You may wish to light a candle before you begin.
May the grace, mercy and love of God be with us all. Amen.
Collect
Lord Jesus Christ, light of the nations and glory of Israel: make your home among us, and present us pure and holy to your heavenly Father, your God, and our God. Amen.
Confession
Christ the Light of the world has come to dispel the darkness of our hearts. In his light let us examine ourselves and confess our sins.
When we have failed to share the light of life in our dark and needy world, Lord, have mercy:
Lord, have mercy.
When we have failed to reach out to those who are lost, afraid and hungry,
Christ, have mercy:
Christ, have mercy.
When we close our hearts to the glory of your saving love, offered to the world,
Lord, have mercy:
Lord, have mercy.
The Lord is our strength and our comfort; he meets us with compassion, and will not forsake us or forget us. The Lord is our saviour and redeemer: in Christ we are forgiven. Amen.
God’s Word - Malachi, chapter 3, verses 1 to 5 :-
I am about to send my messenger to clear a path before me. Suddenly the Lord whom you seek will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight is here, here already, says the LORD of Hosts. Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand firm when he appears? He is like a refiner’s fire, like a fuller’s soap; he will take his seat, testing and purifying; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver, and so they will be fit to bring offerings to the LORD. Thus the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as they were in former days, in years long past. I shall appear before you in court, quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers, and perjurers, against those who cheat the hired labourer of his wages, who wrong the widow and the fatherless, who thrust the alien aside and do not fear me, says the LORD of Hosts.
Luke, chapter 2, verses 22 to 40 :-
After the purification had been completed in accordance with the law of Moses, the parents of Jesus brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as prescribed in the law of the Lord: ‘Every firstborn male shall be deemed to belong to the Lord’), and also to make the offering as stated in the law: ‘a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons’.
There was at that time in Jerusalem a man called Simeon. This man was upright and devout, one who watched and waited for the restoration of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Guided by the Spirit he came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the law required, he took him in his arms, praised God, and said: ‘Now, Lord, you are releasing your servant in peace, according to your promise. For I have seen with my own eyes the deliverance you have made ready in full view of all nations: a light that will bring revelation to the Gentiles and glory to your people Israel.’
The child’s father and mother were full of wonder at what was being said about him. Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, ‘This child is destined to be a sign that will be rejected; and you too will be pierced to the heart. Many in Israel will stand or fall because of him; and so the secret thoughts of many will be laid bare.’
There was also a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was a very old woman, who had lived seven years with her husband after she was first married, and then alone as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, but worshipped night and day with fasting and prayer. Coming up at that very moment, she gave thanks to God; and she talked about the child to all who were looking for the liberation of Jerusalem.
When they had done everything prescribed in the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew big and strong and full of wisdom; and God’s favour was upon him.
Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.
Reflection
So the great season of Christmas and Epiphany comes to its close, with the child brought into the temple, and recognised there by Simeon and Anna, both of whom had waited long to see with their own eyes the salvation God had promised.
I want to make four simple points about this story. Firstly, these events took place as Mary and Joseph did what the law required. There is a duty of religious observance, a discipline of service and praise, and it’s as we make this a part of ourselves that we are made aware of God’s light and grace and love. And in particular, what Mary and Joseph were doing that day was to say that their child was not only their child, but was also God’s child - every first born was “deemed to belong to the Lord.”
Secondly, with the birth of this child everything changes. The birth of any child changes things - the dynamics of relationships within and beyond a family, the way we see things, plan things, look forward. A first child in particular changes things hugely: lovers become also parents, and the stretch of the future they look towards now goes beyond the span of their own lives and into the span of the life they have made. There will be joys, and there will also be problems and pains. But as Simeon tells them, this child will change not only their lives, but the world, not only the future they look towards, but the whole course of history. And Mary especially will bear some of the pain of that.
The third thing I want to say is about “The Quiet in the Land”. Simeon and Anna are two examples of those people who were simply waiting quietly and prayerfully for what God would do. Despite their age, and despite the pains and sorrows that had come their way, they had never ceased to hope, and they had never ceased to believe. There are those who want to make things happen, those who lack patience and want to force the issue; and there are those within whom the pains and disappointments of life have stirred up bitterness and resentment, so that they’ve switched off, opted out, and ceased to hope. Simeon and Anna were neither of those types of people: they were the sort of people I’ve met many a time and valued hugely in my ministry - people of quiet and trusting faith and regular prayer. People like that provide the bedrock on which the Church is built.
And finally, we see how the revolution God starts among us begins in an ordinary and humble setting. You might not think of the temple as “ordinary and humble”, but the parents of Jesus were doing what all believing parents would do. And they did so making, in place of the lamb for burnt offering laid down in the law, the “poor person’s offering” of a couple of pigeons. We will find the glory of God’s love not so much in the palaces of this world but wherever people of faith contend with the uncertainties and insecurities of ordinary life; and the Holy Child is identified right from the start with those who know about struggle and stress.
And in this very Jewish setting, of the law being fulfilled, and the offerings and prayers made as they should be within the temple, the child Mary and Joseph brought there is hailed as one born not just for one people but for all: he is the glory of Israel, but he will also be a light to enlighten every nation.
Statement of faith -
We believe in God the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith, and fills us with his love. We believe in God the Holy Spirit, who strengthens us with power from on high. We believe in one God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Prayers - We pray we may be ready to recognise in Christ the one who is light to all the world, and in his name to be lights ourselves to lift the darkness of human hatred, mistrust and need. We pray today for Christians in Brazil, and for the work and witness of the Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil. We pray for our own diocese, and for Richard our Bishop, and today give special thanks for the ministry of our Dean, Michael Tavinor, whose last Sunday this is.
We are asked this week especially to pray for children living with mental health issues, and for all that is done for the support, protection and care. We pray for those who continue to battle against the Covid virus in our world, and for those helping in the work of vaccination.
We pray for all who are ill, and for their care and recovery, and we continue to pray for health workers and for our hospitals, health centres and care homes, that they may not be overwhelmed by the present crisis. We pray for all who are waiting for tests, treatments and therapies for a range of conditions, where Covid has had to take precedence, and that waiting lists may not grow too long.
We pray for our families and friends, and for the life of our churches and communities. On the weekend of the Great Garden Birdwatch we pray for care of our wild spaces and wild creatures. We pray for people to keep to the rules and to ensure their own safety and that of others. And may we look out for each other through this testing time, and keep safe ourselves.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Blessing -
May Christ the Sun of Righteousness shine upon us, and scatter the darkness from before our path; and may the blessing of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore. Amen.
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