Love Your Enemies And Right Relationship

 This past week in the Administration from Hell has really pushed all of my buttons. 

Our president has decided that Ukraine...which was invaded by Russia three years ago today...started this war, their leader is a dictator, and we are going to do peace negotiations with Vladimir Putin, one of the most evil and reprehensible foreign leaders in the world, without Ukraine's Volodymer Zelensky. 

Our vice president has lectured European leaders as if they are kindergarteners. 

The administration has fired two members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff--a Black man and a woman--claiming they were "DEI hires." 

Park rangers, biologists, JAGs in the military, any federal employee still in their probationary period with a government agency (so a lot of young professionals) have been fired with a mass email and locked out of their computers, so they can't download information like their performance evaluations to help them get new jobs. 

All of this benefits billionaires...specifically one billionaire: Elon Musk. He is eliminating the federal agencies that kept a check on his business interests, and appears to be data mining to get access to the trade secrets of his competitors who had government contracts. 

So imagine the joy of opening the Scriptures for the week and reading that Jesus wants me to "love your enemies."

I needed help...big time...to write and preach this sermon.

Thanks be to God for those men of God....the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Rev. Sen. Raphael Warnock. 

All of us who aim to do our best to walk with Jesus need to help each other. Maybe this sermon helps you. I hope it does.

Let me know what you think. 

Texts: Luke 6:27-38; Gen. 45: 3-11; 15....and Gen. 4:1-11

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I don’t think there’s a tougher piece of Scripture to hear than this week’s Gospel.

There is nothing more challenging…more counter-cultural…than a message to “love your enemies.”

And this Scripture is especially hard to hear right now in our country.

The animosity between groups of people has been building for years.

Distrust of the “other”…whichever “other” that is.. has been spreading like a wildfire.

Verifiable facts…like who started a war in Ukraine… are being re-written.

People are angry…families are split.

And here comes Jesus with “Love your enemies.”

If hearing it is hard…preaching on it is even harder.

And doing it…that’s the hardest!

It’s not as if Jesus was ignorant to the difficulty of his message.

He saw the abusive behavior of the Roman Empire.

And he understood the seething anger of his fellow Jews.

Remember last week’s Gospel lesson with the blessings and woes?

Jesus is there…on the plain…on the level with them in their tired and weary lives.

And yet…he still said…don’t return their hatred with more hatred.

Be different. Don’t behave like them.

A word we must still consider today in 2025.

How can we… when we’re witnessing chaos…and learning about people losing their jobs for no reason…how do we bring ourselves to a place of “loving” the enemy?

I think the best place to start is by thinking through some definitions.

When we hear “enemy” we might be thinking about those we see as foes.

That’s who those listening to Jesus had in mind with the Empire.

But an “enemy” might also be that person who we don’t like. The person we don’t want to be around.

Jesus doesn’t ask us to “like” people.

He says to “love” them.

So what does Jesus means by “love” here?

This is a particular type of “love.”

In the Greek of the New Testament…there are three different types of “love.”

There is “eros”…which is the romantic love; there is philia…which is where we get Philadelphia being “the city of brotherly love.” That idea of a kinship and bond.  

And then there is “agape” love.

This is a redemptive love…the creative and overflowing goodwill that doesn’t seek anything in return. The love that wants good things for all people.

It’s this “agape” love that is the “love of the enemy”…that Jesus is talking about.

In his book “Strength to Love” the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. does a deep dive into what it takes to reach a place of having that agape love for the enemy.

Dr. King certainly knew the hardship of finding love for those who were prejudiced against Black Americans in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.

King says the first step toward this agape is to do some inner work.

You can’t get to “loving the enemy” until you work on forgiveness.

One must be able to forgive the wrong that was done.

That doesn’t mean you gloss over what happened…or try to label an evil act as “good.”

Evil is never good.

And this also isn’t about being a doormat.

What forgiveness means is seeing the wrong for what it is…but not allowing that wrong to put up a barrier to relationship.

It’s that part of the Lord’s Prayer: forgive us our trespasses…our wrongs…our refusal to be in relationship to people and the planet…as we forgive those who trespass against us.

We can see an example of that in our first reading with the story of Joseph and his brothers. Joseph’s brothers had initially tried to kill him but instead they sold him into slavery in Egypt. Joseph, who had the gift of dreaming and interpretation, then went on to became so valuable to the Pharoah that he was now in a position of power in Egypt.

