Expect. Prepare. Be Patient.

Expect.  Prepare.  Be Patient.

Reflections on the Feast of the Presentation

2 February 2020

Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral

New Westminster BC

Malachi 3.1-4; Psalm 84; Hebrews 2.14-18; Luke 2.22-40

            Most, if not all, British Columbians know that we live on the ‘Ring of Fire’, a region of our planet where earthquakes and volcanos are an ever-present danger.  Three hundred years ago a major earthquake wreathed widespread devastation and death throughout what is now the Province of British Columbia.  Experts remind and even warn us regularly to expect the next ‘big one’.

            Some of us are prepared for this.  We’ve stored water, food and other supplies so that we can survive until help arrives.  Because we had a pre-school at Saint Faith’s, my previous parish, we built a storage shed in the corner of the parking lot, away from the building itself, and stored our earthquake supplies there.  The children had earthquake drills every once and a while.

            Others of us are not as prepared.  No doubt there are many reasons, but we will find ourselves relying on the kindness of neighbours and strangers long before help from any level of government arrives.  I count myself among the ‘unprepared’ even though I have a storage shed that I could easily use.

            When the ‘expected but not yet’ seems delayed, even mild tremors and volcanic rumblings won’t stir us to take action.  We become complacent.  Even those who have supplies stored away may, over time, forget to refresh the water and replace food and other items past their ‘best before’ date.  We are no longer expectant and preparedness lapses.

            Two thousand years ago the Jewish people had accommodated themselves to expect that God’s promise to send a redeemer was unlikely to be fulfilled in their lifetimes or in the lifetimes of their children and grandchildren.  True, in the synagogues the Torah and the Prophets were read and Malachi’s prophecy was heard:  “See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.” [1]  But how many of those who heard these words believed that the day would come?  True, the sacrifices were offered in the Temple and the great festivals were celebrated.  But how many of those who witnessed the priests at the altar wondered if God was paying any attention to the plight of the people?

            The evangelist Luke tells us that there were at least two people who expected the fulfillment of God’s promise, who prepared themselves through prayer and contemplation, and who were far from complacent.  For many years each had waited for the day that finally came when Mary and Joseph brought the infant Jesus to the Temple to make the required sacrifice.  We hear nothing more of Simeon and Anna after this encounter.  We do know that they made sure that everyone around them heard the news:  The Lord has come to his temple!

            These two people lived expectantly, looking daily for the signs that pointed to God’s faithfulness.  They prepared themselves through prayer and worship.  They had learned to wait patiently for God.  Both probably had moments of doubt, but neither abandoned their vigil for God’s promises will be fulfilled, though the wait may be long.

            Two thousand years later here we are, members of a world-wide community that proclaims a message of hope and human renewal that is desperately needed by those among whom we live, work and serve.  But two thousand years is a long time to wait and it’s easy to become distracted by the cares and challenges of our daily lives.  It’s easy to become a bit complacent when what we hope for is so far over the horizon that it’s become more mythical than real.

            My friends, Christ has died.  Christ is risen.  Christ will come again.  We continue to live in the expectation of ‘that great day when all will be one’. [2]  In the meantime we live expectant lives where we feel every kick of the future that is growing in us and around us.  We look in every nook and cranny of our lives and in the life of the world around us for the green shoots of God’s justice and steadfast love.  

            We prepare.  We read the Scriptures, alone and together, to learn how to recognize the signs of God’s world breaking into our world of time and space.  We break the bread of life and drink the wine of blessing to sustain us in our waiting.  We bring others into this community of faith to renew it, to challenge it and to expand its witness.

            We wait patiently.  Patience is a difficult virtue to cultivate in a society addicted to speed.  Our Christian spirituality is at its best when it shapes us for marathons and cross-country steeple-chases than for sprints.

            Friends, the Great Day is coming.  Exactly when, no one can say.  But as surely as day turns to night and the earth revolves around the Sun, the Great Day is coming.  The signs are all around us, if we have prepared ourselves to live and to watch expectantly and patiently.  You know, there’ll probably be some rocking and shaking when it comes, but we’ll be ready.

