Benefice Service Barton under Needwood
St James Candlemass 2016 (31st Jan)
Ezekiel 43.27-44.4 Luke 2.22-40
Today we celebrate the end
of the Christmass season as we anticipate the Feast of Candlemass sometimes
called The Presentation of Christ in the Temple,which
is this coming Tuesday, 2nd
February.
This is the occasion when
according to Luke, Mary and Joseph traveled to the temple in Jerusalem with
the infant Jesus. Mary was to undergo the rite of purification and Jesus was to
be offered to the Lord as the first male child according to the Law of Moses.
Should you be interested
you will find the instructions in Leviticus chapter 12.
What is interesting to
note is that Joseph and Mary brought an offering of a pair of turtledoves.
Much is made of Jesus’
humble birth. Remembering that of course
most people at this time were either rich or poor and living at subsistence
level.
Two turtledoves or pair of
pigeons was the acceptable offering if you could not afford a lamb.
"Do
not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I
have not come
to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5.17
Now as we consider this
story get out of your heads any pictures of a parish church and a baptismal
family coming in.
You can even put to one
side a cathedral.
The Temple was a huge,
bustling busy place.
Devout Jews who longed for
God’s Shekinah Glory to inhabit the Temple would have studied passages of
Scripture like the one we heard from Ezekiel, alongside
other prophets,
principally Isaiah.
Despite how it all
appears, no matter who rules or who doesn’t rule, there will come a Day of
Righteousness when all the Faithful Covenant Keepers will be vindicated and God
will rule over all, and other kingdoms, nations will pay homage to God and recognise the Israelite's as God chosen instruments of bringing light to the world.
It is worth spending some
time considering this, because it wasn’t a half-hearted hope, it was in the
very blood stream, woven into the warp and weft of every Jew, male, female boy
or girl.
So just how big was the
temple?
Well try the size of six
football pitches with walls to the height of a twenty stories with some stones
weighing in at 400 tons.
The Temple was massive and
the temple was busy, very busy with thousands of people coming and going - and not
forgetting all the sacrificial animals being slaughtered.
It was the very heartbeat
of the Nation.
So hold that picture in
your head and imagine Joseph, Mary, and Jesus turning up to follow through the
proscribed law.
Luke’s Gospel says that
there was a man named Simeon who was in Jerusalem. We do not know if he was a
visitor or a resident. However, we know that he was righteous, devout, and
looking forward to the consolation of Israel.
That great and wonderful time I mentioned earlier.
The Holy Spirit had
revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.
(Note the work of the Holy
Spirit who was very active well before the Day of Pentecost.)
This man Simeon – well God
appears to have a way of picking people for no particular reason, just as he
picked out Mary to bear the Christ child or Zechariah and Elizabeth to bear
Jesus’ cousin, John.
Btw – there is no
indication given as to the age of Simeon, although it is often suggested he was
an old man, but we cannot say one way or the other.
Notice that it says that
the Holy Spirit guided him. Remember all
I have said about the size of the Temple and the busyness of the place.
That is why we need to get
out of our heads a picture of a parish church and a baptismal party.
He was guided by the Holy
Spirit.
Can you imagine his heart
quickening, his feet skipping, his mouth dry and eyes scanning through the
crowds, trying to see, trying to listen and trying to follow the Holy Spirit
promptings.
Who would this be, what
would he look like, a warrior perhaps, a teacher, one of the ascetics from the
Qumran Community.
A baby boy only forty days
old!
Lord, you have to be
messing with me…
In obedience, Simeon goes
forward, takes the child in his arms, and sings a most wonderful song that
echoes down the years. ‘The Song of Simeon’ used regularly at Evensong and at
the time of death.
It is my fervent prayer
that when it comes to the time for me to shed off my own mortal frame that I
can sing this most wonderful song. ‘Lord,
let your servant now depart in peace – because I have seen the glory of your
presence, I have seen your Kingdom come upon earth, I have seen people healed
and restored, and in your most gracious mercy you have allowed me to
participate in this most wonderful Gospel work.
In Simeon’s proclamation,
he grasps the height, the depth, and the full measure of God’s forever
intentions and purposes. The Messiah would bring salvation and that Messiah
would come from God's chosen people.
