This sermon considers the story of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, found in Luke 2:22-40.
The story of the Presentation is the final and fulfilling story of Christmas. The tree comes down today, its ornaments outshone by sheer revelation. The lights of Christmas are packed away into our hearts.
For Simeon, the birth of Jesus fulfils the ancient promise of a royal Messiah who will bring a certain power to earth, a power available to people on both sides of every division on earth, starting with the mother of all problems, the ancient hatred between Israel and her neighbor nations. You heard it here: “A light in the presence of all people, a light for revelation to us and to our enemies,” or words to that effect.
That power is the power to see and understand God’s love revealed in human form, in human affairs, wherever God’s love chooses to be, God’s love perfectly expressed in Jesus the Christ who sums up everything the old law of God required, and expresses everything the old prophets stood for.
This Jesus is new, so new. How new? He’s a baby forty days old, younger even than Mikayla and Isabella who were baptized here last Sunday.
And so this is a story about how in God’s great love always what is new and wonderful
needs what is old and wonderful, how what is fresh from the heart of God rises from what has been from the beginning in the heart of God,
The new kissing the old. How old? Simeon-old. And the new causes the old to dance, dance with joy and pure praise. And the old shows the new how to dance the dances of the elders, the gracious moves from of old.
This meeting in the Temple is no accident: God’s Holy Spirit guides them all to meet. God sets the stage and unites the old and the new. When they meet, old Simeon suddenly can see the future in the eyes of this baby, and what he sees looking out at him is the sheer dazzling love and wisdom of God wrapped up in human flesh.
Anna sees it too, and she joins Simeon as they, the old, bless Jesus, the new.
The old blessing the new, the new bringing joy to the old… something like that happened in our nation on January 20th , didn’t it?
Who were the old characters there? Aretha Franklin…Rev. Lowery… Wait, wasn’t Abraham Lincoln there? Well, his Bible…And weren’t there hundreds of black slaves there? Well, those stone steps of the Capitol that they laid in back-breaking labor…
And who were the new characters there? President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle, First children Sasha and Malia… And about two million of our closest friends, for whom attending an Inauguration was a brand new idea.
The old blessing the new, the new bringing joy to the old… something like that happens today in our church, as our Annual Meeting is held.
It will be the 115th time that members of St.John’s have gathered to review the life and work of this church. 115… that’s old!
And for some, it will be their first time attending such a meeting here. They are among the new, and God is blessing us with new people, new people of all ages, with widely differing backgrounds and talents to enrich our parish family and our outreach to the world.
We will be blessed, as the old and the new kiss each other, dance together, see in each other’s eyes the sheer dazzling love and wisdom of God.
In a very real way, the story of a parish family is all about how in God’s great love always what is new and wonderful needs what is old and wonderful, how what is fresh from the heart of God rises from what has been from the beginning in the heart of God,
And what rises is a power to see and understand God’s love revealed in human form, in human affairs, in our people, in the mission and fellowship of a church, this church, centered on God’s love perfectly expressed in Jesus the Christ who sums up everything old and wonderful, while being himself everything new and wonderous, at work in us to feed and love and serve the world in his name.
