Sermonette: The Presentation of Our Lord
Wednesday, 3 February 2021 07:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cjbanningAs preached at the midweek outdoor Eucharist at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church in Glassboro, NJ on the evening of Wednesday, February 3, 2021.
Malachi 3:1-4
Psalm 84
Hebrews 2:14-18
Luke 2:22-40
As many of you know, my parents live down the shore, and when I visit them, I usually worship at St. Simeon's-by-the-Sea, North Wildwood. So when my atheist mother asked me to explain who St. Simeon was, I told her the story we just heard in our Gospel reading: that Simeon had been promised by God that he would live to see the Messiah, and had lived to a venerable age waiting around the Temple in Jerusalem for the Messiah to appear. When he at last saw the infant Jesus, he was then able to die satisfied.
"He should have stayed far away from Jerusalem!" responded my mother. "Then he would have lived forever!"
That's the logic of the world. But Simeon knew better. Anna knew better. They knew that the secret to eternal life didn't lay in staying away from the temple, away from Jerusalem.
Simeon and Anna knew--either consciously or unconsciously--that the secret to eternal life lay in Jerusalem, in the temple, specifically in the little baby child who had been brought by its parents, Joseph and Mary, to be presented to God at the temple: the incarnate God before the transcendent God, God the Son before God the Father. They knew that the life and death of that little baby would be the vehicle for God's ultimate victory over sin and death.
Our Gospel reading ends with what is perhaps my favorite verse in St. Luke's Gospel--"the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him"--because it underscores the beauty and paradox and mystery and sacrifice of the Incarnation. The omnipotent God, born as a weak baby who needs to grow and become strong. The omniscient God, born as a foolish and ignorant baby who needs to learn and and grow in wisdom and knowledge. The omnipresent God, born as a tiny baby, so small you can hold it in your arms, who needs to grow tall. (Holds hand several inches above head.) Well, tall. (Holds hand at chin level.) Jesus was probably short by modern standards.
The unchanging God, needing to grow and change and adapt. The infinite God, made finite and limited.
The Definition of Chalcedon is an ancient credal formula we use in the western Church to help us understand the relationship between Jesus' full humanity and his full divinity. It tells us that just as Jesus is of one being with the Father according to his divinity, he is also of one being, consubstantial, with us according to his humanity. We share an essence with Jesus Christ.
So when Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to be presented at the temple, we are being presented to God as well. We are dedicated. We are consecrated. We are made holy.
Amen.
Malachi 3:1-4
Psalm 84
Hebrews 2:14-18
Luke 2:22-40
As many of you know, my parents live down the shore, and when I visit them, I usually worship at St. Simeon's-by-the-Sea, North Wildwood. So when my atheist mother asked me to explain who St. Simeon was, I told her the story we just heard in our Gospel reading: that Simeon had been promised by God that he would live to see the Messiah, and had lived to a venerable age waiting around the Temple in Jerusalem for the Messiah to appear. When he at last saw the infant Jesus, he was then able to die satisfied.
"He should have stayed far away from Jerusalem!" responded my mother. "Then he would have lived forever!"
That's the logic of the world. But Simeon knew better. Anna knew better. They knew that the secret to eternal life didn't lay in staying away from the temple, away from Jerusalem.
Simeon and Anna knew--either consciously or unconsciously--that the secret to eternal life lay in Jerusalem, in the temple, specifically in the little baby child who had been brought by its parents, Joseph and Mary, to be presented to God at the temple: the incarnate God before the transcendent God, God the Son before God the Father. They knew that the life and death of that little baby would be the vehicle for God's ultimate victory over sin and death.
Our Gospel reading ends with what is perhaps my favorite verse in St. Luke's Gospel--"the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him"--because it underscores the beauty and paradox and mystery and sacrifice of the Incarnation. The omnipotent God, born as a weak baby who needs to grow and become strong. The omniscient God, born as a foolish and ignorant baby who needs to learn and and grow in wisdom and knowledge. The omnipresent God, born as a tiny baby, so small you can hold it in your arms, who needs to grow tall. (Holds hand several inches above head.) Well, tall. (Holds hand at chin level.) Jesus was probably short by modern standards.
The unchanging God, needing to grow and change and adapt. The infinite God, made finite and limited.
The Definition of Chalcedon is an ancient credal formula we use in the western Church to help us understand the relationship between Jesus' full humanity and his full divinity. It tells us that just as Jesus is of one being with the Father according to his divinity, he is also of one being, consubstantial, with us according to his humanity. We share an essence with Jesus Christ.
So when Mary and Joseph bring Jesus to be presented at the temple, we are being presented to God as well. We are dedicated. We are consecrated. We are made holy.
Amen.