Reading, Sermon and Prayers for Sunday 31st January 2021

READING: Jesus is Presented in the Temple – Luke 2 v 22-40

When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord) “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord” and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”

The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

SERMON: The challenge of Candlemas

In the shops the Christmas bits have now been put in the storage boxes until it is time to bring them out for sale again which no doubt will be around the end of the summer, and the shops have now begun to move on to Valentines Day and Easter already.

However as faithful Christians taking note of our lectionary we come this week to Candlemas, a feast sadly not celebrated by many churches these days. I say sadly because it presents to us so many helpful themes.

The Feast of Candlemas is always February 2, 40 days from Christmas. but we celebrate it on the Sunday closest. It is on that date because in accordance with Leviticus 12:1 seven days after Christmas, January 1, we have the feast/festival of our Lord’s circumcision, then thirty three days after that, February 2 is the feast/festival of his being offered in the Temple and the Purification of Mary after the birth.

In Jewish tradition women were considered unclean after the birth of a child and were not permitted to enter the Temple to worship. This was 40 days after the birth of a son and 60 days after the birth of a daughter. At the end of the 40 or 60 days, the mother was brought to the Temple or synagogue and ritually purified. Then she can go to religious services again, and generally go out in public. So we celebrate the ritual Purification of the Virgin Mary, the specified forty days after she gave birth to Jesus. In more recent times people will remember the churching of women after the birth of a child. Women were frequently not allowed into other people’s home and were treated as ‘unclean’ until churching had taken place. It is an interesting thought is it not that giving birth to the Saviour of the world made Mary unclean according to the Jewish Law.

Well this last week we had what is described as the most depressing day of the year. Apparently the 27th is the time when the bills start to arrive after Christmas, we haven’t been paid yet and apparently it all converges on this date.

Well let us thank God for Candlemas then. It lies half way between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, so it marks the day upon which winter is half over and we are moving towards brighter and better days.

For that reason it has many pagan and rural associations, with practices such as groundhog day and predicting the weather.

If the groundhog which is a burrowing type of rodent and lives in America wakes up from its sleep and finds snow then it knows winter is nearly over. Although I am at a loss how it works that one out.

If Candlemas day is fine and sunny then bad weather is to come, however if Candlemas day is wet and cold then the worst of winter is over. I don’t know about you but I wonder if this still applies in these days of so called global warming?

And it is at this time of Candlemas, that we remember Simeon and Anna greeting the baby Jesus as he is presented in the Temple. We cannot begin to imagine how Simeon must have felt when Mary and Joseph presented Jesus to Simeon. He was now holding in his arms the very promise that had been made to him’ and we have these marvellous words of Simeon from Luke Ch 2 v 25 – 32

“Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou has prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to thy people Israel”

In these words, Simeon sort of wraps up the Old Testament. The promised salvation has arrived, the Messiah is here. We can now start looking to the new age. We as Christians can state clearly that the “Coming One” has come. As Christians we can say with Simeon: “Our eyes have seen His salvation.”

So Candlemas is a time of rejoicing that God has kept his promise and given his Messiah for the sake of the world. When we realise this we can understand how the group of Jews who believed in Jesus would have to move out away from the synagogue. The early believers were Jewish people, who had seen the fulfilment of the prophecies in Jesus and so now they were living in a new age inaugurated by the Messiah. Jews who did not acknowledge who Jesus was were left waiting for somebody who had been and gone.

But there is another side to Candlemas and these words of Simeon to Jesus and Mary. In our reading Simeon goes on to speak some chilling words of prophecy in Luke Ch 2 v 34-35.

Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Candlemas has been described as one foot remaining in Christmas and one foot in the oncoming Easter, a time when we look back at the birth of Jesus and we look forward to the cross of Easter. Candlemas reminds us that Christmas is not an event for one day, but an invitation to a new life.

So what does it mean for us? Well, Candlemas reminds us that whilst the baby Jesus might appear vulnerable and cuddly, he brings a tough challenge for us which will lead him to the cross of Easter.

Jesus preached a powerful and challenging message which we are called to follow in a life changing way today. We are called to be a holy people.

That means taking seriously God’s call to what holiness means. Obviously this has implication in terms of personal devoutness and seeking to create lives suitable to be called Christian. More importantly there are urgencies placed upon us as Christian church concerning bigger issues.

It is an eternal shame that the Christian church has been involved over the centuries in the oppression of people of other different faith positions, different faiths, different colour skin, different sexuality, indeed just about any kind of difference has been picked upon. So we who wish to stand alongside Christ must share his path to the cross and be prepared to stand with him alongside those who are not welcomed by others. Jesus was seen to be prepared to be judged by the religious establishment by his friendship with supposed sinners.

So today for example our search for holiness must lead us to a concern for the oppressed and the poor refusing to be a part of systems which oppress minorities working for change in our world

This might mean that we have to become involved in things which people say do not concern us. There are many Christians who believe that religion should be concerned with simply saying our prayers.

Asking God to stop injustice is OK but getting involved and being God’s agents in our world is opposed. We are sometimes warned that religion and politics should not mix, what a good job the great Christian reformers never took that warning seriously.

Recognising God’s salvation in Jesus means that we have to live different kinds of lives. We are a part of that salvation of which Simeon spoke. We are called to share in that great work.

So as we today celebrate the light of Christ this Candlemas, as we take the risk to stand out as lights in the darkness. Let us do this knowing and remembering the danger, the very danger which took Jesus to the cross.

So let this Candlemas, allow each and everyone one of us to ask God to challenge the thoughts of our hearts. Amen

PRAYERS

With confidence in the divine light revealed to our human race, let us pray to the Lord.

We give thanks for knowledge of our salvation, seen with the eye not of sight but of faith. Enlighten the Church to be a true Temple to the glory of Christ and a witness to the world.