God’s special and
particular people of whom St Paul was to say, ‘I would be accursed if they be
but saved.’ God’s people who would be
glorified if they lived as God intended, as a light to the Gentiles. Yet within his words of prophecy, there are
those dark undertones, ‘the rising and falling of many, and a sword piercing
Mary’s heart.’ Did she think back upon that on the day she watched as her son
was lifted up against a darkening sky?
Let me ask you this.
How attuned are you to the
Holy Spirit?
Do we merely go about our
daily business, shopping, working, picking the kids up, paying the bills, going
to the cinema or out for a meal or a coffee, watching TV – do we simply do this
and forget to be listening out for the prompting of the Holy Spirit?
We are Christ’s Ambassadors
wherever we go and whatever we do – 24/7.
Recently, on our cruise
holiday the waiter asked if we were okay if a single man joined us at the table
during the evening meal.
Never having met him
before we quickly discovered he had lived in Stafford, where we now live. He
now lives in Cornwall, where we lived for ten years and have family, He worked
as an Animal Health Officer and we both knew a mutual friend who works for the
NFU in Staffordshire.
He was recently retired and
has no family at all. He was lonely and felt life had no real sense of purpose
– and whilst he respected people of faith it was not for him. He joined us
regularly every night after that and we saw him begin to relax and engage with
other people as well.
Before going away, I had
invited some people from my home church to pray for my wife, daughter and
myself as we prepared to travel. We prayed for safety and a
good time and should the opportunity arise that we might be of some particular
service to God in the people we met.
We need to foster the holy
habit of being attentive and obedient to the prompting of the Spirit wherever we
go and whatever we do- even on holiday!
At the recent launch of a Churches Together initiative called ‘Love Stafford we were encouraged to cast blessings over any churches we pass or over our neighbourhood and especially over the houses where we know the people who live there.
So we have Simeon,
attentive, attuned, on the lookout and guided by the Holy Spirit.
Then we have Anna, whom we
do know was of a great age. We also know she was very devout and fervent.
The last time I visited my
Spiritual Companion we got to talking about those older people from whom the
light of Christ shines brightly. Those men and woman who seem to ooze Jesus
out of every pore and every fibre of their beings.
It is my fervent prayer
that I become like that, like Anna here in this story. Soaked in prayer and
worship and attentive to God’s prompting.
Might I suggest that if
Simeon speaks to us of attentiveness and then action, then Anna speaks to us
about waiting, praying, pondering? The ‘going into your secret place’ and being
in prayer and quiet meditation before God.
Next Tuesday, the 2nd
is Candlemass and the Tuesday following is Shrove Tuesday.
Therefore, we are moving
swiftly on from the Crib to the Cross, which is always only a matter of time. To
try to have one without the other is utter nonsense.
As we begin our Lenten
journey, could we seek to learn from Simeon and Anna?
Could we begin to be more
attuned and attentive as we go about our daily business?
Perhaps asking, ‘is there
someone Lord you would like me to speak to, or help, or even to offer a smile
and a kind word, or to pray for them quietly and to cast a blessing over them.
Then could we set time
aside to sit in God’s presence. Maybe
leaving the Church open with some simple prayer guides.
Simeon and Anna knew their
Scriptures and had read the prophecies of promise. Could we endeavour to gather
around God’s word? Seeking to discern how we can be a light to the Gentiles.
Using that word not in any
pejorative sense, but simply to denote those who do not yet know the saving
love and grace of Jesus.
Mary, Joseph along with Simeon
and Anna, all were faithful in their own time and used of God in His great
purpose to bring about the redemption of the cosmos – but perhaps in way they
least expected.
What about you and what
about me in this year 2016 – how faithful are we going to be?
Let us pray…
O
Saviour Christ, in whose way of love lays the secret of all life,
and the
hope of all people, we pray for quiet courage to match this hour.
We did
not choose to be born or to live in such an age;
but let
its problems challenge us, its discoveries exhilarate us,
its
injustices anger us, it possibilities inspire us, and its vigour renew us.
Pour
out upon us a fresh indwelling of the Holy Spirit;
make us
bold and courageous in sharing faith
in both
word and deed for your Kingdom’s sake we ask. Amen
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