May the words that I speak be both spoken and received, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Today we celebrate Candlemas, which is very ancient. Certainly from at least as early as the sixth century, people held processions with lighted candles; and the day came to be known in the Latin Catholic West as: ‘Candlemas, the Purification of our Lady’. In the Orthodox East it was known as: ‘The Presentation of the Lord.’
The Anglican Church, ever good at striking a balance, adopted both titles. Today in many churches candles will be blessed, often in two bundles – one of long, thick, decorated candles for use in the Church until next Candlemas. And the second of smaller candles, lit and held at today’s services by the worshippers – all to symbolise the: ‘Light for revelation to the Gentiles.’
There are people today who believe that convention should go out of the window; they question the Church’s rituals and traditions, and look for less conformity and more freedom to worship. Times do change and our worship patterns have changed over the years; but we should take a serious note of how Jesus and his family observed the conventions of the times, as well as the motivations Our Lord introduced as his ministry advanced.
To all intents and purposes, Jesus was being raised in the normal way with an observation for tradition: He was circumcised and named on the eighth day, brought to the temple for his Presentation and his mother’s purification on the fortieth day. Jesus was a normal child with the family observing the law of Mother Church (incorporated in the Temple). Jesus is presented to the Lord and is consecrated to the Lord, according to the Law of Moses.
Mary devoutly submits her child and herself to the ancient customs, willingly obedient to the Law under which she has been born and has lived. The offering made is that of a poor family, which is the least that is acceptable for the priest to purify them – a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons.
In the Book of Common Prayer it states: ‘We offer and present unto thee, O Lord, ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be a reasonable, holy and living sacrifice.’ We too were dedicated to God at our baptisms and this means following and obeying Christ. Remembering his words: The first commandment is this – ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
The presentation of Jesus in the Temple was the fulfilment of the prophet Malachi’s words, who said: “Suddenly the Lord will come to his Temple. The messenger of the Covenant in whom you delight is here, here already….”
Candlemas reminds us of the great truth of Christ’s coming as the ‘Light of the World’. Candlemas shows us the light that Christ brings into the world – the light he brought into the Temple that day, as two old and faithful worshippers, Simeon and Anna received a joy for which they had waited many years.
It is recorded in the gospel these words: “Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s messiah. Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, …Simeon took him in his arms and praised God.”
These words which he spoke are the Nunc Dimittis which are used at Evening Prayer: “Lord, now latest thou thy servant depart in peace: according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people: To be a light to lightest the Gentiles: and to be the glory of thy people Israel.”
It may have seemed that Mary and Joseph, in observing the ritual of Purification and Presentation, were complying with man-made laws, and in a sense they were. But they were also conforming to God’s laws. Jesus and God’s son , would be born as a Jewish child, raised as a Jewish child should, according to tradition and convention and this involved the rites or ordinances of the current religion.
So today we can follow with reassurance the need to obey God’s laws and to observe conventions. God does give us the choice of freewill, but as Christians our freedom is gained in being freed from the attachment to sin and being blinded by the evils of self-centredness and the world.
Christ gives us the freedom, because of what he has done for the world. The light of Christ overcomes the darkness of the world. In him we are raised to new and everlasting life. Christ sends us the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Drawn by the Holy Spirit, Simeon and Anna, blessed the baby and foretold a great future for him, and also a sorrowful time for his mother. Still today, in our evening prayers, ‘Nunc dimittis’, the Song of Simeon, is used in our churches to remind us of how Christ has brought the light of goodness, and the love of God into our lives. The task of the church is to show that light to the world, that people of all nations may see it and follow Christ. May each one of us faithfully witness to the Light of Christ, by the grace of God, as we go about our daily lives.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
St Peter's Church 