I spy with my little
eye....something beginning with C
Might be the cross
Might be the crib
Might be the candles
Might be the
congregation
Might even be Communion
Actually – I want us
to think about all of those today....
I wonder if, as we sang
our opening hymn, anyone remembered when we last sang it here
together.
It was, as it happens,
our opening hymn on Christmas day – though on that occasion the
words told another story...a simpler one, perhaps, of shepherds,
angels and visiting kings...come together at the crib to worship a
new born king.
We have continued our
celebrations for the 40 days since (and one more for good measure)
because, you know, it takes TIME to assimilate the wonder of God here
with us...God as a helpless baby,open to all the horrible things that
can, and do, still happen in our world.
So we've stayed at the
crib – some of us have prayed beside it nearly every day – and
rejoiced that Jesus is for life, not just for Christmas
Today, though, the baby
leaves the crib behind and is taken to the Temple...where Simeon and
Anna play their own game of I spy, spotting that little family as
they arrive with their 2 turtledoves...
They've waited long –
perhaps come close to giving up completely...but then the day dawns when they see and recognise heaven in ordinary – acclaiming it, - so
that others too may know and rejoice.
But even as they
celebrate the Christ – the promised, anointed one.....they spot too
the shadow of the cross.
“A sword shall pierce
your soul too” says Simeon to Mary...and for a moment the cold wind
of mortality chills us all. Candlemas is the time when we turn from
Christmas towards Passiontide. We cannot plead ignorance. The
celebration of Christ's birth carries within it the sadness of his
death – just as at the end of this service, as we process from the
crib to the font, we will say the words that I use to close a funeral
service
“Lord, now let
your servant go in peace. Your word has been fulfilled...”
Candlemas is a feast
where birth and death can seem very close – for us, as for that
baby boy.
Simeon can go in peace
BECAUSE HE HAS SEEN & RECOGNISED JESUS
And that, quite simply,
is what we all have to do.
WE have to see and
recognise Jesus – wherever we encounter him...
We need to be alert to
spot him in the crowd – and we may have to point him out to others
too.
Of course we celebrate
his presence here week by week – in Communion, in our friends and
neighbours in the congregation...
But when we leave here
we don't, we mustn't, expect to leave Christ behind us.
Each of us carries the
light of his presence, the light of his love within us
So – that's where
those candles come in...Their flames show us things that might be
hidden, light up dark corners, bring warmth and hope to even the
darkest times
And for us today they
are a reminder of our baptism – when each of us was given the light
of Christ and commissioned to bear it wherever we go
There will be dark
times ahead – there always are.....but today, just as much as on
Christmas Eve when we heard John's wonderful prologue, we rejoice
that “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has never
put it out”
Our task, then, is to
share that light...To carry the candles of faith, hope and love out
into the world so that others may see and recognise Christ
“Shine as a light in
the world, to the glory of God the Father”
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