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"The somber side of Christmas joy"
Thursday, 4 January 2018
Luke 2:33 Yeshua’s father and mother were marvelling at the things Shim‘on was saying about him. 34 Shim‘on blessed them and said to the child’s mother, Miryam,
“This child will cause many in Isra’el to fall and to rise,
he will become a sign whom people will speak against;
35 moreover, a sword will pierce your own heart too.
All this will happen in order to reveal many people’s inmost thoughts.”
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The elderly Simeon was full of joy that the Savior had arrived. But his long life had made him perceptive and insightful, too, and he warned Mary that powerful people would resist even a Savior sent from God. He warned her that her “blessed” lot in life would not always be easy: “a sword will pierce your innermost being too” (verse 35).
• Simeon warned Mary that she would see many reject Jesus, that her son’s ministry would generate opposition. Might she have remembered his words as she wept at the foot of Jesus' cross? What helps you trust God and live out God’s purposes when it’s not easy or popular?
When has following God stretched you in ways you never anticipated when you first set out to follow?
Ø Scholar William Barclay wrote, “Nowhere can we better see the paradox of blessedness than in [Mary’s] life. To Mary was granted the blessedness of being the mother of the Son of God….Yet that very blessedness….meant that someday she would see her son hanging on a
cross…. The piercing truth is that God does not choose a person for ease and comfort and selfish joy but for a task that will take all that head and heart and hand can bring to it.” *Many—probably most—of us hold back from committing all we could bring to God’s mission.
Identify one or two steps you will take to move in that direction during 2018.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you were a tiny baby in a Temple—and yet, just to get there, you had to hurl yourself from the glory of heaven into a dark, dangerous world. And you did it to rescue and redeem me from that broken world. Thank you. Amen.
* William Barclay, Daily Study Bible Series: The Gospel of Luke (Revised Edition). Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1975, p. 14.
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James CochranJames Cochran serves as the Director of Counseling Ministries. He is a licensed professional counselor and completed his graduate studies at University of Missouri – Kansas City. His professional experience includes counseling in a private practice setting, conducting mental health assessments in an emergency room, and developing programs for non-profits. James’s defining passion is helping people become who God created them to be. Resurrection has been James’s home church since he was in elementary school.
“A sword will pierce your innermost being.”
Simeon, could you lighten up a little bit? Everyone is having a great time, celebrating the birth of Christ, and you come in with, “Mary, by the way, your suffering will be so profound that it will feel as if your soul is being impaled by a sharp blade. Mazel tov!” This is why no one invites you to parties.
But wait just a minute. He’s been waiting his entire life for this. This isn’t just Simeon being Simeon. This is a guy who has made it his life’s mission to be a part of this. When his moment comes he offers some praise and blessings, but he needs to make something perfectly clear: the hard part isn’t over. For Mary, it’s going to get a whole lot worse.
In the hymn, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” Isaac Watts explores the idea of love and sorrow meeting in a way they never had before. This is part of what Simeon is saying, I think. “Yes, something wonderful has happened. But what you have to understand is the thing that makes this such Good News is really, really tragic.”
In my life I’m usually guilty of glossing over the parts of faith that make me uncomfortable. There is so much more appeal in things that offer “good news of great joy.” The other day I was interacting with a person who drew attention to the atrocities that Christian institutions have perpetrated over the past 2000 years. My gut instinct was to be defensive, to speak about all the great things Christians do. But before I had a chance to do that, this person said, “and I’ve never heard a person of faith be anything but defensive.” It occurred to me that for any kind of healing, redemptive work to take place, I’d need to sit with some uncomfortable truths.
It’s hard to know what it might look like to be a little more honest about holding love and sorrow at the same time. Maybe I need to give myself permission not to have it all figured out. Maybe we need to be more vulnerable with each other, rather than putting on a show that gives people the impression that because we’re Christians all we have is joy, joy, joy, joy, down in our hearts. It isn’t that we abandon the joy--in fact I think it might be the opposite. Simeon understands what a big deal Jesus is because he understands how painful Jesus’s journey will be. To ignore the sorrow is to trivialize the love.
In this new year I hope I can challenge the part of myself that instinctively leans away from suffering. It may be that by acknowledging it, even honoring it, we are able to find the fullness of joy.
