The Presentation of Our Lord
Family of God,
Most of us probably know the major Christian festivals throughout the year: Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, etc. Lesser known are the number of minor festivals that also occur throughout the year. If you look in the front of your hymnal on Sunday (p. VIII), you'll see a list of many of them. You can also find a list here. We are accustomed to celebrating some of these already at Prince of Peace: St. Michael & All Angels (9/29); Reformation (10/31); All Saints' Day (11/1).
If you look at the list, you'll notice that each of them is assigned a specific calendar day. This is true for some major festivals, too (e.g. Christmas - 12/25; Epiphany 1/6). When one of the minor festivals happens to fall on a Sunday, I like to occasionally introduce them to our congregation. This will be the case on the Sunday.
We will be celebrating what is called the feast of the Presentation of our Lord. On February 2 each year the church celebrates the presentation of Jesus in the Temple at Jerusalem. The Levitical Law in the Old Testament (Leviticus 12) required that, following the birth of a firstborn male child, the mother must come to the temple after 40 days for purification and for presentation of the child to the Lord. February 2 marks forty days after Christmas. (Christmas Day being day 1; February 2nd being day 40.)
The presentation of Mary’s child, however, was different from most. As part of the purification and presentation rites, families were required to make two sacrifices. The first was a lamb to serve as a guilt offering. The second was either a pigeon or a dove as a sin offering. If a family was too poor to afford a lamb, however, then they were allowed to offer two pigeons or doves.
We are told that Joseph and Mary offered the latter. Now, this was no doubt partly due to the fact that they were not of means. But many have surmised, this was also to foreshadow that in bringing Jesus, Joseph and Mary were bringing to the Temple the Lamb of God who would be the once-for-all sacrifice on Calvary's cross.
This was the Christ Child, Jesus, the Savior, the Messiah who had been promised. We'll hear in the Gospel from Luke 2 that Jesus was recognized as such that day in the temple by a man named Simeon. He claimed this Child was “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory of God's people Israel” (Luke 2:32).
Thus the image of light carries an important part in this day’s liturgy and links itself with the Christmas season and its lights of the Advent wreath, the decorative tree lights, and the candles we lit on Christmas Eve.
To mark this particular feast, the ancient tradition includes 1) the blessing of candles to be used during the year and 2) a procession “to meet the Lord,” just as Simeon and Anna went to the Temple and found the Christ there. The liturgy is called “Candlemas” (the Candle Mass).
When you arrive on Sunday, individual candles will be given to those in attendance (small electronic ones will be available for young children). After a brief introduction and explanation of the service and the significance of the day, a small procession will enter the sanctuary representing the entire congregation “to meet the Lord,” who is the Light of the world. At that time, the ushers will light the candles along the center aisle (similar to what we do for Christmas Eve). We will keep them lit throughout the beginning portion of the service as a reminder of the presence of Jesus through His Word and Sacrament.
Following the service, each family will be invited to take their candle home. This will hopefully serve two purposes: 1) that Jesus is also present with us in our homes. You can light them for your family devotions or any time when you need to be reminded of the enduring presence of your Savior. 2) It also is a reminder of what Jesus says concerning His people: “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven" (Mt 5:14–16). As Jesus shines in and through us, others see His light and love.
I have never observed the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord before in my ministry but I'm excited to do so with you on Sunday! There's another whole aspect about how February 2 is the exact midway point between the winter solstice (shortest day of the year) and the spring equinox (one of two days each year where day and night are equally divided). The winter darkness is waning and the light of the days are getting longer! But that's probably enough church-nerd-pastor stuff for one email. Haha.
I can't wait to see you Sunday and I pray you have had a blessed week!
In Christ, the Light of the World,
Pastor Bater