Sunday December 31st, 2023 Worship

It’s hard to believe that another year has already come and gone. As we remember the events of this past year and ring in the new year, many people see New Years as a time when they can turn over a new leaf, so to speak. It’s usually a time when people set goals for their next year of life or make promises about eating healthier or exercising more. We’re convinced that once the calendar year changes, we’ll change too… or at least for the first few weeks. There is something both exciting and stressful about this thought of change. Some people love it, while others dread this sense of having to make New Year’s resolutions. It seems that we put so much pressure on this new year to be better, healthier, or just different from the year before. Yet, regardless of how we feel about the start of the New Year, life as we know it will keep changing, and this can be both exciting and scary too.
As our Christmas story continues in today’s Gospel reading, we learn more about how life has changed for this new family of 3. Our story picks up with newborn Jesus, 8 days after he is born. Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem to perform the necessary rituals with a firstborn son. Doesn’t it sound fun to take your newborn baby on a 6 mile, approximately 2.5-hour walk? Although, the journey would probably take longer if they needed to stop at all. Hopefully Mary had a donkey to carry her at least part of the way too. And, the journey would certainly take longer today as the trek makes its way through several security checkpoints, which may or may not be open. That is a lot to do in the first few days of Jesus’ life, with all that travel and no proper place to sleep. So, I can only imagine their exhaustion upon arriving at the Temple.
Once they arrive, however, they encounter two religious folks who have a lot to say about who this tiny baby will grow up to be. Both Anna and Simeon praise God for the birth of this child who is going to deliver Israel. If Mary and Joseph didn’t actually believe that she had given birth to the Son of God yet, I’m sure it felt very real in this moment. Although hopefully the shepherding strangers and the angelic chorus were a hint to them before this point. And, you know, all the angel visits before he was even born.
I often find myself wondering how Mary and Joseph feel when they hear what these prophets have to say to them, especially the words spoken to Mary. Simeon stands before her talking about how “This child is destined to be the downfall and the rise of many in Israel, and to be a sign that is rejected… and a sword will pierce your heart as well” (Luke 2: 34-35). This is just what every new mother wants to hear, especially after giving birth only 8 days ago, traveling from Bethlehem to Jerusalem, and then needing to travel back to Nazareth after too! Regardless of whether or not Mary knew what was to come in Jesus’ life, I’m sure her heart is beginning to break just hearing these words. Even knowing who Jesus is and what he will do for the world, it doesn’t negate the fact that he is still her baby. I’m sure she’s wondering, can’t all of this talk about rise and fall and rejection wait until he is a little bit older?
Despite this pain that is shared with Mary, Anna and Simeon are overjoyed that they have witnessed this child, and they were so full of hope for the future of Israel. I wonder how Mary and Joseph were doing though. Did Mary and Joseph just want to go through the rituals so that they could go back home and maybe, finally, get some rest? Or, perhaps they were able to really settle into the spirituality of that moment. Were their hearts already beginning to break or did they swell with pride knowing that the one who she gave birth to was going to bring salvation to so many people? This is a lot to rest on the shoulders of an 8-day old baby.
This is also the last that we hear in Luke about Jesus as a little baby, as the verse that follows our reading for today picks up when Jesus is twelve. But, I often wonder what Jesus would have been like as a child. Yes, our reading says “The child grew in size and strength. He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was with him” (Luke 2: 40). But, surely he was still a small child, right? Getting into trouble, exploring the world, going through a terrible-twos and threenager phase of life? So many people talk about Jesus being this perfect example, but for me, it’s more helpful to imagine him going through all of these social challenges and growing pains of life too because I think it helps us feel more seen in our own struggles in life. Just as I think it really helps me to humanize the experience of Mary and Joseph because while they were the parents of “God with Us,” he was also just Jesus to them. Their son. And, they were going to feel all of his joys and struggles in life too. My heart breaks for them hearing the words of today’s story, and yet, the sense of hope lingers too.
While there is a lot happening in today’s story, that has me exhausted just thinking about it, I think today’s story right before we celebrate the beginning of a new year is a good reminder of all of the newness that Jesus brought into the world. Obviously, he brought a change to the way of life for Mary and Joseph, but he was also preparing to change the world. Even as a little baby of only 8 days, the reality of his birth was shaking up the world. People weren’t quite ready for that yet, as proclaimed by Simeon, but it was coming. Despite how difficult those words might have been to hear; it was preparation for all the changes to come. Even knowing that though, it doesn’t take away the anxiety of this next phase of life. And, while it isn’t our job to set out to save the world, we can remember that as the changes come in this next year of life, that we are not alone. That God with us has entered into our midst, and that even he likely had some growing pains too. And, who knows, maybe he even set some New Year’s Resolutions that he was unable to keep too, or at least that’s a comforting thought to me!