Sermons

Candlemas (transferred)
Sunday 28 January at 10am

Lesley Ashton
Readings: Malachi 3.1-5; Luke 2. 22-40

A few weeks ago I was talking to a woman at preschool praise about the fact that the nativity figures were still in Church and I said that 'Yes they would remain out until Candlemas, which is forty days after Jesus was born and when Mary and Joseph took him to the temple. This person was not an Anglican but she commented on how much she liked the Anglican's sense of seasons and that it was something that she wished they followed more within her own Church tradition. I felt a great sense of being affirmed both personally and as a Church.

Personally because I guess a great deal of my sense identity is caught up with my faith and the Anglican tradition that has been part of my life since I was a child, I have strayed from it a number of times but it was the default to which I eventually returned and which I now can see was set deeply within me, albeit at a sub conscious level.

Affirmed as a Church because it was good to hear someone say something positive about the Anglican Church especially during a period of time when it is not getting particularly good press and also because the traditions that have formed people over many centuries continue to form us still today.

Scripture, experience and reason also are the other three aspects of our faith journey, which help us to develop and mature as Christians. We may feel that sometimes we make too much of our tradition or take it too seriously but it is perhaps important to note that tradition was very much part of the story we have listened to in this morning's gospel reading.

Mary and Joseph were formed in their own tradition of the Jewish faith and they remain committed and steadfast to it as they bring Jesus to be presented in the temple. The traditions they were honouring may seem strange to us today but they were being obedient to the law, as they understood it, the law given to Moses for the people of Israel. Mary having given birth to a son needed 40 days of purification, she has come to Jerusalem for the priest to perform the ritual to take away her impurity, so that she will be ritually clean and able to join in public worship.

They also offer a sacrifice, it is the offering made by the poor, that of two pigeons, the sacrifice is offered both for Mary's purification and also to redeem or buy back the first-born son. In the same way that Abraham sacrificed the ram instead of his son, so 2 young pigeons are offered for the life of Jesus. Neither poverty nor the inconvenience of travel prevents them from keeping true to their tradition and their law. It is simply part of what they believe to be the right thing to do and the rituals are upheld.

Jesus is brought to the temple at Jerusalem, to the heart of established Jewish worship.
It is in this place that Jesus is first recognised as the Christ, the one who will light to the Gentiles as well as being the glory of his people Israel

These happening remind us that Jesus was a Jew, steeped from birth in the traditions and practices of his faith. He was formed in the Jewish faith and it is this faith that was the touchstone for his entire ministry.

His authenticity and integrity are utterly dependent on him being Jewish, and on him being brought up and nurtured within the traditions of his faith.
Simeon's words to Mary.'this child is chosen by God for the destruction and the salvation of many in Israel. He will be a sign from God which many people will speak against and so reveal their secret thoughts. And sorrow like a sharp sword will break your own heart'

These words prophesy state the nature of Christ's future purpose and ministry and the fact that suffering will be integral to it. But in order for Christ to fulfil his calling he needed to be steeped within his own tradition.

Firstly because he needed to understand and master his tradition before he could raise questions about it and also because he needed to be totally immersed within the Jewish culture before he could challenge some of its practices. In the words of Richard Holloway (Doubts and Loves)'Jesus understood and observed the code of his people, but he knew that it had to be challenged if it was to continue to serve humanity and not the other way round.' He recognised the need for the law but saw that it could shackle and stagnate people and he wanted people to be set free to meet their God in a new and living way.

Jesus knew and understood his tradition but did not believe that it should remain static and the combination of these two things meant that he would suffer and that he would die but not before he had brought light to the Gentiles and glory to his people Israel. We enjoy our Christian faith today because Christ was willing to be subversive and counter cultural.

Our tradition forms us and supports us but it should never enslave us or become our comfort blanket. Wee need to learn about it and be seeped within it and then we need to also have the courage to question it and to be open to change and to challenge. We should prayerfully be open to the work of the Holy Spirit to guide us in decisions about what should be retained and what might be offered up for the sake of God's kingdom.

Some of us may be required to speak out and may be named subversive or counter cultural, so we may need to be fools for Christ's sake. Discernment is needed to know whether we do this to support our own position, possibly one of entrenchment, or to open up the possibility of life affirming faith to others. Remembering always that Jesus first was a light to the Gentiles before he was the glory of his people Israel.

Our tradition says that the nativity figures will be taken from public display after today they will be carefully put away until Advent when we find our selves waiting like Anna and Simeon all those years ago for the coming of Christ. May we be thankful for the traditions that nurture our faith, respectful of the traditions that sustain the faith of others, whilst being mindful of our need to be open to God's guiding wisdom for the future.

Amen

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