Feast of
the Presentation 2020
Rev.
Adam T. Trambley
February
2, 2020, St. John’s Sharon
This morning we celebrate the feast of the
Presentation. Luke’s gospel talks about two events at once – the circumcision
of a newborn Jewish boy and the purification rite for the mother which occurred
forty days after birth. New mothers were left alone for forty days, which they
probably appreciated, then they took a sacrifice to the temple and formally
re-entered the wider social life.
When Jesus and his parents arrive at the temple, they meet
two holy prophets, Simeon and Anna. Luke makes clear that they are parallel in
their ministry and in their response to Jesus. I want to focus on Simeon today,
however, because I think our story this morning is very similar to his story.
Before we get to Simeon, though, the gospel instructs us
on the importance of being faithful in our religious duties. Obedience to God’s
commandments allows the unfolding of his miraculous work around us. God is
always doing an incredible thing, but the Holy Spirit cooperates with our own holy
work. In today’s Gospel, Mary and Joseph were obedient to the law. They did
what they were supposed to do. They didn’t have a lot, so they offered a pair
of small birds as a sacrifice for the purification. They came to Jerusalem, to
the temple, to carry out their duties. They traveled with their baby from
Bethlehem, which isn’t a huge distance, but is still significant when you can’t
get a bus or a taxi. Everything else that happens in the temple that day can
only occur because Mary and Joseph show up where and when a good Jewish
first-century family is supposed to show up.
Our obedience also opens doors for God’s work to occur.
The fact that we gather every week, that we celebrate the Eucharist together in
accordance with Jesus’ instructions to “Do this in memory of me,” that we pray
and work and give for the spread of the Kingdom, and that we Worship God,
Care for People, and Grow as Christians, all matters. Sometimes it feels
great and sometimes it feels like a duty and sometimes we just make it happen.
Yet the incredible ways that the Holy Spirit touches hearts and transforms lives
here occurs because so many are obedient to ensuring that this holy place
exists and keeps its doors open.
In our gospel passage, Simeon was “Guided by the Spirit”
to come to the temple at the right time. Going to the Temple was not out of
character for him, but he still needed to know when to show up. The day that
Jesus came was a special day, and Simeon needed to be there for it. The same
went for Anna. She lived in the Temple, but the Temple was huge. It wasn’t merely
the size of a church, even a big church. The temple was multi-story edifice
with room for thousands of people. Simeon and Anna were both right where they
needed to be for what God wanted to do for them. They were guided by the
Spirit.
We are guided by the Spirit this morning, as well.
Somehow, you got here.
Somehow, you decided to show up today.
Maybe your alarm clock buzzes and your car drives here on
Sunday mornings automatically. Maybe, like many these past weeks, you have been
fighting an illness,
but felt good enough to get out of bed and come on down
– or maybe you felt that tug inside that said that coming
for worship
was the best way to offer yourself to God’s healing.
Maybe this was the weekend off work, so you could show
up,
or maybe someone invited you this week or some past week
and it just felt right to come along.
Maybe you love to sing or feel drawn to the worship or
any number of other reasons,
but somehow,
the Spirit guided you here this morning.
If the Spirit guided you here,
you are here to meet Jesus.
I don’t know what else God has in mind for you today,
but if the Spirit pulled off your covers this morning
and got you your coffee
and set down your Sunday paper or your Facebook feed,
if the Spirit got you here this for church,
if somehow you were guided and are here this morning,
you are here for a reason,
you are here for a purpose,
you are here because Jesus is planning
to show up and bless you and challenge you
and break open your life in incredible ways.
If the Spirit guided you here this morning.
What happened when Simeon let the Spirit guide him was an
encounter with baby Jesus that is encapsulated in a great hymn. We call this
hymn the Song of Simeon or the Nunc Dimittis after the first two words of its
Latin text. The church uses this song regularly at evening prayer and in
Compline at the end of the day. Christians for two thousand years have had said
these words until they are memorized and stuck in our heads, coming out like
second nature. Whether you hear the NRSV translation as we read this morning or
the older language found in our prayer book, the three stanzas of the hymn
speak of God’s promise, fulfillment, and manifestation.
“Lord, you now have set your servant free, according to
your word.”
Simeon had been promised by God that he would not die
before he saw the Messiah.
God told Simeon that he would see the Holy One bringing
salvation with his own eyes.
God made this specific, very particular promise to Simeon.
Simeon had no reason to think that the Messiah would come
in his day
when his people had been waiting for centuries.
But God made the promise.
Simeon believed the promise.
And God fulfilled his promise.
Simeon sings that the Lord has acted according to his
word. Simeon’s life has achieved its purpose. Simeon now ready to die happy
having held the Messiah, baby Jesus, in his own hands. Imagine that for a minute. Here is Simeon
praying and hoping and watching and waiting, fully confident in God’s promise
to him. Then this baby shows up and Simeon holds him in his arms. Think of the
most amazing love and joy coming from holding a baby, and then think of how
much more profound that experience would be holding baby Jesus in your arms.
Touching his skin, stroking his face, seeing his eyes look into yours, hearing
him make little baby noises, and even perhaps throwing up a little bit on your shoulder
with a divine-human burp. Simeon exclaims, “for these eyes of mine have seen
the savior whom you have prepared for all the world to see.” He has seen and
touched what nations have waited for, and he is now supremely happy and at
peace. God’s promise is fulfilled and he can go home.
Simeon’s final couplet prophecies the manifestation of
the child to those beyond the temple that morning.
This child is a “light to enlighten the nations and the
glory of God’s people Israel.”
Baby Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God.
He may not look like the mighty warrior king many had
expected,
but he was the fulfillment of God’s promise.
He would bring the rising and falling of many
as he ushered in God’s healing and righteousness.
He was the glory, the pinnacle, the consummation,
of the law and the prophets of Israel.
Jesus brought God’s salvation to Israel in a way
that reached out to all God’s children of every nation,
race, tribe, and tongue.
Simeon saw God’s light and glory as he held the baby
Jesus in his arms,
just as God had promised him.
We don’t know what else God had in store for him,
but he had experienced the high point of his life and
asked for nothing more.
Like Simeon, we have received God’s promises to be
fulfilled as we witness his manifestation to the world.
None of us here today have probably received from God the
same promise that Simeon had.
But God has made many promises to us.
The scriptures are full of God’s promises,
and those promises are reliable, if we trust in them and
are open to allowing God to fulfill them.
God promises us the forgiveness of our sins.
God promises to be with us always, even to the end of our
ages.
God promises that when two or three are gathered in Jesus’
name he is in the midst of us,
and that whatever
we ask the Father in his name, he will do.
God promises us that if we believe in him,
we will never die but have eternal life.
God promises that the Holy Spirit come
and fill us with power from on high to do God’s work.
God promises that we don’t have to worry about anything,
because it is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the
Kingdom.
And maybe, to some of you,
God has even made a particular promise in your own life,
something more specific as he did to Simeon.
God’s promises to us are truly awesome.
They are fulfilled in numerous ways every day of our
life.
We only have to pay attention.
They are fulfilled in particular ways when we encounter
Jesus,
and today, in this place, we are all preparing to
encounter Jesus.
We were all guided here by the Spirit to encounter Jesus.
We might experience Jesus’ presence as we praise him
(sing his praises).
We might find Jesus surrounding us as we pray for our
needs and those of others.
We might recognize Jesus as he receives our offerings
of ourselves, our souls and bodies,
once again as a living sacrifice for his work in the
world.
We are also going to get to hold Jesus as the Body of
Christ with our hands this morning.
As Simeon held the baby Jesus,
we are going to touch him, as well,
but in other forms.
At the peace, we are going to touch Jesus as we shake
hands with those around us.
Those sitting next to you are members of Christ’s body.
They are vessels of the Holy Spirit
through whom God works to show his love,
and to bring to us God’s healing and comfort and
challenge.
They are fellow citizens of the Kingdom of God
that we live with in a community of faith together today
as we prepare for our eternal lives
in the great communion of saints in the new Jerusalem.
They are our neighbors who we grow to love as ourselves,
as Jesus commanded.
We cannot hope to encounter Jesus
unless we look for him in that portion of the Body of
Christ
right where we are.
We were all guided here this morning by the Holy Spirit to
encounter Jesus in one another.
At communion, we will also encounter Jesus in the Body of
Christ of the Eucharistic bread. Just as Simeon held the baby Jesus, so we hold
Jesus in our hands as we come to the altar rail. Initially, receiving communion
may not seem to evoke the same feelings Simeon had encountering the baby Jesus
in the temple,
but Jesus wants to be no less present to us than he was
to Simeon.
When we do this in memory of him,
in accordance to his instructions,
Jesus promises to be present to us.
As we come forward,
offering ourselves once again as temples of the Holy
Spirit
and receiving Jesus into our bodies and hearts and lives,
we hold the Body of Christ in our hands.
We are invited to this feast where Jesus is the ultimate
host
so that the promises God has made to us may be fulfilled.
We can come to the altar every week,
knowing that Jesus will show up for us here;
that if we are lost or seemingly forsaken,
in this moment we can know we are found by him again;
that we can experience his presence, his joy, and his
peace;
that nothing can separate us from his love;
and that we can receive a foretaste of eternal life right
now.
We, like Simeon, can rejoice as God fulfills his promises
to us
in the sacrament at the altar
and in our brothers and sisters in the pews.
Then, like Simeon, we can depart in peace to see God at
work throughout the world.
We end our service with, “Go in peace,” because we can go
in peace.
Strengthened by God’s presence with us,
we can love and serve the Lord outside of this building.
We can sing of how God’s glory is with his people,
and how his light is going to shine out to everyone.
And we can depart in peace
as the light of the glory of God is shared with the
world.
God has guided us here for a great purpose
– like Simeon to
encounter Jesus once again
and to share what we have seen.
Lord, you now have set your servant free
To go in peace as you have promised.
For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior,
Whom you have prepared for all the world to see.
A light to enlighten the nations
And the glory of your people Israel.
