Candlemas 2014

Candlemas 2014 (Luke 2:22-40) “When the time came…”

There is a time and a place for everything.

King Solomon observed this about the world thousands of years ago. King Solomon expressed this principle in the words: to everything there is a season.

My parents frequently expressed this concept to my brothers and I as we were growing up. It can be a difficult concept for a child to learn. Children frequently want what they want and want it now. They need to hear the message; no. now is not the time for ice cream. Now is the time for dinner.

We all, at any age, need to hear the message: now is the time for worship.

Mary and Joseph understood this. Mary and Joseph lived this.

God had revealed the principles of worship and the details of worship some two thousand years before Jesus was born. The principles of worship are three fold.

First: God sets the time, the place and the pattern for worship.

Second: The essence of worship is sacrifice.

Third: the Plan of worship is the Real Presence of Eternal Love for the salvation and sanctification of souls.

As we remember the Presentation of Christ in the Temple and the Purification of Mary after childbirth it is important to place these historic events in their context. The context is our Heavenly Father’s Plan of Salvation.

God clearly and explicitly set the time the place and the pattern. The time is forty days after childbirth. The place is the Temple in Jerusalem. The pattern is the offering of a sacrifice at the altar. There were two acceptable sacrifices. Mary and Joseph chose the option they could afford: two pigeons.

Fortunately for modern Americans, Jesus fulfilled and completed this aspect of Divine Law. Had he not done that there would be all manner of grumbling and murmuring and open rebellion. Why forty days? I can’t possibly fit that into my schedule. Why the Temple in Jerusalem? Why can’t I use a branch Temple closer to where I live? Why that sacrifice? I should be able to bring any sacrifice that I want.

The Psychoanalyst Victor Frankel once observed that Medieval man functioned at the emotional level of a twelve year old. He also observed the modern man functions at the level of a two year old. We have a tendency to a sense of individual entitlement. We have a tendency to insist on our way or the highway. We have a tendency to make non- negotiable demands backed by a threat.

 Jesus fulfilled and transformed the law of sacrificial worship. At every stage in his life he fulfilled the Law. Mary and Joseph helped him with this when he was an infant and a child. We no longer have to offer two pigeons at the altar in the Temple in Jerusalem forty days after childbirth.

The principles of sacrificial worship remain in effect. The details have changed.

The principle is expressed in the prayer Jesus most frequently prayed: Heavenly Father, not my will but Thy will be done. The principle is revealed in the question Jesus most frequently asked people: how may I help?

The sacrifice God now asks us to make is our time, attention and attitude. Jesus manifests the reality that there is no love without sacrifice. Jesus is not a religious minimalist. He is the infinite and eternal love of God personified. He is Divine abundance for all people everywhere.

When the time came as appointed by God and designed by God Mary and Joseph went to the Temple in Jerusalem to offer the appointed sacrifice. They did so willingly and joyfully. In that surrender of self-will to Divine will they met two prophets: Simeon and Anna. They received the prophetic blessing. They entered into the Divine Glory.

For us as fallen human beings all worship will involve sacrifice. Worship is the highest form of love and love does not come easily to the descendants of Adam and Eve. Pride and self-will come to us and emerge from our souls more easily than the sacrificial love of the new life Jesus offers and the new way of living the Holy Spirit is cultivating in our minds, hearts and wills.

From the heavenly realm of the Church Triumphant Mary and Joseph pray for us to seek first the Kingdom of God. Seek first Divine will. Seek first the steadfast holy sacrificial love of Jesus.

The time has come. The time is now. Be where God is. Choose to set aside self-will and pride through the help of the Holy Spirit. Choose the Jesus Way of sacrificial love in how we use our time and where we direct our attention.

When the time came Mary and Joseph said “yes” to God. As the preeminent intercessors in the Universal Church, Mary and Joseph encourage us to make the same choice. Offer your best to God. Become your best in God. Enter into the blessing so you can experience the blessing and become the blessing to others.