Sermon by Revd Caroline Risdon
The Presentation of Christ in the Temple/Candlemas 31 January 2021
You can hear an audio recording of the sermon here
Gracious God, we thank you for your word
and pray that it may deepen our love for you
and strengthen our faith in you.
That Christ may dwell in our hearts. Amen.
Had we been holding our usual service in Church, I would have been baptising a baby this morning. Baptism is a beautiful and moving service of welcome into the Christian family. And baptism today would be especially full of meaning and symbolism given the feast we are celebrating- the Presentation of our Lord at the Temple. For as we have just heard in the gospel reading, Mary and Joseph take the infant Jesus, only 40 days old according to Jewish custom, to the Temple to be dedicated to the Lord.
The festival has come to be known as Candlemas, because we understand Jesus to be the light of the world. And this is symbolised each week in the lighting of the Easter candle, from which we light each candle given to each person who is baptised. So the light of a simple candle has come to represent to us the light of Jesus; that light which shines in the darkness. That light which the darkness can never overcome.
What I love about our Church festivals and our lectionary cycle of Bible readings, is that each time we re-consider the event or saint or bible passage, we hear something new and something different. This is partly because our contexts change and partly because we grow and develop.
So, here we are, celebrating Jesus as the light of the world when collectively we are living through dark times. Here we are, listening to the fulfilment of Anna and Simeon's dreams to see the Messiah when our hope is starting to wear thin. What then can this festival and these bible readings offer us?
For one thing, they remind us of the eternal time frame, rather than our own time frame. In a sense I am referring to that wise saying 'this too shall pass.' It is difficult to live through a global pandemic and yet it shall pass. Things will change and our situation will improve. But, as we already know, it will not pass quickly nor easily nor without great cost. What comfort we find in our faith is the comfort expressed in our reading from Hebrews- God understands our pain and suffering because God too has lived with, lived through, pain and suffering. We are held in arms that are bruised and pierced, fragile and strong. But we are nevertheless held.
The most important message for us today though, may be held in another name used for the festival of Candlemas- and that is the Meeting of the Lord. We witness this meeting of the Lord not once but twice in our Gospel reading. First when Simeon recognises the baby as the longed for Messiah and then as the prophet Anna rejoices and praises God for fulfilling the hopes of all people.
Simeon and Anna meet with the Lord in the Temple. But we all know that we do not have to be in the Temple to be in the presence of God; we can meet God in our day to day. St Alfege is a truly beautiful Church and one filled with the peace of over 1000 years of prayer and pilgrimage. Those prayers and those pilgrims are actually what makes our beloved building what it is- a Holy place. A place that is set apart, that is made 'more than' by the presence of God.
For all that, St Alfege Church is not perfect. The building and it's upkeep cause no end of headaches for those charged with it's care! We love it because it is precious and because it is ours. It's worth does not lie in it's perfection but in it's meaning.
And we must learn to accept that God feels that way about each of us. We do not have to be perfect to be loved. We are precious to God because we are God's. What makes us a Holy people is the presence of God within us. So rather than rushing around frantically seeking God, let us find ways to let go of all the gimmicks and distractions. Let us find the light that shines within each of us and be brave enough to step into it. For in this, we will find life and health and hope and possibility once more.
AMEN.
re, 30/01/2021