RE-ENTRY

Luke 2:21-38


The stockings are emptied and packed away for a year.  Recycling bins are full of discarded wrapping paper and discarded boxes.  The fridge is full of left overs from Christmas dinner, and the pans scrubbed and put away.  Now what?  The story of Simeon and Anna found in the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke gives us some answers.





Unfortunately, life does not stop just because of Christmas.  The projects I left undone are still undone.  The cat box still needs scooping and bills wait to be paid.  Death, illness and heartbreak haven't disappeared.  The human condition remains the same.

Sometimes the emotional high fueled by too many Hallmark Christmas specials lasts until New Year's Eve, but that dissipates quickly on New Year's Day when I ask "Now what?" when I realize all the problems from 2015 haven't magically disappeared at the stroke of midnight on December 31.

So has I come down from Christmas and re-enter the reality of my life, I find the story of Simeon, Anna and the presentation of the Christ child at the temple hopeful and helpful.

Simeon, an elderly priest, has only one item on his bucket list:  to live to see the Messiah.  Everyday, he faithfully prayed for the salvation of Israel.   Finally, at the end of his life, he held the Messiah, the one of whom Isaiah prophesied, the angels sang, and the shepherds sought. in his arms.

“Now, master, let your servant go in peace according to your word,
30     because my eyes have seen your salvation.
31 You prepared this salvation in the presence of all peoples.
32 It’s a light for revelation to the Gentiles
 and a glory for your people Israel.”

And into this moment of joy, Simeon brings the reality of what this means.  He warns Mary that her infant son will grow up to bring both the fall and recovery of many in Israel.  He will be at the center of conflict as he is misunderstood and discounted as his words convict them of their unloving and disobedient lives.  And all this will break Mary's heart causing her great sorrow.  Mary was given a glimpse of the future, and it cast a long shadow over her memories of the night her son was born.

A long shadow that stretched out from the Garden and Eden to our own time, a shadow in the shape of a cross.

The manger of Christmas begins the journey to the cross and the empty tomb where God's promise of salvation for the world and each of us was fulfilled.  Simeon's prophesy reminds us that that journey is not an easy one, that every trip to the mountain top of Joy sends us back into the dark valleys of the human condition.  And it is in those valleys that the light of Christ sometimes shines the brightest.

When we re-enter the world after Christmas, it is a let down.  I think we put too much faith in a manger scene and one day a year to change our lives and the whole world.  What continues to sustain and nourish us is the power and love of Christ which has been made ours through his life, death and resurrection,

When the Christmas tree has been put away and all the decorations are taken down, it is Christ the Risen Savior that gets us through re-entry back into our everyday lives.  It is the abiding presence of Christ in our lives that gets us through the post Christmas blues.  

The projects left undone, the bills waiting to be paid and the litter box that needs scooping, all of these things including death, illness and heart break are still there.  What makes a difference in our lives and in the world is that love of Christ Christ that remains after the tinsel and the pine needles are vacuumed up. We can face all of these and overcome the let down of Christmas through the strength, patience and love Christ gives to us.

So, make a faith fashion statement and put on those shining garments of victory promised by Isaiah, and as the old hymn says, "Take the name of Jesus with you, child of sorrow and and of woe.  It will joy and comfort give you, take it now where-er  you go."