It was the best baby names during Advent. Christmas Eve we celebrated that Baby whose name is Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace-whose short name is "Jesus." Today it's worst baby names. In some churches, today is Holy Family Sunday. I'm sure this is not true here, but in some families, at this point in Christmas vacation, after all the family-oriented holiday appearances, connecting the terms "holy" and "family" is hard to swallow. By now, some families might agree with my grandmother's adage that fish and family both spoil after three days.

I'm positive that, where Holy Family Sunday is observed, the reference is to Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus. Here's a couple just become a threesome, coming to grips with this momentous fact by being meticulous about "keeping the law." Sound familiar? All families have customs that turn into ironclad laws this time of the year, and I don't mean "in-laws." In my family, certain foods were only cooked and eaten at Christmas. We had "laws" about who sat where at dinner, when we opened presents, which stories got told, and who got invited to Aunt Ruth's. Not to trivialize Jewish purity laws and the dedication of first-born sons to God, but this little family is coping with the untimely birth of Mary's child by keeping the law-circumcision and naming the Child, purification sacrifices in the temple.

Except for this little sidebar with Anna and Simeon. Anna and Simeon-two really old, really holy characters who hang around the Temple in Jerusalem. They are so tuned-in to God that they recognize God's Messiah in the little bundle wearing Onesies and Pampers. How did they do that? Anna, like many women in the Bible doesn't get a direct voice. What we hear about what she says is basically, "God did it! The Messiah is here! Pass it on." Simeon, on the other hand, from his direct quotes, is not the bearer of unrelenting good news that Anna is. Oh, sure. Simeon starts out with good stuff. He says, "God acts! This baby means that God still gets to say who's in and who's out in the kingdom, and that means the Gentiles are included." God is doing an amazing new thing, and it's all about salvation. But Simeon's message goes bad. God acts, all right. God acts for salvation, but what God does is going to get a whole lot of people riled up, and this Baby is going to take the brunt of it. I can't believe Simeon said this to a new mother. When I was a new mother, I expected people to stop me on the street to tell me how beautiful the child was. But Simeon tells this new mother: "The kid's going to step on a lot of feet, and this will be hard on you." Thanks for stopping. That's the worst Baby name ever!

Simeon says this baby is going to make a difference-all the difference in the world-and making a difference is never without pain. Redemption is never comfortable for the people who don't think they need it. Salvation is never good news to those who have paid for their security, fair and square. If it's your guns and missiles protecting you, there's no reason to get someone else to help, someone who might make unreasonable demands about your changing. This baby, we've been hearing for weeks now-from Gabriel, from Elizabeth, from the baby's own mother, Mary-this baby is going to turn the world upside down. And that's good news for the ones who are on the bottom.

Then Anna and Simeon declare their thanks to God, saying it is "enough" that they have seen the future of God's promise-keeping. They have seen a glimpse of salvation. We, too, get glimpses of salvation. The Resource Center says Springwater has donated nearly half a ton of food this month, but Oregon is still #1 in the nation for hunger, especially among children. Springwater sends more reading tutors to Estacada grade school than any church, but our state has the shortest school year in the nation. American seminary students volunteer their vacations to be peace-keepers in Israel, but Bethlehem (the birthplace of our Savior) couldn't celebrate Christmas this year because of the troops occupying their town.

How do we live with this? If Jesus was the Messiah of God, where is the peace on earth the angels sang about to the shepherds? It has been two thousand years since then, and we haven't seen it yet! How do we live with this?

It's about "enough." Anna and Simeon believed that this child was the down-payment of God's kingdom of righteousness and peace, the beginning of God's justice in the here-and-now. In effect, they said, "A down-payment is enough." Enough. This time of year that word feels ironic. Maybe we are at the stage of "enough"-presents, partying, wrapping, driving, eating, baking, shopping, family togetherness, holiday movies, chocolate and whipped cream, piped-in Christmas carols, glad greetings and tensions around the extended family dinner table. Enough!

Anna and Simeon came from the Jewish tradition whose Passover prayer recited pieces of God's salvation and affirmed in response, "It would have been enough for us." Help me say part of that prayer. When I raise my hand say, "It would have been enough for us."

Had God provided for us in the wilderness forty years and had not fed us with manna, it would have been enough for us. Had God fed us with manna and had not ordained the Sabbath, it would have been enough for us. Had God ordained the Sabbath and had not brought us to Mount Sinai, it would have been enough for us. Had God brought us to Mount Sinai and had not given us the Torah, it would have been enough for us. Had God given us the Torah and had not led us into the land of Israel, it would have been enough for us. Are we able to say, "it would have been enough for us" for any one of God's acts of salvation? Had God chosen a young woman to bear Jesus and he had not grown up, it would have been enough for us. Had Jesus grown up and not done miracles, it would have been enough for us. Had Jesus done miracles and had not died, it would have been enough for us.

Had Jesus died and had not been raised from the dead, it would have been enough for us. Had Jesus been raised from the dead and had not called us to be the Church, the kingdom of God on earth-would it have been enough? We have seen and tasted God's future. We pray together every Sunday, "Thy kingdom come" but it has never really happened.

For two thousand years Christians have prayed this prayer, as if we really believed something would come of it. As if we believed that God was hearing that prayer and believing that a glimpse of it really is "enough" for us. We glimpse that coming kingdom when we work with our Savior. We glimpse that coming kingdom when we are generous and good stewards of our time and money. We are supposed to be frustrated that the kingdom has not yet come. We are supposed to wish that there were more to the reality of the glimpses we catch of the kingdom. We are supposed to act as if we really think it will come. We are supposed to act as if that baby in Simeon's arms grew up to make a difference. We are supposed to act as if the way we live our lives will make a difference. Rejoice, friends! The kingdom has come-in part. Rejoice as if that part is enough. It is enough for us!