The Presentation of Christ in the Temple

In the Christian calendar this Sunday is known as Candlemas, a day when we commemorate the purification of Mary, the mother of Jesus and the presentation of the baby Jesus in the temple. The story was told by Mary to Luke who wrote it down in his gospel and I expect you know it well.

According to Jewish law Jesus had to be presented in the temple forty days after his birth and Mary and Joseph took him to the temple on the appointed day. In the temple precincts they met Simeon who had been waiting for this moment for most of his life. He blessed the child and uttered the words of praise which we know as the Nunc Dimittis.

In the Christian calendar, following Christmas, traditionally we celebrate Epiphany (or the visit of the wise men) early in January and then three weeks later, today, the presentation of the Chrischild. As far as dates are concerned of course, as this event came only forty days after the birth of Jesus, it should come before the visit of the wise men which happened in Jesus’ home town a long time afterwards. The story of the wise men is, of course, included where it is because of its rich significance; but this is why Christmas card designers can confuse people by including both shepherds and wise men around the crib.

If the wise men deserve to be there why not old Simeon? But what do we know about Simeon?

Do you like to read biographies - accounts of people’s life stories? I always try and read one when I’m on holiday because I find them interesting whether its Winston Churchill or Mahatma Gandhi, Billy Graham or even David Beckham. Interesting isn’t it that people can write accounts of their life when they haven’t reached forty yet! They haven’t really lived yet have they? But you can find such books in the library with thousands of words written about their lives.

But of Simeon we do not have such a book. But it doesn’t really matter because the inspired writers of scripture have a genius for describing the characters of their stories in a minimum of words. And of Simeon Luke writes,

‘This man was righteous and devout looking for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit rested on him’.

In character, straight like a pine tree,
in prayer, devout, in disposition, hopeful,
in personality, spirit filled.
How many of us would dream of having such qualities included in our epitaph? We can infer from what Simeon said about ‘departing this life in peace’ that he must have been an old man near the end of his life and yet the charm of his hope was that, though he had lived many years he had not begun to grow old because he had never lost hope. From a young age he had set his heart upon one day seeing a wonderful spectacle and he never once relinquished the hope of witnessing the fulfillment of his dream.

And what an amazing achievement that was if we recall the troubled history of Israel for sixty years before the birth of Jesus. He had seen his country fall under the brutal authority of Rome when the Roman army under Pompey entered Jerusalem and defiled God’s temple by standing defiant in the Holy of Holies. He had lived under the long reign of the tyrant Herod. He had seen a corrupt priesthood from which the spirit of the Lord was absent.

He had lived through all this-during an age in which many people lost their ideals and gave up their dreams and he had continued to expect, to HOPE, to look upon the Messiah in his own lifetime. As Luke puts it’, he was looking for the consolation of Israel’, the consolation being a well known Jewish synonym for the Messiah.

Well, here we are, barely a month into another year, another year added to our life span and, like it or not we are all getting older even if, like Simeon, we are not yet ready to depart in peace. So, is there a secret of perpetual youth? Is it possible to remain young at heart, young in mentality and outlook on life even while our bodies are growing older?

The charm of Simeon was that though he had lived for many years, in Luke’s words, ’he had not yet begun to grow old’

Was it because he had never lost hope?

I wonder what sort of hopes that you have for the coming year?  There are all sorts of hopes of course aren’t there? Some very important ones, some, perhaps, not so important. For example, I hope that Leyton Orient will gain promotion to the championship, (some hope you might say) or much more important I hope for peace in the world, I hope for good health and I hope that the fellowship between the people of this church will deepen and grow.

Hopes

We all have them don’t we and if we face the future  looking FORWARD with hope and eager expectancy to the greater things that God has in store for us we will retain the freshness of youth. But if we look upon life as a dreary treadmill, an endless repetition in which nothing new ever happens, then we shall be old in mind whatever our age. Don’t we need to cling on to the dream, the hope that something new will happen each year, each month, each week, each day? And of course, to some extent, we can take steps to make new things happen in our lives.

And, as we grow older don’t we need to retain that sense of wonder that comes so naturally to the young. The poet AE Housman puts it like this

‘When first my way to fair I took, a few pence in purse had I.
And long I used to stand and look at things I could not buy.

Now times are altered, if I care to buy a thing I can.

The place is here and here’s the fair but where’s the lost young man?’

First the lad had no money but his eyes were filled with the wonder of youth. Now, as he is older, he has the money but he’s lost that sense of wonder.

We need not lose our sense of wonder as we grow older if we daily renew our lives in Christ and keep our eyes and ears open to the wonder of God’s creation and evidence of his love around us.

To continue the story, Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. So, inspired by the Spirit he came into the temple. And when Mary and Joseph brought in the child to do for him what was required according to the law, he took the baby Jesus into the crook of his elbow and blessed God. He embraced the one for whom he had hoped and waited for so long.

Can you imagine how wonderful it was for Simeon to take into his arms that child that he knew of the Holy Spirit was to be the Messiah? With his own eyes he now saw that for which he had long hoped and in his old arms he held the very son of God.

Is it any wonder he broke forth into words of praise
‘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 people, a light for revelation to the gentiles and the glory for your people Israel’

I  mentioned earlier the significance of Candlemas and it used to signify the end of the Christmas season too. And if we look back over our shoulders one last time, we can see that the nativity stories lay out for us three different ways in which people responded then and now to the gift of Christ. And what Simeon was saying was that now Christ has come into the world people will set themselves into groups as in the nativity story.

Many will find Christ an offence or speak against him. Such a man was Herod. He was passionately hostile to Jesus and did his best to kill him. And throughout history there have been people hostile to Christ; who oppose him by persecuting his followers or ridiculing him and his church.

There are many, many more who go through life completely oblivious to Christ. Sadly, today, it may be because many even living on our own street may not know much about him. They don’t oppose him, they simply don’t know or want to know or haven’t time because they are preoccupied with so many other things. Such a man was the innkeeper in Luke’s story. He couldn’t find room for Christ in the inn because he was so busy.

Herod hostile, the innkeeper preoccupied. But what of Simeon?

And here we see another significance of Candlemas, the meeting of the old order and the new. Simeon, representing the old order welcoming, holding, receiving the new order, the Messiah, the light of the world with hope in his heart for the future of mankind.

I asked you earlier what hopes you have for the coming year. I daresay that some of your hopes will be for general situations like the wellbeing of this country’s economy particularly the young who are unemployed. Some hopes will spread wider still-for freedom to come to the oppressed people’s of the world-to suffering people like those of Haiti for example still trying to rebuild their homes and their lives.

And you will, of course, have hopes of a more personal nature-perhaps not even for yourself but for those dear to you. And the wonderful thing about our faith is that we have this assurance, this hope, that, since Jesus came into the world, we know that God is present with us in spirit and cares about our future. .

We cannot now, of course, like Simeon, welcome the Messiah by taking him into our arms but we can take him into our hearts so that whatever our age, we may always look forward and grow old(not get old) with trust and hope.  
The composer Herbert Howells wrote his most beautiful hymn on hope in memory of his son Michael who died at an early age. Such a loss could have left him feeling utterly hope-less. But his faith in his Lord gave him hope and he wrote these lovely words:

“All my hope on God is founded, he doth still my trust renew.

Me through change and chance he guideth,

Only good and only true.

God unkown, he alone, calls my heart to be his own”

May we all continue each day to have hope in our hearts.

Amen