Presentation of Our Lord, 2/2/2025

Text: Luke 2:22-40, Hebrews 2: 14-18
Grace, Peace, and Mercy from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

It has become clichéd for the young to say to their parents during a long trip: “Are we there yet?”. Between the destination and the journey, we always want to bypass the journey and get to the promised land as quick as possible. “Are we there yet?” is probably one of the most irksome questions that rises from all the waiting times in our lives. We want the promised fruits now. We want to get to our destination now. But reality is a long journey. It is a journey that even transcends our individual lives. Yet, the journeying through is essential; the leap into a daily life of faithfulness to God’s calling for our lives. Faithfulness while we wait for the desired destination is what defines our very lives, it signals our integrity, our commitment to a way of life of which God will make much fruit. As human beings of course, we do not want to wait in vain. We want to know if our faithfulness, if our efforts actually will amount to something. Such an outcome we can never ascertain. We can only hope, we can only be captive to the promise that things will work out as we desire them to be, or at least, that the best outcome might happen. I don’t think there has been any just movement in human history that has not required this captivity to hope, to see beyond what we see in the present moment, to grasp a future that might not be experienced.

The Christian life can be like such a life. We are people of a faith that says that everything will work out well in the end because God has promised to do just that. We plant and wait for the Lord’s deliverance, to see His justice manifest itself in our midst. But in Christian faith, there is something more that we have received, that makes our waiting more than just whistling in the dark, hoping for the best outcome. Today’s Gospel reading, commemorating the Presentation of Jesus at the temple, enlightens us with the content of Christian hope. In this moving scene, we have an old righteous and devout man, Simeon. In his long journey of life, Simeon looked forward to the “consolation of Israel”, meaning the deliverance of the people Israel from oppression and dispersal by the Messiah, ending in Israel returning to their called existence. Here is a man whose eyes has probably seen many events come and go, and no deliverance. Yet, he remained faithful, and waited and trusted upon the promise God made to him that he would be alive to see the hoped-for Messiah.

“Guided by the Spirit”, Simeon went into the temple the same day Jesus would be presented. I see this scene as it sometimes happens in our own lives, when by a blessed coincidence, we receive the gift or message we had been hoping to receive. I’m always moved by the following scene, as Simeon takes this vulnerable child in his arms, his worn gaze probably beaming alongside streams of tears at the revelation of who he was holding. I’m also moved by the fact that it is not just Simeon holding with his own arms the hope he long waited for, but it is also God in the flesh allowing Himself to be held by Simeon, that when God comes into our lives, He places Himself so close and tangible, as an embrace. It was no abstract hope, it was a living and breathing hope. Everything is going to be alright. And then we have that wonderful praise from Simeon: “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Now Simeon can die peacefully knowing, this child he holds in his hands assures him of the future that he will not live, but that he has surely glimpsed and grasped in the face of this child. In many ways, Simeon is talking about you and me, he has pierced through the veil of time and saw you and me, in the same Spirit of life that come from Jesus. He saw God’s Kingdom growing and expressing itself in all the lives that will be blessed by the life of Jesus. God’s salvation, the light that is revealed to all people’s is presented in the life that the Christ child will lead. All that waiting led to this moment. And after it, the revelation of God’s salvation is simply an ever unfolding discovery of Jesus’ life in us. That Christ may live in us and work through in all the unique ways that grow from us. Christian faith and hope is more than whistling in the dark, it is an faithful embrace of Jesus life to our lives. It is God presenting Jesus to us over and over again in new ways, new ways in which Christ’s life may shine through us like a prism. We are given an assurance within the promise and waiting, that our desired hope of restoration and liberation from sin and death are fulfilled in Jesus and living according to His word, a word that will always allow us to be dismissed in peace.

Jesus and the light He brings are not some kind of pollyannish manifestation of love however. Following the way of Jesus can lead to the “falling and rising of many”, for human beings will oppose Jesus’ way. The world can’t comprehend the love and compassion that brings God so close to Simeon’s breast. The world can’t understand how God can be with us in the way Jesus does it. For such a love and hope are inconvenient, for it leads to even greater community and embrace, it breaks down the barriers we place upon ourselves and interrupts the self-serving patterns that sin has wrought. So in our waiting and our hopes, we do not need to wait too much to find the Kingdom of Heaven wanting to make its presence known in our lives. We don’t need to ask: “Are we there yet? ” For it is in the face of the Christ that Heaven comes to us. In the shape of Jesus’ life, we are given the assurance that leads us through the sea of despair. We are already where we need to be. We can say with the psalmist: I know from where does my help come from, my help comes from the Lord. As Christ is presented in the temple of our own lives, what shall be our response? Simeon has already let us know what this child will bring. Are we ready for Him to transform our lives? Are we ready for this word that will find opposition in human hearts, but that will ultimately win the day with its promise of liberation? Can we say like Simeon, now Master, you can let your servant go in peace? Let us behold this Christ always beloved. Let us daily venture forth with Him in the life He has prepared for all people.
Let us pray: