Presentation of our Lord

This sermon didn't get preached.  It looks a bit messy at the end, but what I needed to preach it was all there.  Then on the way to church, I heard a piece on NPR from a physicist who made two assertions: 1) There is no free will, we are all governed by the laws of physics...it just looks like we are using free will. 2) He will accept the existence of God, but chooses to be agnostic because he has no use for a deity since he has physics.  I knew at that moment, that the Spirit wanted me to preach something other than what I had written.  So, what was heard at St. John this morning was an extemporaneous sermon. 

February 2, 2014

The presentation of our Lord

Luke 2:22-40

Good morning, my name is Jennifer Kiefer and I am an addict. 

Not something you want to hear from your pastor now is it?  But it’s true. I do have an addiction.  To my smart phone…my kindle…my computer.  I am a technology addict.  I had my first taste of technology when I was in first grade when we were introduced to computers…with floppy disks…and not those little ones that fit in your pocket, the old school floppy disks that actually flopped when you moved them around.  I received my first cell phone at the age of…wait for it youth…18…when I went to college.  Texted for the first time at 24, and my first smart phone two months shy of 26.  And it wasn’t until the smart phone that the addiction began.  But through this little device, I can make phone calls, send text messages, emails, post to Facebook and twitter, check on my bank account, make purchases online, listen to music, track what I’ve eaten, set up a workout, video chat with my sister, entertain Eleanor…put a working corkscrew and a Swiss army knife on this thing and I’m set.

I realize this is a generational thing.  My generation, on the whole, has a technology addition worse that my parent’s generation, and their generation has it worse that their parent’s generation…and I know that Eleanor’s generation is going to have an addiction to technology worse than my generation does…at 9.5 months, she already knows how to get into my phone and move my icons around. 

Technology has improved our lives in so many ways. The invention of the automobile allowed us to get from point A to point B in a shorter amount of time.  The airplane has made that travel even faster, making us capable of traveling around the world in a matter of hours instead of days and weeks.  Medical technology has allowed us to live longer and healthier lives.  The television allows world news to get to us at a moment’s notice, the internet and e-mail and video chat allow friends and family from different towns and states and countries to communicate with one another in real time. 

But as great as technology can be, it’s also getting in the way.

There was a report on the news the other day that the instant access of employees via smart phone technology now allows companies to require employees to be ready at any time, day or night, to respond to an e-mail that could have waited until the morning.  The average working adult now gets less than 6 hours of sleep because of the demands that the instant access of smart phone technology has put on their time management.  So, in a manner of speaking, technology is getting in the way of our sleep and our health.

And in 2012, 3,328 were killed and an estimated 421,000 injured in car crashes in which the driver at fault was distracted while driving, whether it was texting or talking on the phone, or even eating.  When we are not careful, technology is getting in the way of our safety.

There is a game now, that was started in 2012, I think, where, when a group of folks went out to dinner, they would stack their cell phones in the middle of the table when they sat down.  If at any time, a person reached for their phone between when they sat down and when the bill arrived, that individual became responsible for picking up the tab. 

It’s so bad that Kay Jewelers is running a Valentine’s day commercial in which a couple is having coffee and the girlfriend is so distracted by her cell phone that the boyfriend needs to text her to get her attention so that he may present her with a gift. 

As much as technology helps us communicate with those who are far away, it is getting in the way of how we communicate with the people in whose physical presence we are. 

And I wonder how much technology is getting in the way of our ability to see Jesus at work out in the world. 

Today is the feast of the presentation of our Lord.  It is also known as the Feast of the purification of the blessed Virgin.  It is the 40^th day after Christmas, and in a kind of uplifting but not really kind of way given the weather this winter, marks the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. 

Per the laws of Moses, on the 40^th day after the birth of a son, the mother of the child is purified from the uncleanliness brought on by childbirth. This is the first time that she is allowed in the temple after giving birth.  It is around this time when the parents bring the male child to the temple to be presented before God and, if the child is the first born son, sacrifices are to be made as the child is sanctified before God.  And this is why Mary and Joseph have brought the infant Jesus to the temple that day, to make good on their obligation as people of Israel. 

The presentation of children in the temple was, in essence, a ritual similar to modern day Christian baptism…A ritual in which the parents of a child recognize that their child is no longer just theirs, but also Gods.  Some parents, just as Samuel’s mother Hannah from the Old Testament, saw this ritual as so important that they literally gave their firstborn back to God so that the child could serve God in the temple.  Mary and Joseph did not make this choice, though they were aware that their child was set apart as one who would serve God, and man, in a unique way.

It is at the presentation of our Lord that we witness the first time that, without the prompting of angels or some other supernatural occurrence, Jesus is recognized and praised as the Messiah.

In the temple were two elders, Simeon and Anna.  Simeon was a devout and righteous man who was waiting for the coming of the Messiah, and Anna was an 84 year old prophet who had resided in the temple since her husband died when she was around the age of 20.  And upon viewing a 40 day old, 8-10 lbs infant in the arms of his mother, both Simeon and Anna had no other response than to praise God for the blessing of seeing, and holding, the long-awaited Messiah.

Didn’t need an announcement from angels…their eyes were open and focused upon God’s promises.

Praise God for the redemption of Israel AND for the gentiles

Saw because they believed…were paying attention, didn’t let distraction get in the way

What do we see in a loaf of bread and a cup of wine, in a bowl of water, in a book

            In a world full of distractions, they’re just a loaf of bread, a cup of wine, a bowl of water and a book.  But in these everyday items, God appears to us…being revealed in scripture, a taste of bread and wine, a splash of water…and proclaims salvation to us.

But it’s not just for us, not just for the church, but for the whole world.  So we have to go tell about it. 

            We have an amazing new kitchen, built with care and hard work, but instead of letting ourselves get distracted by the desire to keep it clean, how can we get it dirty doing God’s work for the world? 

When we look at the budget for 2014 at the annual meeting, we have the option of looking only at numbers…or of looking at the opportunities to get the message of the Gospel out to the people of Dundee.

We have seen the salvation of our lord, we have heard of it in scripture, we have felt it in baptism, we have tasted it in bread and wine.  And, when our eyes are truly open to seeing the work of God in the midst of ordinary, everyday things, the joy fills us with such excitement that we can’t help but go and tell.

May our focus be turned from the distractions of the world and our eyes opened to the work of God in the ordinary, that our voices might raise up a chorus of praise to the one who loves us, created us, claimed us, and who wants to bring salvation to the whole world.