His brothers had no idea he had become so successful.

When they found out who he was…and how powerful he was…they were terrified that he was going to seek revenge for what they had done to him.

But Joseph didn’t use his power over them.

He had had time to reflect…and to see that what they had been meant for bad…had turned out better for him.

And really for them…too.

He forgave them. And a relationship that had been severed could now be repaired.

The brothers huddled together and they wept.

The other thing Dr. King notes about forgiving the enemy is the need to recognize a truth about the human heart.

Each of us is capable of both good and evil.

We all can love and hate.

I recently had a chance to rewatch a video that I had made for one of my seminary classes about the story of Cain and Abel.

If you don’t remember the story…the brothers…Cain and Abel…bring an offering to God.

Cain is a tiller of the ground, so in my video…he presents God with a basket of vegetables.

Abel is a shepherd…so he presents God with a choice sheep from his flock.

God accepts Abel’s offering but rejects Cain’s.

Cain gets angry…and God cautions Cain to be careful about this emotion…and tells him that he must master it or else it is going to take him down the pathway of sin.

Sin meaning a separation from God.

That separation…in this case…manifested in Cain leaving the conversation with God and going off to kill his brother Abel.

That’s an extreme example of what happens when hate gets the better of us.

But it illustrates what happens when we feel wronged and then we transfer our hurt onto the other who we think is getting something we aren’t getting.

That jealousy or envy becomes a barrier to relationship.

I think that’s what’s at the heart of the fear and the anger at diversity…equity…and inclusion.

There’s a perception that someone who is a woman…or is not white…or maybe is gay…is somehow “getting something” that they didn’t “deserve.”

Now this term “DEI” is thrown about as a bad thing.

But as Senator and Baptist preacher Raphael Warnock recently pointed out…those letters “D-E-I” spell “dei”…the Latin phrase: “of God.”

And we are all made in the image of God…the “imago dei.”

The diversity of the people in our workforce is a reflection of the diversity of people in our country…which is a reflection of the people in creation.

And as it says in the Book of Genesis…all those made in God’s image are “very good.”

Both the people we love…and the people we hate are “imago dei.”

We can’t forget that.

The Cain and Abel story is also a reminder that we can choose to either follow good…or follow evil…and that both emotions reside in all of us.

So often…the source of somebody’s hate is coming from a place of fear…or prejudice.

It’s built on the wobbly foundation of simply not knowing a person who is different from us…or not understanding differences.

Those barriers can be broken down if we take the time to listen to each other…and feel safe enough to share our stories with one another.

I can see some of that happening in the Episcopal Church around the issue of the boarding schools where our indigenous siblings were sent in the 19^th and 20^th century to “kill the Indian in them.”

Indian children were taken from their families and shipped off miles away to boarding schools…and stripped of their names and given numbers.

They were punished for singing their songs and speaking in their native languages.

While the trauma of those experiences will never be undone…the fact that the Church is now listening…and acknowledging that these wrongs were done in our name is the start of healing.

It repairs the relationships distorted by hatred by giving those hurt the dignity of being heard.

And it softens the hearts of those who have let their hatred…their fears and their prejudices…consume them and rob them of their humanity.

As we approach the end of Epiphany and the start of the season of Lent…I can’t think of a more important lesson for us than this one about “loving our enemies.”

Because we are going to need a lot more love in these next many years.

Things are not right at the moment in this country.

And I’m not just talking about what’s happening on the macro level of national and foreign policy.

As I said at the start of this sermon…we’ve been increasingly turning on each other in ways that are undermining our ability to be in right relationship with each other.

And when we are not in right relationship with each other…we are definitely not in right relationship with God.

When we see each other as only whatever partisan positions we take…or whatever other characteristics we are…gender…orientation…race…and we retreat into that place in our hearts that feeds on our fears of what’s different….we are starving and fasting our faith in God.

In this time…we are being called again by God to choose life.

Choosing life means choosing to stand for Love.

Because Love is the answer and the only force that can turn the enemy into a friend.

Love…that agape love…is that overwhelming and creative force that wants the good for everyone…and refuses to capitulate to the idea that goodness…life…love and light are in limited supply.

As Dr. King so eloquently said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

If we want to be seen as followers and believers in Jesus…we must be ready to take on the difficult task of Love.

We must be willing to see the imago dei in each other…both those who are friends and those who are enemies.

May Love and light be our guide.

In the name of our One Holy and Undivided Trinity.

