First Sunday after Christmas
Luke 2:22-40
"Left - Overs"
"An Indian chief was disturbed about how lazy his braves had been
during the hunting season, so he called all the tribe together and
announced, "I've got good news and bad news. The bad news is that,
because you have been lazy and done little hunting this season, all we
have to eat all winter long is clay from the riverbank. The good news
is that there is an ample amount of clay to keep us going until next
year."
Isn't that life?? Good news and bad news seem to come together. I have
some good news for you today, Christmas is over, you can relax, take it
easy, the food is all baked, the tree is all decorated, the presents
are all unwrapped, the holiday is finished. The bad news is, the clean
up job remains. The Christmas decorations need to be put away, the
trees undecorated, then either put back in the box, or hauled outside.
There are piles of wrapping paper to put away and throw away, there are
those added pounds to be lost, because you had such good food during
these holidays. The bad news continues when you think of the gifts that
have to be returned, because they didn't fit right, or weren't the
exact color, and more bad news comes when you find that even though you
were trying to be careful, you somehow over-spent and now you wonder
how you are going to pay for all that good news.
These leftovers items are also part of the holiday, also part of the
Christmas season, also part of our celebration. Somehow the leftovers
seem to be an anticlimax to the Christmas celebration. Somehow these
things cleaning, loosing weight, taking things back, putting things
away, don't seem to fit in just right with that Christmas Spirit.
Somehow these leftovers just don't feel right with the glitter, the
excitement, the wonder, the awe, the majesty and the beauty of
Christmas.
But, I would venture to say, these leftovers do go hand in hand with
the Christmas spirit, these leftovers are part and parcel with
Christmas.
These leftovers have as much to do with Christmas, as the event itself,
because Christmas just doesn't end after Dec. 25th, but what happened
during Christmas lives on and on. It lives in our memories, it lives in
these leftovers, it lives as we see anew what this Christ child means
for us. The Christmas spirit, the birth of Jesus lived on in so-called
leftovers of society as we read about Simeon and Anna in our gospel
lesson this morning.
The Christmas Spirit was revealed first of all to two old people,
Simeon and Anna. As Pastor John Brokhoff says in his book, Wrinkled
Wrappings, "They are leftover from the meal of life. By their wrinkled,
shrivel bodies they appear as wrinkled wrappings. But leftovers can be
good and delicious as the main meal. This was the case with the couple
in wrinkled wrappings. They saw something 40 days after Christmas that
no body up to that time had seen. The shepherds, the religious ruler
who heard rumors of his birth, his father and mother, all didn't really
understand or see in this child the image of God. The only ones who
recognized the Messiah in the man-child, God in Jesus, were two aged,
wrinkled, wrapped left-over people, Simeon and Anna."
Simeon and Anna saw and they believed, they saw and worshipped, they
saw and lived in that grace they experienced from that child, they saw
and continued to serve God through others. These marvelous people,
these leftovers, this wrinkled wrapped man and woman are a fine example
for us of how God continues to reveal himself to the leftovers, the
wrinkled wrapped people of society. God doesn't always reveal himself
to the powerful, the wealthy, the healthy, the wise, the famous, the
upper crust of society. He reveals himself to the lowly, the outcasts,
the leftovers, the wrinkled wrapped, who society has frown on, who
society has disregarded as weak, and worthless, but God sees as whole
and holy.
God came as a child to this earth to be with all of society, even the
so-called leftovers. "A Negro died and went to heaven. He got together
with other blacks and they started comparing their life histories.
Finally, they approach God, and their spokesperson said, "Lord, you
just don't realize how tough it was down there!! I was born black. I
was of a despised race!! And God said, "I was once a Jew." The black
went on, "Yes, but I was persecuted. My daddy was innocent, but still
the Klan hanged him." And Jesus showed them his own nail-scarred hand.
"You don't understand, Lord!!" The black went on, "I never had a cent,
no education, no home. People laughed and scoffed at me. Why, when I
was a baby, we had to flee our house and move to another city for the
safety of our lives." And God smiled tenderly. He placed his big arm
around the black man's shoulder and said, "I know how it is my son. I
have been there myself."
Yes, He has. God did not send us a book, a picture, a song, or an idea.
He did not send us a sermon or even a friend. Instead, God came
himself. He gave us his presence more than that he gave us an
explanation. He gave us his own life, death and resurrection.
God came to earth for the leftovers, for the wrinkled wrapped, for all
those who acknowledge they cannot handle life alone. God came to earth
especially today, for those who have not measured up by earthly
standards. He came for the poor, the sick, the chronically ill, the
despised, the broken, those experiencing broken relationships, and the
handicapped.