---

[1] Malachi 3.1-2.

[2] Evangelical Lutheran Worship 2006, #720.

Time and Timelessness: Reflections on Luke 2.22-40 (Presentation of the Lord, 3 February 2019)

Time and Timelessness

Reflections on Luke 2.22-40

Presentation of the Lord

3 February 2019

Holy Trinity Cathedral

New Westminster BC

Click here to listen to the Sermon as preached at the 10.00 Eucharist on Sunday the 3rd.

Luke 2.22-40

                  ^2.22When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord ²³(as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), ²⁴and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

                  ²⁵Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him.  ²⁶It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.  ²⁷Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, ²⁸Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, ²⁹“Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; ³⁰for my eyes have seen your salvation, ³¹which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, ³²a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

                  ³³And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.  ³⁴Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed ³⁵so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed — and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

                  ³⁶There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.  She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, ³⁷then as a widow to the age of eighty-four.  She never left the temple but worshipped there with fasting and prayer night and day.  ³⁸At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

                  ³⁹When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.  ⁴⁰The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him.

            One of the deepest mysteries we encounter in our lives is the mystery of time.  We are aware of time both as something that can be measured and as something that transcends measurement.  Even as we calculate seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades and centuries, we area aware that certain moments of our lives are timeless, moments when it seems the earth stops spinning on its axis and pauses in its journey around the sun.

            The writers of the New Testament scriptures used two different words to describe our experience of time.  Chronoswas used to describe measurable time.  This word lives on when we speak of chronologyor chronometersor chronic.  The other word they used was kairos. Kairosmeans the ‘right time’ or ‘kingdom time’ or ‘a quality of time’. Jesus uses this word many times in the gospels when he is speaking about the coming of the reign of God at the ‘right’ time or in ‘God’s’ good time.’

            These two aspects of time come to the fore in today’s gospel. Mary and Joseph come to the Temple at the ‘appointed’ time, forty days after Jesus’ birth --- chronos.  Simeon and Anna come to the Temple to participate in the appointed times for prayer and sacrifice --- chronos. But all four are soon to have an experience of kairos, a moment when God’s promised reign, long-awaited by the Jewish people, will break in upon them. Time will stand still and ‘the dawn from on high will break upon [them]’.  

            For Simeon and Anna their patience in waiting to see the fulfillment of God’s promise to send the Messiah will be rewarded.  They will hold in their arms the living, breathing embodiment of God’s covenant with the people of Israel.  In this child the promises God made to Adam, to Noah, to Abraham and to Moses are honoured and the future secured.

            For Mary and Joseph their faithfulness and courage in saying ‘yes’ to God’s heavenly messengers is affirmed.  Their child will be ‘a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to [God’s] people Israel’.  In this child ancient walls of prejudice will be torn down and all of humanity will have the opportunity to know the Holy One of Israel, the Author of creation, the Source of all life and love.  At the same time God speaks through Simeon to warn Mary and Joseph --- and to you and me --- that believing that Jesus is the Messiah will bring sorrow and conflict as well as joy and reconciliation.  Time stands still, if only for a moment, and then chronospulls the Holy Family and the disciples of Jesus away to follow a path that will lead to the cross and the resurrection.

            Today we join Simeon and Anna, Mary and Joseph, in the mystery of God’s kairosrevealed in our chronos.  Sunday has come again and forty days have past since our Christmas celebrations. The pages of our calendars, whether digital or print, have turned to follow the rhythm of chronos, some might even say the tyranny of chronos.  By noon today most  if not all of us will be gone and doing whatever our diaries tell us needs to be done. It will be just another Sunday in Metro Vancouver.

            Or will it be just another Sunday?  Is it possible that in the midst of our chronosGod’s kairosmight slip in to surprise us?  Perhaps there will be someone here among us for the first time to be a light to us.  Perhaps some word or phrase in a prayer or a hymn or a reading from the scriptures will catch our attention and be glory to us.  All we have done before today, all our regularity in worship, all our familiarity with the faces and the customs of this community, so measured, so predictable, have prepared us to be surprised by grace, to be drawn out of earthly time into the timelessness of God’s reign.