 

 

Blessings and Curses: A Sermon for 6C Epiphany

 I swear, most weeks feel as though I am getting challenged by God to rise up to the challenge of following Jesus to the cross in more than a metaphorical way. That's life in the first month of this presidential administration. 

We're all living in this Hell together. And so I am also hoping that through the words given to me to speak it might motivate a few more people off the sidelines. 

Could that be you?

Texts: Jer. 17:5-10; Ps.1;  Luke 6:17-26

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            It can be easy when we hear stories from the scriptures that are so well-known to just kind of gloss over them.

Familiarity with something like today’s reading—the Beatitudes—is one where we hear it and think:

 “Yeah, yeah. Blessed are this group and that group.”

My guess is that most of us were listening and thinking of the other version of the Beatitudes—the one from Matthew’s Gospel—which is part of what is called “The Sermon on the Mount.”

But this reading is NOT that reading.

And this passage from Luke has some details that I think require us to slow down and pay attention to what our evangelist wants us to know about Jesus.

So let’s dig in here for a moment.

Unlike Matthew…Luke places Jesus not on a mountain…but on the plain…on the ground.

And not just on the ground.

Luke’s Jesus is looking up at his disciples before he begins to speak.

Instead of being elevated above them…Luke wants us to remember that Jesus is “with” the people.

Around his disciples is the crowd….all those folks who have come from miles and miles on foot…seeking to hear a word from him.

These are the lost…the lonely…the disenfranchised…the people with disabilities.

The ones the Empire is trying to crush like bugs.

This crowd is straining to hear what Jesus is saying to his ragamuffin group of followers.

So Jesus begins:

“Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the kingdom of God.”

What?

It’s a blessing to live month to month trying to figure out how to make ends meet?

“Blessed are those who are hungry now for you will be filled.”

Seriously?!

We all know it’s a lot harder for a child to learn anything in school if they aren’t getting enough food to sustain their bodies.

Just these first two mentions of who is “blessed”…or the “fortunate ones” is just strange.

But then…Jesus is strange.

And he’s called the disciples to join him in this upside-down way of looking at things.

Is it virtuous to be poor?

To be hungry?

No…not really.

But this isn’t virtue signaling or just talk about material wealth.

This is about the Way of Love.

And the Way of Love is the ongoing effort to bring about a more just and fair society.

And that requires taking the conventional wisdom that says that wealth and prestige makes one great…and flips that idea on its head.

The Way of Love requires us to come together…be in relationship and not separate ourselves from each other…or even divorce ourselves from our own hearts and minds.

Most of all…this Way of Love… this blessed path of Jesus… demands that we not turn away from God.

Jesus is preparing his disciples….and anyone else willing to listen to him… that our call is to trust and lean into that Universal Source of Love…the Love that is of God…as our true inheritance.

Live it. Breathe it. And share it back with the world.

We are to look to God and feed our hearts…not our stomachs… with that Love.

That was his message in the Beatitudes then.

Today…Jesus is looking at you and me…the disciples of now…and saying, “Blessed are you.”

And with that blessing…comes the responsibility.

We are called to not look away…but to sit with and stand by those who weep…continue to make contact and connection to one another.

And as we watch the news each day…there are many who are weeping and in need of those who will be with them in this time of uncertainty.

It reminds me of some of the things that Mother Leeann Culbreath was sharing in the migration with dignity forum we held last week.

She asked us to give…in one sentence…a story of an immigrant that we have known in our own lives.

And everyone at that forum had a story they could share.

Everyone knew someone who had come to this country in search of a better life.

And…let’s be honest…all of us who are white and not claiming a heritage of one of the many indigenous tribes…we’re all here because our ancestors came from somewhere else.

Mother Leeann shared about her experiences…and the stories of immigrants who faced dangerous treks through areas known for gang violence and civil war to get to the United States.

Some of them have been waiting for months and years as the immigration courts slowly process thousands of asylum cases.

There are simply not enough judges to do the work

And now…these innocent people are living in fear.

Without the proper papers…they could be sent back to places where they face almost certain death.

These are just some of the people waiting and weeping.

And Jesus invites us to weep with them…until those tears can turn to joy.

Not through punishment…but through properly fixing the systems that have been broken for too long.

None of this work of love is about being popular.

In fact…for those who are the fortunate…the blessed…those who follow in the Way of Love are courting trouble from the forces that deal in fear.

