Transcript
Today is the feast of the Presentation.
Some things just need to be presented.
Here’s a thought experiment for you. I have a 13-year-old daughter who, one week from today, will be turning 14. God bless you, Maria! Now, imagine if you will, that we’re celebrating her birthday, and we finish dinner, and it’s time for dessert, and I turn to my daughter and say: “Oh. Maria, in the downstairs refrigerator there is a cake. Why don’t you go ahead, take a plate and a knife, go down to the fridge, and cut yourself a slice. Oh, and while you’re there cut a slice for me and mom and your sister. Oh, and, happy birthday.”
She would probably look at me, well like you are looking at me right now.
You can’t make someone go get their own slice of birthday cake. A birthday cake has to be… what? Presented.
Luke 2:22
“When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord.”
One thing right up front: it strikes me just how faithful and loyal the Holy Family was when it came to their traditions and obligations. Mary and Joseph carried the most exceptional human that has ever lived, and yet they sought no exception to the Jewish law that they honored.
Jesus himself would later elucidate the law, summarize the law, and say that he himself fulfilled the law. But here at the Temple, where the very presence of God was understood to dwell, he is brought in full accordance with the law.
His parents would have purchased two turtledoves in the outer courts, and brought them to the priests to sacrifice. One for a burnt offering – thanksgiving. And one for a sin offering – confession. There’s so much here, but just real quick:
In their presentation and sacrifice, What they are saying is, 1) Thanksgiving. Lord, you have given us this child. Thank you. 2) Confession. Lord, this child does not belong to us, he is not ours, but yours; forgive us for ever thinking that he was. These are two good things for parents to always be saying to God: Thank you and Sorry.
Now if the text stopped right there, this would be a totally ordinary story. The parents of Jesus came, did what they were supposed to do, and then skip down to verse 3, “When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.” Utterly ordinary.
Ah, but what happens between those two verses shows us that this was no ordinary presentation. Or you could say, it was ordinary and completely extraordinary at the same time. Because two other people appear. Two of the greatest characters in the Gospels, who never get mentioned again. Simeon. Anna.
Let’s start with Anna. She lives in the Temple; or at least lives nearby because it says she was in the Temple fasting and praying day and night. And she is a prophet. She has some credentials. Anna comes up, and the texts says that “she praised God and began to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.” So, in the best way possible, she makes a fuss. And in the best way possible, she makes a scene. She is a wise woman fussing over a baby. And she is a prophet declaring the arrival of the Messiah.
Simeon takes it a step further. The text says that he took the baby in his arms and burst into poetry. “Lord you now have set your servant free, to go in peace at you have promised…” Remember, he’s not a priest. He doesn’t work at the Temple! For Mary and Joseph he’s just… some guy.
Personal story. I was on an airplane years ago, with Danielle and the kids. Grace was a baby, and we were taking turns holding her. So I’m holding Grace, who’s sleeping, and I’m sitting next to a guy, and we start talking. (I usually don’t talk to people on airplanes.) But we start talking, and it turns out that he’s a pastor. And it turns out that he's married with kids. And it turns out that he’s flying back from some conference, and, I don’t know… suddenly I looked at him and said, “Do you want to hold this baby?” You would have thought that I had just offered him a million dollars. He holds the baby, and the smile on his face! At which point Danielle, across the aisle, looks up and sees me chatting it up and… a total stranger holding our child. She tilts her head as if to say, “Um, who’s that?” And I say, “Oh Danielle, I want you to meet my new friend…. This is um… What was your name again?”
So that’s the story of Simeon and Anna. Not members of the family. They are strangers, who realize immediately upon seeing this child that something extraordinary is happening. And I wonder if the words are echoing in the minds from the prophet Malachi.
Malachi 3:1 Thus says the Lord, See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.
The Lord has come to His Temple.
A poor couple, from a nowhere town, from a nowhere region, having just given birth in a cave in Bethlehem… Simeon and Anna see them and realize, “The Lord has come to His Temple.”
The great Bible scholar NT Wright argues that this is at the very center of Jesus’ ministry, because Jesus himself will later identify himself with the Temple. The Temple was the physical location on earth in which the presence of God dwelt. And Jesus is going to say, yeah… that’s me.”
Ok, what does this mean for you and me? This presentation at the Temple.
1. In worship we are to present an offering of our life and labor to the Lord. Romans 12:1 says present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God.
2. Before we present anything, we must be presented.
Some years ago I was meeting with a man who was considering Baptism. He had never been Baptized, and he really wanted to be. So we talked, and I explained about the history and meaning of Baptism. And he talked about his faith in Jesus. But at the end of the conversation he said, “Ok, I understand all this, but I still have this nagging question: am I worthy of this?”
And I said, “Well that’s an easy question. The answer is no, of course not! You are not worthy of Baptism, and neither am I. BUT, thanks be to God, through the worthiness of Jesus Christ, you will be baptized INTO Him, and into His death and resurrection, to receive new life.”
The collect for today. Just stick with me here, this will blow your mind.
Almighty and ever living God, we humbly pray that, as your only-begotten Son was this day presented in the temple, so we may be presented to you with pure and clean hearts by Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
As the kids say, “Wait, what?”
As Jesus was presented to God in the Temple, so we may be presented. Did you catch that? You are presented to God. But presented by whom? You ready for this? By Jesus Christ himself. He loves you that much.
Jesus Christ, who is God the Son - presents you, to God the Father, with God the Holy Spirit coursing through your spiritual veins. Forgiven. Saved. Redeemed. Made new. When you are held up in the hands of Jesus, you are a new creation.
And so here’s the closer. To paraphrase the line from Casting Crowns: “Not because of who you are, but because of what He’s done. Not because of what you’ve done, but because of who He is.”
And thanks be to God, Amen.
