During the months of November and December we hear a lot about Jesus’ birth. We seldom mention it during the other ten months of the year, but during the Advent and Christmas season we are treated to a seemingly non-stop retelling of the awesome event.

I don’t imagine I can bring any new insights to the story, since devotional writers, preachers, and hymn writers have been commenting for centuries on every detail surrounding His coming to earth as a baby. But maybe I can find something in the story that will fortify us for the year to come and rekindle in us a sense of wonder, thankfulness, and joy as we ponder the immensity of Immanuel… God with us.

There was a time – when my children were small and I was run ragged with activities and responsibilities associated with the Christmas season – that I was a reluctant and somewhat cynical participant in something I saw as a huge marketing scheme to rob families of their hard-earned money. I had no time (or so I thought) to contemplate the true meaning of the season. I was too busy trying to make everything perfect for a few short hours – from the gifts to the meal to the tree and decorations. It wasn’t easy on a very limited budget! My efforts never lived up to the spreads in the magazines, but that didn’t prevent me from trying to come as close as I could to what I envisioned as the “ideal” holiday experience.

There was some joy in watching the kids open their presents, of course, and I found satisfaction in preparing (and participating in) a delicious meal for our family and friends. But every Christmas seemed to also bring with it a tremendous let-down once everything had been opened and eaten. I was reminded of the plaintive song sung by Peggy Lee, “Is that all there is?” So much effort and striving for a few passing moments of pleasure! I couldn’t help but ask myself: “Was it worth all that?” No wonder I had a hard time conjuring up great anticipation for the whole affair year after year.

But those were the days before Christ became the center of our lives. Once we invited Him into our celebration, not just as a peripheral character in the manger scene but as the main focus, I could finally relax. No longer responsible for making the holiday perfect for myself and everyone else in the family, I stepped back and took a deep breath. With Jesus among us, the wonder came back to the holiday. In my own heart came a fulfillment of the promise in Isaiah 6: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. … For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given … and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (vs. 2, 6).

From that point on, the post-Christmas let-down I had come to expect didn’t happen. I guess the reason was the focus – it wasn’t on material stuff anymore, but on Him. So it made no difference whether we had opened the presents or not, or what day it was on the calendar. The presence of Jesus lingered the day following Christmas, and the day after that, and the day after that … all the way into the next year. Instead of a once a year celebration, I began to see Christmas as a never-ending celebration of a new life to be enjoyed every day of the year.

The Christmas story took on new meaning for me as well. Instead of seeing it as a re-telling of the same details over and over again, I began to realize that the story was multi-dimensional and there were many details of it that I had never taken note of before. In recent years I’ve come to appreciate two characters in the story that are rather minor when compared to Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, the shepherds, and the wise men. Even the innkeeper is mentioned more often than they are, but they can teach us some important lessons about our relationship with God.

In Luke 2, the writer follows the account of the angels visiting the shepherds and the shepherds’ trip to see the baby in the manger with the events surrounding Jesus’ dedication at the temple in Jerusalem. Here we meet Simeon and Anna, the two minor characters I mentioned. Both were blessed by God’s grace in a very special way. Simeon is described as a righteous and devout man who was waiting for the consolation of Israel (the promised One to deliver them from their oppressors). The Holy Spirit had told Simeon that he would not die until he saw the Messiah, “the Lord’s Christ. Moved by the [Holy] Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 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 … a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel’” (vs. 26-32).

We have no way of knowing exactly how long Simeon had been waiting for this promise to be fulfilled, but we believe he was at this time a very old man. He praises God that he can now die in peace as he holds the Christ child. During his time of waiting, there were probably times when Simeon wondered if it would ever come to pass, or if maybe he had misunderstood what the Holy Spirit had revealed to him. As the years passed, he likely asked himself why he was still looking. Shouldn’t he just give up and go on with his life? Why build himself up for something that might disappoint him in the end?

