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
+++
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.
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