“Worth the Wait”

Luke 2:21-40

December 31, 2006

Saint Paul UMC, Little Rock

Reverend John A. Fleming

I remember hearing the story of the Christmas pageant that happened in a small church. The pageant was almost over. The children had sung their songs. The wise men had brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The little shepherds, with their white robes, had milled around nervously as they made their way to see where the baby Jesus was. The angels, in their white tennis shoes, had shouted their messages of hope and joy. The star had guided all of them.

Mary and Joseph, who didn’t like each other in real life, looked down at their baby, a plastic Jesus, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in the manger. The woman who was running this year’s pageant thought it best not to use a real baby this year. Last year’s Jesus cried the entire time.

So it was near the end of the pageant. The entire church joined the children’s choir in singing, “Silent Night, holy night. All is calm, all is bright, round yon virgin mother and child. Holy infant, so tender and mild, sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.” Then there was a round of applause. The cast members, the wise men, the shepherds, the angels, the kids dressed up in sheep and camel costumes, all took a bow and then quickly left the stage. It might be more accurate to say that they pushed their way off of the stage. You see, they were eager to make it to the fellowship hall. In fellowship hall were lemonade and cookies and the promise of a visit from Santa Claus.

Mary and Joseph had their directions. They were supposed to be the last ones to exit the stage. After everyone else was gone, Joseph stood up to leave. A second later, Mary followed him. That is when it happened. When Joseph and Mary were leaving, someone, a little girl, it is told, shouted at the top of her lungs, “Hey! You forgot the baby Jesus! Don’t forget the baby Jesus!” Sure enough, Mary glanced back at the manger and the doll that was supposed to be Jesus was still there. In her embarrassment, Mary stomped back to the manger scene, grabbed baby Jesus by his foot, and ran off the stage. This morning I want to say the same thing to you, “Don’t forget the baby Jesus!”

I guess you could say that forgetting Jesus could be easy. After all, the day we celebrate his coming to live with us has come and gone. All of the packages have been unwrapped. The Christmas carols aren’t playing non-stop on the radio anymore and the Super Station out of Atlanta isn’t playing The Christmas Story any longer. Christmas trees that were once perfect now are boxed up or waiting for someone to come and pick them up.

But before we leave the baby Jesus all together, I would like for us to look at the first of two stories in Luke’s gospel of Jesus’ childhood. Our lesson skips ahead from the Christmas story to that day when they brought Jesus up to Jerusalem, to the Temple, for the rite of purification, in accordance with the law of Moses. Jesus was just a month old when Mary and Joseph took him to the Temple.

You will know this. There aren’t many stories of the growing up days of Jesus and his earthly parents. So Mary and Joseph bring the prescribed sacrifice, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons. This was the offering of the poor. The standard sacrifice was a lamb. So we know that Mary and Joseph, with baby Jesus, were struggling to make ends meet.

Simeon is at the Temple. Luke wants us to know that he is always there. Simeon is now an old man who is looking for the Messiah. When the Messiah came, it was prophesied, he would come suddenly to the Temple. Luke tells us that it had been revealed to Simeon, by the Holy Spirit, that he would not die until he saw the Lord’s Messiah. So if you are waiting to see the Messiah. If that is your job, then everyday you would get up and go to the Temple. You would wait there, as Simeon did, day after day, year after year, checking anyone who came up the steps.

Here is how it must have happened. Simeon was standing there on the top steps of the Temple waiting for the Messiah to come. He could not be sure what the Messiah would look like. So he checked everyone. He looked everyone in their eyes. Simeon even checked the babies. Up the steps came Mary and Joseph, with Jesus. Simeon held out his arms. Maybe he said, “Can I hold your baby?” Mary must have been reluctant. Simeon was a stranger. She hands Jesus over hoping the old man will support her baby’s head. Simeon pulled the blanket back so he can see the baby’s face. Maybe Jesus smiled at the old man. Simeon may have smiled back. Then Simeon gently handed the baby back and broke out in song. This is what he sang, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation....” If anyone ought to know who the Messiah is, it is Simeon. The Messiah has come. That is why he sings. Incredible as it is. It is hard to believe, but the Messiah is here. Simeon can die now because the reason he has been holding on has come. The Messiah is here!

Church, I wish I could tell you that the story ended there with Simeon’s song. After his song comes his prophesy. Simeon turns to Mary and says, “This child is set for the rise and fall of many.” What this really means is that the Messiah will be controversial. Choosing to follow Jesus may mean that others will have nothing to do with you.

The singer turned prophet then turns back to Mary and says, “And a sword will pierce your soul also.” Here is what I wonder. I wonder if a shudder went through Mary when he said those words. What could those words mean? Listen to them again. “A sword will pierce through your soul also.” We know what it means, don’t we?

There was once a beautiful picture in the Guggenheim Museum in New York City whose title was The Shadow of Death. It is the only know work of classical art of Jesus laboring as an adult in the carpentry shop. In this painting, Jesus is finished with his day. He has gotten up from the carpenter’s bench. He stretches. The shadow of his body and upraised arms falls on a rack of tools on the wall. The shadow looks like Jesus on a cross.

The most interesting thing is that Mary is in the picture, kneeling down by a chest. Inside the chest are the gifts of the wise men. The gifts had been given some thirty years before. The years had gone by and Mary had seen her son grow. Mary wonders about God’s plan. She gently touches the gifts as if to convince herself that the promises are real. As she touches the golden crown, the casket of frankincense, and the vase of myrrh, she looks up and sees the cross on the back wall, as a shadow. She sees Jesus’ figure across it.

From that day on the shadow of the cross was before her. It is before us, too. The sword would pierce Mary’s soul. Simeon knew what was ahead. He knew the plan of God was beginning to be worked out.

As wonderful as Christmas is, and it is wonderful, it is only a small part in the bigger drama. Today we take the first step toward the cross.

This is it, really. There will be no more Messiahs. No one else is coming to save us. So if the world is going to be better and if we are going to be better, then we will have to trust the one who has the power to change is already here, waiting for us.

I love the song It Came Upon a Midnight Clear. I love all the carols of Christmas. One of the verses of the song seems perfect. We could sing them, “And ye, beneath life’s crushing load, whose forms are bending low, who toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow, look now, for glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing. O rest beside the weary road and hear the angels sing.

Jesus is here, waiting for us. Let us pray.