Soul Work

Soul Work

St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church, Owings Mills MD

February 2, 2025

The Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord 

Malachi 3:1-4

Psalm 84

Hebrews 2:14-18

Luke 2:22-40

Let us pray:

Loving God, we pray for purification and strength.

Wash away our fear and hatred.

Strengthen our souls so we may withstand the piercings of suffering and sorrow.

Amen.

This past Thursday, our sextons made their way through the churchyard and cemetery gathering up the Christmas wreaths that, thanks to your generosity, have rested on many graves for quite a few weeks now.

The wreath removal happened a little later than usual this year because of the snow and the bitter cold that kept the snow on the ground for several weeks.

And, you know, I didn’t mind that at all, because the wreaths looked so beautiful out there, rings of green and red sprinkled among the graves, flashes of color among the snowy white, much needed reminders of Christmas joy.

But, although the wreath-removal may have been a little later than usual, it was actually right on time, or maybe even a couple of days early.

Most of us have long since moved on from Christmas, our trees disposed of or put away, decorations back in the closet or up in the attic – but there is a Christian tradition that the Christmas Season lasts for forty days, lasts all the way to February 2, lasts all the way to the great feast day that we celebrate today: The Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord.

In the story of the Presentation, Luke tells us that forty days after Jesus’ birth, Mary and Joseph brought him to the Jerusalem Temple.

And in this story, Luke combines two Jewish traditions:

Forty days after giving birth to a male child, mothers underwent a ritual of purification, which included offering a lamb to be sacrificed in the Temple. Or poor people could offer a pair of doves or pigeons.

That’s the option chosen by Joseph and Mary, a sign that the Holy Family was a poor family.

The other ritual was what’s called the “Redemption of the Firstborn,” the idea that a firstborn male child belonged to God and could be redeemed by an offering made by the father.

So that’s why Joseph and Mary and the baby Jesus are in the Temple but, actually, we don’t hear much about those two rituals.

Instead, the story of the Presentation is really about the encounters with two holy people: Simeon and Anna.

I’m going to take them in reverse order.

Anna is described as a prophet – a prophet who seems to have been living in the Temple for a while, totally devoted to fasting and prayer – and once she recognizes who Jesus is, like other women in the gospels – like the Samaritan woman at the well, like Mary Magdalene - once she recognizes who Jesus is, Anna begins to spread the Good News.

Simeon is described as righteous and devout, and like Israel itself, he has been waiting for the Messiah – but maybe he’s been waiting with more confidence than most because the Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die before seeing the Savior.

Well, as we heard, thanks to the Holy Spirit, Simeon recognizes who Jesus is and he sings his song, giving thanks to God that he can now die in peace because he has seen the light, the light of God shining on all the world’s people in and through Jesus.

So, you can get why some people say the Christmas Season extends to the Feast of the Presentation – this story does have a Christmas feel to it, doesn’t it?

There’s plenty of Christmas joy.

 But there’s also the Christmas foreshadowing of hard times, of sacrifice and suffering ahead.

We don’t talk much about this during Christmas – we don’t want to bring people down during a time that’s supposed to be “holly, jolly” – but once you start looking for this Christmas foreshadowing you find it everywhere:

No room at the inn: from day one, the world will not welcome God’s Son.

The Magi give the gift of myrrh: customarily used to anoint the dead.

Herod’s slaughter of the innocent children in Bethlehem: the powers of the world try to kill Jesus right at the start.

And the flight into Egypt: for a time, the Holy Family will be a refugee family.

Christmas foreshadowing of hard times, sacrifice, and suffering ahead.

And we certainly hear that Christmas foreshadowing in Simeon’s words to Mary:

“This child is destined for the falling and 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 then Simeon says to Mary, “And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Powerful and stark words to a young mother who must have already known that saying “yes” to God would require great sacrifice, both for her and for her son.

As many of you will remember, last Sunday we had a beautiful baptism.

Henry Brooks is just six months old but already a familiar and much-loved presence here at St. Thomas’.

Henry was patient as I poured those three scoops of water over his head, announcing that he was baptized in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Henry was patient but he wasn’t still, he was kind of paddling, which made total sense when I learned that his parents have been bringing him to swimming class!

As we do at every baptism, we renewed our Baptismal Covenant, making those big promises to keep on praying and breaking bread together, to confess our sins and try to do better, and to proclaim the Good News by word and example.

And then there are those two last promises, the hardest, most challenging, promises of all:

Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?

And, will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

And to each of those questions, we answered “I will, with God’s help.”

All people, every human being.

