Celebrate God's Presence

Simeon took [the child Jesus] in his arms and praised God, saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:28-32, NRSV)

(Read Luke 2:22-38 for the whole story)

Can you imagine a Christmas season that lasted 80 years?

This Christmas season has left me with an appreciation for Simeon and Anna. Both of these devout people had been waiting their whole lives for Christmas. Anna had been waiting 80 years “looking for the redemption of Jerusalem” (v. 38). We don’t know Simeon’s age, but the context of the passage suggests that he was an old man as well. He had been “looking forward to the consolation of Israel” (v. 25) his whole life. They have been looking for God’s deliverer, God’s anointed one, God’s Messiah for decades. And both of them recognize in Jesus that God’s Messiah has arrived! Though their season of waiting had been long, each responded in the same way. They gave God praise for what God had done. The powers of their perception were pretty remarkable. Because what did they see really?

On the surface Simeon and Anna saw a very young baby boy, brought to them by devout parents. They would have seen a road-weary family fulfilling their obligations according to Jewish law. Every male child was treated in the very same way. Nothing would have necessarily distinguished them from any other devout family.

Seeing beyond the surface to the presence of God in things is a great challenge of the spiritual life. A common proverb of our culture is “Seeing is believing.” We depend on the concrete. We rely on fact and reason. We put stock in the values, attitudes, and wisdom of contemporary culture. This can dull our perception of a timeless God acting in unique ways to redeem us in our skeptical, broken world. Our vision for God’s presence can become impaired by the fatigue, temptations, distractions, and anxieties of our lives. It’s difficult to praise God when we don’t perceive God’s presence and action.

I think we get to a place of praising God now, and throughout the year, when we operate on Simeon and Anna’s principle of looking for God’s presence. They believed in God’s salvation, so they were able to see more than the obvious. They recognized God’s active presence in the world. With their attitude of watching, they understood the tremendous significance of the baby Jesus. This enabled them to immediately respond by blessing and praising God.

When we are looking for God’s consolation…

when we are looking for God’s redemption…

when we are looking for God’s presence…

God appears even in the most unlikely of places!

May you see many opportunities to celebrate God’s presence in the coming year!

Celebrate God's love

"But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us . . . For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."
--Romans 5:8, 10-11

How are we to respond to God’s love and grace? In the translation of Romans above, the apostle Paul directs Christians to “boast” in God through Jesus Christ. Other translations say “rejoice,” or that “we are happy.” No matter how it’s said, Paul is encouraging Christians to celebrate God’s love.

Celebration, according to Dallas Willard, is one of the most important activities we can do to deepen our relationship with God:

"[Celebration] is the completion of worship, for it dwells on the greatness of God as shown in his goodness to us. We engage in celebration when we enjoy ourselves, our life our world, in conjunction with our faith and confidence in God’s greatness, beauty, and goodness. We concentrate on our life and world as God’s work and as God’s gift to us."

We are invited to celebrate God’s greatness, beauty, goodness, and love. Celebration, however, often eludes us. We live in cynical times. Our relationship to God, because of our sinful nature, is twisted out of shape. The social, psychological, spiritual, and even physical life of humankind is out of order. The consequences are a loss of joy and an absence of celebration.

A conference was held at a Presbyterian church in Omaha. People were given helium-filled balloons and told to release them at some point in the service when they felt like expressing the joy in their hearts. Like many Protestants, these folks didn’t feel free to worship very expressively. All through the service balloons ascended, but when it was over, 1/3 of the balloons were unreleased.

We’ve got to learn to let our balloons go! Get focused on our great God with a love for all times. Unabashedly and enthusiastically celebrate God’s love in worship. Celebrate God’s love for all times in our fellowship with one another by practicing the love and reconciliation that was shown to us.

God’s love for us is a love for all times. Joyfully celebrating God’s love is an antidote to despair and becomes a wellspring for genuine gratitude. God poured his love into our hearts . . . let us pour our hearts out to God . . . celebrating a love for all times.