            The candles we bless today are tokens, reminders that the Light that enlightens the whole creation comes unexpectedly.  Like Simeon and Anna, like Mary and Joseph, we do what is appointedin the hope that the ordinary chronosof our lives will be disrupted and transformed by the extraordinary kairosof God.

            So be ready.  Be prepared. For the time may just be a-changing into the timelessness of God.

In the Mean Time

The Presentation of Christ

2 February 2014

Saint Faith’s Anglican Church

Vancouver BC

Click here to hear an audio recording of an expanded version of the Sermon as preached at the 10.00 a.m. Eucharist on the 2nd of February.

            Two thousand years ago a young married couple travelled to Jerusalem to fulfill the ritual obligations of their faith.  Their young son had been circumcised and named on the eight day after his birth and now, forty days or so after his birth, his mother was to offer a sacrifice in thanksgiving for her safe delivery and recovery from the rigours of childbirth.  As they were poor, they brought the bare minimum offering required by the law as contained in Leviticus:  two turtledoves or two pigeons.  As they entered the precincts of the Temple, they would have joined a swirling crowd of people, some offering sacrifice, some attending the lecture given by one or other of the religious teachers scattered around the perimeter of the Temple, some offering prayer, some begging, some watching the world go by.  This young family was, to be it bluntly, nondescript and not very noteworthy.

            But we are told in today’s reading from the Gospel according to Luke that two people, respected elders, did notice this family.  In that moment Simeon and Anna experienced something we all long for:  the realization that a hoped-for event has finally occurred.  All the years of waiting had been fulfilled and their eyes saw the salvation that God had promised the people of Israel, a light to the nations and a manifestation of God’s faithfulness to the covenants made with Noah, Abraham and Moses.  Even though Anna and Simeon must have been filled with great joy, neither one is blinded by the joy of the moment to the reality that this child will begin a movement which has been greeted with resistance by the powerful and has been the source of division within families, peoples, nations and cultures for centuries.

            As we gather on this Sunday to remember the presentation of Christ in the Temple, we like Anna and Simeon are a people who are called to witness to God’s mission in what I like to call ‘the mean time’.  The common understanding of the word ‘meantime’ is ‘between times’ and this is one way to understand our role in God’s mission.  God began this mission in creation and, in the covenants made with Moses and in Jesus of Nazareth, Jews and Christians continue to witness to the living God who is working out the divine purposes until all things come to their telos, their purpose as conceived in the imagination of God.  We do not know when that final moment will arrive, the moment that theologians call the eschaton, but our vocation is not to count the days.  Our vocation is to witness to this compassionate and passionate God in our lives by what we say and do.

            There is, however, another way of looking at the word ‘meantime’.  This way of looking, one which I freely admit is my own peculiar way of hearing the word, is to remember that the word ‘mean’ can also connote ‘angry’ or ‘nasty’ or ‘cheap’ or ‘small-minded’.  We are living in what can be seen as a ‘mean time’, a time in which religious people are confronted with active opposition to religious practice such as we see in the proposed secular charter in Québec or in the rise of a militant atheism in contemporary Western society.  We are also confronted with the rise of religious fundamentalism in all of the major religious traditions whether Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh and even Buddhism.  These fundamentalisms cannot live with the notion of ‘both/and’ and must reduce the entire world into an ‘either/or’.  This ‘either/or’ perspective sees the ‘other’ as someone to be converted or destroyed, whether physically, spiritually or culturally.

            The story of Anna and Simeon offers us an insight into how we who follow the path of Jesus of Nazareth.  We are part of a particular tradition within the Christian faith that values what some call ‘a generous orthodoxy’ that resists the ‘either/or’ in favour of seeking what unites believers, whether Christian or non-Christian, so that together we can participate in God’s great mission of bringing all creation to its perfection.  What Anna and Simeon teach us is the value of patience and attentiveness.

