Not From a Store

And then he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store.

"Maybe Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!"

Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Read Luke 2:22-40

With Jesus in his arms, Simeon’s life is complete.  Maybe better even than Mary herself right now, Simeon understands he is holding the very salvation of God, the glory of Israel. 

Think about it: “…my eyes have seen your salvation… a light for revelation of the Gentiles… the glory of your people Israel.”

This is the “Take me now, Lord” moment Simeon has been waiting for. 

For the first time in Luke’s gospel the announcement that the gospel is for all humanity is made explicit.  Jesus is “a light for revelation of the Gentiles.”

Simeon gets it.  He revels that God’s purposes extend beyond his own in-group to include everyone, everywhere.  The announcement is for each person, no one excluded.  The love of God is meant for all of us, and all kinds of us, because after all, that longing for more is universal.  That echo that there's more to life is one we all hear. 

There is not a heart but has its moments of longing, yearning for something better; nobler; holier than it knows now. 

Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887)

In Homer's Odyssey, the legendary king Odysseus says that men are haunted by the vastness of eternity.  Simeon knows intuitively that this one sent by God, this baby, is the “more to life,” the “something better.”  Maybe you do, too. 

The God of history doesn’t just govern history; he governs our histories.  His light extends to our nation, to our families, to our own hearts, our deepest longings.  Those who are called “not God’s people” are become “the people of God.”  The glory of Israel is restored. 

You and I, we can be at peace.  We can belong to God and God can be our very own God.  He makes us his people – his nation, his family – and children of God ourselves, like Jesus we become light as he is The Light, candles in the dark, and proof that yes, there is more to life than this (with all our flaws).

Reflection:

What does it mean for me to open the smaller corners of my heart to the possibility of God, his love, his acceptance, his forgiveness and his transformation?  
Is it possible my creator -- the one who made me -- can also bring out the best in me?  
What happens when “all humanity” doesn’t look like I do?  I follow Christ and represent him, but who do I recoil from, that God’s love has not yet penetrated my heart to reach?

Lord, open my heart and give me someone new to love today. 

"And what happened then? Well, in Whoville they say that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day."