Recently I heard a quote from the author George Macdonald. He wrote simply, ‘I stand, I look, I listen, I draw near…’ And when I was thinking about the gospel reading today (Luke 2:22-40) I thought of what a wonderful description this was of Simeon.
On this day we remember Jesus being brought to the Temple 40 days after his birth as was the custom under Jewish law, and it was the day when Simeon, the devoted elderly Jew, encountered his Saviour in the Temple. He had been promised that before he died he would see the Messiah – that day the promise was fulfilled.
He had waited faithfully, patiently – he had stood, looked on, listened and now he would draw near…
After taking the child in his arms he spoke the words we now know as the Nunc Dimittis, words used at every service of evening prayer – ‘Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples. To be a light to lighten the Gentiles and to be the glory of thy people Israel.’
In those words he spoke of Jesus as the light for all people, and it is these words we symbolise in the candle of candlemas – Jesus as the light of the world.
The use of candles has become increasingly more popular in recent times. Many people find it helpful to light a candle in memory of a loved one – others will put candles on the dinner table or around the house. Sometimes we light up the Church with candlelight, and the main reason for that is that candles are a living flame.
Electric lights shine perhaps more brightly than candles, but they shine without the same warmth and glow… People like to see a living flame, and that is what Simeon saw when he recognised Jesus as a baby in the Temple.
He saw a child whose light was going to make a difference to him and to millions since, and we are urged to see the same…
We are told that Jesus is the light that no darkness can ever put out, the light to be a light to lighten the gentiles - the nations, all the nations and races and cultures of people. This is a living light that transforms everything…
Candlelight can be tremendously moving – the living flame can touch hearts, but the remembrance of candlemas is certainly not about a nostalgic recollection of the circumcision of Jesus, it is not all about the remembrance of a child in the temple – it is a reminder that the light that shone that day for Simoen shines today and we are called to help that light be seen in a world where there are so many areas of darkness.
Pope Paul VI wrote about how we can make that light shine – he said, ‘The candle tells us: by burning, and being Consumed in the burning.’ In other wordsthe light of Christ will only shine through us if we are prepared to allow the message of Christ to be fed out through us.
And so we think of light and we return to Simeon. Like many characters in the bible we don’t know a great deal about him – in fact 11 verses are all we have of him. It would be good to know more perhaps – we live in an age where we are used to knowing so much about people through papers, and tv and social media and so on, but what we do know is still pretty important.
We are told he was devout and righteous and that the Holy Spirit rested upon him… He was clearly a man who listened to God – he had been told he would not face death until he had seen the Saviour and he believed it and he waited -and when the moment came he was ready !
He was a man who was willing to be led by the Spirit – the Spirit we are told guided him to the Temple that day when he saw Jesus. And there he celebrated his meeting with the Messiah. He proclaimed that this boy was to be destined for the falling and rising of many – he warned Mary that there would be pain for her as she watched her son grow and teach and live the gospel.
And so we may want to know more of Simeon, but what we know is enough to challenge and to guide us. That is that we can all seek to be devout and righteous – and we can open our lives to the power of the Holy Spirit working within us…
Soon we will enter Lent, a time traditionally associated with making a little extra time for God, and it’s good to do that, but there is no set season for that – God invites us to share a relationship with him every moment of every day.
He fills us with his Spirit and we are invited to listen to his guidance – to look for opportunities and possibilities – to look at the world with a new vision, filled with hope and the knowledge that Christ is with us in all that we do.
And as Simeon celebrated his meeting with the Messiah, so can we and so mustwe…
For Simeon, one thing I’m sure of, though we’re not actually told it, is that his life was never the same again.
We too can celebrate our life transformed by God as we open ourselves to his strength and power and love, but going back to the end of the meeting in the Temple Simeon speaks to Mary and says, ‘This child will be destined for the falling and rising of many, and a sword will pierce your soul too…’
In those words, Simeon was reminding Mary that being so closely associated with Jesus would hurt… Being truly consumed in the light of Jesus shining in the world today will inevitably mean times of struggle, times of pain and times of all kinds of testing, but it is also the only thing that can make us fully alive, and give us peace and joy beyond measure that is his wish for every one of us eternally.
Simeon was a man confident that God was working in and through him. That wasn’t arrogance, but an experience – an experience of accepting that God’s promises were for him... Jesus is not a good idea or good man or a nice story but a man who came to earth to enter into our lives and into our world.
And so, as we think of Simeon hearing, waiting, listening, watching and ultimately drawing near to Jesus, let us also draw nearer to him, trusting in his power to refresh and renew us, to encourage us, to strengthen us, to give us new vision and new confidence…
Simeon recognised Jesus as the Messiah and was filled with confidence and peace and the assurance of salvation… You can almost feel his desire to end his earthly life at that point – ‘Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace.’ He had seen his Saviour and knew that he could put his whole trust in him.
And with Jesus at our side we must never forget that hope, joy and assurance that Simeon saw – in spite of the pain that we all know that life can bring at times, Christ can overcome for he is the light overcoming darkness in the world.
At Candlemas we remember, we celebrate and we give thanks for Jesus’ birth, and the promises he brought with him, but we also look forward to Lent, to Holy Week and Good Friday. We think of our own part in Jesus’ death on the cross. We think of our repentance and our commitment to change, but we also look even further ahead to Easter Day – Jesus alive and triumphant for evermore. That is the hope that we as Christians can bring to the world through our lives, through our words and through our actions.
Bishop Dominic spoke to his clergy soon after he became Bishop of Monmouth and told them they were spending too long in meetings and planning and organising and even arguing – when what they should be doing was just going out and talking about Jesus. It’s so simple to say, but it’s something that wedon’t do enough– as Christians we have a wonderful message to share – a message that is relevant to everyone, so let’s have the courage to talk about Jesus more, and then start to see what a change he can make in the lives of those around us.
In a world that can often seem dark and lonely, may we shine like lights bringing joy and hope into the lives of each other, and into the lives of all those around us. AMEN
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