            Ponder for a moment today’s story.  Both Anna and Simeon are elders and both are described as regular worshippers in the Temple.  Each day they have attended to their prayers.  Each day they have gone into the Temple.  Each day they have gone home without seeing the fulfillment of their hopes.  But neither has given up and on this day their hopes are realized.  In the arms of a young couple the promised Light enters the Temple.  I have little doubt that in this moment neither Anna nor Simeon felt the weight of their years.  Their patient participation in the rhythms of a faithful life have brought them to this one moment and it is good.

            But what distinguishes patience from tedium is attentiveness.  Doing the same thing, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, can become deadly dull.  What rescues patience from tedium is learning how to watch, to consider the value of each moment as a potential window into the mystery of what God is doing in our times and in our places.  Attentiveness is riding the same bus route for years, but paying attention to the stops, to the people who board, to the changes in the city over time with an eye to the possibility that today might be the day.  Attentiveness is participating in the rhythms of our spiritual life of prayer, worship, study and service with an eye to the possibility that today might be the day.  This might be the day that the Light of the nations, the Glory of God, the long-awaited Promise might burst upon us.  And if today is not the day, then perhaps tomorrow.  Our spiritual practices become the means to hone our hearts, minds, souls and strength so that we can be patient rather than bored.

            In this ‘in-between’ and ‘mean-spirited’ time let us remember the patience of Anna and Simeon.  In this ‘in-between’ and ‘mean-spirited’ time let us remember the attentiveness of Anna and Simeon.  Who knows?  Perhaps today will be the day.  Amen.

An Ordo for the Presentation of Christ (2 February 2014)

Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

2 February 2014

The Gathering of the Community

Processional Hymn

‘From East to West, from Shore to Shore’  Common Praise #155 vv. 1, 2, 7

Introductory Responses

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel.

May all the earth be filled with the glory of God.

Light has sprung up for the righteous,

and joyful gladness for those who are true-hearted.

Glory to God in the highest,

and peace to God’s people on earth.

Hymn of Praise

Gloria in excelsis by Rupert Laing

Collect

Let us pray.

God of Anna and Simeon,

whose law makes known the gift of life,

whose love exposes our hardness of heart:

by your Spirit, may we receive your faithful word to Gentile and Jew

and know your reconciling presence offered for all the world;

through Jesus Christ, the Light and Glory of God.  Amen.  [i]

The Proclamation of the Word

First Reading

A Reading from the prophet Malachi (3.1-4).

            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 messenger of the covenant in whom you delight — indeed, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.  But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?

            For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the Lord in righteousness.  Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.

Thanks be to God.

The Psalm

‘Holy Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place’  Common Praise #498

Second Reading

A Reading from the Letter to the Hebrews (2.14-18).

            Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.  For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham.  Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church.

Thanks be to God.

The Gradual Hymn

‘Lord, Let Your Servant Go in Peace’  Common Praise #266

The Gospel

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke (2.22-40).

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

            After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

            When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the  Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

            Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit rested on him.  It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah.  Guided by the Spirit, Simeon came into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him what was customary under the law, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying, “Master, now you are dismissing your servant in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”

            And the child’s father and mother were amazed at what was being said about him.  Then Simeon blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed — and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

            There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.  She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty- four.  She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day.  At that moment she came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

            When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.  The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.

The Gospel of Christ.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

The Sermon

An Affirmation of Faith

The Deacon leads the Community in the Affirmation of Faith.

Do you believe and trust in God, the Holy One of Israel,

source of all being and life,

the one for whom and in whom we exist?

We believe and trust in the Holy One.

Do you believe and trust in God, the Word incarnate,

who took our human nature,

died for us and rose again?

We believe and trust in the Word.

Do you believe and trust in God, the Power of the Most High,

who gives life to the people of God

and makes Christ known in the world?

We believe and trust in the Power of the Most High.

This is the faith of the church.  This is our faith.

We believe and trust in one God,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen. [ii]

The Prayers of the Community

Intercessions, Petitions and Thanksgivings

The Exchange of the Peace

May the peace of Christ be always with you.

And also with you.

