| Dear friends, | "Simeon's song of praise" by Rembrandt (1631) | "for my eyes have seen your salvation" Luke 2:30 (NRSV) | Few creatures are more vulnerable than a baby. A baby is completely dependent upon others; it needs to be fed, carried, cleaned, taught and corrected by others. There are many illnesses that can place a baby's life at risk, as well as many threats and accidents that can occur at any moment while our backs are turned. And yet there He was in human form – he through whom all things in heaven and earth were created (Colossians 1:15–20) – and therefore completely dependent on others. God himself… vulnerable. In the Rembrandt painting, "Simeon's song of praise" (1631), we can see Jesus as a vulnerable baby in the arms of Joseph, who, along with Mary, has brought the creator of the universe to the temple in order to offer and dedicate him to the Lord in accordance with Jewish law. In the painting, we can see how light emanates from this baby wrapped in swaddling clothes to protect him from the cold, and how the light touches all those who approach him as well as reveals all those who remain in darkness at a distance. Vulnerability is a word that makes me think of the beginnings of the Anabaptist movement in the 16th century. There was no infrastructure, no building, no centralized power. It was made up of ordinary people who often lacked formal education. Vulnerability also makes me think of our global church facing persecution, violence, polarization, natural disasters and fragmentation. Vulnerability… God often uses vulnerable people and the small things as a means for transforming the world. It is done with small, sometimes insignificant, beginnings – mustard seeds end up blessing the nations (Luke 13:18-19). The passage in Luke speaks of Simeon who we see with extended arms from the back in Rembrandt's painting. According to the Scriptures, he had waited his whole life to see the restoration of Israel and it had been revealed to him that he would see the Messiah before he died. I can hardly imagine his expression when he saw that the Messiah that he had been waiting for was a completely vulnerable being! The restoration of Israel was in the hands of a baby... What an uncertain future! Even so, Simeon expresses gratitude because his eyes have seen salvation. In order to recognize the Messiah in a vulnerable baby we must be full of the Spirit of God, guided by the Spirit to see the salvation sent by God. Today, on World Fellowship Sunday, as we celebrate and reflect on the beginnings of the Anabaptist Movement and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we pray for God's guidance and power to be able to live in vulnerability. We pray that in every way our leaders, churches and missions reflect the vulnerable God that we follow. May our eyes also see Salvation!  | As a follower of Christ, 
César García, MWC general secretary |
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