February 2, 2025 – The Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple
Fr. Cal Calhoun
Almighty God, we humbly pray, that as your only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple, so may we be empowered to present ourselves to you, again and again, with pure and clean hearts, through the saving work of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Well this is a rather unusual day for us in the Lectionary cycle. Technically, this is the Fourth Sunday in Epiphany and there are readings for the Fourth Sunday in Epiphany. But when the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord falls on a Sunday, it is to take precedence over the regularly scheduled Sunday!
So today, on February the second, we celebrate the Presentation of our Lord. Just in case you were wondering, there is no mention of Groundhog Day in the church calendar! So it is on this day we remember Joseph and Mary taking the infant Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem and “presenting” the child to the Lord. We are even reminded in the Gospel that the law of the Lord states that “Every first-born male shall be designated as holy to the Lord.” And in addition to the presentation, there is a specified sacrifice of two birds.
So why should this event be significant for us, today, in our 21st century Christian setting? I think there are several significant aspects of this story for us to explore. First, we are informed that Jesus’ parents are good and faithful Jews, following the Law and presenting their first-born son in the Temple and making the appointed sacrifice. You’ll remember, they don’t live in Jerusalem, so this trip involves them traveling to Jerusalem from Nazareth. Mary would be about 5 weeks post-partum, so I’m thinking she is not thrilled about mounting that dang donkey once again and setting out on the road. So this first point is that Jesus’ parents do what is right according to the Law. They are good and devout Jews and they intend to raise Jesus to be a good and devout Jew.
Still, how is this meaningful for us? Well, we do something a little like this even today, don’t we? We baptize our children and that is a lot like presenting them to the Lord. Through baptism we are initiated into the Body of Christ. Parents and godparents agree to raise a child to know and love the Lord. Most Christian denominations that don’t baptize infants, have a service to dedicate their infants to the Lord. So, there is something very similar to this presentation of Jesus in the Temple, in our practice of faith, the faith we have received through our Jewish ancestors. One obvious improvement, is that we baptize or present all our children, not just the first-born male child.
But there is another way that this story, this event, is meaningful for us. And that point is made clear in our Collect of the Day, which prays, “Almighty and everliving God, we humbly pray, that as your only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple, so may we be presented to you with pure and clean hearts by Jesus Christ our Lord.” So we are praying that Jesus might present us to God with pure and clean hearts.
The reading from Malachi connects in here, I think. The refiner’s fire was used to refine gold and silver. The metals are heated up to remove the impurities, and the really pure stuff may have been refined seven or more times! We may need to be “refined,” that is we may need help getting rid of those things that get in the way of us “being our best,” of living into that person that God is calling us to be. Some of that refining may be painful, like fire, but sometimes we have to go through things we would never choose, to get to where we need to be, with God. When we have been through something difficult, aren’t we typically more understanding and compassionate to those who are going through similar problems? I have noted on several occasions, as we were passing a hat, in one case literally, to help someone who had stopped by to ask for help, that those who had really been in need at some point in their lives, tended to be the most generous. You see, they understand what it was like to be in need and to have to ask for help. Someone who has battled cancer, is in a much better place to counsel and encourage another who has just received such an unwelcome diagnosis, right? But that kind of “refining” is something none of us would choose.
As I thought about Simeon, there are some details of which we aren’t made aware. We don’t know how long ago it had been revealed to Simeon that he would not die before seeing the Messiah. But it feels like to me it is awhile because he is “looking forward to the consolation of Israel.” We really don’t know if he has waited a year, or 30 years, or 30 days, but there seems to have been some period of waiting. And waiting can be hard, and waiting on God can be really hard. I have to imagine that Simeon must have had some doubts in that time of waiting. Will I really know which one is the Messiah? How will I know? What if I miss him? I would suspect that he would be tempted to “rush God,” although not perhaps if he fully understands that once he identifies the messiah, his own death might be immanent.
We have our own questions, don’t we, our own questions for God. My experience is that those questions seem more pronounced in times of waiting, especially if we are waiting in a time of transition, a job change, a move, an unwelcome diagnosis, for ourselves or a loved one, or we have lost one we love. Waiting around those sorts of transitions seem to make our questioning more persistent.
Regardless of where we find ourselves today, I think we have to make the decision to follow Jesus. Maybe we have to do it each and every day or maybe it would be a good thing to try. Look at the verbs around Simeon in this gospel. The Holy Spirit rested on him. The Spirit doesn’t force its way in, doesn’t knock him upside the head, (although there have been plenty of times in my life I wish the Spirit had knocked me upside the head!) but the Spirit rests on him. It was revealed to him that he would not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Then, guided by the Spirit, not coerced or forced, but guided by the Spirit he enters the Temple. The verbs seem gentle, they seem to require that Simeon, consent to the leading, and the guiding. We can always choose, like Jonah, to turn and run the opposite direction to which the Lord is calling us.
So how will you present yourself to the Lord? And when? Will you wait until you are sure your heart is completely pure and clean, as the Collect suggests? I hope not, because if you are like me, and you are waiting for some perfect moment, you might never do it at all. Will you wait until the next painful event in your life? I hope not. Will you wait until you’re in the midst of that next transition and present yourself when you are really looking for guidance. I hope you won’t wait until then, unless you find yourself there right now. I hope you might, as part of your morning prayers, present yourself to God each morning. Lent is a just month away, perhaps it could a daily Lenten practice. I think we need to be constantly presenting ourselves to God. And when we present ourselves to God, we might pray something like this:
Let us pray.
Here we are, Lord. We present ourselves to you today. Help us be open to your will for each of us today. We are in need of guidance, Lord, help us feel your hand guide where you want each of us to go. Help us open our eyes and ears to you, in our lives, in our world, in our day. Help us be aware of those in need and to respond to those needs as we are able. We are here, Lord, help us be wholly yours and help us feel your presence today. Amen.
Year C – The Presentation of Our Lord to the Temple – February 2, 2025 – The Rev. Cal Calhoun
