Waiting for God
Reflections on the Feast of the Presentation
BAS Presentation of the Lord [1]
2 February 2025
Church of the Epiphany
Surrey BC
Several weeks ago I shared with you my love of musicals and, in particular, Fiddler on the Roof, a musical based on stories by the Jewish writer Sholom Aleichem and set in the dying days of tsarist Russia. At the end of the musical, the Jewish residents of Anatevka, an impoverished village, are forced by Christian nationalists to leave their homes of many generations, an example of ‘ethnic cleansing’ that has happened many times in European history as well as in the history of the whole world.
One of the younger members of the community approaches their rabbi and says, ‘Rabbi, we’ve been waiting for the Messiah all our lives. Wouldn’t this be a good time for him to come?’ And the rabbi gently, compassionately and wisely says, ‘I suppose that we’ll have to wait for the Messiah somewhere else.’
All of today’s Scriptures on this Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple ask the same question. We’ve been waiting for God to fulfill the promises of justice and peace found throughout the Scriptures. This has been true for generation after generation, but with our access to mass media and almost instantaneous information the realities of our world’s needs press upon us from all sides. Wouldn’t this be a good time for the Messiah to come?
When the people of Judah returned to Jerusalem after seventy years of exile and began to rebuild the city and the Temple, they were keenly aware that they were still threatened by enemies both within and without. The promises of a glorious return to Zion were not being fulfilled. To them the prophet Malachi spoken another word of promise, but one that did not offer immediate relief. The messenger of the covenant would come, but “ . . . who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?” (Malachi 3.2 NRSVue). In other words, the day is coming, but we may be waiting for some time.
When the evangelist Luke tells the story of the presentation of Jesus in the Temple by his parents, Mary and Joseph, he includes two people who, though mentioned only briefly, have always figured in my spiritual journey. Simeon has been given a promise and now it has been fulfilled. He will see the Messiah, but let’s not forget that Simeon will not leave to see the resurrection. Simeon’s moment of glory is only partial and awaits its full revelation. He even dares to remind Mary and Joseph that the road ahead of them would not be without pain. Anna, so important in my life that we named our daughter after her, has not had an easy life – widowed, perhaps impoverished or marginalized – has spent decades in prayer and fasting. Today she will behold the promised Messiah, and she will share this good news with others. But the promised day of redemption still remains in the distance.
When the early Jewish Christian community experienced the destruction of Temple by the Romans in the year 70 ce, they were as devastated as the wider Jewish community throughout the world. The Temple, both for Jews and for early Christians, was the earthly sanctuary where God’s glory dwelt. How could they continue to worship God without this earthly place towards which to direct their prayers? But the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews directs their thoughts towards the world beyond, a place towards we are all journeying, and promises them that God has not forgotten them.
As Bishop Budde said at the end of her sermon two weeks ago, there are many people who are living in fear right now. That fear and uncertainty can be found across the spectrum of social class, economic status, religious faith, ethnic identity, partisan belief. Many of us are joining that young Jewish man in asking, ‘We’ve been waiting for the Messiah all our lives. Wouldn’t this be a good time for him to come?’
First, let me say this: The Messiah has come. In Jesus of Nazareth God has begun the work of redeeming this world and shaping the world to come. But, as many biblical writers have written, God’s time is not our time. A thousand years in God’s sight is as an evening past. For whatever reason, and I admit that I do not know why, the fulfillment of God’s promises is still at some point in the future.
What I do know is that we live in ‘the already but not yet’ of God’s weaving of the fabric of the creation. This is the ‘meantime’, what seems to be a lengthy and painful time of transition during which the world is, I hope, becoming what God intends all of creation to be. But this is also what I call ‘mean time’ with an intentional break between the two words. We cannot deny that there are mean-spirited people at work in the world who are serving their own interests not the common good of the whole. We cannot ignore the continued violence – physical, spiritual, economic, cultural – that is being perpetrated upon our sisters and brothers and even ourselves. We cannot yield to the voices that urge us to accept the ‘way things are’ and ‘keep our heads low’.
Here’s what I am trying to do and what I hope you will join me in doing as we navigate these ‘mean times’ and wait for the promises to be fulfilled. These are the ways the people of Judah waited, the ways Simeon and Anna waited, the ways the Jewish Christian community of the Letter to the Hebrews waited.
· Spend time every day in prayer for the Church, for those in authority, for the world, for the local community, for those in need and for the departed (BAS 1985, 190). Pray the Lord’s Prayer slowly and thoughtfully in the morning, at midday and in the evening.
· Spend time each day reading the Scriptures. There are many guides that can help us read the Scriptures in ways that inform us, nurture us and heal us. If you need help, ask me.
· Spend time in worship. Ponder the words of the hymns, the prayers and the Scriptures. Ponder the mystery of receiving the body and blood of Christ so that you and I become that body and blood in the world. Ponder how the lives you and I live when not at worship embody our love of God and of our neighbour.
And while we wait in prayer, in the study of Scripture and in worship, I trust that we will grow and become strong, filled with wisdom, and the favour of God shall rest upon us (Luke 2.40 NRSVue).
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