The Presentation of Our Lord, February 2 2025,
St. Martha and Mary Episcopal Church, Eagan MN
Malachi 3:1-4, Hebrews 2:14-18, Luke 2:22-40, Psalm 84
Forty days ago we celebrated the joyful feast of the birth of Jesus. Today we recall the holy day on which Jesus was presented in the temple. And an historical note, the traditional liturgy for the day is called Candlemas, because of its ancient rite of blessing of the candles to be used in the church for the next year, a practice dating from the middle of the fifth century. Today we hear that Simeon and Anna, led by the Spirit, recognized Jesus as their Lord, and proclaimed him with joy.
This story, the Presentation of The Lord in the Temple is similar, and yet not the same, as our baptism of today. You and I recognize Jesus in all sorts of ways as well. We recognize Jesus in baptism, in one another, and in the breaking of the bread. In this story, a Jewish family presents their son in the temple at eight days old, and the child is circumcised, and at the same time, the child is named. This child is Jesus, God in our midst.
At our sacrament of baptism, a baby is presented, named, gotten all wet, and marked as Christ's own forever. We trust that God shows up in a particular way at baptism, but not once and for all, but to begin the journey with us. When we baptize a baby, we also trust that the community of faith, all of us, takes seriously the promises we make. One of those prayers is especially wonderful, the promise by our prayers and witness we will help this child to grow into the full stature of Christ, as well as the promises that our made on our behalf.
In our story today we meet Simeon and Anna, very old people who are living the end of their lives at the temple. Separately they understand who this baby Jesus is. Simeon is clear that this child is the light of revelation to the Gentiles, and this child is for glory to Israel. Simeon now can die in peace, because he has seen God in his midst. Simeon blesses Mary and Joseph. Anna also recognized the child as the one everyone was looking for, for the redemption of Jerusalem.
Simeon and Anna are you and me. Simeon and Anna are the witnesses to God's grace and love in the world. Simeon and Anna are the witnesses to pain and suffering in the world. Simeon and Anna speak to the hope that rises out of suffering and adversity, the hope that breeds courage, the hope that God is fully capable of doing something new, and indeed is doing something new. Each time a baby is presented here, at this font, and at any font in any church, it is a sign of hope, it is a time to recognize Jesus in our midst and the claim Jesus makes on our hearts and souls. The claim Jesus makes on each of us as we promise to raise our children with the story of life and death and resurrection. The claim Jesus makes on each of us to make us new creations. We respond to Jesus' claim on our hearts and souls by promising to be bearers of the light and builders of the Kingdom. We promise to show the world that Love wins.
Simeon and Anna are you and me. We, like Simeon and Anna, witness God's grace and love in the world, we witness pain and suffering in the world. And we must recognize Jesus in our midst, in our baptism of course, but also in the world. We must recognize Jesus in our midst, we must recognize Jesus in the places in our world where Jesus resides. With those on the margins who are poor, those who need food and clothes, those who are broken and in need of healing. Sometimes those people are here in our midst, and sometimes we are those people. We recognize Jesus among us.
Jesus is presented in the temple, we present our children for baptism, trusting that God claims our hearts and souls and walks with us, showing us the way through pain and suffering, death and resurrection. We recognize Jesus in the water of baptism, water that gives life and takes life, we recognize Jesus in the light of epiphany, the light that brightens the darkness, the light that will not be put out. We recognize Jesus in the hearts and souls of one another.
And we recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread. This breaking of bread is central to what we do each time we gather here. We pray, we sing, we confess our sins and receive forgiveness, we break bread, we give thanks and we are sent out to do the work God calls us to do. The epic story of the love that wins tells us that Jesus broke bread with his friends, and in a like fashion his body was broken for us. With our broken bread, in our broken lives, in our broken hearts, Jesus fills and floods us with the bread and wine, and puts us back together, in a way that alone we cannot. Jesus' love re-members us, and we are not just glued together, but we are enveloped in a love that will not let us go.
It feels particularly hard to be a kingdom builder these days. The chaos of our world is tearing us down, tearing us apart. We see evidence all around us that God’s kingdom and the earthly kingdom in which we live are moving farther and farther apart.
Jesus is presented in the temple, but doesn’t stay in the temple. Our work is to accompany Jesus into the world, being the light, and the food, of God's mission of healing and wholeness. You see, Jesus and Mary and Joseph did not stay in the safe and comforting confines in the temple. They went out to be on the journey of God's mission in their world. God's mission has always been the same, bringing each and every one of us and all of humanity into the healing love and embrace of God. God's mission is kingdom building, we pray that each time we pray the Lord’s prayer, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth, as in heaven.” And in God's kingdom, all are welcome, no one is excluded. In God's kingdom our broken hearts and bodies are made whole. In God's kingdom everyone has enough to eat, everyone has a warm place to sleep.
It takes courage to be about the work of kingdom building. Courage to step out into the work that God is already blessing. You, at your baptism, at your presentation to God, were marked as Christ's own forever, you already have all you need to be a kingdom builder, gather your courage and find the places and the spaces where you can be a kingdom builder, the courage to be a kingdom builder.