When we look at all the promises recorded in Scripture, we doubt sometimes if they will all be fulfilled. But God’s faithfulness to Simeon encourages me to trust Him, even when the promised outcome seems far away. Our God is the Sovereign Lord, as Simeon said. He can and will bring to pass all that He has prophesied through His prophets. We can wait with expectation and trust, knowing that “What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do” (Isaiah 46:11). If He says it, we can count on it! Though it tarry for longer than we’d like, we can wait with confidence. At the exact right time, it will come to pass.

The other minor character in the temple that day is Anna, a prophetess from the tribe of Asher. “She was very old” Scripture tells us – 84 years old to be exact – and she spent her days and nights in the temple worshiping, fasting, and praying to the Lord. Some of her fellow Israelites might have viewed her life as a waste. We don’t know if she had any children, but Luke does tell us that she only got to spend seven years with her husband before she became a widow. It is likely she had lived alone for more than forty years. The fact that she chose to live her life at the temple reveals a lot about the priority of her heart. Her main pursuit was God and seeing His kingdom purposes accomplished. And that day, her devotion and faith were richly rewarded.

While the temple leaders went about their business, unmindful of the glorious One in their midst, and other Israelites performed their ceremonial duties in spiritual ignorance, Anna was so in tune with God that she immediately saw the momentous event unfolding around her. “Coming up to [Mary and Joseph] 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” (Luke 2:38). She not only got to see the Messiah for herself – the fulfillment of all God’s promises to Israel through the Old Testament prophets – but she also was used by Him to tell others about the unique child who had been born and what He would do for them.

All those “wasted” years of being in the presence of God paid off in a big way that day. Anna teaches me that sowing to the Spirit reaps huge benefits that we can’t even anticipate receiving. No matter how old we are, the grace of God can break into our lives at the most unexpected moment. Anna had no idea when she spent those years ministering to the Lord that she would be one of the few who would recognize the Messiah when He came. But the important thing is that she had the spiritual discernment to follow His leading and, in so doing, stumble onto the blessing of a lifetime.

We don’t want to miss out on the times of His visitation. He still comes to those whose hearts are open to Him. When He is the central focus of our lives, we (like Anna) receive “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that [we] may know him better” (Ephesians 1:17). In the old Christmas carol, one verse expresses it so well: “How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given! So God imparts to human hearts the blessings of His heav’n. No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive Him still the dear Christ enters in.” (Phillips Brooks, “O Little Town of Bethlehem”)

When the “dear Christ” entered my heart, I could finally understand and appreciate the immensity and wonder of the season. The great Christmas let-down became a thing of the past as I stopped trying to find perfection in a very imperfect world and began to fix my attention on the Father’s perfect gift to me in His Son. If I spend too much time and money on the seasonal trappings, I can still experience weariness and a touch of cynicism during Christmas. But if I can focus, as Anna and Simeon did, on the concerns of God’s kingdom and trust Him to fulfill all the good promises of His Word, I will be blessed with His joy and peace.

They got to see Jesus in His parents’ arms, as a newborn baby. They were blessed indeed. But we get to see Him through the eyes of the Spirit, not just on a particular day but throughout every moment of our lives.

Have you thought about how blessed you are to have eyes that see and ears that hear?  One writer has said “A Christian should observe Christmas in wonder, worship and witness.” This summarizes so well what Simeon and Anna experienced that day at the temple. May this be our ongoing attitude as we move from the Christmas season into all the challenges and blessings of the coming year. In our wonder, our worship, and our witness we will see Emmanuel come, both to our own hearts and to the people we touch in the world.

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“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”

O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here, until the Son of God appear.

Chorus: Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer our spirits by Thine advent here; disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high, and order all things, far and nigh; to us the path of knowledge show, and cause us in her ways to go.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

O come, Desire of nations, bind all peoples in one heart and mind; bid envy, strife and quarrels cease, fill all the world with heaven’s peace.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

Latin Hymn 1710