February 2: the Presentation of Our Lord
The Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple or “The Presentation of Our Lord” takes place each year on February 2nd, 40 days after Christmas.
But because it’s relatively rare for February 2nd to fall on a Sunday — as a matter of fact, February 2nd has only fallen on a Sunday 10 times in the last 60 years — it won’t happen again until 2031 and then not again until 2042 (I go down these rabbit holes so you don’t have to) — chances are you’re not super familiar with seeing “The Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord” at the top of your service leaflet, or heard this Gospel passage from Luke read in church, or preached on.
So, a few thoughts on Presentation and this gospel to hold you over for the next 6 or maybe 17 years:
This is the day Mary and Joseph brought slightly-more-than-one-month-old baby Jesus to the temple, to fulfill the requirements of the Law of Moses to consecrate or present one’s first born to God at that time. (And for reasons we’ll see, that’s why this Sunday is a day set aside to present children for baptism, as we will have at the 11 a.m. service.)
Serving in the temple the day that Mary and Joseph presented Jesus, was Simeon.
Simeon is described as a just and pious man, who had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. Simeon takes baby Jesus in his arms and says, “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 peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
What Simeon says became known, over the years, as the “Song of Simeon,” or the Nunc Dimittis, and many people have become familiar with it because saying it is an important element of evening prayer, and compline, or they know it in one of the ways it has been so gorgeously set to music and sung, as we’ll hear this morning during communion, thanks to the choir.
This familiarity with the Song of Simeon is a good thing — but there’s a downside.
The downside is that it has lost its shock value.
I say it’s lost its shock value because at the time it was first said, more than 2,000 years ago, Simeon was making a major and new and disruptive religious claim in what he said.
Namely: he is announcing not only that this baby he is holding in his arms is the long- promised Messiah — God’s saving act, God’s salvation that can be seen and touched and heard — but he goes further — he says that this salvation — God’s salvation — is for everyone to see, “a light for revelation to the Gentiles” and Jews — outsiders and insiders. That, in other words, the Christ light, God’s light, God’s love, is out in the open for the illumination of everyone.1
Then, enter the prophet Anna, who, we’re told, is “of a great age,” and who never leaves the temple. At the moment of Jesus’ presentation, she comes over and begins praising God and speaks about Jesus to all who were looking and waiting and watching for God’s redemption. God’s love is for ALL spiritually hungry people.
So, we’ve heard not one but two wise elders saying “Jesus is the messiah — LIGHT who has come into the world.”
Now: over hundreds of years of Christianity, this theme of light gets built upon…and starting in or around the 7th century, the Church developed a custom of lighting and blessing candles on February 2nd, Presentation Day.
And as many of you know, that day, this day, started being called “Candlemas,” when, historically, the priests would bless all the candles used during Mass for the entire year…and over the years, the custom grew to include the blessing of candles that folks would bring from home to be blessed, candles playing a very important role for most of human history because lit candles were a primary if not exclusive source of light from dusk to dawn, before [gaslight and] electricity and light bulbs.
And to this day — such as at the 11:00 service, when you as parents and godparents present your child or godchild for baptism — and that’s what is said during the liturgy — “the candidates for holy baptism will now be presented” — there’s a church custom of each family receiving and taking home a candle, as a reminder that in Christ a new light shines in our hearts.
The light of Christ.
As you know, light is a recurring theme throughout the Bible:
- What are the first words God speaks in the Bible? “Let there be light.”
- John’s gospel famously echoes this by beginning with the claim that “in the beginning was the Word, and the word became flesh, and “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
- In John chapter 8, Jesus called himself “the light of the world.”
- The author of 1 John says that “God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.”
And — perhaps most relevant for us, here today — Jesus concludes his sermon on the mount by telling his disciples, his followers…them, and us, then, and now…that “you are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.”
Think about the pronoun: YOU.
YOU are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
And the “you” is plural: Y’all are the light of the world!
Or maybe even better — maybe a Greek scholar would back me up on this — it’s the plural plural “you” — “all y’all!”
All y’all are the salt of the earth!
All y’all are the light of the world!
You’re the light someone needs; someone else is the light you need. You are helping someone overcome their darkness; someone else has helped or is helping you overcome yours.
You do this in your own unique way when you let YOUR light shine: You “walk in the light as Jesus himself is the light” when you use what you are good at to give light to others. 4
Which brings me to my final point:
Light, salt, God-given talent…personality…is lifted up or used not so people can see IT – or taste IT, but so that the space is illuminated, or flavor brought out.
Think about it: the lights in this room are doing their job when they illuminate this space for the benefit of the people in this space.
When the lights are doing their jobs, fulfilling the purpose for which they were made, people don’t walk around saying, “wow those are really good lights; what are they, tungsten-halogen incandescents, or dimmable compact fluorescents?”
No, when lights do their job — when light does its job — it is not to draw attention to itself, but to that which needs illuminating, that which would otherwise be in darkness or shadow.
Likewise, salt, when used right, makes what it is added to, better. Salt sharpens and defines flavors. It accentuates. Just like lights, when salt is doing its job — when salt is fulfilling its purpose — it doesn’t draw attention to itself — “ooh, too salty” is not a compliment!
But if a soup or a dish is tasteless and bland, just a pinch of salt can make it come alive.
We fulfill our meaning, our purpose, not by drawing attention to ourselves…
…but not by turning away, or ignoring, or withdrawing from the world either, tempting as that may…but rather, by engaging our gifts.
That, I think, is what we most need to be reminded of this Feast of the Presentation and about baptism: following Jesus means each one of you individually and all y’all collectively as a faith community are called to be IN and FOR the world, just as Jesus was.
We fulfill our meaning and purpose by being a light shining brightly in the world, right in the middle of the mess and darkness and confusion and polarization of things. That’s where the light of Christ is needed the most.
You have a unique role to play, or part of the body to be.
“The body of Christ” — all y’all salt and light: individuals and a faith community bringing better flavor and the light and love of God to a world eager for both.
The Rev. John Ohmer