Mushy Peas--Luke 2:33-35

“The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his other: ‘This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.’” (Luke 2:33-35) NIV

Random Thoughts:

Good news first? Simeon’s first words to Mary and Joseph (in the previous passage) are full of celebration and joy but he concludes with a warning of tougher times ahead. The good news is quickly followed by the not-so-good; sobering reminders (even frightening ones) of what is to come.

Long-awaited redemption is coming through the Messiah but some will rise to his call and others will stumble over it, refusing it altogether. His presence and claim as God’s Son will force all to choose. Them as well as us. Then as well as now. Will we accept his offer of grace or choose our own way, a way of rules and traditions and sounds-good-to-me-philosophies that cannot ultimately transform us? 

Question:

What do you sometimes mistake as Christ’s main purpose in your life?

Journal Response:

Last week I had lunch with a friend and we took turns lamenting the on-going struggles of parenting and grieving the fact that despite our well-meaning efforts, our kids are going to have to forgive us or there will be no hope for their future. 

We all set out with such lofty goals as new parents, determined to go where no parent has ever gone before . So we strain our own organic peas to pureed perfection, make sugar-free treats and vow to seize every opportunity to shape our offspring into the well-adjusted human beings prescribed in our veritable library of how-to parenting. 

And then it happens. We send them to school in fuzzy slippers and spiderman onesies on Crazy Hat Day instead of Pajama Day. And we yell and throw tantrums when we really, really meant to be the calm, cool and collected adult dispensing words of wisdom. Or we find ourselves repeating encouraging mantras of our parents like, “Were you born in a barn?!” (Or my personal favorite, “If you’re head weren’t attached, you’d lose it!”).

Worse yet, we are faced with the realization that our children are not perfect either and no amount of “programming” is ever going to make it so. And so we lament and we grieve and we pray and we hope. 

But is Christ’s purpose in my life to make me the perfect parent to create the perfect child? Is Christ’s purpose to smooth the way and make every aspect of my child’s life as pain-free as possible? As “successful” as possible? And I begin to realize that the pursuit of perfect parenting and the false hope that it can be attained if I only do X,Y and Z, is not only a myth, it’s an idol, a well-intentioned idol that if ever truly achieved would render Christ’s true purpose meaningless. Because his purpose isn’t to make me perfect or my kids. It’s forgiveness. It is grace. 

As a teenager I chose grace a long time ago to follow Christ but had not realized that in so many ways I have been laboring under the Law, the illusion that perfect parenting can be achieved and that a life for my children with no mistakes or sins to forgive would be a good thing. 

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting that striving to be a loving, well-intentioned parent is a bad thing. The world could probably use more organic, pureed peas. But is that my ultimate goal? The one thing that if I had it, would make everything better? And I am realizing that that isn’t Christ’s ultimate purpose for me or my kids. 

Rather, the best thing I could pray for is not that I don’t make mistakes or even that my kids will survive my mistakes but that each of my kids will have Christ at the helm of their lives to navigate all the ways they will need to forgive me and others and themselves. Life is messy. Always has been; always will be. And so are we. But the good news? Grace can clean us up.