Malachi 3:1-4
Hebrews 2:14-18
Luke 2:22-40
Psalm 84 or 84:1-6
It's like bringing the new baby in for her six-week checkup. Jesus' family is doing what is expected – what everyone else does.
It's ordinary.
They are an ordinary family according to the law.
Jesus is ordinary child according to the law.
"He had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect," we are told in the Letter to the Hebrews.
-- Like an ordinary Hebrew baby boy
he was circumcised.
-- Like an ordinary Hebrew first son,
he was presented -- given to God.
-- And then, like an ordinary firstborn of a poor family,
he was redeemed – bought back – with the offering of a pair of birds.
-- Like an ordinary child,
Jesus grew and became strong.
And yet to Simeon and Anna this ordinary baby is something Extra-ordinary - extraordinary. He is the Messiah - the savior for whom the Hebrew people wait. "A light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel." Not only is this child the one to save the Hebrew people, but he is sent to the Gentiles - to the rest of the world - as well.
The child's father and mother were amazed. It is seems at first to be the Christmas story continued - the Messiah, the light, the rejoicing. This is what we all, like Simeon, have been waiting for. The messiah is good news!
BUT look at what the Old Testament says about the messiah-- "The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple" God's messenger is coming, "The messenger in whom you delight--indeed, he is coming.... But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire..." Perhaps the coming of the messiah is not such a lovely picture after all.
Did you hear what else Simeon, guided by the Spirit, said to the child's mother Mary? "This child is destined for the falling and the 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 your own soul too."
Inner thoughts will be revealed and a sword will pierce even the soul of the messiah's mother. Who, indeed can endure his coming?
How would you like your innermost thoughts revealed? Oh sure, there's some good stuff there, but it could be shocking, embarrassing, and worse: things like what you really wanted to say to the friend who hurt you. Or maybe self pity, hurt loved ones, lust, greed ... All those things you really, really don't like about yourself and hide away... Episcopalians don't like to talk about SIN but it's there, down in the inmost shadowy depths...
That's what the coming of the light does- the brighter the light, the more apparent are the shadows. This is why the saints who live in the light are often so humble – they have seen their own shadowed dark side. Today we celebrate not only Presentation but also Purification. The refiner's fire that purifies shines brightly today.
Being a Christian, following Jesus, is not easy, not all light and joy.
Simeon has lived long enough to know that the coming of God's kingdom will not be easy, that it will literally "cut to the quick" -- to the center of our lives.
Meeting Jesus does that. Yes, finding the messiah gives us light and hope in the darkness of our lives. But because of that very hope, we open ourselves to be refined by the fire and to be wounded by the opposition of the world. Not only are the shadows of our inmost thoughts revealed in the Light of Christ, but the suffering and brokenness of the world becomes more apparent in the contrast.
When pain and tragedy strikes anywhere – in Iraq or next door or flying through the air over Texas – the sword pierces the souls of people who know Christ. The sword cuts to the quick because we believe that God's will for us is wholeness and life not pain and tragedy; and our inmost thoughts scream out WHY? The answer too often remains a mystery, just as it did for Jesus on the cross.
So why be a Christian if it's going to hurt? Why do you reach out to receive Jesus when he is presented to you? Why do you come to worship? Just what have you found here? What happens when Jesus is presented to you? In the word of God, in Communion? Is it comfort, joy, peace, healing? Is it a sword that pierces your heart? Is it both?
I'm not going to give you an answer. Each of you has your own answer. I do not know your inmost thoughts (thank God!). I am not a prophet like Anna; neither do I have the spiritual guidance that Simeon had.
How we have received Christ in our lives is different for each of us. You are the one with the answer to why you keep coming here.
Many of us have been Christians for years. We are "old" in faith. (Even the youngest of us is "older" in faith than those who never come to worship.)
Simeon was near death and Anna was at least 84. Simeon and Anna were faithful for a long time; they waited.
Jesus is presented in the Temple. This is what Simeon and Anna have waited for. They experience the Good News. And what do they do? They, in turn, pass on the Good News: they present Jesus, the Messiah, to others who seek him.
Presenting Jesus. Passing on what we have received. Whatever it is that you have received here --that answer that only you may know-- however Jesus was presented to you that keeps you coming back to worship: that's the story you need to tell. That is what you need to share.
This is evangelism. It is proclaiming the Good News. Evangelism is telling our stories, presenting Jesus.
We need not be scared away by "big E " Evangelism. It need not be a preaching tour or a big door-to-door campaign but rather something simple, evangelism that is small and personal -- telling our own story.
What story have you got to tell? Have you ever experienced something so beautiful and so hopeful that like Simeon you felt ready to depart in peace? Perhaps a sunrise or an awesome symphony Or seen something so wonderful that like Anna you could not help but praise God and tell everyone about it? Maybe a new grandchild, who seems for you the light of the world.
Perhaps you have received a moment of peace, a time of healing, or met someone who offered you help or hope, love or forgiveness when you most needed it.
These are our stories, stories that present to us a glimpse of God. This is good news we can proclaim to the world.
Like Simeon, we have seen in our own lives the light of the world. The Light is Christ and we believe that Light can light up and heal the world. It is Christ that we see and have presented to us here in this place. And, like Anna, we are asked in turn, to present the Light that is Jesus to all others who are still seeking it.
This is something too amazing to keep to ourselves.
The Light is in you. Go ahead. Tell your story. Light up someone's life.