Saturday, December 30, 2023 | Trey Comstock
By Rev. Emily Larsen
Did you know that there are actually 12 days of Christmas. Not just the popular English Christmas carol with two turtledoves and five golden rings. In our liturgical calendar in the church, Christmas lasts for 12 days, beginning on December 25th. So we are technically still in the Christmas season. Leave up your Christmas tree and your decorations. Don’t let anybody tell you you have to take down your lights yet. It’s not over yet, folks!
But whether you’re singing about the 12 days of Christmas or not, one inescapable part of this high holy day is the tradition of gift giving. While most of us probably didn’t give anybody a partridge in a pear tree this year, we probably all celebrated the birth of Jesus and the coming of the Messiah, God with us, Emmanuel, with gift giving in some fashion. I’ve learned over the years that there are two types of people during this time of gift-exchanges; those that like to be surprised and those that like to figure out what’s in the box before they unwrap it. While I fall into the former category and enjoy the surprise, my husband is a notorious gift guesser! It doesn’t matter how I wrap things (whether I use a deceptively large box, put extra padding and paper around it, or even if I weigh it down with something to throw off the scent), he can usually still guess what’s in the package before he starts to unwrap it. He can see what’s coming, no matter what sort of bundle it’s hidden in.
Anna and Simeon in today’s story were not thrown off by the package and wrappings of the Messiah that day when Mary and Joseph brought him into the temple. While many in Jerusalem were expecting the Messiah to arrive with all the wrappings and trappings of a King, prepared to overthrow the Roman Empire and re-establish a throne on Earth as they had known it before, Anna and Simeon were instead guided by the Holy Spirit. They instantly recognized Jesus as the Messiah in spite of his humble birth and beginnings into this unobtrusive family from Nazareth in Bethlehem.
I think when it comes down to it, being a good gift-guesser and recognizing the good things that are coming our way can all come down to an attitude of expectation. My husband is good at guessing gifts because he knows and trusts the givers of the gifts. The prophets Anna and Simeon recognized Jesus because they also knew the Giver of all Good Gifts. They were waiting in the Temple with anticipation. And when their expectations were fulfilled, they reacted appropriately with joy and thanksgiving. They trusted in God’s promise of the coming Messiah. So they were ready to recognize him when he showed up, in spite of his humble birth and unassuming entrance into the world.
We can trust in God’s promises. We can have faith in the Giver of all Good Gifts. God keeps God’s promises. We can see in scripture over and over again where Old Testament prophecies are fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. We can look to the testimonies of the great cloud of witnesses who have come before us who attest to the goodness and steadfastness of God and in the fulfillment of God’s promises throughout time eternal. We can trust in the ongoing work of redemption that God has been and will continue to bring into the world. We can receive God’s good gifts with joy and expectation, knowing that God is at work in our lives and in the world around us.
As we move into the new year, I invite us all to open our eyes to the goodness of God. I like to start every year by reexamining a prayer written by John Wesley. It’s a recommitment to a covenant with God that helps me to refocus and reprioritize my life as I try to orient myself more towards God’s will instead of my own. And so, I invite you to pray it with me as we start 2024 off on the right foot, together with God.
Father in heaven, I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
—John Wesley