God comes to all those who live in the humility that they cannot handle
life alone. He comes to make winners out of losers. Notice, I said, He
came to make winners out of losers, God does the work not us. He does
it with His own timetable in His own way, through His own means.
Who would have thought that an old dying priest would be the one to
bless the Baby and declare for all to hear that this baby would be the
light to lighten the Gentiles. For Simeon says, "Lord, now lettest thou
they servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have
seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared in the presence of all
people, a light for the revelation to the Gentiles, and for the glory
to thy people Israel."
Simeon declared the mission and ministry of Jesus and his followers. It
would be some 33 or more years later until that mission would truly
begin in earnest to the Gentiles and that mission is not complete yet.
God's timetable is not for human minds or souls to understand, or
predict.
God works in some strange ways in this world. He worked through two
wrinkled wrapped people who society had given up for lost. He did not
work through the strong, or the correct religious leaders, or the
powerful government, or the wealthy, but through two simple, faithful
servants who had seen the work of God.
There is a story I would like to share about how a disabled child
brought out the compassion and faithfulness of other children in a way
that speaks volumes about how God works in this world.
Listen:
"In Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters to learning
disabled children. Some children remain in Chush for their entire
school career, while others can be main-streamed into conventional
schools. At a Chush fund-raising dinner, the father of a Chush child
delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.
After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he cried out,
"Where is the perfection in my son Shaya? Everything done in Heaven is
done with perfection. But my child cannot understand things as other
children do. My child cannot remember facts and figures as other
children do. Where is Heaven's perfection?
The audience was shocked by the question, pained by the father's
anguish and stilled by the piercing query.
"I believe," the father answered, "that when Heaven brings a child like
this into the world, the perfection that it seeks is in the way people
react to this child."
He then told the following story about his son Shaya:
One afternoon, Shaya and his father walked past a park where some boys
Shaya new were playing baseball. Shaya asked, "Do you think they will
let me play?" Shaya's father knew that his son was not at all athletic
and that most boys would not want him on their team. But Shaya's father
understood that if his son were chosen to play it would give him a
comfortable sense of belonging.
Shaya's father approached one of the boys in the field and asked if
Shaya could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his
team-mates. Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said
"We are losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I
guess he can be on our team and well try to put him up to bat in the
ninth inning."
Shaya's father was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly. Shaya was told to
put on a glove and go out to play short center field. In the bottom of
the eight inning, Shaya's team scored a few runs but was still behind
by three.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shaya's team scored again and now
with two outs and the bases loaded with the potential winning run on
base.
Shaya was scheduled to be up. Would the team actually let Shaya bat at
this juncture and give away their chance to win the game?
Surprisingly, Shaya was given the bat. Everyone knew that it was all
but impossible because Shaya didn't even know how to hold the bat
properly, let alone hit with it. However as Shaya stepped up to the
plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shaya
should at least be able to make contact.
The first pitch came and Shaya swung clumsily and missed.
One of Shaya's team-mates came up to Shaya and together they held the
bat and faced the pitcher waiting for the next pitch. The pitcher again
took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shaya.
As the pitch came in, Shaya and his team-mate swung at the ball and
together they hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher.
The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown
the ball to the first baseman.
Shaya would have been out and that would have ended the game. Instead,
the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field,
far beyond reach of the first baseman.
Everyone started yelling, "Shaya, run to first. Run to first." Never in
his life had Shaya run to first. He scampered down the baseline
wide-eyed and startled. By the time he reached first base, the right
fielder had the ball.
He could have thrown the ball to the second base man who would tag out
Shaya, who was still running. But the right fielder understood what the
pitchers intentions were, so he threw the ball high and far over the
Third baseman's head.
Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second." Shaya ran towards
second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases
towards home.
As Shaya reached second base, the opposing short stop ran to him,
turned him in the direction of third base and shouted, "Run to third."
As Shaya rounded third, the boys from both teams ran behind him
screaming, "Shaya run home."
Shaya ran home, stepped on home plate and all 18 boys lifted him on
their shoulders and made him the hero, as he had just hit a "grand
slam" and won the game for his team.
"That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his
face, "those 18 boys reached their level of Heaven's perfection."(1)
Yes, Lord, I am thankful you have seen in the Simeons, the Anna's, the
Shaya's of this world, the wrinkled wrapped of this world, a holiness,
a righteousness, a faith, and a dignity that is present in all your
children.
Lord, I am glad your eyesight is better than ours. You see the worth of
the individual. Yes, Lord, thank you for the wrinkled wrapped, for the
leftovers, because in your eyes, they are the beautiful packages, and
the main meal.
amen
Written by Pastor Tim Zingale
(1) inspiration@yahoogroups.com