A Big Breath

First Sunday after Christmas

Luke 2:22-40

"A Big Breath"

22 And when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord

23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”)

24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”

25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

27 And inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the law,

28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

29 “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word;

30 for mine eyes have seen thy salvation

31 which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples,

32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel.”

33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him;

34 and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against

35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed.”

36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher; she was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity,

37 and as a widow till she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day.

38 And coming up at that very hour she gave thanks to God, and spoke of him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

39 And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.

40 And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Saviour. Amen

There once was a boy named Tommy. Tommy was like most boys of the age 5, he like to run and play. He liked to get himself all dirty, especially in mud puddles after a nice rain. Tommy had two little dimples on his cheeks and when he smiled, they made him look just like an angel. But Tommy didn’t smile as much as he could for you see Tommy was lonely. Tommy lived in an orphanage because Tommy’s parents had been killed.

The people in the orphanage like having Tommy around. They liked to see his dark hair flopping in the breeze as Tommy ran around the furniture and all over the house. These people loved Tommy very much, but Tommy knew that it wasn’t like having real parents of his very own. Tommy wanted parents that would love only him.

One day while Tommy was playing dodge ball, and Tommy was pretty good at that, he was usually the last one out, in the court house down the street from the orphanage, court was in session. This session of the court was very important to Tommy even though Tommy knew nothing of what was taking place. Judge Johnson was holding court that day. Now Judge Johnson liked to make people happy if he could. He was a jolly man who was always smiling and finding good in people. In today’s court, the Judge was deciding if some people who saw Tommy at the orphanage could adopt him as there very own child. The judge was making a decision that would affect Tommy’s whole like from that moment on, and Tommy didn’t even know what was happening.

Judge Johnson after hearing all the testimony decided that Tommy could have these people, this couple, as his parents. The Judge decided that these people had a lot of love in their hearts and they would share that love with Tommy. He felt they would be good parents

Can you imagine how excited Tommy will be when these people come to the home and they tell him they are going to be Tommy’s new parents. Tommy will no longer have to be lonely, he will have parents to take care of him, to love him, and to be loved by Tommy. The judge made a decision that would affect Tommy forever.