The Light beyond the Groundhogs...
Tuesday, February 1st, 2011click here for past entries
Were you to ask most people what February 2nd is, they would probably respond “Groundhog Day.” However, the church calendar tells a different story. On our church calendar, Feb. 2nd is something called “The Presentation of Our Lord.” It was also, in the early church, called “Candlemas,” which marked the end of the Christmas season. The timing coincided with approximately the mid-point of winter, and was a joyous candlelight celebration where people brought their candles to be blessed for the coming year.
Actually, when you look at the gospel that is read for the Presentation of Our Lord (Lk. 2:22-40), it makes sense to mark the end of the Christmas season on Feb. 2nd. After all, it is the last story in the gospel of Luke where Jesus is still a baby, as Mary and Joseph complete the rite of purification that follows the birth of a male child (Lev. 12). It also extends our focus on the light that shines in the darkness, which begins at the darkest time of year.
I mention this partly because so many people suffer from the “blahs” in January and February – that post-Christmas let-down that seems so difficult to get past. At least in this hemisphere, there is good reason to focus on Jesus, the light of the world, throughout Christmas and Epiphany.
But back to the Presentation of Our Lord – a story that we rarely hear unless Feb. 2nd falls on a Sunday. The story involves not only the sacrifice for purification, but also an encounter with Simeon and Anna in the temple. Both of these people are “full of years” and guided by the Holy Spirit -- and especially Simeon has some pretty amazing things to say.
The “song of Simeon” is well known to many: “Lord, now you let your servant go in peace…” As well, Simeon calls Jesus “a light for revelation to the Gentiles” (Lk. 2:32), which is pretty much what the whole season of Epiphany is about. Jesus came not only for his own people, but for all people. And so, all through Epiphany we hear about being a light to the nations, as Jesus’ identity as Son of God and Saviour is revealed to more and more people, both Jews and Gentiles!
However, there is one more thing that Simeon has to say that strikes me as especially perceptive. He says that Jesus will be “a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed” (Lk. 2:34-35). Does an encounter with Jesus reveal your inner thoughts?
Certainly, for those who opposed Jesus, it soon became evident that they were not open to the Spirit of God and did not want to see how God was at work through Jesus. It soon became evident that they were self-centered rather than God-centered.
Even today, though, an encounter with Jesus asks us if we are self-centered or God-centered – self-centered or Christ-centered. When we are open to Jesus and to the salvation that he brings, our inner thoughts are revealed by his light, and we are asked to repent – to turn around – and to allow Christ to be our light. May it be so for us, even as we see God’s salvation through the eyes of Simeon.
In Christ,
Pastor Lynne Hutchison
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