February 2, 2020: May God’s words alone be spoken, may God’s words alone be heard.  Amen.

So, anyone notice something different today?  Okay, perhaps not a fair question if you haven’t had enough caffeine yet, but here are some hints: It has nothing to do with a groundhog named Phil, and if you are a purist, and haven’t yet taken down your Christmas decorations – today is the day!  Or, look at the cover of your bulletin – does it say “The Fourth Sunday After The Epiphany?”  No.  Is the church in green, or was the gospel from Matthew as we would normally hear in Year A? No. 

Today is The Presentation of Our Lord, a Principal Feast of the church.  It is when Jesus, according to Jewish law, was brought by his parents to the temple to be offered to God, and where we get the beloved Nunc Dimittis. 

The Nunc Dimittis, or song of Simeon, are the words we hear in the text, but we know them most from praying our Daily Office, or heard sung in evensong, and even inscribed in our windows right there:

Lord, you now have set your servant free * 
    to go in peace as you have promised; 
For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, * 
    whom you have prepared for all the world to see: 
A Light to enlighten the nations, * 
    and the glory of your people Israel.

This was Simeon’s response to the gift of seeing Jesus.  He had been promised that he would not die before he had seen the Messiah, and his joyous song has been heard through the ages.  Simeon recognized not only the gift of Jesus in his life, but he knew this would happen because he was able to recognize the gift of foresight and prophecy given to him by God to know that Jesus was coming…and what his life and death would do to his mother Mary.  For we also hear him say to her “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many will be revealed—and a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

Simeon was a gifted man, whose prophetic wisdom has blessed us through the ages.  We also hear today about another gifted prophet – Anna.  We so rarely hear about women prophets, so I want to be sure that you lift up that part of the text and think about what that must have been like for her then, and now. 

Yet the question I want us to consider on this Presentation Sunday is – what are your gifts?  What are some of the gifts that you offer to God? What is your gift given to you by God?  

This past weekend was our Diocesan Convention, and we spent a lot of time discerning these very questions.  The theme of Convention this year was: “Behold God’s Gifts – Become God’s Steward.”  Before attending, deputies were asked to take a spiritual gifts assessment.  I asked all of you to take it too.  The assessment asks several questions and then gives a read out of what our spiritual gifts are by strength  – and they may offer some surprises. 

Now you might think that these would all be things like evangelism, exhortation or prophetic preaching, pastoral care, mercy, and the like…and those are included.  But, there were others like administration, artistry, music, crafts, teaching, writing, and wisdom.  Sadly, none of the listed gifts were about the ability to find a magic ring, slay a dragon, or fill a net full of fish, as I talked about last week – not specifically anyway. 

Now, why would we do this?  Because we can often think we don’t have anything to offer, and that is not only a sad thing, but creating crisis in the church.  As I said a few weeks ago, our bishop, the Rt. Rev. Carlye J. Hughes, said something at a Diocesan Council meeting that struck me deeply.  She said “Stewardship issues are spiritual issues, because it means that the person is unable to see what God is doing in the world…and what God is doing with them.” 

“Stewardship issues are spiritual issues.” 

She is right about that, and it is something that we must address if we are ever to be a full part of the Jesus movement, because that is why the incarnation happened – to show us who we are, how deeply we are loved, and what we are called to do.  And I will talk about this a lot in this coming year, because I think one of the saddest things to think about is that a child of God is not able to see God at work in the world – and in them. 

But getting back to Convention, we stepped boldly forward to consider our own spiritual gifts, because participating in this type of discernment is part of our journey in Christ, part of the way we grow to be the stewards we are called to be.  There were also a great many other things we did at Convention – workshops, discussions, business, elections, and social engagement.  All of which is important for us. 

So, on this day, when we hear of the presentation of Jesus in the temple, let us present the gift of Jesus we experienced at Convention, and to do that, we will hear from our deputies: Christopher Dwyer, Desiree Noel, along with our Warden Denise Massay-Williams and Vestry member Michelle Ryndak who attended on Saturday.  Sadly, Ben Reynolds, another of our deputies who attended, is at home caring for his wife Stephanie, who is sick.

[The deputies presented – to hear their remarks, listen to the audio – a link is below. The order was Desiree Noel, Michelle Ryndak, Christopher Dwyer, and Denise Massay-Williams.  See pic at right.]

So you see, through these witnesses to the movement of the Spirit at Convention, we have been gifted today as well, because their offering of their experience is indeed a gift – one that I hope will help us all to see that God is saying “Behold!” or as the bishop would put it “Now, listen to me!” and adding “I gave you important gifts – do not waste them.”

Do not waste them. 

Because now, more than ever, we need to use those gifts to make a difference – in our lives, and in the world.  The troubles we see all around us can sometimes feel overwhelming.  The news this week leaves many feeling like the world is spinning out of control.  But we have been here before.  We have.  In fact, we nearly did not survive to be the democratic republic we have now.  We fought to make that happen in the Revolution.  Our country nearly died before it ever got going along because of the sin of slavery and the Civil War.  And then there was the dark era of Sen. McCarthey and his use of fear to strangle the freedom of Americans – taking people down like a machine gun. 

Yes, we have seen worse times than these. And then, as now, God says “Now listen to me… you are my child, and you can and will make a difference, but I need you to trust in what I have given to you.”

And so today, we will close our service with a hymn written during one of those dark times, amidst the Civil War, by abolitionist Julia Ward Howe.  We know it as the Battle Hymn of the Republic.  Howe used the gift God gave her to offer up a vision of Jesus amidst the horrors of our world.  She could see – even in that turbulent time when some were in shackles and brother fought and killed brother – the vision of God’s grace in, as she wrote “the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps.” 

Howe could see within this destruction something else besides the camp fires of Union armies.  And in perhaps the most prophetic of verses, and the one our Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry most often quotes, she wrote “In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea, with a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me; as He died to make men holy, let us live to make all free,[1]while God is marching on.  Glory, glory, hallelujah! [God’s] truth is marching on.”

And that is what is so important to know on this Presentation Sunday… God became incarnate that we may know the truth – God’s truth that marches on in us – that all people are beloved children – loved beyond measure.  In Jesus, we were transfigured to understand who we are, and the gifts God has given us, that we might be Christ’s agents in the world – living to make all free! 

Behold!  God is marching on!  And we alongside – the good stewards of God’s grace – presenting Jesus as we share our gifts and transform the world!

Glory, glory, hallelujah!  God’s truth is marching on – in us!

Amen.

[1] Her original lyric was “…let us die to make men free.”

For the audio from the 10:30am service, click below, or subscribe to our iTunes Sermon Podcast by clicking here:

Sermon Podcast

Rev. Diana L. Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
February 2, 2020
The Presentation of Our Lord
1st Reading – Malachi 3:1-4
Psalm 84
2nd Reading – Hebrews 2:14-18
Gospel – Luke 2:22-40