That’s Jesus’s warning to us.

He’s telling his disciples…both then and now… to prepare to be hated for not going along with the status quo advocated by the powerful.

And yet…sticking to that Source of Love is the answer and the way to stay strong in the face of opposition.

I’m reminded of a quote I heard recently from the late Bishop Barbara Harris…who was one who leaned into the Love of God as she faced the challenges of being the first woman bishop in the Anglican Communion…and was the first black woman bishop to boot.

Bishop Harris said, “Remember that the power behind us (God) is greater than the challenges ahead of us.”

In the Beatitudes…Jesus is saying the same thing.

He’s drawing upon the words of the prophets such as Jeremiah…warning of the “woe” that comes to those cut themselves off from others…and by doing that…cut themselves off from God.

Pay attention to what Jeremiah says:

“Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals
and make mere flesh their strength,
whose hearts turn away from the Lord.

They shall be like a shrub in the desert,
and shall not see when relief comes.

They shall live in the parched places of the wilderness,
in an uninhabited salt land.”

Jeremiah’s words tell us what the curse is: separating one’s heart from the Love that is the Lord.

 

Jeremiah goes on:

“Blessed are those who trust in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.

They shall be like a tree planted by water,
sending out its roots by the stream.” (Jer.17:5-6a)

The ones who live their lives by the societal standards that rewards those with “power over” others have lost touch with God.

As Jesus puts it…there is woe coming to those who have full stomachs but are still greedy for more because their greed is separating them from the Way of Love.

Blessed are the ones who fix their hearts on God…share in bearing the burdens of life with others…

These are the people who will be like the trees…with deep roots…fed by the living waters.

The woes are for those who withhold compassion… mercy… and justice.

The blessings come to those who…as Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote…stand in the shadow of the cross.

The Beatitudes are meant to prepare us for the hard work of Love that is before us…sharing that love with all…and not just the few who look like us…sound like us…or worship like us.

Are we ready to respond to a call to love…without any expectation of a reward?

Can we stand with Love amidst the crowd of hurting and broken people in our communities and shoulder some of their burden?

In other words: we will seek and serve Christ in all persons loving our neighbor as ourselves?

Hopefully we answer, I will…with God’s help.

I will trust in God.

I will look to Jesus as my guide through these trying times.

I will allow the Holy Spirit to work through me…and shine that light of love to those who are looking for it.

As our psalmist says:

“The Lord knows the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked is doomed.” (Ps.1:6)

In the name of our One Holy and Undivided Trinity.  

 

 

"In the Year King Uzziah Died"

 

The protests are beginning to happen now as we ended Week Three of the new administration. Democratic members of Congress are now being denied entry into government buildings such as the Department of Education, which is in danger of being shut down completely. The unelected president of the United States, Elon Musk, is busy destroying the USAID program which helps our farmers deliver necessary food resources to nations facing famine. He's also accusing the Lutherans, who have been very active for decades in helping to resettle refugees in this country, of being a money laundering operation. Wow. 

All of this motivated a wave of protests--50 in 50 state capitals on one day--to raise our collective voices against this authoritarian takeover of our country. 

And it made this week's First Reading from Isaiah more relevant than ever. The Gospel provided a nice touch, too. 

See what you think. 

Texts: Is.6:1-3; Luke 5:1-11

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I think all of us have those moments where we can remember where we were when some major newsworthy event happened.

We know where we were when we heard about the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Or the attack on September 11^th.

Or when major figures of the 1960s…such as JFK or Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated.

Or even moments of human triumph like the moon landing in 1969.

Big historic events punctuate the timelines of our lives.

Which is why the first seven words of our First Reading this morning from Isaiah are critical for us to take some time with and consider.

Because these words have resonance not just with the prophet Isaiah but with us today.

So let’s just start with who is King Uzziah…Azariah…I’m sticking with saying, “Uh-ZYE-uh.”

Uzziah was king of Judah…the southern kingdom.  Israel was the northern kingdom. That split between the two happened after the death of Solomon.

Uzziah ruled Judah for 52 years from 791-739 B-C-E.

Under Uzziah’s leadership…the southern kingdom had a lot of prosperity.

They acquired land and had a good agricultural economy.

He fortified their cities such as Jerusalem…and modernized their military…building watchtowers and the invention of catapults.

Things were looking very promising for them…despite the regional tensions of the Assyrian empire…which existed in the areas mostly to the north and east of Judah.

