Artwork: Simeon the Righteous,by Aleksey Yegorov, 1830-40s.
Almost the day after Halloween, Christmas themed displays began to appear in our city. What is wrong with this picture? We are a culture that does not know how to wait. The proverbial “are we there yet?” coming from the back seat of cars is actually part of the human condition. To counter this, our spiritual ancestors wisely came up with the Season of Advent, a season of waiting before Christmas. To help us anticipate Christ’s coming at Christmas, many draw on the meaningful symbolism found in the lighting of the Advent Wreath candles.
In 1838, the German urban missionary and school teacher, Johann Wichern, designed the first known “advent wreath,” which actually began as a large wooden wagon wheel. He inserted candles around the perimeter, each representing a day in Advent. Beginning with the First Sunday of Advent, Wichern guided inner-city children to light a candle for each day of Advent, and count down the days to Christmas. It was a lesson, using their bodies and senses, in the practice of active waiting in patience and hope. This initial practice evolved into the tradition of the advent wreath and candle lighting used by many churches today.
On the first Sunday of Advent, we light the candle of hope. Paul wrote, “But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it” (Romans 8:25). The very essence of hope is waiting, exemplified by the biblical character, Simeon. Although Simeon appears after Jesus is born, he is very much an Advent character. He is described as one “who was waiting… for the consolation of Israel.” This waiting was patient but not passive. The very meaning of Simeon’s name means “indeclinable,” that which cannot be refused, rejected, or denied! The Greek word here for waiting is prosdechomenos, a “proactive welcoming and waiting.” It’s the same word used when Jesus “welcomes sinners” (Luke 15:2), as well as when Jesus tells his disciples to, “…keep your lamps burning like servants waiting for their master to return” (Luke 12:36). It is also the same word used to describe Joseph of Arimathea who was “waiting for the kingdom of God” (Luke 23:51). Note that Joseph’s willingness to get involved in the messiness of tending to a bloody corpse, was an act of hope and waiting in the midst of inconsolable despair. Does this ring a bell for you?
For Simeon, it was a long, drawn out, tenacious waiting. In fact, he had been waiting for so long that once he laid eyes on the infant Jesus, he declared that he could now die in peace! When Simeon saw Jesus, he “received or welcomed” him into his arms (Luke 2:28). The tenacity of waiting in hope helped him first recognize and then welcome the Messiah whom he had been longing to see, albeit in the form of an utterly dependent infant! Surely this hopeful waiting also compelled Simeon to go to the temple in the first place on that remarkable day.
Simeon welcomed Jesus. Bringing children into the world is an act of hospitality. It is a welcome founded in hope. It is reported that when the dictator Stalin died in 1953, people started having babies. This included my own parents who brought me into a world that was still under the shadow of the cold war and a potential nuclear holocaust. My uncle confessed to me years later that he was critical of them for bringing me into such a messed-up world, but for them, it was an act of hope and as it turns out, patience too! 🙂
When Simeon took Jesus into his arms, he worshiped and then prayed, “Lord, now you have set your servant free to go in peace as you have promised for these eyes of mine have seen the Saviour, whom you have prepared for all the world to see…” (Luke 2:29-31).
This word peace is not just the absence of fear or anxiety. It is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word “shalom,” that is, relational harmony with God, others, ourselves, and all of creation. It can be summarized by the phrase “All will be well,” to quote the mystic, Julian of Norwich of the 14th century. This was not a shallow platitude that was dismissive of the world’s ugliness and pain. Jesus spoke this phrase to Julian when she was having a near-death experience in the midst of the black plague that was ravaging Europe. Over half of Julian’s acquaintances had died. As one writer paraphrased it, “All will be well in the end. If all is not well, this is not the end.” For Simeon, “departing in peace,” was acknowledging that the story wasn’t finished while accepting that his part in the story was completed and it was time to let go. As a person of the Way, Simeon’s metric for “departing in peace,” or finishing well, was that he had seen the the Lord’s Christ. That was all. The rest was living patiently and remaining in faith, hope, and love. What then can be our metric for finishing well?
The prayer Simeon prayed here became the basis of “nunc dimittis,” known as “the Song of Simeon,” which is prayed every night by hundreds of millions of Christians around the world in liturgical evening services such as Vespers, Evensong, and Compline (night prayers). Kathleen and I pray this prayer almost every night just before we fall asleep. Think of this: We sleep for one-third of our lives, so every night we go to bed is a kind of dying. The New Testament often refers to death as “sleep.” Falling asleep is an act of dying, of surrender, and of relinquishing control, just like our final death will be. Every morning that we arise is an anticipation of our final resurrection. There’s morning prayers for that too, but Simeon’s prayer can be our prayer every night. It’s being patient in the “unfinished,” while we name how we have seen the Christ, which is enough for us.
Artwork: Simeon’s Moment, by Ron DiCianni
ADVENT PRACTICE
For the First Week of Advent, beginning on Sunday, November 30, I invite you, at bedtime, as you are lying on your bed before falling asleep, to take a few deep breaths in the silence, and become aware of your body resting on your bed and of God who is holding you.
Listen to your breathing and your heartbeat.
Once settled, reflect on how you have seen the Christ present in your day.
- How has God loved you?
- How has God loved through you?
Gently confess where you have not loved and receive God’s infinite mercy ever-flowing towards you.
Then, conclude by praying this prayer:
“Lord, now you have set your servant free to go in peace as you have promised; for these eyes of mine have seen the Saviour, whom you have prepared for all the world to see: a Light to enlighten the nations and the glory of your people Israel. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.”
Sleep in peace and one final thought:
At the beginning of 2025, the Spirit gave us here at Vancouver Eastside Vineyard one word that was to be our goal for the coming year. The word was “patience.” That didn’t sound sexy for an annual vision plan, and it could have even been a cause for anxiety, but think about it. We all desire to be a people of the Way, a people who love well. Paul declared that love, first of all, is… patient (1 Corinthians 13:4). A lack of patience means a lack of love in our lonely and disconnected society. Love requires patience… with those who are too “slow,” with those who are irritating us, and with those with whom we disagree. Love also requires patience with ourselves and… with God, who also always seems too slow for us. This prompted the Japanese theologian, Kosuke Koyama, to write a book entitled, “Three Mile an Hour God!” Imagine your life is like being in traffic behind a car that God is driving!
May God generously give you, like Simeon, abundant grace to slow down and patiently wait in hope. May you always recognize and gratefully welcome the Christ who is always coming to you.
Amen.
Gordie Lagore is a spiritual director, pastor, teacher, writer, voracious reader, and musician from Vancouver, B.C.. He and his wife Kathleen have served as the lead pastors of Vancouver Eastside Vineyard for over 25 years.
Gordie loves teaching, writing, leading the church with a contemplative approach, and offering spiritual direction. He and Kathleen have a deep love and commitment to people of all cultures and backgrounds, and especially First Nations people.