A Sight to Behold

Luke 2:25-35

Beth Dobyns

First Christian Church, Des Moines

People do interesting things when they look into the face of a little baby. In fact, they kind of act like fools! We all do it, I suppose, and it may be that we are overcome by the innocence before us—looking into the docile face of peace personified. You know what I mean......the cooing, unending smiles, being taken in by the newest arrival on the planet.

We can imagine the same thing happening to Simeon, a man who knew his way around the Temple in Jerusalem. Luke’s story about the arrival of Mary and Joseph in Jerusalem is another chapter in our understanding of what is going on in the life of Jesus, sent into the world as an innocent infant. God had promised one who would be savior, peace-maker, prince of peace, wonderful counselor, one who would come into the world to bring God’s promise to us.

Although Simeon was not the prophet, he had received God’s promise of seeing the Messiah in his lifetime. Now advanced in years, Simeon was there when Mary and Joseph brought the baby Jesus into the temple to fulfill their obligations according to their faith. You can just imagine what happened next. As he looked into the face of this precious Child, he realizes who he is. He takes this blessed baby in his arms and looks into the face of promise and hope. Simeon speaks aloud to God, saying that he is now able to die in peace because he has seen the Messiah, the chosen one who would bring peace and yet a sword. Nonetheless, you can feel the spirit of the moment. Simeon is just like anyone else who stands looking at that new baby, and saying, “Ohoooooooo, how sweet!"

But this moment is so significant for him, and for us, because this is the moment of understanding that God keeps promises. We just have to learn that God’s time doesn’t necessarily fit into our Google calendars and instant messaging. God keeps promises in God’s good time. Simeon has finally realized that he is a witness to the promise of God---that of sending a savior, a messiah into the world to live among us and to bring a new, broader understanding of the law and the prophets. Jesus comes to bring to life the radical nature of God’s love for us, and to know that God’s love is even more than we have understood to this point. Simeon holds in his arms the promise of life, the joy of knowing that God has kept the eternal promise given to all people.

If we are willing to join Simeon in the temple, we will see a couple whose lives have been totally disrupted. We see that life can no longer just go along the way it has been, with a simple turn of the page to a new year. Same old....same old....We see a couple who have been part of the telling of God’s new story, and what a sight to behold, as we see them standing there. God has come to them, asking them to produce and present the Son of God to a world in need of a lively spirit and a renewing hope. God has done everything possible to help us understand how NOT normal this birth is. This is a sight to behold, that’s for sure!

This was the baby that scared King Herod so badly that he was willing to kill off every newborn male just to be sure that he had no competition from this Royal One.

This is the child who was announced by a Star in the East, and Wise Men travelled to eventually present gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to this royal sight to behold. Even in these gifts, they understood what Simeon said, as he spoke to Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.” (v. 34-35) Even in the giving of gifts, they gave spices used in anointing for burial, alluding to the rest of this divine story. Even in this long view of things, there is a sense of wholeness in this story. God keeps the ultimate promise in bringing this child into the world to bring new life and radical living as though something has changed in our lives.

And this, friends, brings us to our moment of encountering the promises of God. We have seen this lovely infant Jesus, and witnessed the strength of character of his parents in enduring what they did in bringing about this entrance into the world of the one who changes everything. What about you? How does this sight to behold make any difference to you? How will you keep this spirit of Christmas this year? Larry Patten, writing in his essay, “Simeon’s Whisper,” says, “Every day, in so many different ways, we enter the temple, breathless and carrying that gurgling infant in our souls. How will you spend that time, wherever your temple might be?”(1) What will you do, not by accident but by intention, that might be different this year, because you have witnessed God’s promise?

That intention might be what makes the difference for each of us. We can make the decision that we want something different in our own lives. We cannot speak for one another, for this is a personal matter. But this is the kind of thing that we understand all too well, this need for enduring intention, for allowing God’s help along the way. There are several friends of mine who refuse to go to the gym, like they regularly do, the first two weeks of January. One says, “No way am I going to get in the way of that herd of New-Year short-timers!” He says that it is ridiculous to see the resolutions that kick into gear, and then, when the realization hits that this is a continuing commitment, all those people get out of the way, so the long-termers can get back to work.

So, back to the question, what would make your heart and you spirit happy this year? There will be lots of chances for us to talk about the future of this fine congregation and other things, but for you, personally, what is the one thing that you would hope for...that could change how you act or think about your life. And what would it take for that to be real? Think about it this week..... There is a sense in which we are able to see and understand what God can do in our own lives.

In her poem, “Sometimes, I Am Startled Out of Myself,” Barbara Crooker talks about how we call attention to our lives.....and how we might consider the promises of God that continue and return......

like this morning, when the wild geese came squawking, flapping their rusty hinges, and something about their trek across the sky made me think about my life, the places of brokenness, the places of sorrow, the places where grief has strung me out to dry.

And then the geese come calling, the leader falling back when tired, another taking her place.

Hope is borne on wings. Look at the trees. They turn to gold for a brief while, then lose it all each November.

Through the cold months, they stand, take the worst weather has to offer. And still, they put out shy green leaves come April, come May....

The geese glide over the cornfields, land on the pond with its sedges and reeds.

You do not have to be wise. Even a goose knows how to find shelter, where the corn still lies in the stubble and dried stalks. All we do is pass through here, the best way we can. They stitch up the sky, and it is whole again. (2)

May God be with us as we consider with joy and hopefulness a New Year filled with promise and possibilities. Such a sight to behold! Amen.

(1) “Simeon’s Whisper.” www.larrypatten.com, December, 2011.

(2) “Sometimes, I Am Startled Out of Myself,” by Barbara Crooker, from Radiance. Word Press, 2005. quoted in “Writer’s Almanac,” October 29, 2011.