 The Book of Second Chronicles…has lots of praise for all the marvelous works of King Uzziah.

But like so many leaders…both then and now…pride and his own sense of self-importance…got the better of Uzziah.

He decided that as the king…he had the right to enter the temple in Jerusalem and offer incense… a role restricted to the priests.

A politician claiming a religious role.

Eighty priests confronted the king and the chief priest denounced him for violating the sanctity of the space.

At that moment…Uzziah got struck with leprosy.

He was hustled out of the temple…and serves out the remaining final years of his kingship in seclusion…as his son takes over.

Needless to say…things for both the kingdom of Israel and Judah began to spiral downward.

In less than forty years…Assyria would invade and takeover both kingdoms…scattering the Israelites and conquering their land.

The death of Uzziah indicates a time of great uncertainty and political turmoil.

And it’s into this period that the prophet Isaiah has a vision of God…one that is so overpowering and awesome.

Just the hem of God’s robe filled the whole temple.

Seraphs…these six-winged creatures are flying around and singing praises to God’s holiness.

This vision is overwhelming.

This scene of such a powerful figure…leaves Isaiah feeling every bit of his total inadequacy to be in this space.

He’s trembling inside…wondering…

” Why me? How am I in this place…seeing the Holy One? I am not worthy of any of this!”

Friends, this is the most honest and appropriate response to those moments when we find ourselves in a place where it feels truly holy.

I remember having this same sense of awe when I was standing by one of the lakes in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Surrounded by these natural structures of weathered granite rock several thousand feet high…I felt how small and vulnerable I was while also admiring and appreciating these old mountains of creation.

Isaiah is scared out of his wits.

The belief in his day was that no one was to see God and live…let alone a man of “unclean lips.”

This is a pretty typical response of anyone who finds themselves being called by God.

Lots of prophets…Moses…Jeremiah…Jonah…try to wiggle out of being a prophet.

You might even remember that Mary was a little on edge when Gabriel came to tell her that she was going to give birth to the Son of the Most High.

Prophets have the difficult task of being messengers for God.

But when the Holy comes calling… no amount of arguing or pleading is going to get in the way of God accomplishing God’s purpose.

To Isaiah’s protest…God basically responds…

“Unclean lips? Hmm…OK…Seraph: do your job. Touch his lips with a hot coal! Now your sin…your perceived inadequacy is removed…so who will now do what I need to have done?!”

And we get those famous words from Isaiah: “Here am I: send me!”

Yay!! Isaiah is accepting the assignment! Cool, right?

Now…we had the option to stop the reading there.

And that would’ve been acceptable…maybe for some of us…even preferable.

But mean priest decided we needed to hear what came next.

Because…again…this is important for Isaiah’s time…and our time as well.

The assignment given to Isaiah is to go to the people…in this time when Uzziah has died…and they’re in the middle of political and cultural transition…and speak to them.

These are a people who have become pretty comfortable and complacent in the prosperity they’ve been enjoying.

Isaiah must tell them to get ready for some dark and troubling times.

And they won’t listen.

And they won’t understand.

They’ll refuse to see what is coming and what is coming is going to be the invasion of a very powerful and methodical Assyrian force that will up end their lives.

It’s a pretty terrifying prophecy laid upon Isaiah to deliver.

But even in that litany of horribles…God…who is the one constant in this story…also gives the promise that all will not be lost as things are falling apart.

There will be that remnant who will rise up out of this upheaval.

These are the ones who stick with God…follow the path that leads in a Godward direction.

That path…as the prophet Micah tells us… is the one that is about doing justice…loving kindness…and walking humbly with God.

This is the hope that has kept countless generations going and surviving through periods when the political and cultural worlds are feeling desperate…uncertain and even dangerous.

This is the same hope we need to keep alive in our own lives and with our own communities as we face some of the most difficult and unsettling events in our lives.

But it is often amid times of great uncertainty and peril…that God shows up.

Such is the case here with Isaiah.

Isaiah didn’t just wake up one day and strike out on his own.

God comes to him…and Isaiah…confessing his limitations…is nonetheless empowered by God and encouraged by God to go.

Speak up.

Have courage.

We’re in a moment where the church as a whole…and individuals in the church in particular…are sensing that God is calling us to not sit by but to stand up.

50501 protest at the Florida Capitol February 5, 2025.

We’re being sent to be the beacon we have promised to be…to do justice…be merciful…defend the defenseless.

