St. Paul’s Church in
Bergen, Jersey City NJ
February 2, 2014
The Feast of the
Presentation of Our Lord
Malachi 3:1-4
Psalm 84
Hebrews 2:14-18
Luke 2:22-40
Presenting Jesus
Today
we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation.
The
Feast of the Presentation is sometimes called Candlemas – because it’s the day
when priests would bless the candles that would be used for the year ahead.
On
the Feast of the Presentation we remember a story told only in Luke’s gospel –
the story of Jesus’ parents bringing the child Jesus to the Temple.
Actually,
In the story of the Presentation, Luke combines two different Jewish rituals.
First,
according to Exodus, every firstborn son belonged to God and could be brought
home after the father made an offering to God.
Second,
Jewish Law required women to undergo a ritual purification forty days after
giving birth to a male child. The purification included the sacrifice of a lamb
in the Temple. Or, if the family was poor, they had the less expensive option
of offering a pair of doves or pigeons.
Notice
that Luke tells us that Jesus’ parents could only afford to sacrifice two
birds.
Mary
and Joseph are poor.
Yet,
they are pious and faithful people who do the right thing. They obey the
religious Law.
So,
imagine the scene for a moment.
The
Temple was the religious, cultural and political center of Israel. It would
have been teeming with people from Jerusalem and far beyond. Jews came great
distances to offer ritual sacrifices.
Others
came just to marvel at the magnificent architecture and observe the spectacle.
There
were big crowds – lots of people, lots of noise, lots of smells.
And
in the midst of all of this activity, here come Mary and Joseph, two poor
peasants from Nazareth carrying their son, just forty days old.
They
have come all this way to present Jesus.
They
would have been unremarkable in every way. Mary and Joseph were a couple of
nobodies in a city – in a world - filled with people just like them.
Maybe
some people would have mocked their little offering, ridiculed them for only
being able to afford the two birds.
But,
Mary and Joseph do the best they can, offer the most, the best, they could to
God.
Mary
and Joseph have come to Jerusalem to present Jesus.
Now,
of course, we know that this isn’t
any ordinary couple. And we know that the child they present is no ordinary
child.
And
we know that Mary and Joseph know that their child is no ordinary child.
And,
it turns out, thanks to the Holy Spirit, there were others in the Jerusalem
Temple that day who saw beyond and behind the ordinariness and the poverty of
Mary and Joseph – there are others able to recognize Jesus when he is
presented.
Luke
tells us that one of those people is a “righteous and devout” man named Simeon.
Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that he would not die
before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.
And,
sure enough, when Mary and Joseph present Jesus, Simeon recognizes him. Simeon
recognizes the forty-day old infant Jesus as the Messiah – the Savior not only
of the Jews but of the whole world. In his great song, Simeon sings that he can
die because he has seen God’s salvation, “a light for revelation to the
Gentiles and for the glory of your people Israel.”
Mary
and Joseph present Jesus. And Simeon recognizes Jesus.
But,
it’s not just Simeon.
Luke
tells us there’s somebody else – there’s also a prophet – an elderly woman
named Anna.
Mary
and Joseph present Jesus. And Anna recognizes Jesus.
We’re
told that Anna “began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who
were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”
Poor
and ordinary as they were, Mary and Joseph present Jesus.
And,
guided by the Holy Spirit, at least some people, at least Simeon and Anna,
recognize Jesus.
Presenting
Jesus. Recognizing Jesus.
As
you know, today is the day of our Annual Parish Meeting. It’s the day when we
report and review statistics. It’s the day to celebrate that, for example, our
average Sunday attendance jumped from 51 in 2012 to 69 in 2013, and, I’m happy
to say, continues to climb as we become more regular in our church attendance
and as more people discover and join our warm and loving community.
It’s
a day to review of financial situation, which I’m relieved to tell you is,
thanks to all of you, much brighter than it was this time last year.
It’s
a day to talk about individual ministries – to celebrate what’s been done and
to plan ahead for the exciting future that God has in store for us all.
But,
the annual meeting is also a time to reflect on the big picture – it’s a time
to ask: Why does St. Paul’s exist?
Why
are we here?
We
aren’t here to keep me employed or to give us all a great place to be
together and enjoy each other’s company. (Although, ahem, those are both good things that I wouldn’t want to be
without!)
No,
at our very heart, the Church – this church – is here to present Jesus to the
world.
Poor
and ordinary as we are, God has given us the awesome responsibility – the magnificent
privilege – of presenting Jesus to the world – presenting Jesus to a world
broken by sin, wounded by violence and haunted by despair.
Poor
and ordinary as we are, God has given St. Paul’s the awesome responsibility –
the magnificent privilege - of
presenting Jesus to Jersey City – of presenting Jesus to a city broken by sin,
wounded by violence and haunted by despair.
Just
like Mary and Joseph long ago, our job is to present Jesus.
And
when we present Jesus to the world – when we present Jesus to Jersey City –
some, like Simeon and Anna, will recognize Jesus.
Presenting
Jesus. Recognizing Jesus.
Here
in church, here in our much-loved old building, we present and recognize Jesus in
our music and prayers, and in our fellowship.
Here
in church we present and recognize Jesus when we take the Body and Blood of
Christ into our bodies and into our hearts.
And
then we go out those doors into the world to present Jesus.
Out
there, we present Jesus when we actually work up the courage to talk to someone
else about our faith. When we get the nerve to invite a friend or a neighbor to
come to church, to come and see.
We
present Jesus when we partner with Garden State Episcopal to feed the hungry
and to provide the basic human dignity that comes from, for example, having of
clean teeth.
We
present Jesus when we offer a shoulder to cry on, when we work together with
people in other churches to promise homeless families shelter and a better
future.
We
present Jesus when we teach our children to reject violence, to respect the
dignity of every human being, to live lives of love and generosity.
We
present Jesus when we give and give to those who can never pay us back and when
we offer hospitality - when we help - even those who turn out to be dishonest
and insincere.
We
present Jesus when we forgive those who hurt us – and forgive and forgive some
more.
First
as a parishioner and now as your priest, I have seen Jesus presented here at
St. Paul’s in so many life-changing ways.
And,
like many if not all of you, I have recognized
Jesus – I have recognized Jesus who is presented right here – who is
presented right here in and through us - in life-changing ways.
Presenting
Jesus. That’s the awesome responsibility – the magnificent privilege – the
great truth – the great mission – behind all the facts and figures we will
discuss today.
God
called Mary and Joseph, poor and ordinary as they were, to present Jesus to the
world.
And,
today and in the year and years ahead, God calls us – calls St. Paul’s - poor
and ordinary as we are – to present Jesus to the world.
May
it be so.
Amen.
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