The Presentation 2025
Texts: Malachi 3:1-4; Hebrews 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40
Watch and listen HERE
Everyone who went to the Temple that day was in the process of being obedient to God—like you are today here obeying the 4th commandment to remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. All of the people at the Temple probably brought different burdens and probably had different expectations.
Old Simeon was righteous and devout and the Holy Spirit was with him. It guided him to the temple that day.
Anna was 84 and had lived most of her life as widow. She worshiped God in the temple night and day. I have met such widows in the church. They seem to be constantly on their knees in prayer.
Mary and Joseph were there following the law of Moses. 7 days after birth of the first born male child, the parents and the child were to go to the temple to redeem the child and purify the mother. The baby boy was offered to God as holy and then taken home in exchange for an offering of turtledoves or pigeons. This doesn’t say much about the value for first born males.
Because all of these people were faithfully being obedient to God something special happened for them all.
Simeon saw the Messiah and could be at peace in his desire for the consolation of Israel.
Mary and Joseph had their son blessed by an old holy man, and they were amazed at what he told them about their son.
Anna too, recognized who this baby truly was and what it meant for the Jewish people.
Simeon had a message just for Mary. “This child is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce you own soul too.” Though the child would save his people and be a light even to the Gentiles, something tragic would happen to him. We all now know what that would be, but could you imagine what this meant for Mary as she raised her first born son?
Every Sunday we come here to worship God, being faithfully obedient like Simeon, Anna, and Mary and Joseph. We give thanks for many blessings we have received—family, friends, decent health, satisfying work, food, shelter, safety, and peace. We also come bearing our own burdens—fear, worry, anxiety, or confusion…We hope and pray that God will bless us. We share our burdens in prayer and receive God’s mercy and grace in Holy Communion. Perhaps we too hear the message from God, just what we most need to hear—in the lessons, or the words of the liturgy, or the hymns, or the sermon. This is a ritual that has been repeated throughout the history of the people of God, millions of times. It is always better to be together to worship God than not. The Holy Spirit comes when two or three are gathered together.
Like Mary and Joseph, and Simeon and Anna, we too have experienced special blessings by coming together on Sunday mornings—the baptisms of baby Christians, the joy of a child serving as an usher, the affection shared among old friends, lovingly preparing the altar to receive the Body and Blood of Christ, the contributions of all our parishioners to the praise of God, each in our own way. It truly is a scene not unlike the one in the Temple that day. We have righteous and devout parishioners, elderly widows, and younger people on the fringe. A healthy family needs them all. Who are you? And what is your role among the people recognizing the Messiah, Jesus the Savior of all that we know, and touch, and love? How does meeting him and knowing him change you?
In the Letter to the Hebrews the unknown author addresses the fuller reality of what the Messiah coming into the world would mean for the world. It would not be all love and peace, because earth is still the place where the devil wants to rule people. The author of the letter has a different way of looking at the people of Israel. He wrote, “For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham.” We are all the spiritual descendants of Abraham. There are among the people of God those whose hearts are being torn by fear, anger, distrust, and even hatred. Jesus came to redeem sinners, people like us.
A long time ago I read a very old book written by St. Athanasius, one of the Church Fathers. It is entitled “On the Incarnation of the Word”. If you like to read old books, I highly recommend it. Athanasius wrestled with why God would become a human in order to save us. I remember one concise phrase that helps me understand why God did this. “He could not redeem what he did not know.” “To know” in the ancient world was to have a relationship with something. This is a much more intimate thing than just knowing about something. Elsewhere, Athanasius writes that God commingled with man.
Perhaps Athanasius took his understanding in part from this verse in Hebrews, “Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.” In some way all of us here are being tested by the world, and in particular, by the devil. The devil wants us to be afraid, to distrust, to be anxious, to be angry, and to hate. But Christ’s presence with us is so strong that we are able to eventually, with much prayer and counsel, let those things go, to loosen their hold on our hearts and minds. Though the challenges we face may be physical, or social, or emotional, this is at the depth of our being a spiritual struggle.
The prophet Malachi described this process differently. He wrote that the Lord would suddenly come into his temple and he would bring a fire that would refine the people like gold and silver. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, and all of us here are being refined by it. Malachi said this refining would continue until the people presented offerings to the Lord in righteousness. We know the refining fire of the Holy Spirit to be the process of Sanctification, and it continues all our lives. Simeon and Anna undoubtedly had been through a lot in their lives, and they trusted God, and they had been faithful and obedient to his commandments. The results of their process of sanctification were righteousness, devotion, insight, and wisdom.
We might pray that we too would develop righteousness, increased devotion, insight, and wisdom as we are being tested. We remember that we are not alone—if we know Christ in a way he wishes us to know him—intimately. He has gone on before us in this testing. He knows who he is redeeming, whether or not we are even aware of it.
This is a good place to be, to receive God’s love as cracked vessels. My prayer for all of us, those present and those not present, is that through the work of the Holy Spirit we might become more steady in our devotion to God and be purified in our hearts and minds to worship him more fully. Amen.
