We Live In the Afterglow of Christmas
In Luke 2:25-40 we can see how if we focus on the Christ-child, who he is and what he came to do us, we can say, "We Live In the Afterglow of Christmas." December 28, 2008.
Do you sense the let-down? Some of the toys given to the kids are already broken. The needles are starting to fall off the tree, if you have a real one. Someone forgot to water the poinsettia plants, and the leaves are wilting. The garbage collector’s schedule changes for the holidays so the dumpster is overflowing, and you’re not sure when that frozen stink is going to be removed. Maybe you were one of the sixty-four million Americans who traveled more than a fifty miles this Christmas, but after visiting with relatives you sensed they were more happy to see you go than arrive. The Christmas meal was outstanding, but when you pushed away from the table, you realized that you have precious little time to wear it off before you try to squeeze into that New Year’s outfit. Christmas is nice. We look forward to it, spend weeks preparing for it, and bask in its glow. But it’s over in a flash and sometimes leaves us feeling let down.
Wouldn’t it be great to keep the Christmas glow burning in our hearts? That’s not just a pipe dream. It’s real. It can happen when we take a closer at three unique scenes woven together in the gospel account for this Sunday after Christmas, scenes which make it clear that We Live In the Afterglow of Christmas.
The Christ-Child Did What is Right
The five year old opened his Christmas gift and gasped in awe. His dad gasped in horror. The three-level parking garage for little plastic cars was a hit with the little guy, but the message on the side of the box hit Dad between the eyes, “Some assembly required.” Worse yet, it came with stickers – you know, those glue-backed strips you peel off and attach to make the arrows and lane dividers. Dad got the garage together in short order, but when he finished, he realized, “Oh, no! There are two stickers left on the sticker sheet, and I have no idea where they go!”
Here’s a question for you. What’s the penalty for doing it wrong and having two stickers left? Nothing! Now, what’s the penalty for doing it wrong and breaking one of God’s commandments? “Oh, pastor! Do we really have to talk about this? It’s just three days after Christmas.” Yes! We have to talk about this because the Bible says, “The soul who sins is the one who will die” (Ezekiel 18:4). That statement from God applies to everyone, that statement from God sends shivers of fear down our spine, and that statement from God is final! Or it would be final if not for Christmas. Christmas says, “The Son of God entered our world.” But Christmas also says, “The Son of God entered our world and did what was right as a counter-balance to all the things we do wrong.”
Not much is said in the Bible about the childhood and growing up days of Jesus. God only conveys the essentials and then sweeps us ahead to the important facts and facets of Jesus’ public ministry. Luke is the only one to give us a few details of Jesus’ childhood. We might consider them to be minor details. In fact, in re-reading this gospel account we might be tempted to go too fast in order to get to the parts about Simeon and Anna. But listen to these passages again, “The parents brought the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the law required.” And then later, “When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong: he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him” (Luke 2:27, 39-40). When you listen to those words with your thinking cap on, you have to say, “Sure enough! The Christ-child did what is right.”
What does that have to do with Christmas? Everything! It gets at the heart of why Christmas happened. The Christ-child came to do everything right so God could credit all that right-ness to us. When we goof up and get the stickers in the wrong place, or unintentionally park in a loading zone, or flood the engine, or drive down the wrong way on a one-way street, or break a Christmas glass, or break any of God’s commandments, we are reminded, “I did it wrong!” But when we look at the Christ-child and see his parents carefully following the customs of the day and the requirements of the laws given to the Israelites, we can say, “He did what was right,” and because he did, the heavenly Father now looks at us and says, “You are all right with me not just at Christmas but every day of the year.” You see, we live in the afterglow of Christmas because the Christ-child did what is right and makes us right with God.
The Christ-Child Gives Us Sight
I have a couple friends who are sight-impaired. They are every bit as normal as you and I are but just can’t see well. They are also Christians, which means they have better spiritual sight than five billion people on this planet. Which is a greater miracle – physical sight so you can see Christmas tree lights or spiritual sight so you can see Jesus, the Light of the world? Which is the greater miracle – physical sight so you can cross the street or spiritual sight so you can cross the chasm that drops to hell and enter heaven? You don’t need physical sight to get into heaven, but you do need spiritual sight.
All of us were born spiritual blind. Simeon knew that. That’s why he was grabbing on so carefully and closely to the promises of God’s gift of spiritual sight. That’s what the Bible writer meant when he tells us that Simeon was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel. The Bible story books make Simeon look like an old man. We don’t really know if he was old or young. We aren’t told his age, but we are told that the Holy Spirit had given him an amazing vision. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So sure enough, moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. And who was there? Mary, Joseph, and the Christ-child. Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the nations and for the glory of your people Israel.” What was it that Simeon saw? With his physical eyes he saw a little baby. But with eyes of faith he saw the Lord’s Christ, the One who would be the dividing line between heaven and hell, between some falling and some rising, the One whose suffering would pierce his mother’s soul, but whose suffering and death would rescue sinners like Mary and Joseph and Simeon from the sword of Satan.
Dear friends, look again at the Christmas scene. Don’t just look with physical eyes at the manger in the crèche, but look with eyes of faith and see the one who was mangled on the cross. When you do, true Christmas joy will last and last. You see, we live in the afterglow of Christmas because the Christ-child gives us spiritual sight.
The Christ-Child Raises Worship to New Heights
A woman was asked about her necklace. She said, “My Grandma gave me this to me at Christmas when I was fifteen. I wear it nearly every day.” A co-worker asks, “Where’d you get that model airplane on the corner of your desk?” “I got it at Christmas when I was in fifth grade. My dad and I put it together.” Some Christmas gifts endure, and we will never forget them.
Anna received a Christmas gift that lasts, the gift of unending worship. Apparently she already knew what worship was all about. She had been at it for a while. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eight-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. But something happened to raise her worship to new heights. It was the greatest Christmas gift of all, the Christ-child. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. Her worship did not end in the temple courts. Her worship was not just a one hour a week experience. Her worship continued day by day and beyond the temple courts. Her worship started with a touch with the Christ-child and continued with testifying about the Christ-child. As soon as she spied the Christ-child, her worship hit the top floor and the elevator of worship just kept soaring through the roof. The Christ-child raised her worship to new heights.
Worship starts with a schedule. We expect it to end on time and get all upset if it goes beyond the hour or hour and ten minutes we so kindly decided to give to God. But worship is more than putting in some time in church. It starts with a moment in time as the Christ-child touches our hearts, and it continues with our testifying about the Christ-child. When the message you hear here becomes the basis for discussion in the car on the way home, your worship has been raised to new heights. When the music you sing here is in your heart and humming in your head at work tomorrow, your worship has been raised to new heights. When your co-worker wonders how you are able to smile during the holidays even though the person you loved has died, and you respond, “Because my loved one is with the Christ-child in heaven,” your worship has been raised to new heights. You see, we live in the afterglow of Christmas because the Christ-child raises our worship to its height.
The Christmas trees and decorations you see here today are going to come down some time before the festival of the Epiphany of our Lord on January sixth. But whether these decorations come down next week or stay up till Easter, there’s a much more important issue before us today. We want the meaning and message of Christmas to last and last. It will. Just focus on the Christ-child, who he is and what he came to do for you, and all year long you will live in the afterglow of Christmas. Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on December 28, 2008
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