Jesus’ Dedication

Dear People of God,
Advent is a season of wonder, an opportunity to consider encounters between Heaven and Earth with renewed amazement: a young girl overshadowed by the Spirit of God, wise men pursuing signs in the stars, shepherds surrounded by angelic rejoicing.
 
This third week of Advent, we look at Simeon and Anna—two figures marked by deep connection to God and a burden for the heartbreak of their people. Their recognition of the newborn Christ in the Temple demonstrates an extraordinary spiritual attunement. They do not require angelic visitation to recognize the Rescuer they are seeing and what his arrival will bring. Led by the Spirit, they see Jesus’ arrival as the culmination of their life’s labors of intercession before God.
 
Simeon and Anna function as two of the final prophets to Jesus’ coming. Their responses equip Joseph and Mary for their own extraordinary callings and point toward the global life of Christ’s church into which we have been adopted.
 
This week, may their lives challenge us in new ways, calling us into a greater attunement of our own hearts to God’s heart. May we receive new eyes to see God among us in the turmoil, heartache, and kingdom movement of our own moment in redemption history. 
 
Your servant,
Peter DuMont