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"Praise and proclamation from an aged prophet"
Friday, 5 January 2018
Luke 2:36 There was also a prophet named Hannah Bat-P’nu’el, of the tribe of Asher. She was a very old woman — she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage 37 and had remained a widow ever since; now she was eighty-four. She never left the Temple grounds but worshipped there night and day, fasting and praying. 38 She came by at that moment and began thanking God and speaking about the child to everyone who was waiting for Yerushalayim to be liberated.
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Another elderly saint, Anna, “approached at that very moment and began to praise God.” (She and Simeon formed one of the first—and one of the smallest—“praise choirs” ever.) Luke didn’t record her exact words when she “gave thanks to God and spoke about the child” (verse 38), but her testimony was clearly important to Mary and Joseph. Because of her devotion to God and the time she spent in the Temple, she would have been able to share her words regarding Jesus with many of the worshipers there.
Ø Luke called Anna a prophet (verse 36). “Prophet” did not mean so much one who tells the future as one who sees present spiritual realities clearly and speaks for God. When has “confirmation from the body of Christ” (the kind Simeon and Anna gave Joseph and Mary)
given you the courage to move forward in some significant way? When have you been able to encourage another Christ-follower?
• This passage didn’t say how old Anna was when her husband died. In that day, women typically married in their early teens, so it’s a reasonable estimate that she had been constantly in the temple for around sixty years. How can your time spent praying, studying the Bible, and worshipping God shape what you do with the rest of your time, with how you live your life? How can your worship fill you with the same trust and eager anticipation that it gave to Anna?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, at all the ages of my life, help me, like Anna, to serve you with worship, praise and a willingness to speak about Jesus. Amen.
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"Luke’s summary of Jesus’ boyhood"
Saturday, 6 January 2018
Luke 2:39 When Yosef and Miryam had finished doing everything required by the Torah of Adonai, they returned to the Galil, to their town Natzeret.
40 The child grew and became strong and filled with wisdom — God’s favor was upon him.
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Luke was the only gospel writer to give us even a glimpse into the years of Jesus' childhood. (Some later gospels tried to imaginatively fill in some of the gaps, and occasionally generate headlines today. But none of them have any strong claim to eyewitness reliability.) Luke added the story of Jesus in the temple at age 12, which we studied two weeks ago (cf. Luke 2:41-52). There he wrote that Jesus remained obedient to Joseph (as his earthly father) and Mary for 18 more years.
Ø Luke showed Jesus as a dutiful, but far from ordinary, son. According to verse 40 (and expanded on a bit in verse 52), Jesus grew mentally, physically, and spiritually during his years in Nazareth. In which of these areas did you experience the most growth during 2017? Ask God to guide you as you look toward your “growing edge” in these areas of life. Ask for wisdom and courage as you fill out your plans to continue growing in 2018.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I’m thankful for your presence in my life, for the fruit you are bearing in me. Please continue to guide and empower me so I can choose a life with you that is worth living.
Amen.
Family Activity: God is always with us—though too often we aren’t aware of God’s presence. Review with your family the story of Simeon and Anna recognizing Jesus in the Temple. Then at supper (or other days’ end activity), ask each member of your family where he or she saw God that day, with questions like, “Where did you see God at work today?” or “In what or whom did you experience God’s presence today?” Do this for at least a week, and consider making it a part of family life. You might create a journal or a banner where you illustrate or write out some of your responses. Each month, review the ways you have each experienced God. Help each person become increasingly aware of God’s presence in his or her life. Thank God for being a constant and faithful presence.
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Prayer Requests – cor.org/prayer
Prayers for Peace & Comfort for:
•Sandi Morgan and family on the death of her mother Lois Kinnaw, 12/22
•Family and friends of Patricia “Pat” Arlund on her death, 12/22
• Julie Jarnevic and family on the death of her sister Teresa Enenbach, 12/21
•Family and friends of Glenna House on her death, 12/21
•Sharon Bryant and family on the death of her husband Tom Bryant, 12/19
•Rea Wilson and family on the death of her husband Dave Wilson, 12/18
•Bailey Amtower and David Wilson III and families on the death of their father Dave Wilson, 12/18
•Family and friends of Dan Williams on his death, 12/18
•Walt McKenzie and family on the death of his sister-in-law Donna J. Robinson, 12/16
•Family and friends of EmmaLee Miller on her death, 12/11
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