Monroe Congregational Church, UCC
December 30, 2001
Rev Maria Hoaglund
Scripture:
It was the day after Christmas and Gary felt sad. There was no more excitement in the air.
All of the presents had been opened, Grandma and Grandpa had
gone home, the batteries had just been played out on his new racing set,
one of the pedals on his Big Wheel got bent when his sister tried to ride
it down the basement stairs, the sweater his aunt Nancy sent him from Montana
was too small, and there wasn't enough snow on the hill to try out his
new sled. But worst of all, next Christmas was a WHOLE YEAR AWAY! It didn't
seem fair that Christmas should be over so soon. Why couldn't every day
be like Christmas (?), Gary wondered as he stared at the empty place under
the tree where all of the presents had been. Somehow, the Christmas tree
wasn't the same without presents.
Christmas was Gary's favorite holiday. He had fun on the Fourth of July
waving sparklers and watching the fireworks, He liked dressing up on Halloween,
he enjoyed eating turkey and dressing on Thanksgiving Day, and he delighted
in hunting eggs on Easter, but none of these paired with Christmas. There
was something special about Christmas. Gary liked shopping for presents
at the mall, he liked visiting Santa and sitting on his lap, he liked singing
Christmas carols at church, and playing a shepherd in the Christmas pageant,
he liked going to Mr. And Mrs. Whirry's ranch to cut down the Christmas
tree, he liked decorating the tree with lights and tinsel, and he especially
liked running down the stairs on Christmas morning to see the tree surrounded
with presents of
all shapes and sizes. It was fun to try to find all the ones with his name
on them, and even more fun to try to guess what was in them. But his absolute
favorite part of Christmas was when his Mom and Dad came downstairs and
his Dad read the story from the Bible, and then they all opened their presents.
Gary liked everything about Christmas but he didn't like it when it was
over. That night when Gary's Mom tucked him into bed he asked her why every
day couldn't be like Christmas? His Mom smiled and then she said, "Do you
remember, in the Christmas story, how exciting it was for Mary and Joseph
when the baby was born, and when the shepherds came and told them about
the angel and the singing of the heavenly host? How do you think THEY felt
the next day when all of the excitement was over?"
Gary thought about it for a while and then he said, "I think they must have
felt a little sad, but they had the baby Jesus and they knew he was going
to grow up to be the savior. I think that must have made them very glad."
Suddenly Gary didn't feel so sad that Christmas was over. He remembered
all the wonderful things that had happened on Christmas Day. "It was enough,"
he thought, "to last him for a long, long time, AT LEAST until next Christmas."
Then he smiled at his Mom and wished her one last Merry Christmas.
I share this story called "The Day after Christmas," by John Sumwalt this
morning, because perhaps some of you, too, are feeling a little bit sad
that Christmas feels like it's all over already! Indeed, according to our
CULTURE, Christmas begins on the day after Thanksgiving and is all finished
by Christmas Day! Today, five days after Christmas, it's time to get on
with Super Bowl and Valentine's Day! (pause) However, we come together
this morning to celebrate an remember the fact that in our Christian celebration
of Christmas, Christmas is only just beginning! Christ's birth is the end
of the EXPECTING, but it is the very beginning of the awesome task of parenting
and providing and nurturing that wonderful and sometimes even terrifying
Child into the One he is to become! Phillip Brooks in his Christmas carol
"O Little Town of Bethlehem" concludes with the words: "The hopes and fears
of all the years are met in thee tonight." Every birth is an occasion for
hope AND fear, when we stop to ponder it.
When I think back on the time when Heather was born into Peter's and my
life, the cliché that we kept hearing was: "Your life will never
be the same." But you know, the cliché is true: Our lives never
have been the same since Heather became a reality in our lives. We now
have someone who comes first in our lives. We cannot simply do what we FEEL
like doing when we are together. We need to make sure that Heather's needs
are met before we focus on our own needs. Heather, like any child, demands
dedication and care, in other words, responsibility! Now that Heather's
older, things have changed from when she was an infant, but still, her needs
come first. And if her needs have NOT been met, she's sure to let one of
us know about that, too! She is, in more ways than one, and like it or
not, "the center" of our lives. And she has turned Peter's and my life
upsidedown, in many ways...
Surely Mary and Joseph were beginning to feel the impact of the birth of
their first child by the time they were heading into Jerusalem, probably
eight or nine days into baby Jesus' life.
