Presentation of Jesus in the Temple + Purification + 2.214

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From: lutheran-in-sc.blogspot.com
M. Campbell-Langdell
All Santos, Oxnard
Presentation (A), 2.2.14
(Mal. 3:1-4; Ps. 84; Heb. 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40)

 “For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness (Malachi 3:2b-3).”
The readings for today, the Feast of the Presentation in the Temple, are all about purification as we present ourselves for God’s service. We hear about purification in Malachi, an important theme in the elevation of the importance of the temple as he sees it.[1] In the Presentation text in Luke, we see Mary dutifully undergoing the traditional Jewish process of purification that a woman undergoes forty days after giving birth.  In the days right before she is purified in the temple, she is considered unclean and unable to touch others.[2]  Jesus was presented, as was the custom, along with the customary sacrifice for the poor, two turtledoves in lieu of the lamb.[3] Or should we say the lamb was sacrificed too, but later?
Mary is presents not only her first-born child but, also herself, in need of God’s purifying presence. We may not feel that Mary really needed to be purified after having a baby, but doesn’t she symbolize all of us, in need of God’s purifying Spirit? We too, come before God today, presenting ourselves for service and asking for purification.
Purification before doing God’s work is vital.  This is something we have learned about reading Diana Glyer’s book, Clay in the Potter’s Hands. Glyer begins her chapter on preparing clay like this:
“By the time the potter finds the clay and digs it out of the ground, it has been pressed into the earth for quite a while. As a result, certain impurities are embedded in it. There are small rocks, twigs, bits of leaf and bone, all the result of having been pressed against the world. Many of these things are very small and don’t seem to be particularly significant. The clay looks great: clean and smooth and pure. But if these foreign objects are not removed, there will be very serious consequences for the life of the pot.”[4]
Glyer goes on to describe how, in the intense heat of being fired in the kiln, any little impurity can cause a pot to explode, leading to damage not only for itself but for all the pots being fired. This is why God needs to clean out any impurities in our lives in order to prepare us to do God’s work.
And that is why the cleansing power of our baptism, and of being reminded of our baptism, are so important. All of us wrestle with the impurities in our lives, and it is good to be reminded, as we are in Hebrews, that Jesus came not to minister to the angels, but to us.  He even took a change in status in the celestial order of things, according to the writer of Hebrews, in order to minister to us, because as the son of God becoming human he gets placed a little lower than the angels in the celestial pecking order, as the author of the Hebrews envisions it. There’s God, angels, then humans and Jesus skips down the ranks to be with us.  But that’s all to the good, because in becoming human, Jesus is able to die.  Which sounds awfully morbid. But the point is that in dying and defeating death, Jesus vanquishes the greatest foe to humankind.[5] We are no longer slaves to sin, to the impurities of our lives. We have a helper in the Spirit to refine our lives. Having just been at a funeral yesterday, it is always a good reminder that death is no real barrier for us Christians; that Jesus took care of that for us. That a veil separates us from those we love, just as our sin can sometimes hold us back. But that in God, nothing prevents our flourishing.
But we still have things that we perceive as holding us back, and so they will until we wrestle with them. In God, nothing is impossible. What is it today that keeps you from fullest flourishing?
Is there any impurity that may, in the fire of the Spirit’s kiln, do damage to you and to others?  Bring it to God today.  Remember your baptism as we celebrate with John in his baptism.
No matter who you are, this message is for you. With Simeon, we have heard that God has prepared salvation for all the peoples; that the Gospel is a light to enlighten all the nations-not only Jews but all who follow the Abrahamic traditions can hear the good news and be saved.
Now nothing can hold us back. Jesus is with us, and with God’s help all the impurities of our lives can be washed away.  So that we are ready to serve, loved as a part of all God’s people.
Praise God with me, and with Anna, and when you sense God’s presence, don’t hesitate to share the stupendously, brilliantly Good News!
Let God’s purifying Spirit into your heart today. Now nothing can hold you back.
Thanks be to God!



[1] Brian Pinto, “Estudio de la Biblia. La Presentacion del Senor,” http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/stw-es/2014/01/16/estudio-de-la-biblia-la-presentacion-del-senor-abc/ (accessed 1 February 2014).
[2] Miguelina Howell, “La Presentacion del Senor (A, B, C)”, Sermones que Iluminan http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/stw-es/2014/01/15/la-presentacion-del-senor-abc-2014/ (For February 2, 2014).
[3] Joel B. Green, Footnotes to Luke 2:24, NISB (2003), 1856. Also see: Leviticus 12:6; 8.
[4] Diana Glyer, Clay in the Potter’s Hands: Preview Ed., (Lindale & Associates, 2009) 29.
[5] Donald A. Hagner, “Footnote to Hebrews 2:14-15,” NISB (2003), 2156.

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