URC Daily Devotion Monday, 29 December 2025

St Luke 2: 21 – 35

After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

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 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord’),  and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, ‘a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.’ Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.  Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law,  Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying,

‘Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles  and for glory to your people Israel.’

And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.  Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, ‘This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.’

Reflection

Five gold rings!
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves, and
A partridge in a pear tree!

I did not grow up poor, unlike some of our neighbours. My father was always in work, as was my mother at times. We avoided poverty, though we were never in danger of being rich.

On the other hand, Jesus did come from a poor family, even though his father, Joseph worked with wood. The clue to Mary and Joseph’s poverty is in what’s shared in our seasonal song and today’s reading: ‘they offered a sacrifice according to what was stated in the law of Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons.’

Normally, when presenting a newborn child at the temple, religious law required parents to bring a sheep for sacrifice. If they could not afford that, then two turtle doves sufficed (Leviticus 12). Mary and Joseph could not afford a sheep; they were poor; Jesus grew up in poverty.

Few people choose to be poor (and I’m not one of them). In Jesus, though, God did choose to become incarnate not only as a creature, but as one who was poor. The salvation which God has prepared for all emerged from the ranks of the poor.

There’s nothing romantic about being poor or wrong with not being so. As my woodworker grandfather would say, “money may not make you happy, but at least you can be miserable in comfort.”

All the same, if you are poor, there’s affirmation here that God chooses to live with you and be one of you. If, though, like me, you are not poor, what are the implications for loving, following and being with Jesus, who chose or was chosen to be poor? And how should we relate to those who share in Jesus’s poverty?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, 
thank you for all of the riches that come my way, 
and thank you for coming to live among those who were poor. 
Inspire me, I pray, to respond appropriately to this reality. Amen.