BITTER SWEET DAY

SERMON PREACHED BY FR. TONY NOBLE ON FEBRUARY 3^rd, 2008

Luke 2:35 "And a sword will pierce through your own soul also."

Those parishioners who went on pilgrimage to Walsingham with me last year, experienced three unsettling emotions. The pilgrimage broke their regular routine; it took them out of their comfort zone; and they were not in control of what was happening. If you ask any of them, they will all agree that each of these emotions were good. They knew they were going on pilgrimage - even if they were not sure how different it was to a vacation. So they had a sense that it was going to be a spiritual experience. And, of course, they knew it was going to be fun!

When we got to London, a sense of anticipation was tinged with the mystery of what was going to happen next. Not even Starbucks coffee stores could give a sense of familiar routine! They were in another country, taken out of their comfort zone - and they were definitely not in control. It was me who was in control! I told them when to have breakfast, what time, where to meet and at what time, what restaurant to meet for dinner, and everything that was to happen that day - and woe betide the woman who wanted to go shopping or buy a postcard! Though I'm a lenient boss, of course - so some of them got to the bar at night, and others even got on a train by themselves and went to Cambridge.

Once we left London and got into the mini-vans, they wondered if we would ever end up anywhere! But the Rector was in control. When we got to Walsingham all those doubts and uncertainties disappeared. There in that holy place of pilgrimage they each experienced something wonderful, and each experience was personal to the individual.   All this was very appropriate for a pilgrimage to a Shrine of the Virgin Mary, because Mary's whole life was a pilgrimage, and it had all those features that we San Diego pilgrims experienced.

Consider: Mary's routine was broken right at the beginning at Nazareth by the Archangel Gabriel. Whatever Mary had planned for her life was now going to be changed. And she was definitely taken out of her comfort zone, including traveling to Bethlehem in the middle of the night, to Egypt, and then watching her Son ultimately go to his suffering and death. Her slogan was: "Be it unto me according to thy Word". She willingly gave up control to God.

Now on this day of the Presentation in the Temple, forty days after the birth of her Son, these emotions return to Mary. She comes to the Temple for her purification. She comes obedient to the Law of Moses, to fulfill the duties of her religion, to give some further obedience to God. She came to fulfill his Law. It was what everyone did in her situation - because it was the routine of faith.

She was taken out of her own routine, and also out of her comfort zone. She was being obedient to the law, acknowledging that God is in control of her life. No doubt she is joyful and proud as she brings her six week old baby boy to be dedicated to God - much like the joy and pride of parents who bring their children here for baptism.

On this occasion, though, not for her are there words of joy and comfort. Old Simeon speaks not sweet sentiments, but words of foreboding: "A sword will pierce through your own soul", he says. And her Son will be rejected.

So just forty days after Christmas the shadow of the Cross now looms in the distance. And Mary will no longer be in control - for her child is destined for the fall and rising of many.

This feast which we call Candlemass is a pivotal day in the Church calendar. In former days it was the end of the Christmas season - forty days of celebrating Christmas and Epiphany, like the forty days from Easter to Ascension. Forty days of rejoicing - soon to be followed by forty days of fasting, as the season of Lent draws nigh.

So today we look back to the joy of Christmas and the Epiphany, and also see in Simeon and Anna a prophecy of things to come. A prophecy of suffering and sacrifice.   Even Mary, the Virgin Mother, is promised a sword in her soul. And so in just three days, we will begin that pilgrimage of penitence we know as Lent.

Today's feast can best be described as bitter sweet, as it looks back to joy and forward to repentance. Of course this feast, being bitter sweet, reminds us of life as we know it - a crazy mix of joy and sorrow. Indeed it is not just pilgrims to Walsingham who are taken out of their comfort zone, or have their routines broken, or feel that we do not have control. All of us know these emotions at some stage in our lives. And in truth, all of us may have our souls pierced through like Mary's.

This Candlemass ceremony of the blessing of candles and the procession began in the early days of the Church as Christians came to Church on this day with candles to celebrate the Nunc Dimittis - that wonderful canticle with its refrain of: "to be a light to lighten the Gentiles".  The ancient Rite of the blessing and procession of candles not only commemorates the Nunc Dimittis, but reminds us of this one truth - that the light shines in the darkness.

In Britain and Europe, Candlemass signals the move from the darkness of winter into the brighter season of spring. Even here in America's finest city, the sky now sees light at 6:15am - and what a glorious sunset it was at 5:30pm last night! But alas soon we'll be used to that, taking it as our right because we chose to live in this marvelous city - taking it all for granted.

On this day Simeon proclaims that this baby, this Christ, will be a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of God's people. This same Christ has a path ahead of him - and today we have a hint of what it is like. His path, like ours, will be a path out of a comfort zone, out of routine, out of his control. But it is all part of God's plan - so like Mary he did not hesitate. It is part of the plan because this Christ is both the sacrifice for sin, and the High Priest who will offer it. Never before had there been such a person.

In today's Epistle the writer to the Hebrews reminds us that it was necessary for him to be both the sacrifice and the priest, so that our sins might be forgiven. With our minds contemplating this scene in the Temple, this bitter sweet day, we now look forward to Ash Wednesday and to this Christ who is both the sacrifice and the priest - this Jesus who himself has suffered and been tempted………so that he might become a merciful and faithful High Priest.