One of my greatest childhood memories was a Christmas when my father was stationed in Korea. ( I ended with a sister from that assignment, but that is another story for another time.) My mother, brother and I lived in a little house off the base which we had to do each time he was stationed overseas and I can remember that Christmas seemed to never come. We waited and waited. Wanting that day to happen because two things would happen. My father would be home on leave for a week at Christmas and we would get some presents that we had picked out from the Sears catalog. That was also the last year, I believed in Santa but I held on to the line that I didn't believe anymore until one night when my brother and I were getting ready to bed and he began talking up Santa. He looked out the bedroom window and up in the sky was a red light flashing, which I now know was really a plane, but he convinced me that it was Rudolph running a test flight for the upcoming Christmas. My brother could sell a man with no hearing a radio. I bought that story and for the next few weeks or so, I believed once again. While I remember clearly that the Santa thing ended, I remember the thrill of waiting for Christmas to arrive. The dreams of what the next few weeks would bring to us.
In Luke 2, we meet Simeon and Anna. Two people who were looking for the Messiah to come to earth. Simeon had been promised by God that he would not die until he saw the living Messiah and when Jesus was presented at the temple for his consecration as the first born. Simeon was there and immediately recognized him. Anna, the prophetess, who was 84 years old and a widow of some 60 years also immediately recognized Christ as the Messiah. Both were said to worship the child and praise God for delivering the Messiah as promised. Many people before they die have a long list of things they want to accomplish before it happens; their “bucket list.” I think it’s safe to say that for Simeon, there was only one thing on His “bucket list,” to see the Redeemer of Israel.
In the song, O Holy Night, part of verse 1 says:
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
Fall on your knees; O hear the Angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born
While we wait for Christmas, do we have that "thrill of hope." Do we anticipate meeting that same Christ born thousands of years ago who came as the Redeemer, the Messiah, the Savior of the world. While we may lose belief in Santa, do we realize that Jesus is and continues to be the long awaited Messiah.
The tradition of burning the yule log is that while the log burns a family counts the sparks that rise up the chimney and dreams about the things that will come in the next year. Let's light the yule log in our hearts this year and dream about the people we love and care about finally getting to meet the Messiah that we waited so long to meet. Let's be a Simeon in this world. Merry Christmas.
Preach
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