The fireworks were shockingly spectacular this year. For the first fifteen minutes of the New Year we were surrounded by a furious array of sights and sounds which seemed to take our breath away. And then, as quickly as it started, everything began to quiet down. Slowly at first, but within an hour only the stars in the night sky twinkled and there was silence. Those fifteen minutes of fireworks seemed like a long time while they were exploding. But now, the whole scene feels like a passing mirage. It all came and went so fast.
Human life can develop into a fireworks display. We live for the moment, for the feeling, for the explosions of pleasurable emotions and circumstances. We live for ourselves. We live to be noticed, to be appreciated, to be recognized. And when those things happen, we seem to be living a fireworks life. But how often does that happen? How long does it last? Maybe an even more serious question to consider is, “How long does human life really last?” The obvious answer is, “Not long in the big picture of things.”
There was an old man who briefly encountered the Christ of Christmas when he was just a baby. Simeon was anonymous to most people. He was only “that old man who hangs around”. But even from the few verses the Bible speaks about him, this man Simeon led a quiet, humble and ultimately effective life. There were no fireworks about him, but there was a substance to him that was made of eternity.
What kind of life do you want in 2021: fireworks or eternal effectiveness?
Worship service times: Saturday: 6:00 pm, Sunday: 9:00 am & 10:30 am.