Once the brand-new Holy Family is in the Temple of Jerusalem, however, we
hear more good news! We encounter two of the most elderly and pious, upright
people
of God in the area. Simeon and Anna are two elderly characters who were
living out their lives in Jerusalem amont those known as "the Quiet in the
Land." Unlike those who expected the promised Messiah to come through a
powerful and even violent warrior figure like David, restoring Israel's
political and economic power, the Quiet of the Land believed in a life of
continual prayer and quiet watchfulness as the way to prepare for the coming
of the expected Savior. It's interesting, too, that neither of them seem
to be physically very far away from the Temple. In fact, of Anna, we read
that "she never (even) LEFT the temple, worshipping night and day with fastings
and prayers." And in the case of Simeon, he came into the temple "INSPIRED
(or moved) by the Holy Spirit," when it was time for him to see this infant
who was also the Lord's Messiah, who he had been promised he would be allowed
to see before his death.
Simeon and Anna were both quietly but very ACTIVELY waiting, for Israel
to be saved. Each new day that came provided another day of anticipation.
When Mary and Joseph arrived at the temple with their newly born Jesus,
Simeon was moved by the Spirit to go into the Temple, and he immediately
recognized the infant as God's anointed one. Simeon's song of joy declared
that this child is the light to ALL THE NATIONS of whom the prophet Isaiah
spoke. And Simeon is filled with a deep sense of peace and joy. He knows
that somehow, thru. the presence of this sacred child, the people are already
being restored to a right relationship with their God. Simeon also knows
that now that he has seen this special Holy Child, he can now depart from
the world in peace, knowing that God's word has been fulfilled. And he
speaks those well-known words, "Now Sovereign, you are allowing your slave
to depart in peace
according to your word. For my eyes have seen your salvation which you
have prepared for all the people, a light to the peoples, and glory to your
people, Israel."
One writer has an interesting "take" on these words of wholeness spoken
by Simeon. He writes:
Finally, a striking aspect of this story of Simeon and Anna is their greatly advanced years and their delighted and open welcome of a small, vulnerable infant as the one thru. Whom the fulfillment of God's promises will take place. Is not this positive attitude toward the young to be encouraged in this congregation, too, if the wholeness of God's redemption is to be experienced by us, today? When the elderly among us do not feel threatened by the sometimes chaotic and wild energy and enthusiasm of the young, but rather dedicate themselves to becoming their loving advocates and friends and mentors, then we, too, will be able to joyously sing with Simeon, "With our own eyes have we seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of ALL peoples."Last summer, Bev and I camped for a week near the village of Plains in WA state on the campus of the Grunewald Guild, of which the noted artist, Richard Caemmerer is the artist-in-residence.
His tradition is Lutheran, and so each evening we used the Compline service as our vespers, which included Simeon's ancient song, "Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word ..."
I didn't like it the first couple of evenings. After all, that is Simeon saying he is ready to die. His life is complete.
Well mine isn't. I have a whole string of things I still want to do, and I go to bed w/ my head buzzing w/ all the stuff I'm going to do tomorrow. Or else, I lie there worrying about somebody, my children, my friends, my wife, myself - there's no shortage of folks to worry about. Or I worry about my work or the world situation - there's no shortage of issues to worry about.
But one night at Grunewald, I found myself lying there in bed w/ Simeon's song singing in my head. I let the song do its work, and I drifted off quickly into a quiet sleep and woke up the next morning refreshed.
So now, another Christmas is done. Simeon and Anna remind us that God's gift has arrived. We can relax ... We don't need to spend our nights feeding acid into our stomachs and pumping up our blood pressure. God's gift has arrived! Christ is here among us!
The future of the world is not in (our) hands. It is in God's hands, and God has done what is needed. God has sent the Christ to be with us.
So Lord, now let "these" servants let go. Christmas has come, and (our) eyes have seen thy salvation..."
(We) have seen it. Now the hard part is, especially Perhaps in the evenings, to believe it! Simeon's old song makes a pretty good lullaby.
The child who is to save the world has been born. We have no need to worry
about the future of the world. However, at the same time, we have been
given the responsibility to care for and nurture the Christ Child in our
hearts and the Christ Child in EVERY heart, young and old, for that matter!
With Simeon and Anna as our guides, let us walk into this next phase of
Christmas being both comforted as well as challenged: A devout and spiritual
old man and a devout and spiritual elderly woman who had been waiting for
this day for a very long time, saw poor Mary and Joseph with their little
baby, (who was to be the Savior of the world!) walking into the temple of
Jerusalem, no doubt feeling rather out of place and forlorn. And they fussed
over the baby Jesus! They gave thanks to God for him, the blessed him,
and they began to tell the world about him!
As we come to the end of another year, and as we savor the promise and hope of Christmas during AT LEAST the next 8 days of Christmastide, the image which might linger with us is an old man and an old woman - holding a very precious baby. May this quiet and peaceful, satisfying image remind us as we look with hope to a brand new year, that God's spiritual miracles can and do CONTINUE to happen in quiet and simple ways. And these same miracles require our careful attention, belief, and response-ability (!) , every single day of our lives!!! Amen.