Sermon: Candlemas

Date Preached: Sunday 31st January 2010

Bible Reference: Luke Chapter 2, verses 22 to 40

We’ve had some pretty grey months of hard winter weather haven’t we? I was reliably informed by the kids of some close American friends when I stayed with them a couple of winters ago (they’re now back home in Colorado) that it was actually a week last Friday January 22^nd that’s supposed to be the most depressing day of the year. Now we’re on the eve of sunny February, and with the glow of last Monday’s celebration perhaps we can say thankfully that’ it’s past. But when you think about the current pressures many found the winter months to be and their potential for stress, let alone those still fighting for some kind of existence in places like Haiti, it makes you think. Apparently in the United States, despite all they make of Christmas, December that has the highest rate of suicides, murders and robberies of any month of the entire year. It’s almost as if there’s a rebellion going on against the promises and hopes that the birth of the baby King (and the way he was revealed to be God with us) brought with him.

It isn’t supposed to be that way – and that’s why Epiphany is so important. Let’s remember that the angel declared to the shepherds that God’s purpose in sending Jesus was to bring “peace – good will to all people”.  So, if that was his purpose in coming, how can we make sure we don’t miss out on that peace?

Luke introduces to us two people who meet the baby Jesus at the Temple when he’s been brought by Joseph & Mary to be dedicated to God & circumcised according to the Law. And there’s just something about the way that these two react to Jesus that might be worth a quick look again as we begin to escape the turmoil & stress of a hard winter and look forward to the warmer days of Spring.

(I wonder if you noticed?) Well for a start they didn’t fall prey to believing that money was at all important to celebrating Christ’s coming. One of the BIG stresses of this past season as we review all the credit bills is the financial pressure and the hole many people find themselves in.

Simeon & Anna didn’t fall into that trap. They were looking for the Messiah…and whom did they pick? They picked Jesus, this baby being carried by Joseph & Mary.

Now, it’s important to realize that Joseph & Mary didn’t come into the Temple carrying a sign like you see sometimes in airport waiting areas. They weren’t carrying a big sign saying: “This is the Messiah”

Instead, they were part of the ordinary crowd of people who milled around in the Temple every day. These dedications didn’t happen like our baptisms where the family will set a date for a big do. This isn’t how things happened in the Temple. You just came - whenever the eighth day was and went to the priest on duty to present your child. And so, Mary and Joseph meet Simeon in the outer courtyard, which, as always, is busy and noisy. Folks are bringing offerings of all sorts; donkeys are braying, sheep are bleating and coins are clinking in the Temple market stalls. Nobody notices a young family…and a poor young family at that. In fact, if anything distinguished them – it was the fact that they were poor. The reading tells us that Joseph and Mary had brought their sacrifice with them: two small birds – which was the least expensive permitted to poor people – (again) a deliberate reference to this humble King.

Mary and Joseph were just doing what all good Jews are supposed to do – on a day that was just like any other day in the Temple.

But, this couple’s poverty, didn’t faze Simeon or Anna. They weren’t distracted by appearances. They were looking for the Christ not for expensive gifts or apparel. So what if he was wrapped not in glittery paper and big ribbons, but in a plain brown paper bag

They were actively looking for Christ.
 
Now we’ve seen again those concerted efforts some people make to take Christ out of Christmas – and isn’t it so easy for any of us to let go of the focus – even for seemingly legitimately good reasons, like family. 

By contrast, Simeon (especially) was looking for Jesus. (and for good reason) He’d been promised he wouldn’t die until he had seen the Christ – the Messiah. So, when he finally discovered the child, this wasn’t just the highlight of his day… this was the highlight of his life. And that’s why he’s able to pray in the words we know as the Nunc dimittis,  "Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word – for mine eyes have seen they salvation which thou promised before the face of all people.”
“OK Lord, I’ve seen the Christ, I’m ready to die now! Let it happen - I’m content.”

What robs many people, including Christians, of this kind of peace – and we’ve seen it again this Christmas past especially - is that we can get caught up in looking for everything but Jesus.

So money and appearances weren’t important; and they were actively seeking the Christ. And then another reason Simeon and Anna had the secret of the peace of Christmas was that they’d prepared themselves to receive God’s blessings & his promises.
Simeon wasn’t a particularly important man, but he was known as righteous and devout. The Word for “devout” in the Greek means “taking a good hold” on something. Being devout for Simeon meant that God was at the centre of his life – not peripheral, not on the outside, not when it suited him – but his first consideration.

And it was the same with Anna. We’re told she was constantly in the Temple day and night. She was known for her fasting and prayers – and was always worshipping God.

Why does Luke’s account have these characters figuring in the gospel? I think perhaps it’s because their devotion was in sharp contrast to the occasional religious observance going on all around them; the kind of Christmas and Easter, special-occasion-type of worship.

But it isn’t just about regularity either – this also isn’t about every-other-Sunday attendance, or even ‘wouldn’t-miss-a-Sunday’ attendance. No these are two people for whom worship is a personal encounter with the living God with whom they are in an active relationship  - they were dedicated people who loved God with all of their hearts, souls and minds.

And isn’t it intriguing that it was to them…that God revealed his promises of the coming Messiah. There’d have been literally hordes of other people in the Temple; loads of other people to whom God could have revealed his plans… but it was to these two that God revealed his message of peace.

So what does this say about what God is looking for in us? We might regard ourselves as faithful Christians… we might know lots about God’s message of salvation, be confident that life in a consumer society isn’t all that it’s supposed to be about – but (here’s the challenge of the fourth week of Epiphany - are we looking for Jesus? Are we feeding that relationship with him, listening to him, spending time with him – because that’s what he’s longing for with each of us. He wants to be there at the centre of everything…

Simeon and Anna got to see Jesus because they had given God a special gift… the gift of a warm, receptive heart: a heart where he knew he was always important – and he didn’t need to fight for attention. I remember a song by Graham Kendrick on his very first album - before he became a famous hymn writer and worship leader. He talked about giving God his “Sundays and the dog-ends of his time”.

And just to finish with Simeon’s little ‘aside’ comments for Mary. These must have been a pretty sobering reminder that the nature of the message her son was embodying was anything but anodyne – like some harmless little message to merely soothe our psyches and provide a little comfort here and there. To paraphrase what Simeon said: “this baby is the Liberator – he’s going to have an impact on everyone – one way or another. He’s going to be controversial: wild not safe. He’ll expose people’s true thoughts and for some people that’ll be an ugly business – so get prepared Mary, you’re going to suffer your own anguish at the way people will treat your son, Jesus”

So we come to the end of Epiphany and start preparing for Lent. What has it revealed to us? We’ve had some amazing clues about Jesus that help us to understand just exactly who and what he is. From his infancy throughout his childhood and on into adulthood we are shown that this is the Christ, the Messiah, the Chosen One. And God invites us to stand in awe once again. He wants to captivate our hearts as he might have done in the beginning and fill us too with wonder.