The Parish Church of St John-at-Hampstead

Sunday 28 January 2023
The Feast of the Presentation in the Temple
Malachi 3. 1-5
Luke 2. 22-40
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.
Ever since I was a little child, I have been an avid film
fan. I caught this bug from my mother, as a true child
of the 40s and 50s she adores the cinema. Some of the
most wonderful times we have had together were in
the magical world of a darkened cinema, settling in
with a bag of sweets—or some popcorn—for a
matinee. These excursions stimulated and developed
my visual sense, and I still tend to visualise gospel
passages when I hear them read aloud.
Today’s gospel reading lends itself beautifully to
encountering scripture in this way. We have before us a
fabulous cast of characters, wonderful dialogue and a
stunning setting. The feast of the presentation in the
temple is a visual treat while also giving us much to
ponder. So while we enjoy this story again, I would like
to ‘zoom in’—if you like—on three aspects of the
drama: people, potential, and place.
We hear a lot in church circles about how important
young people are to the health and development of
congregations. We are all encouraged to think carefully
about church growth and ‘growing the congregation’.
This often seems to tightly focus on young people and
family ministry.
This is extremely important, and we are richly blessed
here at Hampstead Parish Church with children,
young people and families who are active in parish life.
Children’s spiritual growth is not only a vital part of
their personhood, but also a means by which we adults
can grow—children can often lead us in mission.
But it is also important to remember the role and
impact of older people on our communal life of faith.
The mature and deep-rooted faith of those who are
older than us is a living witness to how God continues
to shape our lives from birth to death. None of us is a
‘finished product’, none of us ‘knows everything’ or has
‘experienced everything’. The God of surprises goes
ahead of us—regardless of age—and ‘great is his
faithfulness’.
So, it is refreshing today to see the Gospel reading
bring together the infant Christ with two older people
in the story of the Presentation.Their role in the
narrative is key. Simeon had been promised that he
would not die until he saw the Lord’s Messiah. Anna
the prophet was a great age—well into her eighties.
Both of them are a blessing to Mary and Joseph:
Simeon formally blessing them, Anna’s blessing
bubbling up through the excitement she conveys to all
who were seeking the redemption of Jerusalem.
Both of them are attentive to God’s Spirit: the Holy
Spirit rested on Simeon; the Holy Spirit guided him.
Anna worshipped night and day, with prayer and
fasting—disciplines that opened her life to the work of
the same Holy Spirit. The result of this, perhaps, is
that under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, while both
Anna and Simeon prayed and worshipped in the
moment, they were also people who looked forward.
They knew that with God all things are possible, that
every day holds new potential. They believed that God
still had something to show them. They believed that
there was hope, and that this hope would be
something to share. They believed that this hope
would change everything. The encounter between
these people in this place holds within it an
extraordinary potential.
Where did they find that potential? Who is it who
brings this hope? It is a baby—just forty days old—
God’s salvation, the light for revelation to the Gentiles
and the glory of God’s people Israel. It is worth
reading Simeon’s words in our gospel reading again.
There is something very important here that we might
miss, because the words are familiar.
If you look carefully you will spot it. It’s all in the
present tense. We are speaking about a baby who is
just 40 days old—and it’s all present tense. Simeon
hasn’t seen a child who will become God’s salvation; he
sees God’s salvation right now. He hasn’t seen what wil
become God’s revelation to the Gentiles and grow into
the glory of Israel—he sees God’s revelation, the glory
of God’s people, now.
Of course, every little baby we see reminds us of the
potential of the human being. And it is important to
note that human potential is present in this encounter
because Jesus is fully human as well as fully divine. But
this potential doesn’t mean that God’s salvation is
deferred until some future point. God’s salvation isn’t
later, when the child is grown up, when I might (or
might not) be around to encounter it—it’s now.
And the potential of this beautiful human child—this
little person—is encountered and revealed in a
particular place. Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the
temple to fulfil all righteousness under the law. The
temple is a central part of his life, the place he refers to
as his father’s house. He comes to the temple at 40
days old, and he returns to the temple periodically
during his life. He teaches in the temple as a young
boy. It is here that he unrolls the scroll and makes his
proclamation—his mission statement—at the
beginning of his ministry. Zeal for his father’s house
stirs him to make a whip of chords to drive out the
money changers. Yet his ministry is not confined to the
walls of the temple.
We know that the buildings where we spend time with
the God who loves us are precious places. They are
places of encounter and hospitality, places of prayer,
places of worship, beauty and truth. But our lives as
faithful Christians also extends beyond the physical
building and is demonstrated most tangibly in our
relationships with our fellow worshippers, our families,
our neighbours in this parish and in the wider Deanery.
Each one of us is made in the image of God, and is
most precious in his sight. In treating each other with
respect and dignity, we honour the likeness of Christ in
all of us. As Jesus says, we are called to ‘love one
another as I have loved you’. This love calls us into
perfect freedom, it calls us into hope: the hope that
rests in Christ Jesus. The hope of the coming of a
kingdom of justice, mercy and peace.
In the Presentation of Christ in the Temple Simeon
encounters hope and freedom in the form of a tiny
child. Think of the way that Christ is hope to those
who were older than him—not because an infant who
is forty days old does much—but simply because he is.
This is the insight Simeon’s encounter with Christ
offers us: that the hope of Christ is as much about the
present as it is for the future. We are called to live in a
Christ-like way, so that our hope is seen and
experienced by others too, both inside and outside our
church buildings.
Our hope is Christ himself, a hope which is truly for the
present in which we are together. Young and old
together—we are the people, we are the potential, and
this is the place.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.