One of our congregation, Pamela, gave this homily on 2nd February 2025.
Luke 2:22-40
Candlemas, or the presentation to the temple
Feb. 2d 2025
The day after Christmas, a pastor from a very nearby church sent me a joke about Episcopalians :
One character says : I’m so glad Christmas is finally over ! Can’t wait to tear down the tree and all the other decorations !
The other replies : But I’m an Episcopalian and we sing carols and celebrate Christmas until January 6 ! (which is the epiphany)
I laughed, and recognized myself pretty much.
I sent it to our priest-in-charge Catherine, who laughed and recognized our community pretty much.
And indeed, why would we stop celebrating Christmas before the Magi find the King so many had been waiting for and for so long ?
The Advent was a story of waiting : waiting for light and hope in the midst of darkness.
Christmas was a story of receiving the most beautiful gift and celebrating what was given to us.
But what comes after the celebration ?
Sometimes the afterwards can feel like a void. Like a hungover. The feeling of : now what ?
Soon enough, Easter will be the time to remember what being a disciple means. But right now we are still invited to pounder on what it means to believe God revealed himself to us trough the infant Christ.
Everyone knows who were the first witnesses of the Christmas miracle.
They were local people : the shepherds, who had learned from an angel the Messiah was just born, trusted him and gathered together to Bethlehem.
We are familiar with them as they are part of the traditional imagery thanks to the nativity scene (« la crèche »). We put them there, surrounding baby Jesus and his parents, like an extended family.
We know about the second round of visitors : the Magi, who come from further away and prepare us to the idea that this story is for everyone and not just for the people of Israel.
But the Christmas story of witnessing and celebrating the birth of the Messiah doesn’t end when we put the little figurines from the Nativity scene back in the « Christmas » cardboard at the back of the church or at the back of our homes and minds. And this is why, 40 days after Christmas, we celebrate Candlemas !
I personally take it as an extra gift : an extra opportunity to reflect on what that birth means to us, before we enter the season of Lent.
And this is why today, we are entering the Temple of Jerusalem with Jesus, still a baby, and his parents.
Mary and Joseph are here to present their son, their first born, to the Lord. That’s the law of Moses. They are doing what is expected from a Jewish family, which reminds us that Jesus is a very Jewish kid, born in a very Jewish family. It is at the same time a private affair and a very social event for the community they belong to.
Purification, presentation, dedication : Mary and Joseph are doing things by the book. Luke insists a lot on that :
« as it is written in the law of the lord » ;
« according to what is stated in the law of the Lord » ;
« what was customary under the law »…
(and a few other occurrences).
The parents are doing precisely what is expected from them. And yet, they will meet the Unexpected, today and for the years to come.
In this story told by Luke, the Unexpected takes different faces.
We heard about Anna, the prophetess who started sharing the good news far before Jesus started preaching, or even talking. But let spend some times with Simeon. A man described as « righteous and devout ». We don’t know what he was hoping for himself, but we know he was « waiting for the Consolation of Israel ». A man whose name means in Hebrew : « the one who listens ». And because he listens, Simeon trusted the Holy Spirit that « was upon him » to guide him to the Temple, like the Magi who trusted the star during their long and dangerous journey to the King they wanted to celebrate.
We understand that Simeon’s initial fear was to die before he saw the salvation of Israel. He wanted to be sure, before he leaves this world, that his nation, his people, his family, his community were in safe hands. In the safe hands of God. And how could he be reassured ? We never know what the future holds. And yet, we meet Simeon at peace.
He doesn’t need to be convinced of anything, he just knows, he just trusts that the God he’s been praying is a God who can be trusted and that the promises we know from the first testament and the book of Isiah, have been fulfilled :
« Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign:
The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son,
and will call him Immanuel. »
Simeon knows this, the moment he is taking the baby « up in his arms ».
I remind you his words :
“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace,According to Your word;For my eyes have seen Your salvationWhich You have prepared before the face of all peoples,A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles,And the glory of Your people Israel.”
Marvelous words.
So marvelous we are invited by the Book of common prayer to recite this Song of Symeon at night, for compline (last set of prayer). (Nunc Dimittis)
And indeed, the text says :
« Joseph and [Mary] marveled at those things which were spoken of [their son] ».
But…
Like when we are so full of joy that we fear this was to beautiful to be true, there’s a but…
Mary and Joseph could have stayed safe and home with their baby, whom we know king Herod wanted to get rid of, but they risked themselves out of their home, out in the world, where they would meet friends, strangers, but also enemies… Where they would risk the unexpected.
But they trusted the Law of Moses, they trusted they were doing the right thing and they risked themselves out, to the temple. They trusted an old man called Simeon and let him take their precious baby in his arms. They trusted the holy spirit was upon this man they had just met and they too, listened to what he had to say. The beautiful and the ugly : their baby being the salvation, the Messiah, the light in those dark times…
But also :
“Behold,
this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel,
and for a sign which will be spoken against
(yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also),
that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
A promise of glory, but also, a promise of hearts torn into pieces.
What parents, what mother could take those words ?
Who could take those words ?
And what’s the point of doing the right thing if all we get in return is the promise of beautiful things, sure, but also the promise of impossible pain ?
This is the story of the cross.
Not that suffering goes with glory and beauty, like some kind of sick balance. (What people got used to lightly call « karma »).
What we are reminded is why we believe and what and who we believe in.
If like Simeon, we listen, it is because we know the god we pray is a god we can trust.
And a god we can trust is a god who speaks the truth. Who doesn’t sugarcoat things to make them more appealing.
This is a tough story to handle, truth. Honesty. Which is why we can take those post-Christmas days as a gift, an opportunity to remember why we trust and what and who we believe in. But also, if we have had a hard time to trust, to believe, it can be a time to gather forces, like the shepherds or the magi, to find our way back to the moment where God chose the most unexpected way to meet us : not a powerful king, surrounded by soldiers and servants, but a tiny baby, a fragile child who needed to be loved and cared for.
Mary and Joseph did everything by the book and not much happened as expected.
And yet, after this unsettling encounters at the temple, with Simeon, with the prophetess Anna and with all the people who came that day, they went back home. We can imagine they rejoiced and they worried. They nurtured their child. They were parents and they were teachers.
And we know they would come back to the temple with their child, age 12, for Easter.
Despite everything they knew or feared, or guessed, Mary and Joseph provided everything to their child, so that he would grow, and become strong and filled with wisdom.
Like Mary and Joseph, and all those who surrounded Jesus and loved him, we have faced the unexpected.
Sometimes it looked like a corner of beauty in what we thought was just an ugly place. Or like a beautiful stranger, who became a very loved one, a dear friend, or just a friendly face on our journey.
Sometimes it looked like fear, sickness, injustice or death.
We have faced it and we will face it again.
This is terrifying. And yet. If there is one thing to remember it is that we have been provided with everything we need for the good days, the bad days and the ugly days.
Despite everything, whatever our situation or age, closer to baby Jesus or to older Simeon and Anna, there is still
unexpected growth
unexpected strength
and unexpected wisdom
waiting for us.
We have been provided for and we could not say goodbye to the Christmas season without remembering it one more time.
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