The Very Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
Last Sunday was truly a day for presentations at the Church of the Redeemer. At our Annual Parish Meeting the nominees for the vestry were presented; pins and plaques were presented to the outgoing members of the vestry; reports by the Treasurer, Sr. Warden, and Rector were presented; and Volunteer of the Year awards were presented to Jill Stockton and Don Peet.
A presentation is a formal way of clearly and often solemnly stating the purpose and meaning of what or who is being presented.
The late Henri Nouwen, in his book Can You Drink the Cup?, states that “just living life is not enough. We must know what we are living. A life that is not reflected upon isn’t worth living. It belongs to the essence of being human that we contemplate our life, think about it, discuss it, evaluate it, and form opinions about it. Half of living is reflecting on what is being lived. Is it worth it? Is it good? Is it bad? Is it old? Is it new? What is it all about?” Presentations are one way we have of articulating the meaning behind what we are living and doing.
It isn’t coincidental that in a fine restaurant the food is not just placed in front of us without any ceremony or plan. It is placed in front of us with style and even the food on the plate is arranged thoughtfully and artistically. In fact, that is called a presentation. But we are not here to talk about the presentation of a feast, but about the Feast of the Presentation—the Presentation of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple.
At the time Jesus was born, there were places all over Israel, and throughout the Roman Empire, where Jews could gather for the study of the Scriptures and for prayer. But if you really wanted to worship, there was only one place in the world where you could go, and that was the Temple in Jerusalem. It was built on the rock where Abraham went to sacrifice his son, Isaac. For the Jew, it was the center of the world, and it was the only place where sacrifices could be made. It was where the glory of the Lord could be seen and felt.
You had to be ritually clean in order to make a sacrifice to God, and making a sacrifice to God was the way one worshiped. When a woman had a baby, the birthing process made her ritually unclean. In the birth of a baby boy, that uncleanness lasted for 40 days, after which she would go to the Temple for her purification. After her purification, she would then make a sacrifice, dedicating the baby to God in the case of the first born male. Firstborn males were to be dedicated to God in thanksgiving for the first born of Israel being spared during the Exodus. In Numbers we read that the firstborn could be bought back from the Lord for five shekels, which was the normal practice. St. Luke does not tell us that Mary and Joseph paid the five shekels, which once again points to the unique calling of Jesus.
So, on the 40th day after the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph made their way to the Temple for Mary’s purification and Jesus’ dedication. What a dramatic event St. Luke described in a most matter-of-fact way. Here was God the Son, who is himself the embodiment of Almighty God, being brought to the center of the world, the place where the patriarch Abraham would have sacrificed his son, Isaac, the very place where God the Father dwelt!
When they got to the Temple there were two people present whom God had made aware of the uniqueness of this moment. Simeon, a devout and holy man, had been told by God that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. When he saw Jesus, he knew he was the one for whom he had been waiting. He took him up in his arms, and said, “Lord, now lettest 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 lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of thy people Israel.”
These words of Simeon have been remembered and prayed by the Church ever since, and this Canticle is known as the Nunc Dimittis. It is from this Canticle that the feast gets its other name, Candlemas: “A light to lighten the Gentiles…” An elderly woman, by the name of Anna, was also in the Temple and also knew that Jesus was the one who would redeem Israel.
The Presentation first of all is an epiphany, a manifestation of who Jesus is, as attested to by Simeon and Anna. Secondly, it shows the obedience of the Mother of our Lord and her husband, Joseph, to fulfilling the Law of God. That meant the inconvenience and expense of travelling to the Temple in Jerusalem and making a sacrifice. That was the kind of people they were, the kind of family in which our Lord would be reared.
We present all of our children to the Lord at baptism, give them to him, and they are to be his. There is no buying them back for five shekels. This feast should call us all, parents and non-parents alike, to a renewed sense of responsibility for the children of this parish, for we have presented them to the Lord and we must do all that we can to see that they remain his.
Finally, the Song of Simeon should remind us all of our responsibility to bring others to Christ. Jesus is the light of the world, the Savior of all, not just some. This feast should encourage us to renew our commitment to proclaim the Gospel in word and deed in our workplaces, our clubs, with our friends and acquaintances. When was the last time you invited someone to church? It’s an easy, non-threatening way to bring someone to Christ, and it could be the greatest gift you could give to that person.
We human beings go in for presentations—baptisms, confirmations, ordinations, introductions, even in the way we dine in a fine restaurant. Let’s see that the presentations we make to the Lord truly are given to him, as we give our children to Christ, and as we bring others to him.
Sermon preached by the Very Reverend Fredrick A. Robinson
The Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota, Florida
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
1 February 2015