Readings: Malachi 3.1-5, Psalm 24.1-10, Hebrews 2.14-18, Luke 2.22-40Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. AmenA word from Lucy: On the 2nd February, it will be forty days since we celebrated the Nativity, the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and this is the date of the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, also known as Candlemas. It is customary in the Church to celebrate this feast day and traditional to move it to the nearest Sunday. This feast day is a reminder that in Jesus’ time it was a deeply rooted custom to present first-born sons in the temple, with a sacrifice, and to carry out purification rituals for the mothers. In our time, a vestige of this custom remains in the BCP practice of “Churching of Women”. However, on this particular day, when Jesus was brought to the temple, God sent two old and devout worshippers to meet the promised Messiah, their Lord and their saviour. Simeon and Anna were their names, and both found and recognised who this child really was, both gave thanks and praise to God, both shared prophesies about what was to come because of this child, and both gave witness that this was the promised one that God’s people were waiting for.Today, we know that Jesus is the one who was foretold by the prophet Malachi: the Lord who came to refine and purify us so we can be made pleasing to the Lord at the time of judgement. Today we know that Jesus is the one with clean hands and a pure heart spoken of in the psalm who was able to bless us with the gift of salvation. Today we know that Jesus is the one that the letter to the Hebrews tells us destroyed the power of death and our fear of it by making one final and everlasting sacrifice for the atonement of all sins for us. In the celebration of the Feast of Candlemas, we bring this to life as we change our attention and focus away from the crib of the nativity and turn ourselves towards the cross of our salvation. Then, as we put away our advent candles and Christmas tree, we prepare ourselves for the forthcoming season of Lent.Let us pray: Lord Jesus Christ, light of the nations and glory of Israel: make your home among us and present us pure and holy to your heavenly Father, your God, and ours. Amen
Candlemas – Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple Readings: Malachi 3v1-8; Psalm 24; Hebrews 2v14-end; Luke 2v22-40. Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. A Word: Through the prophet Malachi, we are warned that when the Lord comes to judge us we must be as clean as refined silver so we will be an offering that is pleasing to the Lord. For God is coming to judge us and God will judge against all those who have not mended their ways with the list including: sorcerers, adulterers, liars, racists, oppressors of workers and the poor, as well as those who reject God. The psalm tells us more about God who is coming to judge us. It says that God is the King of Glory, the one who created and filled the earth with life, the one who sits on his holy hill. The one who gives blessings and just rewards to those who are saved by him. All people who no longer worship idols nor swear oaths on lies. The people who have been made pure and seek his face. But we do not have too much to fear or worry about because in Luke we hear that on the day that Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the Temple that an old righteous and devout man named Simeon was called by God to come and meet his Lord and saviour. Then a short while later, an old widowed woman called Anna, a woman who worshipped, prayed and fasted night and day in the temple, came and also gave witness that this was the child that God’s people were waiting for. What we learn from these encounters, is that Jesus is a light of revelation for the Gentiles, the one who will redeem Jerusalem, a sign who will be opposed, the one destined for the rise and fall of many in Israel. The reason we do not need to be afraid is also explained in Hebrews because it tells us that Jesus became like one of us because he is a merciful and faithful high priest, the one working in the service of Almighty God. As a priest Jesus came to make a sacrifice for the sins of all people, the sacrifice Jesus made through his own death, a death that destroyed the power of the devil and freed us from the fear of dying. For in dying for us as our great high priest, Jesus brought full and final cleansing of the sins of the whole world. Today, all of us need to keep in mind that God is coming and when he does we will all face judgement. This means we need to mend our ways with God’s help and live our lives as taught to us through the Scriptures. But whenever we fall from grace we need to keep in mind that each and everyday of our lives we can be made clean because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us. Let us Pray: Almighty and ever-living God, we thank you for your beloved Son who was: presented in the Temple, who was welcomed by Simeon and Anna, and who will come again one day to bring eternal life; cleanse us and make us pure so we can prepare to be presented to and meet our Lord Jesus. Amen Thanks for joining us today.
3rd Sunday of Epiphany Readings: Nehemiah 8v1-3&5-6 &8-10; Psalm 19v1-6; 1 Corinthians 12v12-31a; Luke 4v14-21. Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. A Word: In the reading about Nehemiah we hear about a Judean exile, a man of God, a man of prayer, a prophet of God who was serving King Artaxerxes in the land that he had found himself. Nehemiah was a good and capable man who listened to God’s call to return and rebuild Judah. He was a man who served the King so well that the king listened to his plea and trusted him enough to send his to be a governor to oversee the re-building works. However, all did not go smoothly for Nehemiah even though he was following God’s call and was supported by the King - because he met with resistance, hostility and plotting against him. However this did not stop him and eventually, the city was re-built and after many exiles returned, the priest Ezra encouraged them to return to the ways they had been taught. To help them understand what God expected of them, Ezra read the book of the law to them and others interpreted the meaning for them. In the reading from Luke, we hear that in Jesus’ time, the reading and explaining of God’s word continues in the synagogues. For after Jesus returned to his home town of Galilee, he went into the synagogue and taught those who were there. Then on the Sabbath day after Jesus read the scroll that set out the ministry he was sent to fulfil, Jesus declared that the scripture had been fulfilled in their hearing. For as he read it, Jesus knew he was called to: bring good news to the poor, proclaim the release of captives, give sight to the blind, let the oppressed go free and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. In many Churches, we do something similar in our own time to what Ezra, Nehemiah, the Levites and Jesus were doing in their time. For, we listen to and hear from the word of God when we listen to readings from the Bible and we learn about their meaning when we listen to what is said by those who preach. But learning how to live as God’s people is about more that this for we need more than people to read the Bible, or people to preach, or people to lead our intercessions. For in each generation we need to raise up people who will lead the Church in following God’s mission to the world. For there are many people across the world and in our own communities who have no access to a Bible and have not read or heard the stories and messages it contains. But God has a plan and has made provision for them, for as it tells us in the Psalm, the whole of creation points us to God and God’s glory – in the heavens and the sky, the day and the night, and the sun as it runs its daily course – and these people need someone to teach them. In our time, we believe it’s the work of the Church to help people who are being called by God to hear what God has to say through the Bible and learn how to live with help from the Church. In Paul’s time, we hear that the Church is a body of people with gifts that are to be used for the benefit of all, with no part of the body being more important than any other. In Paul’s time the worldwide church was made up of: apostles, prophets, teachers, people with powers, healers, people who assist and help others, people to lead and people who spoke in tongues; all of them appointed by God. In comparison in our time, we have Bishops, Clergy and Lay workers, alongside the main body of the Church, the people who gather regularly, plus all of those who turn to the church in their time of need. I believe that Paul is saying that no-one who holds a position of appointment in the Church is greater than anyone else – yes they have a part to play, in accordance with the gifts God has given them – but they are no more important than anyone else because everyone of us is called to service in God’s work. In response to this, I believe that each one of us is being asked to consider the call that God is asking us to respond to so he can use the gifts he has given us in his service. I pray that each of us will respond to his call. Let us Pray: Lord of all time and eternity, through your son Jesus you revealed signs and miracles and renewed your people by your grace. May your word enlighten us and our weaknesses be overcome by your mighty power so we shine with the bright reflection of Jesus’ glory. May Jesus our saviour, the light of the world, be known, worshipped and obeyed to the ends of the earth. Amen Thanks for joining us today.
