Luke 2:22-35
We look forward to the New Year as a
time for making changes. We clean out the house and we strive to “clean out”
our lives.
As we consider what we want to do
better, or do differently, or stop doing, the Cleveland Clinic offers helpful
suggestions[i]:
- Focus on starting a new habit, rather than
quitting an old one.
- Choose realistic goals that are
sustainable for the long term.
- Make sure your goals are specific and
measurable, not vague.
- Be flexible and open to changing them
along the way, if you need to.
- Identify obstacles that might get in the
way of your success.
- Partner up with an accountability buddy.
- Set up reminders to help you stay
motivated.
- Track your progress.
We need these because people are not
doing too good a job of keeping their resolutions. The website, Discover Happy
Habits[ii],
reports that…
- The most popular resolutions…are….
improving physical heath (20%) and
saving more money (20%).
Others were exercising more (19%), eating healthier (18%), being happy (17%), and losing weight (17%). (NONE OF THESE ARE SPECIFIC ENOUGH)
However, by the end of February,
almost 80% of those people of great resolve had abandoned their goals. Yikes!
One of the most helpful of the
suggestions above for me has been accountability. I tell someone what I’m going
to do, and they hold me to it.
You may or may not have noticed that
God makes promises changes publicly as well—through the prophets: Jeremiah—I
will put my laws in my peoples’ hearts and minds, and I will forgive them; Joel—I
will pour out my Spirit on all people…young and old, male and female, slave and
free; and Isaiah—I will bring good news, healing, liberty, release, and comfort
to my people.
In our reading today, Simeon notes
that God has made good on His promises. On this day in the Temple courts, there
is the Child—the One in whom all of God’s promises come together.
Simeon stands on a bridge in time.
He stands with one foot in the former world—the world of prophets. He is
waiting for Israel’s consolation. And, he stands with one foot in the new
world—the world of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, Immanuel…God with us. Likewise,
you and I stand now on a bridge. From 2024 to 2025 may not be quite as
significant a span to cross, but we stand here today looking back over 2024,
assessing our lives, our ministry together, our thinking, our relationships
with family and friends. Socrates was the one who said, “The unexamined life is
not worth living.” So, we examine, we look back. And, we look forward to 2025—a
chance to do things differently, to do things better, or to stop doing things that
have hurt us or others.
But, if we look only at our own
lives, then we have missed the whole point of the Gospel, we’ve missed the
whole point of God coming to us. God coming to us is God saying “no” to self
and “yes” to us—to someone other than self. So, as we look back on 2024, we
should also take account of whether we lived for others, whether we did
anything to better others’ lives. And as we look to 2025, we must ask how we
might get outside of ourselves and bring life to others. As Christians, we have
to think about someone other than ourselves.
We don’t know what happened to
Simeon. He’s never mentioned again. Maybe he went to sleep that night and awoke
in God’s presence. We do know that what and who he saw that day in the Temple
courts is the One who moves us to live better, to serve others—the one who
later tells us that we must love God, love our neighbor, and love ourselves. Because
of Simeon, thanks be to God, we, too, can say and pray—For our eyes have seen
your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light
for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”
As we step into the New Year, let us
go boldly as followers of Jesus looking forward to what God will do through our
lives personally and through our family faith. May 2025 be the best year yet!
Amen
Sunday, December 29, 2024
“Towards Bethlehem—Mary”
Watch/Listen: HERE