If you were here last Sunday or watched online, you’ll probably remember that in my sermon I listed different kinds of people we are called to love, specifically including kinds of people that we might not like one bit, people we might not trust or approve of, some people we might even hate.

As I made my way down the list, I could see some of you start to become uncomfortable, start to squirm a little bit in your seats.

Now, I can’t read your minds – not usually, anyway - but I think you squirmed because this is REALLY HARD.

And I’m right there with you. I can’t tell you how many times I deleted that list from my sermon draft, thinking, no, it would be better – safer – easier – to just keep things vague.

“Love all people.”

But, no, vague is too easy.

Specific is hard.

Loving the people I disagree with, the people I don’t like, the people I don’t approve of or trust, that’s hard – and it’s not getting any easier.

Only remotely possible with God’s help.

But, especially in this tense moment, this is what we’re called to, this how we are meant to live.

The way of the world is the way of hate and death.

God’s way is the way of love and life.

So, the only question – and it’s a big one – is how? How do we live this way of love and life? How do we, with God’s help, keep our baptismal promises?

I was pondering this question the other day when I came across these words from Sam Shoemaker:

“In the end, the outer world is a pretty faithful reproduction of the inner world. We cannot hope to make a world of righteousness and peace while the souls of our people are full of sin and conflict.”

Following God’s way of love and life, striving to keep our baptismal promises, begins with working on our souls.

This will look a little different for each of us but will certainly include time for prayer – what Shoemaker called “Quiet Time.”

And maybe that prayer is simply lifting up to God the people we can’t stand, - name them - the people we fear, don’t trust, even hate. Lift them up to God and say, “I know you love them God, help me to love them, too.”

This soul work definitely includes being here as much as possible with the rest of your fellow Christians – here in a community made up of people from all over, people who disagree about all sorts of things and yet, and yet, we pray together and serve together, we receive the Bread of Life and Cup of Salvation together – we love one another.

Following God’s way of love and life, striving to keep our baptismal promises, begins with working on our souls.

We know that Simeon’s prophecy came true: as Mary watched her son die on the cross, a sword did pierce her soul.

And we know only too well that our souls have been and will be pierced by suffering and loss.

But we also know that the cross is not the end of the story.

God’s bond of love with us is indissoluble, unbreakable.

Suffering and loss and death do not get the last word.

So, with God’s help, let’s do the soul work necessary to keep going, to follow God’s way of love and life, together, and let’s help build a world of righteousness and peace for all people.

Amen.

Jesus Present / Presenting Jesus

The Church of St. Paul and Incarnation, Jersey City NJ

February 2, 2020

The Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord

Malachi 3:1-4

Psalm 84

Hebrews 2:14-18

Luke 2:22-40

Jesus Present / Presenting Jesus

            Today, on the Feast of the Presentation, we get a rare glimpse into the life of Jesus and his family. In this little story, Luke provides some of the only information we have about Jesus during the decades between his birth and the start of his ministry.

            It’s always good for us to be reminded that Joseph and Mary – and Jesus - were faithful Jews, and as faithful Jews Joseph and Mary traveled to the Temple in Jerusalem to fulfill two requirements of the Law of Moses.

            Forty days after the birth of a male child the mother was required to go through a purification ritual, offering a lamb to be sacrificed in the Temple. Or, if she was poor, as apparently Mary was, she could offer a pair of birds instead.

            The second requirement was that the firstborn male child belonged to God, and so the “presentation” in the Temple was a sign of that important relationship.

            So, on one level this was routine, right?

            New mothers were probably coming to the Temple to be purified all the time and new parents were probably presenting their firstborn sons all the time.

            But, we know that this is no ordinary child.

            Mary and Joseph know that too, of course, and it turns out that two other people in Jerusalem that day are also able to recognize Jesus.

            The first is Simeon who recognizes that this child is the long awaited messiah.

            And, appropriately enough, Simeon bursts into song, rejoicing that now he can die in peace. He sings that this child is a gift not only to Israel, but for the whole world.

            And the second is Anna, a prophet, an old woman, who has been living a life of prayer and fasting in the Temple and when Jesus is presented she is able to recognize him, too – and while we’re not told if she also sang, she did start spreading the word about this holy child.

            It’s a beautiful story, isn’t it?

            I love how it’s ordinary and extraordinary at the same time.

            A family is just going about their business of following the Law as faithfully as they can, but because their child is Jesus something extraordinary is happening, and at least some people are able to recognize that something extraordinary is happening – that Someone extraordinary is in their midst.

            Jesus present.

            Presenting Jesus.

