All the Difference in the World

All the Difference in the World--January 3, 2016

"Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, 'Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel." [Luke 2:25-32]

Some things are worth waiting for. Some are not.

Knowing which is which makes all the difference in the world.

One of the things I am oddly most grateful for about this time of year is New Year's Eve... because, in all honesty, I think it is about the most blatantly disappointing "holiday" of the year. I say "holiday" in quotes like that because, of course, New Year's Eve is basically just a party thrown to watch an odometer roll over.  At 12:02am, every year, we are reminded that it had all just been a lot of fuss, a lot of hype, a lot of commotion, all for a moment that is done and past, and nothing has really changed.  Every year, there is the opportunity to re-learn the painful but necessary truth that we are easily, easily, easily swept up in excitement over something that is all smoke and mirrors, a lip-synched hullaballoo that had no substance and gets cleaned up as soon as the big moment arrives.

New Year's Eve reminds me, whether I have found myself at a party, or in New York seeing the lights of Times Square, or sitting in my living room in the near dark trying to lull my daughter back to sleep, that there are many things sold to us in this life as "worth waiting for," and so, so many of them simply were not.  They are all sizzle and no steak, a flash in the pan and nothing more.  And here's one of the ways you can tell those moments, in hindsight, at least--when they are over, you go home unchanged.  You go back to where you were, the same person you were before, and you talk about things "going back to normal."

You live through one of those letdown moments of life, and maybe it teaches you to be a little more cautious before getting caught up in hype over something next time.  You learn maybe not to pin your hopes on a ball dropping, or the turning of a calendar page.

But then there is this wonderful and strange story from the early chapter's of Luke's Gospel, where it still feels like Luke is putting on a musical, with characters breaking out into song about every other paragraph.  And there's Simeon, and he has been given the build-up of a lifetime. Literally.  He has been told that he'll live long enough to see the Messiah, and once he has laid eyes on the boy, Simeon knows he has checked the last thing off his bucket list.  The child, the hope, the promise, they are all what he has been waiting for, and now he is ready.  He is ready to let go of his life and discover God catching him.  And to hear the story as Luke tells it, Simeon is not disappointed. 

How does he know that this child is the one he'd been waiting for?  Who knows--other than somehow the Spirit pushed him forward that day, and when the Spirit moves you, you move.  Whatever it felt like to Simeon to know that this was the promised Messiah, the one who would establish the reign of God in a new way, the old man knew it was worth it.  This was not a New Year's Eve, where a lot of fuss had built up to a disappointing anti-climax.  This was the real thing.

And part of how you know is that the motion is different. This story doesn't have the feel of something that just "went back to normal" afterward.  It seems like the movement, the momentum, is going to radiate outward from here.  Simeon won't just go home like every other day the same person he was.  And Simeon knows, too, that God is moving in a new way now, too; outward.  God is starting with this child, this one individual life, and radiating out love and justice, mercy and truth, like a supernova exploding, from this point, through Israel and out to all people.  God is doing something that is for "all peoples" to bring light to all the nations.  Nobody is going home the same after this child's entry into the world. The world itself is no longer the same.

That is the movement you and I are a part of.  We were caught up in it ourselves at some point--the blast wave swept us up in its motion.  And in a world full of disappointments at shows and spectacles that turn out to be nothing more than hype, a world full of politicians who whip up the crowds but offer nothing of substance, a world full of products we are sold that don't really fill the emptiness, a world where internet buzz can make fictitious stories more widely spread than real news, in such a world it is critical for us to know what things are, and which are not, really worth waiting for, looking for, and pinning our hopes on. 

Jesus' arrival in the world is worth giving our full attention to, because it is the start of the supernova whose energy is now rippling through us to bring an alternative way of life to any and all--the way of Jesus, the Kingdom way, the Movement of Mercy, in which the lowly are lifted up, the hungry are fed, the guilty are forgiven, the enemies are reconciled, and you are beloved.  We will not just go home the same as always--we are being changed.

If you have found yourself feeling like New Year's let you down again, well, good. It was always going to--it's just watching clockwork.  But if that disappointment has awakened in you a sense of needing something deeper, something real, something that is rushing outward and gaining speed as it enfolds and embraces all, well, here it is.  It is Jesus and his movement.  He has been worth the wait.  And now it is time to move where he moves.

Some things are worth the wait. Some things are not.  Jesus is worth it, and that makes all the difference in the world.

Lord Jesus, now we are ready... to go where you lead us.  Now, do lead us. And let us be changed.