Magyar Egyház, 2004 (83. évfolyam, 1-4. szám)
2004-10-01 / 4. szám
4. oldal MAGYAR EGYHÁZ Great Expectations “At that time there was a man named Simeon living in Jerusalem. He was a good, God-fearing man and was waiting for Israel to be saved. ... There was a very old prophetess, a widow named Anna, ... That very same hour she arrived and gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were waiting for God to set Jerusalem free. ” (Luke 2:25, 36, 38.) Christmas is a season of great expectations. We look forward to it for many weeks as cards are bought and sent, presents selected and wrapped, decorations dreamed up and executed, and all sorts of plans made for the home, church, and school. We come to Christmas Eve almost standing on tiptoe, and that is as it should be. The weeks before Christmas are known as Advent, the time in which we prepare ourselves for the great event of Christmas Day. This note of expectation, which perhaps reaches its climax for us when the midnight chimes of the church usher in Christmas Day, is found in the Gospel of Luke. When the child Jesus was taken to Jerusalem by his parents to be presented to the Lord, Simeon took him in his arm and blessed him. Simeon is described as a man who was “waiting for the consolation of Israel". That means that he was one of the truly faithful who were waiting and watching for the coming of the Messiah. Some of the other translations of the Bible give more vividly the eager sense of expectation in which Simeon lived - "living in expectation of the comforting of Israel ” or “living in expectation of the salvation of Israel”. Also present was a prophetess, Anna, who “spoke about the child to all who were waiting for God to set Jerusalem free”, or “lookedfor redemption in Jerusalem” and an other translation said: “spoke about Jesus to all those in Jerusalem who were expecting redemption”. Both Simeon and Anna were among those waiting on spiritual tiptoe for the fulfillment of the great Messianic hope. Others may have given lip service to this age-long dream, but Simeon and Anna lived as if it were about to be true. It is a great thing to live in expectation and to have great expectations. The Psalmist used the likeness of those who, in the darkest hours just before the dawn, strain their eyes to see the first rays of the sun. (Psalm 130:6). So many of us could recall the excitement of getting up while it was still pitch black to be ready to see the sunrise over the rim of the Grand Canyon. So it is with any great expectations of good. Some people live facing the sunset. It may be beautiful for a while, but the light becomes less and less, and soon it is gone. How much more exciting to live facing the sunrise ! Then the light grows stronger and stronger, and one can see more and more. Beauty that wasn’t there at first soon becomes visible, and all the world is bathed in a warm and lovely light. There is a certain resignation to the sunset, but great expectation to the sunrise. We may say farewell to a sunset, but we welcome a dawn. Simeon and Anna were eagerly waiting for the “dayspring from on high ” to visit them. They were living in expectation of its heavenly light. The future belongs to those who live in expectation that something is going to happen. As Jesus said, it is those who ask who get an answer; it is those who seek who will find; and it is those who knock who will discover that some door will be opened. If you are looking for beauty, you will find it. If you are expecting good, you will discover it. If you are on tiptoe for the Messiah, he will come ! If you are in anticipation of Christmas, you will know it to be a wonderful time - God’s chosen day for the coming of his Son into the world. Those who expect the best find that, too. Simeon and Anna recognized in the tiny baby in the temple that God had done something wonderful for the world, that his age-long promise had been fulfilled, that never again could the world be the same. They were living in expectation, and they knew when their expectations were fulfilled. The Holy Spirit showed them that God in his own way, in an infant, had entered the world of men. Many could not see this, and many could not understand. But here at least were a few who, living expectation, recognized when the fulfillment had taken place, when “the fullness of time was come”. To all those who live in expectation, God most surely and most clearly comes. With God (An unknown poet has described what it means to walk with God): Begin the day with God, kneel down to him in prayer, Lift up your heart to his abode and seek his love to share. Open the Book of God and read a portion there, That it may hallow all your thoughts and sweeten all your care. Go through the day with God, e' en though you may not see, Where' er you are at home, abroad, he still is near thee. Converse in mind with God, your spirit heavenward raise, Acknowledge every good bestowed and offer grateful praise. Conclude your day with God, your sins to him confess, Trust in the Lord's atoning blood and plead his righteousness. Lie down at night with God, who gives his servants sleep, And when you tread the vale of death, he'll safely guard and keep. May we all have that kind of fellowship with God. Then we will know its blessed benefits.
