A LIGHT FOR REVELATION

Simeon took [Jesus] 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.”

Luke 2:28-32

Friday, February 2, the Church celebrates the Presentation of Our Lord, or Candlemas.

I know I’m a few days ahead of the Commemoration, but that happens when one commits to posting on a fixed day.

In some traditions, this day is also known as the Purification of Mary. A woman could not enter the Temple until forty days after giving birth. February 2nd falls forty days after Jesus was born.

I love this festival, although in the United States, this day seems to get buried under other observances that are more popular, more secular, more familiar to our contemporary society, like Groundhog Day (also on the same date, in case you didn’t notice). A decade ago, the last time February 2^nd fell on a Sunday, it was also Super Bowl Sunday, leaving a lot of people thoroughly confused.

Candles for use in Church during the year, and in individuals’ homes, are also blessed on this day. Hence, the term “Candlemas.”

When I served as Latino Mission Developer in Canton many years ago, the Christmas celebrations for our parish didn’t end until this festival. That was a lot of celebrating!

This story of the presentation of Jesus in the Temple only appears in the Gospel according to Luke (Luke 2:22-40). The theological point the evangelist Luke is trying to make is that Mary and Joseph are devout keepers of God’s Law (Leviticus 12). They are doing everything according to the Torah’s instruction when it comes to child-rearing. The Lord Jesus is being taught to keep God’s Law perfectly.

And on His 40^th day, God’s Son, our Savior, comes to His Father’s house for the first of many times. He is carried in His mother’s arms into God’s house where she will give God the Father thanks and praise for this wondrous gift.

In Luke’s Gospel we also meet the two elderly saints, Simeon and Anna, who are overcome with joy and offer God the highest praise that they have been given the opportunity to lay eyes and hands upon God’s infant King, the long-awaited Savior of the world.

Simeon sings that Jesus will be, “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29-32)

It’s this mention of Jesus as “the light for revelation to the Gentiles” that led to this day not just being known as the feast of the Presentation of Our Lord but also as Candlemas.

The importance of Candlemas has diminished over the years, in large part because we no longer live in a time when candles are the main, if not only, source of light for homes and churches. Thanks to electricity, darkness is no longer seen as a problem.

There’s a brief liturgy in the Episcopal Book of Occasional Services (p. 42) for those who are curious how the candles are blessed.

However, despite that light that we receive from electricity, candles remind us of, and point us toward the light of Christ.

The light of a candle is a powerful symbol for the light of Christ in our lives. The light of Christ assures us that the promises of our baptism are true.

In many European countries during this time of Epiphany, especially Germany, we also see the Moravian star, a reminder that Jesus is the light of the world.

The light is important not just for us as individuals but for the world. Those who don’t know the love, grace, and forgiveness of Jesus only know the darkness.

That’s where each of us as bearers of the light of Christ, and the church as the body of Christ come in.

A simple candle can serve to remind us of these promises of Christ and the truth of his presence with us and in the world.

This is why I insist on the presence of a candle in church council or vestry meetings, which sometimes get so bogged down in business that we forget Christ is present in the room with us.

As disciples of Jesus, we are called to follow where God is leading us, and let the light of Christ, the revelation of God’s mercy to the world, shine in and through us.

As we confess our faith and place our trust in the love and mercy of Christ, we are bold to share and shine the light of Christ in all we do and say, trusting that those who are looking will see it and come to know Him who Scripture calls: The light of the world.

Let us pray:
Almighty and everliving 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. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer, p. 239)