May I share with you one of my favorite Christmas memories? It took place several years ago when the children in our home were young and filled with all of the enchantment and enthusiasm of Christmas that captures young minds.

It was the Sunday just after Christmas and we had packed the entire family in the car and driven several miles to a nursing home where I led a short devotional time for the residents each week.

As we arrived, a number of this aged congregation had already gathered in our regular meeting place and were beginning to sing some Christmas hymns. As June and I were unbuttoning the children’s coats and removing boots from the little feet and then the shoes from the boots, we noticed that the singing had stopped and waves of excitement swept through the gathered group as the happy children went first to one and then another person to talk about Christmas and laugh and touch and be touched. This went on for a remarkable length of time. And one by one, as we all visited together and shared the thoughts and memories of Christmas as shown to us by four happy P.K.’s, all of us caught again a glimpse of the joy and love of Christmas through the eyes of children. Later as we prepared to leave, I could not help noticing the fulfillment and contentment in every face. For once more through the enthusiasm of children the God given gift of Love had become a reality for those who waited for the ultimate end in that nursing home. And because of that visit and seeing the joy of Christmas through the eyes of children, now the waiting would be a little easier.

This is not a new story. It is repeated over and over again wherever the freshness of a child comes in contact with those who wait and watch.

There is another incident of this same nature that I would have you consider this day. In Christian tradition it is known as the presentation of the infant Jesus at the Temple in Jerusalem by Joseph and Mary. This act was in keeping with the Jewish religious practices of the day. On the eighth day after his birth the infant was circumcised and given his name. Then at the end of forty days following the birth, the mother was to perform a ceremony of purification at which time an offering was to be made. In this instance since Mary and Joseph were poor, two doves were offered (See Leviticus 12:2 ff).

In Saint Luke’s narrative this act of purification becomes intertwined with another ceremony, the act of redemption for the first born (See Exodus 13:2, 12-13). All of this was to the point that here was a child of destiny. This was the One whose birth the prophets had foretold and of whom the angels sang. Here was "The King of kings," "The Prince of Peace," the hope of the ages, God himself with humanity.

In the narrative of this event Saint Luke places two supporting characters, Simeon and Anna. These two golden agers, who just happened to be at the Temple that particular day are the ones who capture our attention and our imagination for they are "The Watchers."

Simeon, we are told, was a just man. He was honest and upright and truthful. He was not one to go off on tangents. He was a devout man. The character sketch that we are given leads us to see him as a respected and trusted patriarch of the community. He was one whose faith was without blemish and whose integrity was beyond question.

Saint Luke tells us that Simeon was one who watched. He watched for the consolation of Israel. He lived with anticipation that he would one day see the promise of God fulfilled. He watched with hope.

This was the day! He was at the Temple in Jerusalem and there he saw Joseph and Mary and the infant Jesus. And the holiness of the moment captivated his entire being. Waves of hope surged within him. It was almost more than he could comprehend. He felt like a child again. And for the first time as he viewed the infant Jesus he felt as if he had at last found all that he was watching for. And he went to Mary and Joseph and picked the child up in his arms with tenderness as one who was holding a precious gift and he exclaimed, "Now I can end my days with a new peace. For I have seen with my own eyes the glory that God has prepared for all people." (See Luke 2:28-32 for source of this paraphrase.)

The watcher Simeon had been faithful in his watching. And now his watching had been fulfilled. And because of what he beheld, there was new hope before him.

There was another watcher also present that day in the Temple. Her name was Anna. Hers had not been an easy life. She had been widowed only a few years after her marriage. And this day as she had made her way to the Temple to pray the burdens of her 84 years seemed almost too heavy to bear. The imprint of time was written in the lines of her face and the years left their painful reminders in her old joints so every movement became an adventure of endurance. Life for her was almost too much to bear.

But Anna forgot all that worried and troubled her as she looked across the Temple courtyard and saw the Baby. She couldn’t take her eyes off of him. Never before had her dim eyes seen so completely and fully the freshness of a new life. Never before had she sensed so deeply Love and Joy and Hope as she did as she peered at that tiny new life.

Anna beheld the hope of the ages before her. And because of her watchfulness her life found new meaning and purpose. As she made her stiff joints move among the people in the Temple there was a new sparkle in her dim eyes and there was a melody about her cracking voice as she told all she met about the tiny Baby, the joy of all mankind and the hope of the ages.

Simeon and Anna were the Watchers. And by their watching they were among the first to see the joy of the ages, the hope of all mankind.

Now you and I have watched another Christmas come and go. We have watched the busy preparations. And we have watched as the beautiful Christmas story was told over and over again in so many delightful ways. We too are watchers.

But in our watching I wonder if we have experienced the same dimensions of Christmas as did Simeon and Anna. As their eyes beheld the Christmas child, all that was good and pure and holy came to life within them. They sensed a new joy, a new hope, a new meaning for life. And love was born anew in their lives.

The good news this day is to each of us who also wait and watch. For that One who is the light of the world, the hope of the ages, and the complete joy of all mankind is with us even this day and in this place. With eyes of faith where humble hearts receive him, the dear Christ enters in. And our waiting and watching become more tolerable. For we have seen the hope of the ages, the light of the world.