Readings: Malachi 3:1-5; Psalm 24; Hebrews 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40
“Restore, O Lord, the honour of your name, in works of sov’reign power come shake the earth again, that all may see, and come with rev’rent fear to the living God, whose kingdom shall outlast the years.”
Many, many years ago, just as I started my teaching career, my parents and I went to Paris – my first time there. I had my expectations of what Paris should be like, after all I’d seen “The Aristocats”. One evening, we went to Montmartre, and boy was it busy – all bustle, noise and people! We went up the Funicular (Mark would have been proud of me) and at the top is Sacre Coeur standing like a pristine wedding cake glistening over the city. Again, it was surrounded by street sellers, crowds of tourists and noise. We went in. I’m not sure what I was expecting – probably something like the other, ornate Catholic Cathedrals I’d been in before. What I found was completely different. Candlelight – the whole place seemed lit only by candles. And a peacefulness that was a beautiful counter to the busyness outside. I found a sanctuary. Dare I say it, I found God unexpectedly there in the midst of that busy, touristy site. Not at all what I expected. I certainly hadn’t expected to find the Lord whom I seek that evening, there.
“That all may see and come with rev’rent fear to the Living God.” So, a few questions. What do you expect to find when you come into St Andrew’s? Were you, like Simeon, guided by the Spirit to come here today? Did you come expecting to find “The Lord whom you seek”? Should we come to church with an expectation of meeting the Living God? And, do we meet him here? After all, for the Jews at the time of Jesus and before, the Temple was precisely where they expected to meet God. That was what the prophets had told them: “and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple”, says Malachi. The Temple was where, in the words of Very Rev. Dr David Hoyle, God was expected to come in his “overwhelming glory”. (1) And when the Lord appeared, they expected things to change: wrongs would be righted, and the world shaken, turned upside down. Not the all-enfolding peacefulness I found in Sacre Coeur, but the Almighty in all the Almighty’s glory, restoring the honour of his name and shaking the earth, as the hymn tells us. This is perhaps what Simeon expected in his looking for the consolation of Israel (2). But, when the Lord did return to his temple, things were rather different. It was not quite what was expected. The Messiah appears in his mother’s arms, amongst the crowds, waiting his turn to be presented to the priests. Probably just one of the many children brought to the temple that day so that the parents could make the offerings and give thanks to God. In the midst of the hurly burly of the Temple, the Lord who was sought came: as Hoyle describes it: “Christ who himself is the Living God comes to the Temple where everybody is looking precisely to find the Living God but the only people who notice are an old man who dreams and a very old woman high on faith.” (3) No-one expected the Messiah to come as a baby in a manger, as a baby to the Temple, as one who shares flesh and blood with the “children” of God, as Paul puts it. And yet, here, quietly, amongst his people, the Messiah is found and revealed, and reveals the power and purposes of God. Those purposes spoken of by Simeon: he is to challenge us, to bring us home to God, and to be a light to all people, to bring the light and hope to all the world, not just one part, not just to us but to everyone: a light to lighten all Gentiles.
And of course, this expectation of hope and light is a challenge to us and to the whole world. Malachi warns of God’s concern for those who are oppressed by others, those who are devalued, the aliens who are “thrust aside” and the oppressed hired workers, widows and orphans, those who are marginalised, ignored, despised, dehumanised. Because the life, ministry, and mission of Christ, passed on to us, is to spread the hope, the love of God and the light of Christ into all those dark places, to those who are pushed out of the light. In Rowan Williams’ words: the glory, radiance and beauty of God’s people “is that they are there for the world.” (4). We come to the Temple to meet God, to find him there amongst us in our worship, but we cannot, as Williams goes on to say, stay bathed in God’s presence safe and secure, like me in Sacre Coeur. We need to be inspired to take that presence with us out into the world, share it and allow it to affect others. (5)
And this is where Simeon’s warning comes in. Taking the loving, peaceful message of God to the world will challenge others, will open us to ridicule, persecution, lies and rejection, just as it did Jesus. The idea that God loves all people, that God cares, wonderfully, openly, unconditionally for all is something some people find difficult to take, to understand or to share. It challenges assumptions and prejudices. It challenges status, privilege and power. That the poor man at the castle gate matters as much to God as the rich man in the castle and should be treated as such challenges people’s ideas and identity. This is why: ”this child is destined for the falling and rising of many, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed”. And that is precisely the God, the Living God, we find here in our churches, in our worship and in our lives. The God who challenges us to rethink our ideas, our prejudices and preconceptions. Williams quotes William of Thierry to describe how the love of God works, and how the mission of Christ works with this: “The love of truth drives us from the world to God; the truth of love drives us from God to the world.” (6) We turn to God to seek God’s love and truth, but we cannot stay there, we are summoned, sent, to take that love and truth out to the world, to reveal the light and hope of Christ to the world and work with God, through the Holy Spirit, to transform the world, bringing in the kingdom that “shall outlast the years.” As Williams puts it: the light is for us, yes, but also for all people, and we are to take that light and hope to all peoples, especially those in need: “That joy is for sharing” (7). Because, as we have just sung: “This your great deliverance sets your people free; Christ their light uplifted all the nations see.”
So, come expecting to find the Living God here; look for him; expect him in the unexpected, to be the unexpected, revealed through the unexpected, and then take the Living God out with you into the world outside and share the light, the love and the hope of the Living God with all, especially those we see who need it most. And God will go with you and give you strength to stand in his presence and serve him. Amen.
1. Sermon on The Feast of the Presentation of Christ 2020
The Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle Dean of Westminster
: https://www.westminster-abbey.org/fr/abbey-sermons/candlemas-2020#i11575
2. Sermon on The Feast of the Presentation of Christ 2020
The Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle Dean of Westminster
: https://www.westminster-abbey.org/fr/abbey-sermons/candlemas-2020#i11575
3. Sermon on The Feast of the Presentation of Christ 2020
The Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle Dean of Westminster
: https://www.westminster-abbey.org/fr/abbey-sermons/candlemas-2020#i11575
4.Rowan Williams St Mary Magdalen Festival Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple p.3 http://www.stmarymagdalenoxford.org.uk/files/sermons/St%20Mary%20Magdalen%20Festival%20Weekend%202018%20Candlemas.pdf
5. Rowan Williams St Mary Magdalen Festival Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple p.4 http://www.stmarymagdalenoxford.org.uk/files/sermons/St%20Mary%20Magdalen%20Festival%20Weekend%202018%20Candlemas.pdf
6. Rowan Williams St Mary Magdalen Festival Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple p.5 http://www.stmarymagdalenoxford.org.uk/files/sermons/St%20Mary%20Magdalen%20Festival%20Weekend%202018%20Candlemas.pdf
7. Rowan Williams St Mary Magdalen Festival Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple p.8
Hymns: 639 “Restore O Lord” Anglican Hymns Old and New
167 “Faithful vigil ended” Anglican Hymns Old and New