full love manifest in human flesh.  His soul was yearning for the light that was coming, but it hadn’t happened yet.  He was a faithful Jew living in Jerusalem and he believed that God would in turn be faithful to him.  I bet Simeon knew the words from the prophet Isaiah by heart.  “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined…For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace…”  He believed that God would send his people the one who would redeem them.  He had reason to believe because the Spirit told him to wait with hope, the Spirit told him to hang on because God would indeed come through.  He was told that he wouldn’t die before he met the messiah and so he waited and waited and waited.

And when we meet Simeon in the Gospel of Luke, he is very old.  We can bet that by this time, Simeon was beginning to doubt what he had known all along.  He wondered if maybe God got it wrong when he told him to hope.  He wondered if all of his hanging on would be in vein and then one day, he felt a stir within him.  He was being pulled and summoned and beckoned to the Temple.  Maybe he was expecting to find his Light in a palace or on a mountain top or maybe he was expecting the messiah to be adorned in royal cloth resting on a throne.  But he was called to the Temple and he found the gift that God had promised, not hovering above, but in the arms of a woman.

And just as the birth of Jesus, just as Christmas has a way of making each of us behave differently than we normally might, so it was with Simeon.  The very sight of the one for whom he had been waiting, invited him beyond that place, which is most comfortable and convenient.  Simeon, an old and feeble man, grabbed the baby Jesus and took him into his arms.  It was not something he would do any other time.  It is almost as if the very idea that God bursts through with light in the darkness, hope amid despair and freedom in empire, that he was compelled out of his tiny world and into the lap of God.

Simeon praised God and said, "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss[c] your servant in peace.  For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel."

Simeon stood there overwhelmed by God’s promise right there in a small bundle of human flesh. As John Stendahl writes, Simeon knew that he held the future in his hands.  He had seen and touched it. He is satisfied. God had indeed been faithful.

Christmas has a way of making us behave differently than we normally might.  Shepherds leave their flocks and drop everything to follow angels.  Magi travel great distances just on a whim and a star.  And Simeon, an old and tired man grabbed a little baby right out of the arms of his mother and sang praises to God.  Maybe he even danced in the Temple or cried tears of joy without fear or shame.  Maybe he sang his song to anyone who would listen.  Or maybe it was just that moment when his heart was open and his spirit was ready.  But the sight of Jesus sent his heart dancing. 

It’s almost as if this odd Christmas behavior is just as much a part of the manger scene as stars and shepherds and magi.  Isn’t that what Christmas is, isn’t that what the birth of Christ is really about?  How can we not engage in wildly different behavior when we meet our Christ?  We are so overwhelmed by God’s love manifest in this tiny, vulnerable gift of baby Jesus that we are changed.  We can’t help but to behave in ways that are odd in the world’s eyes.  In fact it seems that the Christian journey in which we embark after experiencing Christ is packed full of odd behaviors.  After we decide to become like this Jesus of Nazareth, after we meet him and our hearts are sent dancing, we are welcomed into a whole world of odd behaviors.  We are invited to love ourselves and to love our neighbors.  We are invited to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us.  We are invited to pray without ceasing and to love God with our whole being.  We are invited to become peacemakers and to bless those who are poor in spirit.  These are indeed odd behaviors.  It is almost as if the very idea that God is busting through right now with light in the darkness, hope amid despair and freedom in empire, that we are compelled out of our tiny worlds and into the lap of God.  Meeting Jesus like Simeon did, sends our hearts dancing, our souls singing our worlds spinning.  And as we each prepare to greet a new year, I wonder how we are being pulled and summoned and beckoned to behave differently at the sight of God?  I wonder what it is that God has in mind for you?  How is our encounter with Jesus inviting us to act in ways that are odd in the eyes of the world? Christmas has a way of making us behave differently than we normally might, we hold tight, we hang on for God to break through and then we have a reason to engage in unusual behavior, behavior that is radical loving, wildly gracious and thanks be to God for that.  Amen.

Holding Promises (Luke 2:22-40) by John Stendahl.  This article appeared in The Christian Century, December 4-17, 2002, p. 17.