Until

On this Second Day of Christmas, alas, instead of two turtle-doves many of my neighbors are undecorating:  “Christmas is over.  We’ve been doing Rudolph since Halloween, and we’re sick of tinsel!”  The Church is a bunch of odd folks–John Wesley called us “a peculiar people”, but that’s not what he meant–who see a Divine Promise fulfilled, who still wait for the Wise Men.  Scripture readings for this weekend embellish our thoughts about what to do with The Baby.

Isaiah 61:10 to 62:3 celebrates the re-born NATION, God’s Holy People.  The speaker rejoices that the “garments of salvation, the robe of righteousness” have been bestowed.  So clothed with renewal, the Believer announces the vindication of Israel, and her glory before all other kings.  As is befitting those touched by Yahweh, there will be a new name–Jacob/Israel, Saul/Paul–for that People who have seen the Lord.  “I will not keep silent,…I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch.”

Paul reminds the Galatian Christians of the Nativity:  “when the fullness of time had come…” (4:4-7)  This conjures up a watershed of holy relationships:  the Old is past (with all its deserving kudos), the New has come.  The author writes in perspective of having come through the anxieties of Crucifixion, Resurrection and the physical destruction of the stage-work of the Old Covenant.  Jesus’ birth needs to be recalled in order to shape the faith and discipleship of these second-generation followers.  Until the fullness of time is completely realized,  they and we stand with a foot in each Testament.

Simeon & Anna were not the Nice Couple from Baltimore, but they were faithful adherents to the idea that the Messiah was knocking at the door of the Temple (Luke 2:22-40).  What congregation doesn’t have them?  The usually-older folk who hang around the office and supervise the pew-polishing ?  Underfoot, to be sure–yet these are searching & waiting for tidbits of Grace, reassuring signs that life goes on under some sort of Divine Guidance.  Anna spoke about the ChristChild “to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem”.  And old Simeon didn’t see death, but did see Yahweh’s salvation, “A light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel”.  He “looked forward to the consolation of Israel” and lived until he had heard its borning cry.

When I actively pastored, I greatly enjoyed the week between Christmas and New Year’s.  None of us wanted to meet about lightbulbs or liturgy, and this was one of the few periods for the parsonage family to travel guilt-free.  But I also knew that a new agenda was waiting in the wings: the rich seasons of Epiphany and Lent were treading on our tails.  Until the next theophany, then…

God Bless Us, Every One                               Horace Brown King

My musings on Scripture passages assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook or at horacebrownking.com