Elders

Today we get a rare treat liturgically.

So here are some fun trivia facts for all the Episcopal liturgical nerds out there,

            because one of the major holy days coincides with this Sunday.

Usually when a major holy day lands on a Sunday,

            the holy day is deferred to Monday and celebrated then

                        EXCEPT for three instances.

If the holy day is specifically about Jesus,

            then the collect and lessons for that holy day are celebrated

                        instead of what usually would be appointed for that Sunday.

Those three holy days are 

            the Feast of the Holy Name – January 1,

            the Feast of the Transfiguration – August 6,

            and the Feast of the Presentation – February 2.

Today is the Feast of the Presentation, or as it used to known

            the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The occasion was primarily for Mary, 40 days after the birth

            at the end of the postpartum flow of blood,

                        because while that was going on

                        she could not come into the Temple area.

But now she was to bring two sacrifices:

            a pigeon or turtledove for herself as a sin offering,

            and the second for her firstborn child.

If she couldn’t afford a lamb for the firstborn infant,

            she could substitute a pigeon or turtledove.

So we learn from the passage 

            that they were a poor family at the moment,

            probably still in Bethlehem and prior to the visit of the Magi.

They would have made their purchase of the two birds at the Temple

            working with the money changers,

and then got in line with others 

                                    who were bringing their sacrifices to the priests.

The priests were occupied in their job of slaughtering the animals 

            and offering the prayers

            and stoking the fire on the altar

                        where the various sacrificed animals were being consumed 

            by the flames rising upward with aromatic smoke to God like incense.

It was quite a scene.

But there in the midst of it all 

            as people passed by with their sacrificial animals

an old man and an old woman were waiting and watching.

Mary, Joseph and the baby probably blended in with the crowd,

            but to these two they were highly visible.

No star brightening the night ski was needed.

Simeon and Anna both KNEW this was the One.

            They saw with that inner vision.

            To them this infant was a brightly burning lamp.

            This was their Epiphany moment.

They went straight for the baby

            and what they then uttered was pure prophecy.

Prophecy – speaking the truth, the truth of the moment as well as the future.

            Prophecy to jolt those around them in the Temple area,

                        all the others coming and going,

            that this newborn child was going to impact their lives

                                    in ways they couldn’t begin to understand.

Did the crowd stop to listen and pay attention 

                                                            to the scene unfolding before them?

Here they all were at the Temple of the Name of God

            all with their personal involvement in the process for the sacrifices 

                                                            that they brought with them,

all assuming that the prayers that ascended with the burning animal flesh

            would buy them favor with God.

And then this old man bursts forth in song

            and his words would be remembered

            and set to music over and over again.

“Lord!  Now I can die in peace,

                        just like you told me,

            for I have seen, I have seen this infant and I have seen, really seen, 

                                                who he is. 

I have seen the Light, the Light of the world,

            the Light that is bringing salvation and liberation and freedom for all,

                        not just for us of the Tribes of Israel,

                        but Light for the whole world, 

                                                everybody, all those Gentiles out there too.

Now my life is complete

            I don’t have to hold onto this aging and decrepit body.

Seeing the Light in this way is more than enough.

My waiting and watching are over.”

These are just as much Anna’s words as they are Simeon’s.

And she was the Evangelist for the occasion,

            telling everyone walking by there in the Temple area,

that who you have been looking for, 

                        the Redemption of Jerusalem,

            is right here right now – in this tiny baby.

She had lived way beyond the usual life expectancy in those days,

            but the remaining and waiting had not been for nothing.

Neither Simeon nor Anna would live to see the baby Jesus grow up.

            They would not hear him preach 

            or tell those strange stories we call parables.

They would not witness the healings 

            or the conflicts with the religious leaders 

            or the crucifixion                         or the resurrection.

But I believe they too were including in the resurrection to new life 

            and that this occurred in that moment 

                        of seeing and recognizing their Lord 

            even as he was disguised in the form of a six week old infant.

How did that happen?

In the same way that Elizabeth 

                        carrying the developing fetus of John the Baptist 

            knew when the newly pregnant Mary arrived at her door –

            she knew through the Holy Spirit, 

                        the Spirit that would later be poured out on the nascent church

                                    on the Day of Pentecost,

                        that Resurrection Presence of Jesus among us and within us,

                                    and in whom we live and move and have our being.

It’s all Resurrection Life

            which, as we can see here in this case, 

                        is not restricted to a temporal time line,

                                    the construct of human thought processes,

                                    the scientific measurement of mass in motion.

For time is only now

            and now and now and now.

So today this story is just as present as it was 2,020 years ago.

Those who have waited and watched for their salvation,

            the time in which they would recognize their new life in Christ,

            the inner liberation that heals and reconciles,

            that which brings hope for the future come what may,

            that for which all of life up until then is now meaningful and worthwhile.

That which makes it possible to now let go,

            to let go of the past, let go of sorrows, let go of fear, let go of anger, 

                        let go of hatred – hatred of others and hatred of self.

Let go.

In some ways we can look at Simeon and Anna as role models,

            as examples of mature faith and mature spirituality.

This is what old age looks like at its fullest and best.

To practice your faith, to faithfully say your prayers,

            to love and seek reconciliation,

            to have found some words to express the hope that lies within you –

these are ways of being open to the maturation process of faith.

And these are ways that provide a living legacy for those who come after us.

I am not speaking just to the elders in the congregation today,

            for to be an elder in the faith is not a matter of chronological age,

                        but of the wisdom that comes from experiencing God’s grace

                        and recognizing it.

I have encountered some who are wise beyond their years,

            and I have also encountered older folks who are mere babes in faith.

But, I want to be quick to say, 

                        that doesn’t mean that you can’t still grow spiritually.

Everyone here is a potential Anna or Simeon,

            even the youngsters.  

                                                Live, so that you can become them.

I am encouraged by this Gospel story, especially as I get older and older,

            to sit waiting and watching, for me in meditation,

                        with my inner spiritual senses tuned to recognize

                                    the Light of the world

                        especially when that Light appears in unexpected ways, 

so that one day I can freely and even joyfully let go of the physical body

            and depart in peace 

                                    dazzled by the Light.