The church is charged through the love of God to be like that bright beam of a lighthouse cutting through the fog to help those lost in the sea of hurt and hopelessness to find their way on these choppy waters.

Which brings us to Jesus with Simon in the boat.

Notice how Simon doesn’t have much luck catching fish in the same waters that he and the others have been trolling with their nets day after day.

That’s when Jesus tells him to go out further….go a little deeper…get away from the shore.

And—voila—Simon is catching so many more fish that other boats need to come and help bring in the haul.

Because the fish…or as Jesus notes…the fishing for people…means we need to not to stick to the same places we’ve always been.

Jesus is calling us into deeper waters.

As we are being sent out….we need to be ready to take the message of loving the neighbor…no matter who that neighbor is…what language they speak…who they love…or how they identify.

And even as we go out…we need to be prepared that our message may not be received.

Indeed…loving the foreigner may not be welcomed in some quarters.

So take that message out further… and wider.

There are others beyond our own kin that need to experience the true love of Christ.

And we are the bearers of that light.

God is calling us to this task.

May we be ready to respond to God with Here am I; send me.

In the name of our One Holy and Undivided Trinity.

 

 

 

The Brave Light: A Sermon for Candlemas

 

Another week of navigating a landscape that seems to be falling apart under our feet. The unelected South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, angered that he wasn't allowed to have access to sensitive personal data of Americans such as our social security numbers, has basically staged a coup from his make believe Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and shut out workers from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) computers. 

To say this is outrageous is an understatement. 

In addition to this evidence of a coup, Americans were shocked and in horror when an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines jet as it approached DC's National Airport Wednesday night, sending both into the Potomac River and killing all 67 people on both aircrafts. The next day, a small medical airplane crashed into a northeastern Philadelphia neighborhood, killing seven more people. The President blamed the Democrats even though he just fired the head of the FAA, who had dared questioned Elon Musk, the shadow president of the United States, about the safety of his Space X billionaire rocket boy toy program.

In cities and communities across the United States, Mexicans and Venezueleans and other Latino/as have been demonstrating, waving their national flags and calling out the MAGA movement for its racism and attempts to deport people legally allowed to be in the country. There have been reports of round ups of workers at restaurants and factories by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. It's causing fear and some places have reported that school children are absent from their classes, likely because their parents are in hiding. Even the Episcopal Church took a hit from the anti-immigrant attitude of the administration. The Church's program that helps to resettle refugees has been forced to furlough almost two-thirds of its staff. 

All of this is supposed to make America "great" and fix our "ruined" economy that was doing fine. But people said their eggs were too expensive post-pandemic. Last time I checked, eggs were still almost $8 for a dozen.

We are in February....Black History Month...although the President has now ordered that federal agencies are not allowed to hold any kind of recognition of it...or Women's History Month...or Pride Month...

That doesn't apply to churches. So today...I was using Howard Thurman's words to bless candles...quoting Amanda Gorman in my sermon...and singing the spiritual "This Little Light of Mine." 

If there ever was a time for people to look at the stories of Jesus in the Gospel and seek the strength and courage to stand up to the bullies and tyrants...it's now. 

Text: Luke 2:22-40

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We’re all familiar with Christmas…and the celebration of Jesus’ birth at Bethlehem.

We all know that Epiphany is the day that we rejoice that the Magi…three wise Gentile scientists from the East…follow the star to find the Jewish Jesus and hail him as a king.

We are in the midst of marking the season AFTER Epiphany…with all the many revelations and moments of seeing who Jesus is…and in turn…finding out who we are in this big ol’ body of Christ.

And tucked away in the middle of this After Epiphany season is today’s celebration… the day Mary and Jospeh present Jesus at the temple.

Secular society doesn’t care about this particular holiday.

We don’t have any special chocolate candies or decorations.

Nobody is going to have a “Presentation of Our Lord” Toyotathon sale event.

But we mark this day…calling it Candlemas…with the blessing of candles and celebrating this “Light that has come to enlighten the nations.”

This day in the life of the very ordinary Jewish parents of Jesus was simply part of their traditions and keeping with the law of Torah.

Mary’s period of purification…as prescribed in Leviticus Chapter 12…has finished.

She and Joseph bring their first-born child…Jesus…along with two pigeons as sacrificial offerings to the priest at the Temple.

Now…we might not think much of this…but there’s a reason Luke wants us to know these details.

