Luke 2:22-40
The Presentation of our Lord
A few days
ago, the leaders of St. Paul’s exceptional Altar Guild were flummoxed. “What is the Presentation? We don’t have a card with that on it for the
hymn board! What do we do?”
What is
the Presentation? Well, a liturgical
answer involves the Church Calendar. If
you look at page 17 and following in the Book
of Common Prayer you will see there are seven Principle Feasts during the
Church Year. The dates for four follow after
first full moon after March 21: Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, and Trinity
Sunday. The other three fall on a set
dates every year: All Saints (Nov. 1), Christmas (Dec. 25), and The Epiphany
(Jan. 6). Should any of these Feasts
fall on a Sunday, they take precedence over the Sunday assigned by the
Lectionary. Then there are seven days
known as Feasts of our Lord. Of these,
there are three that, if they fall on a Sunday, take precedence over the
assigned day. The Presentation is one of
them. Thus, this year, last week was the
Third Sunday after the Epiphany, today is the Presentation of our Lord, and
next week will be the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany.
What is
the Presentation? Here is a Scriptural
answer. The Law of Moses stipulates the
first born male of each family belongs to the Lord. It harkens back to the Passover when God
spares the first-born male in every Hebrew family. Forty days after the birth of the first male,
the parents are required to present him in the Temple to the Lord. In essence, they give their son to God. Moses’ law allows the parents to redeem their
child via a sacrifice. Those with means
are required to offer a spotless lamb. The
law makes a provision for the destitute, allowing them to make an offering of two
small birds.
The
Gospel of Luke tells us forty days after Jesus’ birth his parents present him
in the Temple and redeem him by offering two pigeons. The Lord then presents Joseph and Mary with
their son, entrusting them to raise him to be holy and good.
On any
typical day the Temple is filled with people.
Some come to make an offering, others to worship and pray. There are two particular people in the Temple
on the day Joseph and Mary enter with their infant child. Seeing the family, they begin to praise
God. Simeon is an elderly man who has
received a promise from God he will not die until he sees the one who will
bring God’s salvation. He takes the baby
Jesus into his arms and praises God. “My
eyes have seen the light to the Gentiles and the salvation of Israel.” He tells Mary her son is destined for the
rising and falling of many and a sword will pierce his soul as well as hers –
words picked up in the liturgy for the Stations of the Cross. Another person, Anna, an elderly prophetess,
sees Jesus and commences to praise God for the promise of Jerusalem’s
redemption.
All of
this makes no small impression on Jesus’ parents, who, in Luke’s account, have
already encountered the Angel Gabriel and welcomed shepherds who have been
visited by an angelic messenger and chorus.
They leave the Temple after fulfilling everything required by Moses’ law
and return to Galilee where they raise their son in Nazareth.
What is
the Presentation? From a historical
perspective, it is one of the most ancient feasts in Christendom, dating back
at least to 3rd century, and falling forty days after the
celebration of Jesus’ birth. Inspired by
Simeon’s words “a light to the Gentiles”, a tradition emerges of blessing
candles on this day, thus it also has become known as Candlemas. In some places it is customary to leave out until
this day nativity displays and other non-perishable items associated with the
celebration of our Lord’s birth.
The
Presentation also shares roots with another tradition held on this day. There is a saying popular in the United
Kingdom that goes:
If Candlemas Day is clear and bright,
winter will have another bite.
If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain,
winter is gone and will not come again.
What is the Presentation?
Thinking spiritually, it is a day with which every parent – especially
young parents – can identify. When we
look into the eyes of our children we are filled with a sense of thanksgiving,
blessing, wonder, and obligation. Who
will this child become? What will he or
she do in life? Inside the heart of
every parent there is a question: Am I up to this task? Can I meet this responsibility? What if I am not good enough? And every parent, sensing an infant’s
vulnerability, harbors quietly a fear of what might be: Oh God, what if something
unthinkable happens? It would be like a
sword piercing my own soul.
As parents we do as Mary and Joseph do.
We hold our fears close and make a home for our children. We give thanks
for how one day gives way to another and then becomes a year and then another
and in the process, somehow, by the grace of God, we make what becomes a
life. Through it all we sense God is
good and God is faithful and we are adequate, at least, and when we are not, we
come to realize we can be forgiven.
This is the Presentation.