The Holy Communion

The Offertory Hymn

‘Lord Christ, We Praise Your Sacrifice’  Common Praise #633 (sung to #442)

Prayer over the Gifts

Creator of light,

accept the joyful offering of your Church,

and grant that your Word may shine in us

as the light that lightens every nation.

We ask this in the name of the same Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen. [iii]

Thanksgiving at the Table

The Lord be with you.

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Blessed are you, gracious God,

creator of heaven and earth,

because in the mystery of the Word made flesh

you have caused a new light to shine in our hearts,

to give knowledge of salvation

in the face of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

Now with angels and archangels

and the whole company of heaven,

we lift our voices

to proclaim the glory of your name. [iv]

Holy, holy, holy Lord,

God of power and might,

heaven and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest. [v]

Holy One, the beginning and the end, the giver of life:

Blessed are you for the birth of creation.

Blessed are you in the darkness and in the light.

Blessed are you for your promise to your people.

Blessed are you for the prophets’ hopes and dreams.

Blessed are you for Mary and Joseph’s openness to your will.

Blessed are you for your Son, Jesus, the Word made flesh.

In the night in which he was betrayed,

our Lord Jesus took bread, and gave thanks;

broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying:

Take and eat; this is my body given for you.

Do this for the remembrance of me.

Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks,

and gave it for all to drink, saying:

This cup is the new covenant in my blood,

shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.

Do this for the remembrance of me.

[Therefore let] us proclaim the mystery of faith:

Christ has died.

Christ is risen.

Christ will come again.

With this bread and cup we remember

your Word dwelling among us, full of grace and truth.

We remember our new birth in his death and resurrection.

We look with hope for his coming.

Come, Lord Jesus.

Holy God, we long for your Spirit.

Come among us.  Bless this meal.

May your Word take flesh in us.

Awaken your people.  Fill us with your light.

Bring the gift of peace on earth.

Come, Holy Spirit.

All praise and glory are yours, Holy One of Israel,

Word of God incarnate, Power of the Most High,

one God, now and for ever.  Amen. [vi]

The Lord’s Prayer

As our Saviour taught us, let us pray,

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial,

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power,

and the glory are yours,

now and for ever.  Amen. [vii]

The Breaking of the Bread

We break the bread of life,

and that life is the light of the world

God here among us,

light in the midst of us,

bring us to light and life.

The gifts of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

The Communion

Communion Hymn

‘Love Came Down at Christmas’  Common Praise #131

The Sending Forth of the Community

Blessing of the Candles

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

It is right to give our thanks and praise.

Blessed are you, God of steadfast love,

You sent your Word to be the dawn of redemption and

to scatter the darkness of sin and despair from our path.

We join your servants Anna and Simeon

in giving thanks for the freedom Christ brings.

May we who offer these candles

become vessels of his light

so that all the world may glory in the splendour of your peace.

Blessed are you, O God,

who gives us light in our darkness.  Amen.

The candles are distributed to the members of the congregation.  These candles may be taken home and lit during the evening meal.

Prayer after Communion

God for whom we wait,

you fulfilled the hope of Simeon

and gladdened the heart of Anna,

who together welcomed the Messiah.

Complete in us your perfect will,

that we in Christ may share in your reign of peace and justice;

for he is Lord for ever and ever.  Amen.

Glory to God,

whose power, working in us,

can do infinitely more

than we can ask or imagine.

Glory to God from generation to generation,

in the Church and in Christ Jesus,

for ever and ever.  Amen.

Closing Hymn

‘Spirit, Come, Dispel Our Sadness’  Common Praise #252 (sung to #223)

Dismissal

The Deacon or Assisting Minister sends the Community forth, saying,

Go forth to reveal Christ in the world.

Thanks be to God.

---

[i] Steven Shakespeare, Prayers for an Inclusive Church (2009), 9.

[ii] Common Worship (2000), 144 alt.

[iii] The Book of Alternative Services (1985), 401 alt.

[iv] The Book of Alternative Services (1985), 220.

[v] ‘Carol Mass’ by Rupert Lang.

[vi] Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), 110.

[vii] Common Worship #744.