It is a new year; some people make resolutions each year. A new year feels like a fresh start. It is like starting on a clean page, one that doesn’t have bits crossed out or smudged lines. Any day can be the start of another year, some people think of their birthday as a new beginning, or the start of a month, or the new financial year.
We
know, with God, every moment of every day gives us the opportunity to start
over.
Resolutions
are often like dreams, wishes, hopes, but ones we may not want to work at. I have lots of books that I have not read,
they look interesting or come recommended, but buying them does not mean I will
read them, they will be waiting for me when I retire 😊
Some
people make resolutions to exercise more, lose weight, get healthy, get a new
job – resolutions are almost always about self-improvement. But making the
resolution does not mean you will get fit or lose weight or be healthier or
find a new job. That takes work and commitment.
I
wonder what our resolutions would be like if we thought about what God dreams
for each of us. I think God’s dream for each of us is in some ways the same and
in other ways different. Those of you who are parents, or aunts, or uncles will
know what it is like. You want the best for each child, but the best for each
child is different.
As
we heard in the story the way to make God’s dream come true is by sharing,
loving, caring, holding, playing, and laughing. It is being together, one big
family of God, and like all families, especially large ones, there will be an
amazing mixture of people in the family, some we know better than others and
some seem downright strange to us, but they are all part of the family.
We have been reading through the
gospel of Luke and will be for most of the year. We have moved through Chapter 1 during
Advent, where we heard of Zechariah’s experience in the Temple, and Elizabeth’s
pregnancy; the birth of John and Zechariah’s song; the angel and Mary having a
conversation; and Mary’s visit to Elizabeth and Mary’s song.
Christmas
morning, we heard the beginning of Luke chapter 2 with the journey to
Bethlehem, the birth of Jesus, the angels appearing to the shepherds and the
shepherds visiting Jesus.
The passage we heard this morning is a
reminder that Mary and Joseph were devout Jews. At 8 days, Jesus was
circumcised and named- this would have happened at home with lots of relatives
in attendance. As a first-born male, at 31 days Jesus would be presented at the
Temple, then at 40 days, Mary would be taken to the Temple for the rite of
purification – if she had given birth to a girl, this would have been after 80
days. Then annual visits to Jerusalem at Passover.
When Jesus was being presented at the
Temple, as the first-born son of Mary and Joseph, we meet Simeon and Anna. These
people are reminders that the faithful people in Israel were waiting, and
looking for, the promised one, the Messiah, the one who would save the people of
Israel.
Luke
records, Simeon took the baby in his arms and said something like: OK God, I am
ready to die now, just as you said, I have seen the salvation of Israel and all
people. ‘Simeon is ready to die. Not
from a sense of resignation or failure but because in this child he has been
reminded of God’s indefatigable commitment to be with us and for us forever.’
[David Lose in the Meantime]
These words
of Simeon’s are part of the resources for prayers at the time of dying in our
prayer book – what needs to happen for you to be able to say them about your
life?
Anna’s words
are not recorded, but she praised God and spoke to all in Jerusalem who were
waiting for the redemption of Israel. Anna lived a devout life, and now she
praised God and told others what she knew, that she had seen Jesus, the
promised one.
Both Anna
and Simeon recognised Jesus as the one that God had promised, the one that all
of Israel was waiting for.
The next we
hear about Jesus is as a twelve year old, travelling to Jerusalem for Passover,
and not returning with the group afterwards. The first words of Jesus recorded
by Luke are: Why did you have to look for me? Didn’t you know that I would be
in my Father’s house?”
And his
parents did not understand what he meant. That phrase could sum up the
gospel with disciples and others not understanding what Jesus is doing and
saying.
One thing these
first two chapters of Luke tells me is that Jesus was not born to the family of
the High Priest or the Emperor, not to a movie star or a millionaire. The story
of the life of Jesus, right from the beginning includes people who we could
meet any day; an older couple without children, a young unmarried woman, a
widow, a man who visited the Temple. Jesus grew up in a devout Jewish family, in
a country under occupation. He wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
While these
days we think of Christmas as a time for children, there are no children
mentioned, other than Jesus, in the first Christmas story. These two chapters
of Luke’s gospel remind me how human Jesus is, how normal his childhood was,
even parents who did not understand their teenager. They also remind me of God’s
commitment to God’s people, all of them.
This New
Year, this Christmas season, what is standing out for you? What is God nudging in
you?
