Galatians 4:4-7
Luke 2:22-40
The long wait is over, and here we are on the other side of
Christmas. I’ve always found it a bit
easier, once we are past the actual day – once the gifts are unwrapped, the
company has come and gone, and the dust settles… to be less distracted and more
thoughtful about the true meaning of Christmas.
We can stand a little more apart from the busy-ness and sentimentality
now that the world has moved on to Valentines Day decorating. The church continues to reflect on the
meaning of this holy birth, this precious child born to save.
Today, I’d like to start with our reading from
Galatians. Here Paul reflects a bit on
the meaning of Christmas with his commentary on Christ’s birth. He explains that it happened “when the
fullness of time had come”. And there is
a phrase worth examining. The fullness
of time. We don’t usually think of time
as being “full”, but rather as running out.
Or frittering away our wasted time.
It’s something we never seem to have enough of. But here, the image is quite the opposite. As a measuring cup filling up to the
line. Or as an hourglass or a container
of some sort, that God is filling, filling, until it comes to the brim and
spills over. A cup of blessings,
perhaps, ready to spill over.
You look at the Old Testament and see God working. He builds one man into a family, and then
into a nation. He plants that nation in
a homeland. They fend off enemies, rise
and fall, are exiled and return. A
temple is built and rebuilt. And a world
empire takes over – bringing a tense peace.
The conditions, in hindsight, were right. Of course God was not just waiting for the
right time, but preparing the world.
Working through all the ups and downs of history to pull the trigger,
when the time is just right, to send forth his Son.
Even now, with all the hindsight of thousands of years of
history, it is difficult to see God’s hand moving through the rise and fall of
nations, the challenges and triumphs of his people. But we trust that the Almighty knows what he
is doing, and always works for the good of those who love him. It’s not as if
God is sitting helplessly on the sidelines, waiting for his chance, his big
moment. Nor was he ever. He knows his plan laid from the foundation of
the world, and nothing will hinder him from accomplishing it. So when the fullness of time had come, God
acted, sent forth his Son.
Born of a woman, and born under the law. Yes, it might appear that he came into the
world in the usual way, but we know the backstory. Son of a woman, born under the law, but also
Son of God, and giver of the Law. And
with his two natures our Savior would both fulfill that law and impute his
righteousness to the world, so that all who believe would be saved.
So that we might be adopted as sons, heirs, and have the
right to call on the Father as dear children do. The Father always knows when the time is
right. And we see that in our reading
from Luke as well.
“And when the time came…” he begins, that is, the time for
Mary and Joseph to bring Jesus to the temple for the prescribed rituals. Purification for Mary and the redemption of
the firstborn for Jesus. Joseph and Mary
were faithful and pious, they seem to have done everything a good Jew was expected
to do. They knew the times and seasons
God had appointed, and they observed them.
And then we meet Simeon.
An unusual character, perhaps a priest himself. Righteous and devout, and had been given a
special revelation by the Holy Spirit.
He would not see death until he saw the Christ. He had a “fullness of time” of his own. A plan God had laid out for him, a blessed
appointment for which he eagerly looked forward.
How long had Simeon waited and waited? It’s interesting that we are not told. There is a tradition in the Orthodox church
that claims Simeon was one of the 72 scholars who translated the Septuagint
(the Greek Old Testament). The story
goes that he was translating Isaiah 7:14 “A virgin shall conceive…” and that
just as his pen hovered over the word “virgin” in order to change it to
“woman”, the Spirit stopped him, an angel appeared to him, and gave him this
special revelation that he wouldn’t die until meeting the Christ. If this is true it would make Simeon
somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 years old.
Now we don’t rest our faith on a pious tradition such as
this. It could well have been that
Simeon was no older than a usual old man.
What matters isn’t the details of this unusual sign (or we would have
been told them). What matters is that
God fulfills his promises whenever the time is right.
However old you are when you meet the Christ, it is the
right time. Whatever you are doing,
whatever stage of life, whether part of your plans or not. In the fullness of time God acts, in time, to
save you. He sent Jesus at just the
right time. He brought the good news of
Christ to you at just the right time.
You are baptized at just the right time – buried and raised with
Christ. And when God calls you home, and
your time in this vale of tears is ended – it is also just the right time, the
time of his choosing. So it was for
Simeon, so it will be for you.
And don’t forget Anna – who we are told her age – I guess
Scripture doesn’t abide by the rules of politely never mentioning a woman’s
age. She joins Simeon in this strange
and wonderful meeting with the Christ, also at just the right time, blessing
him and confirming the blessing from God that this child is and will be
Simeon and Anna, in a way, these two elderly saints, stand
as a sort of Adam and Eve. They who in
earliest days stood before Yahweh to hear the results of their sin, who first
tasted the fruit of sin and death. They,
also who first heard the promise of salvation through the seed of the
woman. Now this old man and old woman,
who appear as if out of nowhere, who represent to us the ravages of time and
sin, and for whom death hovers ever near – they remind us of our first parents
in the Garden. But they also represent
to us the fullness of time, the completion of the plan, the long-awaited
closing of the loop of God’s promises.
The seed of the woman is here!
The Christ is born! The tears of
Eden give way to the joy of Simeon and Anna who have seen the salvation of
Yahweh, even the glory of Israel.
And Simeon even sings about it. What joy that we have this Nunc Dimittis,
“Now let your servant depart in peace, in accordance with your word”. Simeon sings with joy that he can finally die
in peace, for he has met the Christ. He
can go from this sorrow-filled world.
His long life has now reached its fullness, in Christ. And for Simeon, all is now well.
It is no accident that we sing the song of Simeon when we
too have met the Christ. We meet him not
at the temple, but at the altar. We
receive him, not wrapped in swaddling clothes, but hidden under bread and
wine. We receive him with the same joy
that sees his salvation. And we, like
Simeon, can depart in peace from this blessed meeting, in accordance with God’s
word. Sins forgiven, we can even die in
peace, ready at any time – whatever God’s plan for us may be.
Think of this, dear Christian, any time you come to God’s
house, hear the Gospel, receive the Sacrament, it could be the last. God could call you home tonight or tomorrow
morning. Your days are at his discretion. Your days are numbered.
But in faith we don’t fear death any more than old
Simeon. For he was in Christ, and he
could depart in peace. What a joy and
peace to know that whatever the appointed time of your departure, your sins are
forgiven, and you can depart in peace, according to the will of him who holds
all the times and seasons and years and days in his hand.
In the fullness of time, God sent forth his son, born to die, also at the appointed time. A child, appointed for the rising and fall of many. A son, who would be pierced – crushed – and who would by his death bring the consolation of Israel, and of you. Trust in the One who acts – in the fullness of time – and always at the right time – even Jesus Christ our Lord.
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