           

Today is also the day of our annual meeting when we take stock of where we are as a parish, looking back on the past year and also making some changes and setting goals for the year ahead.

There will be a lot of information spoken and even more information included in the printed annual report, which I very much hope you will take the time to read.

But, with so much information, so many words and numbers, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture.

Happens all the time.

            One of the things we started working on last year but haven’t yet finished is creating a new mission statement for our unified parish.

            It’s an important exercise, forcing us to reflect on why we are here, what we do here, and what is it we would like to be and do, or should be and do.

            The story of the Presentation that got me thinking about our mission statement, because in that long ago ordinary and extraordinary story maybe we see what we are meant to be about.

            Jesus present.

            Presenting Jesus.

            Why do we come here week after week?

            Why do you come here?

            The days of being expected to go to church are long over, so I think for most of us it’s not about obligation.

            So, why do we come here week after week?

            I’m sure there are somewhat different answers for all of us, with some coming for a few minutes of peace, some are here for the music, some because they love the tradition, some to see friends, to enjoy some time together, some because it’s what they’ve always done.

            Those are all good reasons to show up week after week, but most of all, we come here because this is where Jesus is present.

            Sometimes people say to me – and I’m sure you’ve heard this, too - that they don’t need to go to church to pray or to feel close to God, and that is absolutely true. Many of you know that I feel very close to God and do some of my best praying while on early morning walks through the streets and in Lincoln Park.

            But, Jesus is present here in a different way, an even deeper way.

            Jesus is present here in the Word that we hear, in the peace that we exchange, in the community made up of so many different kinds of people, and most of all in the Bread and Wine that is broken and poured out for us.

            Jesus present.

            And then our task, our challenge, our call, is to present Jesus to the world.

            So, when newcomers come here, we welcome them to church and, yes, coffee hour, welcoming them as if he or she was Jesus himself.

            We present Jesus to the world by not being just like everybody else, but striving to be less judgmental, less selfish and more forgiving, more loving.

            We present Jesus to the world by going out into the world and standing beside and standing up for the least and the lost, the people the world looks at as losers, as not worth the time, and maybe even dangerous.

            In a sermon a few weeks ago I mentioned in passing about my hope of reaching out to some of the kids, the gang members, who hang out in Triangle Park, where we have our community center.

            That line got more reaction than I usually get – and it was very touching that so many of you were worried about my personal safety.

            Thank you for that.

I don’t think I would actually be in much physical danger, but I am well aware that a white middle-aged priest who doesn’t live in that neighborhood trying to somehow “save” those young men is probably not going to work – certainly not on my own and without spending a lot of time and effort building community and relationships.

 But, if we’re going to present Jesus, then we must at the very least respect the human dignity of those guys, some of them still really only children, remembering how much God loves them, and trying to find a way of reaching at least some of those kids, offering a different way, maybe even a way out.

Jesus present.

            Presenting Jesus.

Long ago Joseph and Mary traveled to the Temple in Jerusalem to present their holy child, a child recognized by Simeon and Anna.

It’s a beautiful story about faithful people, but there’s something else that we need to remember: there was a lot of tension and fear in the background.

In those days Jerusalem was an occupied city and there were plenty of Jews who hoped and expected a messiah – not one who would preach peace or turn the other cheek - but a messiah who would oust the Romans from their land and finally restore the kingdom of David.

The Romans knew all about this Jewish hope and expectation, so needless to say they were eager to get rid of any would-be messiahs as quickly and ruthlessly as possible.

In those days, there were a lot of crucifixions.

So, there was some risk when Joseph and Mary presented Jesus.

 And there was definitely danger when Simeon recognized Jesus as the messiah and sang his song – a song of rejoicing but also a song of rebellion.

And there was danger when Anna went around telling everyone about the holy child she had finally met.

And there is danger today, too.

You may have noticed that lately I have avoided commenting on current events in my sermons. I feel like we all know only too well our situation. And, maybe at least some times, church needs to give us a break from all of that. And, by now I think I’ve said all that I have to say about the state of our land, where the cruelty and ugliness that was usually at least a little below the surface has now risen to the top, and many of our institutions are proving to be not as strong as we had always assumed, not strong enough to withstand corruption, ignorance, cowardice, and shamelessness.

So, once again, there is tension and fear in the air.

I don’t know exactly what this year is going to bring, but I do know that, no matter what, no matter what, no matter what, Jesus will be present with us here, just as he has always been.

And I know that, like Joseph and Mary, like Simeon and Anna, you and I are called to present Jesus to a world that needs him so desperately.

Jesus present.

Presenting Jesus. 

Amen.