It’s again…that reminder that Jesus is not one of the “in” crowd…the wealthy of his society…and neither were Mary and Joseph.

His parents are dirt poor.

Really…really poor.

Most Jewish parents would be able to afford to bring a lamb and a turtledove.

Maybe they’d have to settle for a couple of turtledoves.

But the Mosaic law outlined in Leviticus also made room for those who didn’t have anything to speak of…so they could bring a couple of pigeons instead.

For the society at this time…nothing in this scene is abnormal.

But then…some new characters come in.

Simeon…a devout old man in Jerusalem…and the prophet Anna…who represents a descendant of the lost tribe of Asher…a region in the far northern region.

A character from the North…and one from the South…both encounter this newborn baby.

And both of them have that moment of seeing… in this child.. something that they had longed for.

Freedom.

Release from the tyranny and corruption of the Roman Empire.

A renewal and revival of their spirits and the hope they’ve been seeking while dealing with the day-to-day indignities of their situation.

I’ve said it before: babies are signs of hope.

Babies represent new life…a future.

And so…when Simeon takes Jesus into his arms…his whole body seems to get flooded with those hopeful feelings.

Looking into the face of Jesus…he sees in him that candle…the flame of the Spirit…that will lead the people out of this gloom and despair.

And…once more…Luke…our evangelist, the musical lyricist and composer…has him burst into what we have turned into a song—the nunc dimittis—which we just sang a version of before this Gospel reading.

For Simeon…looking into the face of Jesus…he knows he can go in peace…because in Jesus he sees a future of freedom.  

This child will grow up to be that Messiah he’d been waiting to see all these years.

The light he sees in Jesus is enlightening his own soul.

At the same time…Simeon knows there will be a cost.

Not everyone is going to rejoice and understand the message of Jesus.

Some will resent it and rebel against it.

Their inner thoughts…their jealousies…pettiness…their desire to have power over others…will get exposed.

He tells Mary, “This is going to hurt you, too.”

Simeon exits the scene…and now in comes Anna…an old woman and prophet who was apparently a Temple regular.

She sees Jesus.

And…just like Simeon…this old lady from the north…looks at this baby Jesus…and is overcome with joy and filled with hope.

Now Luke doesn’t tell us what she said.

But we know that she is looking around the Temple…at all of these people who are living under a cloud of heaviness from the Empire…and she’s telling them:

“This is the one! This is the light that will cut through this fog of oppression!

He is our redemption!

The favor of God is upon him!”

This light that Simeon and Anna saw…this is why we mark this day with blessing candles.

And it’s the reminder that each one of us has that light of Christ within us that gets revived and refreshed when we encounter Christ.

In the hearing of the Word.

In the receiving of the Bread and the Wine.

In the way we interact with each other.

Because the Light that came into the world to lead the nations didn’t do it as a one-off and a singular event.

This light has been passed on throughout generations.

It’s what we share with each other both within this sanctuary space and what we carry back out of our red doors into our local communities.

Back when I was leading a chapter of PFLAG…I used to encourage the parents and friends at the meetings to take the things they were learning about how to be a friend and ally to the LGBTQ community back out into their workplaces…their homes…churches and synagogues.

I would remind them…these people who loved their LGBTQ children and friends: “it’s good that your light is shining brightly in your own house. But I need you to take that light out into the streets because it’s really dark out there in the world.”

The same is true for us in the church.

If the church wants to do what it is called to do…to do justice…love kindness…and walk humbly with God…then it begins with us tending to the wicks of our own lanterns and candles…shine that light of Christ…and pass it on to those who are waiting to see Christians show up.

And show up as Jesus did.

With love and compassion.

With justice and mercy.

With a desire to burn as bright as that lantern held up by the Statue of Liberty as she welcomed the newly-arrived immigrants from war-torn and famine-ladened countries of Europe over a century ago.

There is a tremendous need in this time for us to bring forth the light of Christ and not retreat back into the shadows of fear.

I want to end with the words I heard again when I was in Morning Prayer this past week.

The Reverend Jan Cope…Provost at Washington National Cathedral…was meditating on Jesus as that Light to the nations…which is also in all of us.

She read from Amanda Gorman’s poem “The Hill We Climb”:

“When day comes, we step out of the shade,

Aflame and unafraid.

The new dawn blooms as we free it,

For there is always light,

If only we’re brave enough to see it,

If only we’re brave enough to be it.”

In the name of our One Holy and Undivided Trinity.